Taking Authority Over Autism

When Sheletta's daughter Cameron was diagnosed with autism at just two years old, her symptoms were so severe experts said she'd never be able to learn. Cameron joins this week's show to prove them wrong and invite listeners to her Facebook live pajama jam story times reading her new children's book about her journey to kindergarten.

Sheletta wrote Cameron Goes To School, the story of her daughter's autism journey, to inspire young black girls on the spectrum. The new author had no idea hundreds of schools and dozens of community groups would use the book to encourage students heading back to class during COVID-19.

Elna Hall, a psychologist in the San Francisco area has a teenage son with autism who is black. She joins Sheletta on the Taking Authority Over Autism podcast to talk about her fear for her special needs son should he encounter police...

After four years of working with Minnesota Senator Kari Dziedzic, my son Andrew helped pass a law that requires the police officers to be trained for interactions with people who have autism. I am so proud of my son and so grateful to Senator Dziedzic for her committmentemnt to families with special needs children.

Sheletta gets dozens of calls a week from parents who need money or resources for their special needs children. This week, she talks to Morgan Traynor from The Shooting Star Foundation, an organization that pays for therapy and prescriptions for low income families who have kids with autism.

Sheletta and her children got the opportunity of a lifetime when host of The Profit Marcus Lemonis ask her to be the new celebrity spokesperson for his company Camping World. She tells her friends Susie Jones and Steve Thomson from WCCO Radio that in addition to that, she'll get a free RV and a new reality show out of the deal.

Don't think just because your child has autism that they don't need to know how to handle police encounters. Even with limited language and comprehension, Sheletta teaches parents how to equip their special needs children with a healthy fear of law enforcement.

Sheletta was overwhelmed when she found out one of her Twitter followers bought an entire case of her new book to give out as a gift to children with special needs, so she put in a surprise call to Eleanor to say thank you for being so generous and for helping to spread autism awareness.

Sheletta was amazed to find another mom out there with three children who have autism. She thought she was the ONLY one. Of course, she invited Alicia Trautwein, author of The Mom Kind blog on the show to share her story and how Alicia's turned her misery into a ministry to help other autism moms in need.

Sheletta invites former school superintendent and education advocate Dr. Bernadeia Johnson to talk about the impact COVID 19 is having on black children with special needs. Cut off from school services and therapies, many of them are falling behind and regressing. What can parents do? The good doctor has good answers...