If you follow us on social media you know how much Jordyn loves food! On most of our videos she'll talk about what she's eating for lunch and what she is drinking. But it took us many years to get her to be the good eater she is today. This week on the podcast we'll talk about how we discovered all of Jordyn's food allergies and what we've had to do to get her to where she is now. 

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Welcome back! We're so excited to start the newest season with you all. It's been a little bit since we last chatted so today we are catching you up on everything that has been going on in the shirt shop lately. It's been a big couple months for Jordyn as we celebrated her 22nd birthday and took her to her first black tie event. 

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It's our final episode of season two and with the holidays here we're going to talk all things Christmas! From our opinions on Christmas lights and songs to our favorite holiday traditions, the whole family is here along with the shirt shop crew to break it down.

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It's the holiday season! While things like presents and holiday meals can be the most exciting part of this time of year, for a child with a disability it can be a real challenge. When Jordyn was younger we had to actually teach her to like opening presents on Christmas morning. Today, we'll talk about exactly how we did that plus give you tips to finding the perfect holiday present for your child this year. 

"As soon as we started figuring out our own traditions, I started getting less sad about seeing the traditions that I before felt like I was missing out on." 

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When you have a child with a disability it affects the entire family. This week, we are talking about how we as a family navigate life working with Jordyn's autism and how it has only strengthened our family bond. Plus, the one trip we took that we will NEVER forget! 

"There definitely have been some struggles along the way." 

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With Thanksgiving this week, we wanted to talk about gratitude. There are so many things we are grateful for and at the top of the list is the shirt shop. It has brought so much to our lives and helped Jordyn shine in a way we never expected. 

"You talk often with an individual with disabilities about creating a village and the shirt shop - our employees, our social media - it's become her village." 

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This week we are continuing our conversation with Dr. Temple Grandin on getting individuals with autism into the workforce. She discusses with us tips for parents and employers as well as the importance of early intervention and the impact it makes later in life. If you want to read more of Dr. Grandin's work, she has many books now available on Amazon including her new one "Visual Thinking: The Hidden Gifts of People Who Think in Pictures, Patterns, and Abstractions."

"A person with autism is a bottom-up thinker. You gotta fill the database. See the way I understand something in the future is I compare it to someone in the database. That's the same way computers think. You gotta get them out there doing things to get data in the database." 

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This week we are honored to be joined by Dr. Temple Grandin. She is a prominent name in the animal science world, a New York Times bestselling author and autistic. Dr. Grandin has been a major advocate for the autism community writing numerous books on the subject including her new book "Visual Thinking: The Hidden Gifts of People Who Think in Pictures, Patterns, and Abstractions." We talked to her this week about getting individuals with autism into the workforce, how parents can prepare their kids for a job and the kind of careers that might be right for them. 

"We've got kids that are growing up that have never used a tool. They're not getting exposed to enough things."

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As we continue to explore building a community, today we're going to introduce you to even more of our shirt shop family - Sarah, Maddie and Kei. We'll talk about how they came to us, what changes they've seen in Jordyn since they started and what makes working at the shirt shop so special. Plus, you'll discover what shirt shop employee was still in a booster chair through 7th grade! 

"As parents, we've got to give people the opportunity to get to know our kid, to accept them."

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One of the best things to come from the shirt shop is the community that it has built for Jordyn. Our shirt shop employees have become family and their love for what we do is incredible. Today, we're going to introduce you to a couple of them, Ryan and Megan. We'll talk about their favorite things about the shirt shop and the impact it has made in their lives. 

"To be here and making an impact on the world... it just feels good."

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