My guest this week is Marissa Pittard and she is empowering parents. We talk about what inspired her to create a free service that not only helps parents locate desperately needed services, supports, and resources but also builds out a roadmap for their newly diagnosed special needs kids. This is a free service for families within the United States and it's changing lives.

About Marissa (Missy) Pittard:

Missy is the Co-Founder & CEO of Beaming Health. More importantly, she and her brother are neurodivergent, and she built Beaming to make life easier for neurodiverse families everywhere. The site is the easiest place to find care for autism and other developmental differences. Missy graduated from Stanford and Georgia Tech before spending three years at McKinsey & Company where she focused on improving access to quality behavioral healthcare services. 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marissapittard/

Beaming Health: https://beaminghealth.com/

About Beaming Health:

This website is the best way to find care for autism and other developmental disabilities. The site lets you look at services based on where you live, your insurance, and parent reviews. 

www.beaminghealth.com

Follow us on Instagram

About Rob Gorski and The Autism Dad podcast:

Rob Gorski is a single Dad to three amazing autistic boys and Found and CEO of The Autism Dad, LLC. Multiple award-winning blogger, podcaster, content creator, digital marketer, social media influencer, and respected public figure for well over a decade.

Connect with Rob Gorski: https://listen.theautismdad.com

Episode Sponsors:

Meerkat Village:

Being a special needs parent often requires a superhuman ability to manage a ton of different things all at once. Between work, school, doctor appointments, therapies, our own self-care, and everything else life can throw at us, it can be tough to manage all these things. Don’t even get me started on trying to keep everyone communicating with each other. That’s where Meerkat Village can help.

They say it takes a village and this is especially true for special needs families. Meerkat Village is a platform for android and iOS that helps to keep everyone in your village communicating and coordinating their efforts to support your child. Whether you’re tracking your child’s progress at school or brainstorming new strategies to help with behavioral concerns, Meerkat Village keeps everyone connected, and on the same page. It's all done inside one, easy-to-use, HIPAA and FERPA-compliant app.

Meerkat Village is currently looking for parents to join their new Parent Advisory Program. Participation is free. As part of the program, you will receive a free, unlimited subscription and personalized onboarding. In exchange, you provide feedback on how Meerkat Village can improve the platform for your family and others.  

For more information on participating in the program, visit www.meerkatvillage.com/contact and enter "Parent Advisory Program" in the message section.  

I Like My Headphones

"I Like My Headphones" by Carmen White, is an inclusive, empowering, and beautifully illustrated picture book for children ages 3-7.

The story features an autistic little girl who explains to her friends and the reader how she uses her headphones in class to stay calm and focused.

Encouraging inclusion and self-advocacy, "I Like My Headphones" have been used by preschool and elementary school teachers across the country to help their students better understand their sensory-sensitive classmates. 

You can get your own copy of "I Like My Headphones" on Amazon.