The Autism Mom Coach

Is your autistic child having a meltdown or manipulating you to get what they want? The difference between an autism meltdown and manipulation is rarely as clear as parents are led to believe, especially when the behavior involves yelling, refusing, demanding, aggression, or a complete loss of control. In this episode, I share three ways to evaluate whether your child is melting down or manipulati...

Whether you have a three-year-old and you're hoping to nip it in the bud or a teenager you assume should know better by now, the same question keeps surfacing: will my child outgrow meltdowns? In this episode Lisa answers it head-on by separating tantrums, which children do outgrow, from autism meltdowns, which are neurological and don't simply disappear with age. In this episode, you'll learn: Wh...

Last week Lisa named the meltdown hangover. This week she gets practical. In this episode of The Autism Mom Coach, the second of a two-part series, Lisa shares ten specific, science-backed things you can do to avoid, interrupt, or shorten the emotional and physical fallout that lingers after a meltdown. From creating space and getting outside to cold water, movement, hydration, and the way you tal...

The meltdown ends, but for autism moms, the aftermath lingers. In this episode of The Autism Mom Coach, the first of a two-part series, Lisa names what she calls the meltdown hangover: the emotional, mental, and physical fallout that can outlast the meltdown itself by hours, days, or even weeks. Drawing on her own experience with homework meltdowns and her son's perfectionism, she walks through th...

Autism meltdowns can take over your home, your schedule, and your confidence as a parent. In this episode of The Autism Mom Coach Podcast, Lisa Candera shares the exact Before, During, and After process she developed through years of parenting her autistic son and coaching autism moms through meltdowns. Most parents get stuck in the same cycle: trying to prevent every meltdown and then scrambling...

Are you accidentally making your autistic child’s meltdowns worse without realizing it? In this episode of The Autism Mom Coach Podcast, Lisa Candera shares common parenting responses that can unintentionally escalate or prolong autism meltdowns. During meltdowns, parents often react from stress, urgency, and survival mode. Talking too much, making threats, changing tone, using sarcasm, or reactin...

In this episode, Lisa Candera breaks down the single most important skill autism moms need during meltdowns: learning how to regulate themselves first. After years of trying to prevent every autism meltdowns, Lisa shares the shift that changed everything for her parenting and coaching: moving from control and prevention to preparation and co-regulation. Lisa explains the concept of the “Solid Obje...

In episode 200 of Autism Mom Coach , Lisa Candera shares the biggest mistake many autism parents make: putting all their energy into preventing meltdowns instead of preparing for them. She explains that meltdowns are a form of nervous system dysregulation, often driven by autism-related challenges like sensory overload, communication difficulties, low frustration tolerance, impulsivity, and execut...

In Episode 199 of The Autism Mom Coach , Lisa Candera shares three truths that can change how autism moms move through parenting, stress, and decision-making. Based on 18 years of raising her son with autism and coaching more than 100 moms, Lisa explains why the search for the right therapy, school, supplement, or strategy often turns into an exhausting loop. She also tackles one of the heaviest b...

It's Autism Awareness Month, and while awareness of autism has never been higher, our actual understanding of the diagnosis is still far behind where it needs to be. In this episode, Lisa Candera draws on her 18 years as an autism parent, her background as a certified life coach, and her work with over 100 autism moms to break down three things every autism mom needs to know right now: why the exp...

In this episode, Lisa breaks down the idea of being unbothered and why it matters so much in autism parenting. Using an example from a true crime trial, she explores what it looks like to stay focused, regulated, and clear-headed when other people are escalating, pushing, whining, or pulling for a reaction. In This Episode, You’ll Learn: How being unbothered helps you stay focused on what actually...

In episode 195 of the Autism Mom Coach Podcast, host Lisa Kra (lawyer, life coach, and full-time single mom to a teen with autism) discusses the less positive ways autism parenting can change parents. She explains how advocacy, resilience, and adaptability can shift into constant battle mode, isolation, and tolerating situations that need intervention. Lisa covers chronic hypervigilance and sustai...

