Mother's Guide Through Autism

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In my 30 years of the autism parenting journey, I've learned a lot. And so, I decided to share my top 10 list of advice for the autism parenting journey. 

I will be sharing each piece of advice for the next 10 weeks and this episode is an introduction to the list. 

I also recite the Mother Guide's Prayer from my book A Mother's Guide Through Autism to give you strength on your autism parenting journey. 

Enjoy!

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I use my Sundays as my personal growth and discovery day. I use this time to fill myself up with inspiration before the work week begins.

I encourage you to develop your own self-discovery practice so that you can begin to experience more peace and create more joy in your life on your autism parenting journey.

I believe this practice is essential because we mother guides often get lost in the caretaking of our kids that we start to forget ourselves—we lose ourselves in the process.

The self-discovery practice can bring you back home to yourself where peace and healing reside in the heart.

I share my 5 Small Steps to Begin Your Self-Discovery Practice in this episode.

Enjoy!

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Check out more episodes of the Mother's Guide Through Autism Podcast on Apple Podcast here: https://apple.co/30UFFW3

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In this episode of Mother's Guide Through Autism, I talk to Dawn Barclay, an award-winning author who has spent a 30+ year career working in the travel industry, about traveling strategies for kids on the spectrum.

Dawn wrote her upcoming book Traveling Different: Vacation Strategies for Parents of the Anxious, the Inflexible, and the Neurodiverse because she understood how difficult it was for parents to travel with kids, especially kids with special needs, and there was no guidebook to help them with it.

She says that in one study done by IBCCES, where 1,000 special needs parents were interviewed, they found that 87% of them didn't travel and of those, 93% would’ve if they knew where to go and what to do.

Dawn believes that children deserve to be global citizens and they deserve to see a world outside of their own, and she wants to open up the world for people by giving them the tips and strategies offered in her book.

She shares the number one reason parents with special needs kids don't travel and what they can do to make their trips possible and successful.

Enjoy this episode!

Dawn's websites:
http://www.dawnbarclayink.com 
http://www.travelingdifferent.com

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/TravelingDifferent

Twitter:
https://twitter.com/travelingdiff

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/traveling_different

Sign up to get news and updates from me: https://www.mothersguidethroughautism.com

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For this week's episode, I'm sharing the interview I did recently for the Autism Detectives Radio Show with Patricia Lemer where I talk about the deep grief mothers of autistic kids go through that they need to process in order to move forward lighter and happier.

We talk about my newly released book A Mother's Guide Through Autism which my son Joseph and I co-authored and what the intention of this book is. 

We also talk a lot about healing the mother's heart and I share my personal journey of how I went from not processing my grief and getting sick in the process to healing my heart by incorporating practices like self-compassion.

Enjoy this episode!

You can listen to the original recording at:
http://www.healthylife.net/RadioShow/archiveADD.htm

You can find Patricia Lemer at:
https://www.patricialemer.com/

Sign up to get news and updates from me: https://www.mothersguidethroughautism.com

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In this episode of Mother's Guide Through Autism, I speak to Sarah McClary, a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) with a daughter on the spectrum, about her emotional journey of receiving her daughter's autism diagnosis and finding hope from the remarkable progress her daughter made with ABA.

Sarah's daughter Leah was diagnosed with autism shortly after her third birthday after her pediatrician noticed some differences in her development.

Sarah described the day of the diagnosis as one of the hardest days of her life and recounts the emotional pain she experienced in the beginning of her autism parenting journey.

It was recommended that Leah have ABA therapy, and soon after she started, she made extraordinary progress in speech and communication.

After seeing remarkable changes in Leah, Sarah changed careers and became a Board Certified Behavior Analyst.

Sarah explains what ABA is and how it can help kids on the spectrum and addresses the controversy around ABA and the negative experiences some autistic adults say they had with the therapy in their childhood.

She hopes to change the view of ABA by providing compassionate and value-based care to her clients as a therapist because ABA has been life-changing for her daughter and she passionately believes that ABA therapy can make life easier for kids on the spectrum and their families.

She shares the lessons she learned on this journey and offers advice to mothers raising children with autism.

Enjoy!

***Please pardon the occasional noise in this episode.***

You can find Sarah McClary at:
https://www.hopebridge.com

Sign up to get news and updates from me: https://www.mothersguidethroughautism.com

Check out more episodes of the Mother's Guide Through Autism Podcast on Apple Podcast here: https://apple.co/30UFFW3

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In this episode of Mother's Guide Through Autism, I talk to Jennifer Wiese, founder and CEO of BeeFree Gluten-Free Bakery and mom to an adult son with autism.

