Shifting the Narrative on Everything Autism

Shifting the Narrative on Everything Autism

”Shifting the Narrative” is a podcast that seeks to dispel the myths, misconceptions, and fears around Everything Autism. Stacy Badon is an Autism Education specialist, Sensory Enrichment Therapist, and Parent Coach, with previous experience as a Speech Therapist and Early Intervention teacher for public schools. She has 20+ years of professional experience supporting families in the Autism community, as well as global experience volunteering with nonprofit organizations. Torrin Kearns is an Autistic screenwriter, blogger, and neurodiversity advocate. Each week, they’ll deep-dive into a different autism-related topic in a quest to provide answers, skills, and strategies for parents, caregivers, teachers, and therapists.

Episodes

July 7, 2025 56 mins

On this episode, Stacy flies solo and talks with musician, therapist, and yoga instructor Alicia Diesch. 

 

Alicia specializes in using music therapy to help neurodivergent people overcome trauma. They discussed the different kinds of trauma often seen in autistic and neurodivergent people and how Alicia's therapeutic practices can help.                                                                  ***

Help marginalized youth g...

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On this episode, Stacy and Torrin are joined by Rachelle Vartanian to talk about the services available to adults with autism.  Rachelle is the founder of the Living and Learning Enrichment Center in Northville, Michigan. There, they offer job skills training, support groups, and social programs tailored for autistic teens and young adults. Rachelle, an autism parent herself, was inspired to found her center after noticing the lac...

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On this episode, Stacy and Torrin discuss what they've learned over the years about autism and working with autistic people. (Stacy has had more years than Torrin). 

TL;DR:

Stacy has always led with compassion and understanding of the autistic perspective, even when there was a lack of information about autism. As for Torrin, his journey was a bit...different. 

 

                                                             ***

Podc...

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On this episode, Stacy and Torrin are joined by Chantelle Hyde, an anti-restraint advocate and mother of an autistic daughter.  Chantelle is the Lead Canadian Volunteer with Alliance Against Seclusion & Restraint, an organization whose mission is to raise awareness and ultimately end the use of punitive measures against neurodivergent children, such as forced restraint and prolonged seclusion.

 

When Chantelle's daughter was f...

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April 9, 2025 45 mins

On this episode, Stacy and Torrin talk about a variety of topics that all relate to the overarching theme of communicating with autism parents. -What is the best way to talk to autism parents?

-Why some autistic social media influencers struggle to connect with parents of autistic children

-Why we need to change how we speak about autism and parenting.                                                                 ***

Help margi...

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On this episode (unfashionably late), Stacy and Torrin were joined by autistic Speech Pathologist Christina Schmidt to discuss therapy for late-diagnosed individuals. What does a neuro-affirming therapeutic approach look like for adult clients? How does it differ from strategies used for children?

 

Christina also talks about her own autism journey as a late-diagnosed woman, and what led her to found Free to Be Me speech therapy.  ...

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On this episode, Stacy and Torrin talk about the importance of having a sense of urgency as an autism parent. If your child has autism, they might need supports, therapies, and treatments for co-occurring conditions. The you act to secure the things your child needs to thrive, the better.                                                                  *** 

Help marginalized youth get the education they deserve. Buy VQ Library a c...

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Stacy's new Micro-School: https://autism4home.com/taki-wa-tanga Thanks for listening to the first hundred episodes. Hope to see you for the next hundred.                                                                   ***

Help marginalized youth get the education they deserve. Buy VQ Library a coffee: https://ko-fi.com/vqlibrary

If you are looking for one-on-one coaching with Stacy to help your child with autism reach their f...

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On this week's episode, Stacy and Torrin discuss what will happen if the Department of Education is dissolved. (As the new presidential administration has promised to do).  What can parents do? What should they do?                                                                  *** 

Help marginalized youth get the education they deserve. Buy VQ Library a coffee: https://ko-fi.com/vqlibrary

If you are looking for one-on-one coa...

