Celebrating the Spectrum

Charlotte Deleste is a journalist in Wisconsin. Her son, Giovanni, was born with a rare genetic condition that caused him to have up to 80 seizures a day. Despite his disabilities, Gio was declared “not disabled enough” to get home nursing care. She couldn’t believe it. Instead of accepting a system that felt broken, she and her husband created what has turned into a non-profit helping hundreds of families with...

The Utah Developmental Disabilities Council is entirely dedicated to improving the lives of Utah citizens with autism and other developmental disabilities. Erik Stoker is their Information Specialist and talks about the resources available and how he got involved.

“I believe it’s important for a self-advocate to control what they want to see happen in their life because many adults want to live independently.”

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The Utah Parent Center’s mission is to help parents help their children, youth and young adults with all disabilities to live included, productive lives as members of the community. They strive to accomplish that by providing accurate information, empathetic peer support, valuable training and effective advocacy based on the concept of parents helping parents.

In this episode, we dig into the Individualized Edu...

A valuable conversation today with Lacey Anderson who founded an autism school and therapy center. The questions you should ask and the things you should look at to determine what place is right for your autistic child. She shares how she fell in love with autistic children. She also addresses the controversy surrounding ABA therapy.

“You'll see miracles. Because if you do something out of love, you're going to...

Jessie Hewitson is an award-winning journalist in the UK. In this book, she combines her own experiences with tips from autistic adults, other parents, as well as advice from autism professionals and academics. She is a mother of two; her 12-year-old son is autistic.

“I realized, when I was writing this book that I wasn’t scared about autism, per se, I was scared about having a really unhappy child. And, by ext...

“We all could use a little more kindness and understanding and neuro inclusion.”

Candice Christiansen is best known as a licensed clinician. Candice’s expertise is providing neuro-inclusive counseling and coaching to neurodifferent individuals and mixed neurotype couples healing from a trauma and a variety of relationship, sex, and intimacy issues. She’s also a late-diagnosed autistic female. She tells us about...

A raw, candid conversation Lincoln Bentley’s mom, Marisa. Marisa is a hands-on mom who would not accept the sobering statistics of autistic adults’ lack of employment. She got creative with her son’s creativity and came up with www.Linc-d.com - an online marketplace featuring independently owned and operated shops. The shop now has dozens of neurodiverse artists who keep 70% of the profits from each sale. Maris...

In this week’s episode, we get to hear all about a comprehensive study completed by BYU researchers. Dr. Timothy B. Smith and Dr. Tina M. Taylor have spent decades in their respective fields. Their latest research with Linda Cheng gives an optimistic look at the future for individuals with autism spectrum disorder and their families. This candid discussion touches on key points of the research along with some p...

A discussion with Sarah Aida Heuser who when she was 18 years old found out she was on the autism spectrum. She tells how emotional it was to hear, and how it helped make sense of her life up to that point. Since that time, she has thrown herself into studying autism and is finishing her master’s degree to become a licensed clinical social worker where she hopes to help people with autism. She promotes self-adv...

We have the amazing opportunity to talk to Dr. Barry M. Prizant the author of Uniquely Human: A Different Way of Seeing Autism. He has studied autism for 50 years. He has a love for people with autism and their families. He shares what he has learned, how things have changed over the last five decades and what he hopes for the future. His book is the winner of The Autism Society’s Temple Grandin Literary Work o...

Diagnosed with autism at four years old, Taylor Duncan was often excluded from playing the game he loved. Baseball. So, as an adult on the spectrum, he hopes no one else with any disability must sit the game out. He has successfully created Alternative Baseball, a traditional baseball setting free of judgment. He focuses on physical and social skills growth through the hands-on authentic experience in all pract...

Jared Stewart describes himself as an “ambassador for autism”. After college, he started a job at an adult autism treatment center and quickly realized he was on the spectrum. Jared was officially diagnosed with Asperger’s a short time later. In this engaging conversation, Jared talks about the two cliffs parents of children with autism face; when their child enters adulthood and no longer gets government-manda...

Stephanie Hanrahan, creator of Instagram account Tinklesherpants and creator of Podcast: Labeled and Loved gives us a raw look at her life with a husband who needs a heart transplant and two adorable autistic children. Stephanie shares the moment she decided to use social media as a journal and how that has changed her life, as well as those who have connected with her.

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