Jennifer shares her story of starting her company after her eldest son was diagnosed with autism back in 2008 and learning later that the gluten-free diet helped him to function better.

While searching for gluten-free foods to help her son's overall wellbeing, she quickly found that gluten-free and tasty did not often go together.

She enlisted the help of her mother, and they got busy in the kitchen recreating favorite family recipes. Once they created a snack that all four of her boys would enjoy, BeeFree Gluten-Free Bakery was born!

Now 12 years later Jennifer is laser-focused on bringing delicious snacks full of real ingredients to the world while creating jobs for adults with autism.

Jennifer shares her struggles and successes as well as the lessons she's learned on this autism parenting journey and inspires us with her mission to help make this world a better place for her son and others on the spectrum.

Enjoy!

***Please pardon the occasional noise in this episode.***

You can buy Jennifer's delicious gluten-free snacks here:
https://www.beefreegf.com/

Follow her on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/beefreeglutenfree/

Sign up to get news and updates from me: https://www.mothersguidethroughautism.com

Check out more episodes of the Mother's Guide Through Autism Podcast on Apple Podcast here: https://apple.co/30UFFW3

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In this episode of Mother's Guide Through Autism, I talk to my friend Sarah Magnoni, a life coach, intuitive medium, Reiki Master, and the host of the Intuitive AF podcast, who shares her experience of living through her daughter's diagnosis of both autism and schizophrenia. 

Sarah takes us through the journey of her daughter's developmental/behavioral differences at age 1, diagnosis of autism at 9, and her eventual diagnosis of schizophrenia at 18. 

Sarah talks about the struggles of getting care for her adolescent daughter for mental health and shares the heartbreaking story of her daughter being discharged without getting help for her psychosis in the emergency room. 

She also talks about the importance of getting help for ourselves and how getting therapy and coaching helped her get through challenging times.

Sarah has written a book called Not Alone: A Parent's Guide to Navigating Mental Illness to give voice to other families struggling with mental illness and to give hope to those who are affected by it. 

You can find out more about Sarah Magnoni at https://www.sarahmagnoni.com/

You can find her book Not Alone at https://www.amazon.com/Not-Alone-Parents-Navigating-Illness/dp/1737563932

Find reources and help at National Alliance on Mental Illness:
https://nami.org/Home

Enjoy!

If you would like to get news and updates from me, go to https://www.mothersguidethroughautism.com and subscribe to our newsletter.

More episodes of the Mother's Guide Through Autism Podcast are available on Apple Podcast here: https://apple.co/30UFFW3

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In this special, audio episode of Mother's Guide Through Autism, my son Joseph takes the mic and shares his experience of writing our upcoming book Mother's Guide Through Autism/Through the Eyes of the Guided.

Our book gives two different perspectives of going through the autism journey: mine being the mother's and Joseph's perspective being the one who lived it.

He talks about why he agreed to team up with me and what he was able to accomplish by writing his part of the book.

Enjoy!

Sign up for our book waitlist here so you don't miss my sneak peek updates and the book launch: https://www.mothersguidethroughautism.com/book

If you would like to get news and updates from me, go to https://www.mothersguidethroughautism.com and subscribe to our newsletter.

More episodes of the Mother's Guide Through Autism Podcast are available on Apple Podcast here: https://apple.co/30UFFW3

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 I am so excited to share that my book Mother's Guide Through Autism is coming soon!

This book, written by me and my son Joseph, offers two distinct perspectives. In part one of the book, I share my journey and lead mothers through a journey to heal their own hearts. In part two of the book, “Through the Eyes of the Guided”, Joseph offers insight into his experience living with autism.

Writing this book has been one of the most extraordinary experiences of our autism journey and I want to share how we came to write this book together.
 
Enjoy!

Sign up for our book waitlist here so you don't miss my sneak peek updates and the book launch: https://www.mothersguidethroughautism.com/book

If you would like to get news and updates from me, go to https://www.mothersguidethroughautism.com and subscribe to our newsletter. 

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I celebrate my son Joseph turning 30 this month! 

In this episode, I wanted to share some thoughts and reflections and what has helped me during difficult times along the way. 

These past 30 years have been full of growth as a human being for me. I have evolved into a much kinder, patient, and loving person because of my son. 

He has taught me more than I could ever have taught him. He teaches with love and grace. I am filled with gratitude for my autism parenting journey with one of the most unique, delightful humans on this earth. 

Thanks for picking me to be your mom. Happy 30th Birthday Joseph! 

Enjoy the show!

If you would like to get news and updates from me, go to https://www.mothersguidethroughautism.com and subscribe to our newsletter. 

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