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On this week's episode, Stacy and Torrin are joined by autism therapist, parent, and author Dr. Alondra Rodgers.  She spoke with us about her therapy work with autism parents and autistic adults, along with her role as a caregiver for an autistic child. She also touched on her own late autism diagnosis and her latest book Autistic Thinking: How Autistic Brains Think, Learn, & Remember. You can find Alondra at her website: htt...

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Dr. Stephen Shore is an autistic professor of special education at Adelphi University.  He has written books that include: College for Students with  Disabilities, Understanding Autism for Dummies, Ask and Tell, and Beyond the Wall. Currently, he serves on the board of Autism Speaks, and is one of the first two autistic board members in its history, looking to improve the potential of those on the autism spectrum. He once headed th...

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We are SO back!  This week's episode is all about Echolalia. What is it? Is it a good/bad thing? How do you deal with the annoyance of your child repeating what you say? (TL;DR it's a form of communication).                                                                 ***

Help marginalized youth get the education they deserve. Buy VQ Library a coffee: https://ko-fi.com/vqlibrary

If you are looking for one-on-one coaching wit...

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On this week's episode, Stacy and Torrin discuss some of the hard decisions autism parents have to make while trying to do what's best for their children.  Stacy is a parent of two. Torrin is autistic himself but doesn't have kids. It was an interesting discussion...                                                                  ***

Help marginalized youth get the education they deserve. Buy VQ Library a coffee: https://ko-fi.c...

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On this week's episode, Stacy and Torrin were joined again by Julia Lee Barclay-Morton to talk about the life and times of the late, great Steve Silberman, author of the groundbreaking book on autism Neurotribes.  We spoke about the effect Neurotribes had on Stacy's therapy practices and Julia's discovery that she was autistic. We also spoke about Sliberman's lifelong social advocacy and how he embodied the title of this podcast. ...

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September 9, 2024 64 mins

On this week's episode, Torrin and Stacy discuss ways parents, caregivers, teachers, and therapists can help support autistic teens.                                                               ***

Help marginalized youth get the education they deserve. Buy VQ Library a coffee: https://ko-fi.com/vqlibrary

If you are looking for one-on-one coaching with Stacy to help your child with autism reach their full potential, click the ...

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On this week's episode, Stacy and Torrin are joined by speech therapist, author, and public speaker Julie Roberts. Julie is the founder of the Therapist Neurodiversity Collective, an international neurodiversity-affirming therapy, education, and advocacy organization. 

She is also the author of The Gold Standard Fallacy of ABA: A Reference Guild for Therapists, Educators, & Parents.  She spoke to us about some of the possible...

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August 26, 2024 59 mins

Ande Quercus returned this week, this time, for a discussion about ableism. What exactly is ableism? How can we identify it? How can we fight it?                                                                 *** 

Help marginalized youth get the education they deserve. Buy VQ Library a coffee: https://ko-fi.com/vqlibrary

If you are looking for one-on-one coaching with Stacy to help your child with autism reach their full potent...

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On this week's episode, Stacy and Torrin speak to autism advocate Ande Quercus about systemic physical abuse of autistic children.  In schools and group homes, physical restraint and abuse is commonplace; either legal or ignored. Ande is fighting to end these practices.                                                                 ***

Help marginalized youth get the education they deserve. Buy VQ Library a coffee: https://ko-fi...

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August 15, 2024 58 mins

On this week's (very late) episode, Stacy and Torrin talk about autism. Yes, that's what we do every episode, but today, we discussed the shame and fear people have when talking about autism. Often, parents and family members are hesitant to reveal their child's autism diagnosis, even if doing so would help everyone involved. We got to the root of the problem. Why are people ashamed and hesitant? How can we fix that?           ...

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On this episode, Stacy was joined by poet, public speaker, panelist, singer, photographer, performance artist's, and long-time artist's model Gloria Jarkson-Nefertiti. 

 

Gloria was diagnosed later in life with ADHD and later, autistic. She spoke with Stacy about her experiences going through life not knowing she had either.  You can find Gloria at her website: https://www.notgloriajean.net/                                       ...

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