Celebrating the Spectrum

Today we talk to Liv Gilbert, Debbie’s oldest daughter about what it’s like when a sibling gets an autism diagnosis. She recalls her emotions at the time and how she feels about her brother.

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This week we will revisit some of our favorite interviews. Don’t get us wrong, we have loved all our guests and we will likely do this more often because it was so much fun going back to some of our first interviews.

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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 respite care, therapy, and family support. You will be inspired by her drive to get her son, and other families, the help they need.

“That’s all we want to do, just make a difference, make a positive difference and hope that it just keeps going and somebody else will do the same down the road.”

-Charlotte Deleste, Founder of Gio’s Garden

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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.”

-Erik Stoker

He also has a podcast you can check out.

https://open.spotify.com/show/0vESwMIeQXucVfHKliYirY

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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 Education Program. We learn all kinds of new acronyms and get you ready for your first meeting. Jennie Dopp is a parent advocate at the Utah Parent Center. She gives us the basics in a very authentic way of understanding and utilizing the IEP.

“Working for a nonprofit, it’s about mission, none of us are in it for the money. We love what we do.”

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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 tap into different things that that kid needs, and you're going to figure out how to help them.”

Link to videos: Autism Solutions Academy - YouTube

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Utah artist Heather Olsen was born and raised in Salt Lake City, Utah. When Heather was 14, her nephew was diagnosed with Autism. Heather studied classical realism at the Bridge Academy of Art and the Hein Academy of Art for three years before completing her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Utah. She has been featured in numerous art exhibits nationwide and specializes in painting animals and people where personality and emotion are wonderfully depicted. She has also taught sensory art to children with Autism, created a painting series to raise awareness and funds, and continues to volunteer at events and support the Autism cause. She loves to care for her nephew and enjoys spending time with all her friends with Autism.

“They taught me, I feel like, more than I taught them because yeah, I learned so much from them. And I think just taking life as it comes was something that I learned while I was there.”

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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 extension, being really unhappy myself because, I don’t know if you’ve got the saying in the US, but you know, it is true that you’re as happy as your unhappiest child.”

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“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 her journey, her diagnosis and what she’s learned along the way. She’s also the host of Fabulously Candice: The Sexiest Podcast About Neurodivergence.

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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. Marisa shares her journey of helping the world see the amazing things her son is doing.

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