The Grit and Grind of Autism- Finding Light Along the Journey

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Pam Villeneuve is a Somatic Coach & Intimacy Practitioner who founded The Heart of Pleasure Project to help individuals and couples connect to themselves and each other through their heart and body. Her nurturing enthusiasm guides clients to gain somatic awareness, listening to the wisdom of the body and connecting through intuitive energy to heal relationships and embody pleasure in new and vibrant ways. In this work, Pam allows people to connect from the ‘neck down’ and join their intellect back with their body and heart, to safely express all they are feeling to themselves and others, thus deepening their intimacy capacity. She brings a breadth of experience from teaching many forms of movement/dance, breathwork, yoga and femme certification, erotic blueprint work, orgasmic arc and UPLVL communication training, and is a graduate of the School of Womanly Arts. Pam also has over 30 years experience in the recovery community.

Pam is married and has two sons. Joey her youngest has a diagnosis of Down’s syndrome and autism.

Contact Pam: Heart of Pleasure Project

Book Recommendations:
Women Who Run with the Wolves by Clarissa Estes
Boundary Boss by Teri Cole
UPLVL Communication by Kenya Stevens & Carl Stevens
Pussy A Reclamation by Regina Thomashauer
Eastern Body Western Mind by Anodea Judith
Woman Most Wild by Danielle Dulsky
The Orgasmic Arc by Genevieve 

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Josselyn Ensor is a licensed Board Certified Behavior Analyst and Special Educator with over 20 years of experience working with individuals on the Autism Spectrum. She has worked in various settings and held leadership roles in healthcare companies as well as nonpublic and public school sectors. Josselyn has trained and supported countless professionals and caregivers to deliver high-quality ABA and special education services, with a focus on instilling a passion for advocacy and never underestimating a person's capabilities. She encourages others to seek compassionate and progressive ways to achieve outcomes, pushing past barriers to redefine potential.

Josselyn’s Website:
www.learningoutsidethelines.org

Book Recommendations:
Turn Autism Around: An Action Guide for Parents of Young Children with Early Signs of Autism by Dr. Mary Barbara, Ph D, RN, BCBA-D

The Out-of-Sync Child, Third Edition: Recognizing and Coping with Sensory Processing Differences (The Out-of-Sync Child Series) by Carol Stock Kranowitz

The Reason I Jump: The Inner Voice of a Thirteen-Year-Old Boy with Autism by Naoki Higashida

Navigating Autism: 9 Mindsets For Helping Kids on the Spectrum by Temple Grandin and Debra Moore 

LCarly's Voice: Breaking Through Autism by Arthur Fleischmann with Carly Fleischmann 

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Free 1-Hour Behavioral & Educational Consult Giveaway Drawing I'm offering for World Autism Awareness Month:

https://giveaway.learningoutsidethelines.org

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The Autism Cafe (Great article written by an autistic adult)

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Neal Lichter, Program Director, joined Pathfinders for Autism in October of 2013.   As a trainer, Neal has provided an Understanding of ASD training since 2014.  Audiences include students from Kindergarten-college, educators, police, first responders, medical personnel, and many others across the state of Maryland.  Neal is also responsible for helping to plan many of the workshops that Pathfinders for Autism collaborates on around Maryland. Neal is married, with two sons, one of which has Autism.

Contact Info:
Pathfinders for Autism
[email protected]

Resource Center:
443.330.5341
[email protected]

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It’s been 23 days since my sons last seizure. It was awful. It was traumatizing. You never get use to epilepsy. This one was by far the worst one yet. I felt deep in my soul that I needed to share this experience. Very thankful to my dear friend Juliet Gilden for talking with me so I could tell this part of our story.

Resources from our discussion:
Pathfinders for Autism
MD Advisory Stakeholder Group on Autism
National Epilepsy Foundation
Delegate Michele Guyton
Juliet's Paintings

#thegritandgrindofautism podcast is available on all major platforms. 

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Dr. Shayna Stoogenke is a pediatric Occupational Therapist with over 18 years of experience in evaluating and treating children with varying needs.  She has extensive training in sensory integration and has spent the last 10 years supporting families by conducting evaluations and making recommendations for children entering school for the first time.  She is passionate about her work and helping children learn through play- and even more passionate about helping families see past a labeled disability and recognize and support the ability within their child.  Learn more about her work at ShaynaOT .   