In this episode of The Autism Mom Coach Podcast , Lisa Candera—autism mom, attorney, life coach, and solo parent—reflects on the early days of her son Ben’s autism diagnosis and the profound ways autism parenting reshaped her identity, nervous system, beliefs, and leadership. Recording in January 2026, Lisa looks back 16 years to the moment of diagnosis. She shares what it felt like to sit in shoc...

In this episode of the Autism Mom Coach Podcast, host Lisa Candera talks with Dr. Taylor Day, a licensed psychologist specializing in neuro-affirming care for autistic children and their families. Dr. Tay shares her personal journey and professional insights on creating a holistic, family-focused approach to autism care. They discuss the importance of not just supporting the autistic child but als...

In this episode of The Autism Mom Coach Podcast , I’m sharing a conversation from my appearance on Evolve with Dr. Tay with Dr. Taylor Day . We talk about the part of autism parenting that gets overlooked: the parent’s nervous system. Not behavior charts. Not better scripts. The parent. This conversation is about what it actually looks like to be your child’s safe person—without absorbing their di...

In this episode, Lisa talks with filmmaker Tyler Sansom and actor John Wells about the film Learning You . The movie follows a single father and his autistic son after the father removes him from an institution and takes him on an unplanned Christmas road trip. The conversation explores why this story felt different to tell and to watch. Tyler shares how the film came to him through a producer par...

In this episode, Lisa reflects on what parenting her son through years of severe anxiety, OCD, aggression, and hospitalizations taught her as he transitioned into adulthood. She shares three principles that carried her through the darkest seasons—and continue to guide her as an autism mom today. In This Episode, You’ll Learn: How acceptance evolved from a one-time idea into a moment-by-moment prac...

In this episode, Lisa Candera sits down with autistic actress, writer, and filmmaker Bella Zoe Martinez , star of the short film Once More, Like Rain Man . Bella offers a candid look at what it’s like to navigate Hollywood—and the world—when autism is reduced to a single stereotype. Through humor and honesty, she shares the lived experience behind masking, exhaustion, and being misunderstood befor...

Last week we uncovered the Expectation Trap — the moment you realize you’re holding someone to your internal rulebook and feeling irritated, disappointed, or flat-out furious when they don’t follow it. This week, we take it further. Because once you see the trap clearly, the real question becomes: now what? This episode breaks down your three actual moves when someone’s behavior clashes with your...

Holiday season has a way of dragging every unspoken rule you live by straight into the spotlight. In this episode, I’m calling out the Expectation Trap — the moment where your values, routines, and instincts collide with people who make choices that feel completely upside down to you. Here’s the truth: you are never the baseline for anyone else’s behavior. The minute you stop measuring other peopl...

Every November, we hear the same message: be grateful, make a list, count your blessings. But for many autism parents, gratitude lists fall flat. You already know what matters—your child, progress, small moments of peace. The problem isn’t awareness; it’s that your nervous system is still stuck in survival mod In this episode, Lisa Candera , autism mom coach and host of The Autism Mom Coach Podcas...

Before your autistic child can self-regulate, they co-regulate — through you. Your nervous system becomes their roadmap. Your breath, tone, and posture tell their body whether it’s safe or in danger. This is why your steadiness matters more than any script or strategy. In this episode, autism mom coach Lisa Candera breaks down the science and skill of co-regulation for autism parents — how two ner...

You’ve heard me say it before: regulation starts with you. But what does that really mean when your child is melting down in front of you, your body tightens, your pulse spikes, and your mind goes straight to “make it stop”? This is not a mindset issue. It’s biology. Your nervous system is wired to mirror your child’s. When they escalate, your body reacts. You feel it. And that’s why prevention an...

Lisa continues her conversation with therapist and autism mom Janeen Herskovitz about the mental-health landscape for teens and young adults with autism. They talk about anxiety, burnout, alexithymia, and how parents can balance support, boundaries, and rest—for their kids and themselves. Key Takeaways Mental-health shifts often begin earlier than we expect. Feelings live in the body; naming them...

In this episode of The Autism Mom Coach Podcast, Lisa Candera sits down with therapist and Autism Blueprint host Janine Hershkowitz, LMHC for an honest conversation about the intersection of autism and maternal mental health . Janine—mom of two autistic young adults and a psychotherapist with over 15 years of experience—shares how constant stress, high-alert living, and unprocessed trauma shape th...