When Jeannette Passanisi landed on my TikTok For You Page (‘the FYP’ if you’re familiar with the popular social media platform), I knew I had to have her on the show. Jeannette is a mom of 3, with her youngest son, Robbie, being autistic.

Jeannette shares his developmental delays, swept aside early on as being the baby of the family; however, she soon realized he was not developing like her older girls and sought advice. Eventually leading to a diagnosis of PDD NOS at age 4. At the time, autism diagnoses were harder to get, especially at a young age. During our conversation, she shares how his diagnosis changed in 2017 to level 3 autism and, more recently, to more profound autism.

Having a profoundly autistic son requires a lot of direct care. As Jeannette mentions his lack of sleep, tendencies to rage pace, and other behaviors, Robbie needs to always be accompanied and needs assistance with a lot of daily tasks. Jeannette is also Robbie's #1 advocate, always making sure that he receives the best quality and most positive therapy techniques. She provides great examples of how she advocates for her son.

“Everyone has the ability to improve at their own pace” is just one gem from Jeannette’s and my talk. You can learn more about her family and autism journey on TikTok @Running4Robbie.

#autism #speechtherapy

What’s Inside:

• A mother sharing her autism journey on TikTok.
• Seeing signs of autism at age 4.
• How availability and quality of diagnosis has changed over time.
• Navigating and advocating therapy services for older autistic children and adults.

Mentioned In This Episode:
Running4Robbie - TikTok
Membership - ABA Speech