Resources from the pod discussion:
Therapeutic Listening Therapy
The Out-of-Sync Child
The Out-of-Sync Child Has Fun
The Out-of-Sync Child Grows Up

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Angie Noppenberger is just a person trying to get by day by day and navigating what life brings to her.  She is a mother of two special needs children who light up the world, a mental health therapist with 20 years of experience, and a  wife married for 20 years to a wonderful and supportive husband. She is also a sister, a niece, an aunt, a daughter, and a friend.  

References from pod discussion noted below:

Podcasts

Huberman Lab (full of valuable information on taking care of yourself)  

NPR's Up First (helps with perspective taking and what is happening on a global level)

Books

Atomic Habits by James Clear (helps with creating systems to make life easier)

How Emotions are Made by Lisa Feldman Barrett (body budgeting concept)

Think Again by Adam Grant (revising)

The Last Best Cure by Donna Jackson Nakazawa (beautiful book that opened my eyes and allowed me to accept my sensitivity)

Bonus Recommendation 😀

Serenity Now Button

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Join us for a discussion about early intervention, the battle to secure services, nutrition and affirmations. Lemlem Kentiba-Paige was born to Eritrean parents in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, went to high school in Dallas, Texas, and attended undergrad and graduate school in Maryland. A cyber security engineer with a master’s degree in information technology, Lemlem resides with her family in Maryland.

Lemlem is the loving mother of two kids. Her son who at the age of two did not speak and doctors feared had autism. For the next four years, Lemlem and her husband took their son to speech therapy, occupational therapy, and applied behavior therapy five times a week, eight hours a day. He also received additional help on the weekends. Today, their son has fully recovered and shows no signs of autism. Lemlem has written a book called “King Yosef and His Superheroes” to share her experience and to help other parents who may be going through the same experience. 

In her book, King Yosef and his superheroes, you will discover how Young King Yosef overcame the challenges he faced. This story is about a young boy whose challenges began with a speech delay. The speech delay caused social, emotional, and behavioral problems that led to a possible Autism diagnosis. Yosef worked very hard in speech, occupational, and applied behavioral therapy to overcome his challenges. Yosef is now able to talk and no longer has any of the challenges or signs of Autism. This book will help everyone understand the challenges children with speech delay, sensory issues and Autism diagnosis face each day. Yosef is an amazing child who loves and enjoys life to the fullest.

Today Yosef is in 4th grade and doing very well in school. He was inspired by his mother and has written his first book, “The Daily adventures of King Yosef and Queen Yarah, Positive thoughts will lead to positive life”. The moral of the story in his book is no matter what you face each day, think of all the positive things in life and do not focus on the negative. Every problem has a solution. Figure out a positive solution to your problem and don't let negative thoughts ruin your day and life. Everything happens for the greater good. Think positive, Be positive.

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Katie Eschleman is a music therapist serving primarily kids who have differing needs.  She holds a  Masters Degree from Drexel University and has been in the field for 20 years.  Katie brings a great source of fun and creativeness to her therapy sessions.  She is loved so much by all of her students (and their families).  In her spare time Katie enjoys running, kick boxing, spending time with her daughters and playing gigs.

Heartstrings United
Making the Pitch for Music
Jamie Costello Interview
Sing Out - Amazon Music

Mozart:
Sonata for Two Pianos in D, KV 448

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Dave is the father of two special needs teens.  He has spent his career in the engineering field, analyzing difficult technical problems.  Recently, he has focused a lifelong passion for numbers and personal finance into becoming a financial coach.  As a coach, he helps analyze individuals’ and families’ budgets, spending and income to move towards their short and long-term goals.  Special needs personal finance is at the intersection of his own experience as a father and his enthusiasm for personal finance.  Dave enjoys biking and reading.

To contact Dave for financial coaching: Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.coachyourdollars.com
Twitter:  @CoachYourDollar

Show Notes:
Autism Waiver  http://marylandpublicschools.org/programs/Pages/Special-Education/autismfactsheet.aspx

DDA Medicaid Waivers
https://health.maryland.gov/dda/Pages/Medicaid_Waiver_Programs.aspx

Special Needs Lawyer
https://steedmanlaw.net

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Susan is back and something's been eating at her.  We have another wonderful conversation about breaking patterns, unschooling, Spell2Communicate, belief systems and her Get Moving Challenge. 

Sign up for free:
Rise Up with Susan May

Resources:
Underestimated - J.B. and Jamison Handley

I-ASC (International Association for Spelling as Communication

Big Book of Unschooling - Sandra Dodd

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