Our Neurodivergent Life

This was just a quick recording to confirm my personal stance on ABA.

Well, I was warned that having a personal budget approved is like winning the lottery. It seems that this is indeed the case for many families. This podcast is a rather emotive and raw discussion about our own journey with the EHCP and personal budget request, and explores our thoughts on the current systems in place.

This episode covers private diagnosis, the current systems and assessment processes, and why diagnosis is important to us. It also covers the difficulties, albeit very briefly, in diagnosing ‘PDA’.

This reflection is based on an article I read about domestic abuse, concerning children attacking their parents.

This podcast is not our typical recording. I share an experience of ‘something in between’ an escalation and a meltdown, and discuss a few linked topics and reflections related to this experience.

This episode was a live recording which covered a few topics, with a main focus on studying and careers.

This episode discusses the journey so far with our eldest, which inevitably incorporates other linked discussions and the EHCP process. We will talk about the dreaded EHCP further in a future episode. This podcast was actually recorded before the ABA recording. It is mentioned briefly here, but was built upon in the main podcast. We will also be following up from that topic, upon further research.

This episode discusses ABA, both old and new. We make links with similar approaches seen around us in everyday society, and explore whether ‘Modern ABA’ deserves to be associated with ABA in its original form. ABA was developed to ‘normalise’ autistic people. This was not done to help the autistic person and was instead designed to suppress or eradicate ‘undesirable’ behaviours. For clarity, we are opposed to ABA, or anything that forces autistic people to be anything but themselves. However, we also acknowledge that every autistic person has their own unique experience, and requires a different level of support. We discuss whether services that support individuals to fill ‘skill gaps’ might be useful, and whether these still come under the umbrella of ABA. There are many providers who want to help autistic people thrive, without forcing them to deny their natural urges, and essentially who they are. What is not clear, is what methods are used. This is merely an introduction to the topic, and much more research and investigation will need to be conducted. We will revisit this in future podcasts, and welcome any comments, experiences and insights related to ABA that can be used to educate...us and our listeners.

This episode explores my experience in the workplace as a Neurodivergent individual. We also discuss whether one should disclose their diagnosis to an employer. Listen now to find out what happened when I did.

This podcast discusses homeschooling, and parenting PDA children, as PDA parents. We do go off on a tangent...and I warn you that my first attempt at editing leaves a lot to be desired. I will improve, I promise! Ignore the jumps from one part to the next if you can. Hopefully you will relate to some of our content, or find something useful.