In this episode, I close the podcast season with a reflection on 2020 and the invitation that it gave me to step FULLY into my calling.

I talk about inclusion, systemic racism, neurodiversity and tokenism and how my children challenged me to make the workplace safe for kids like them.

This is a fireside chat about disrupting business as we know it and creating businesses where humans belong and feel like they can thrive. I hope you sign up for the challenge.

If you want to talk about this more, connect with me at FaithClarke.com or email [email protected].

What to do when you don’t have a model for what you need? Autumn says:

- Start with what works for you.

These beliefs lead Autumn to completely change where and how she lived, to give her son the best opportunity to learn and grow. We talked about how far (literally) she was willing to go to help her entire family regulate.

She’s separated her kids, bought a farm and moved there with her son with autism, created Thriving He’Art acres and shares her farm and her art with special needs families. She’s wrapping up her book of art meditations that guide readers towards conscious community - connect with self and others.

Connect with her at [email protected] and visit her at www.thrivingheartconnections.net.

Meet Emma Eppard, a beast at relentless implementation as she homeschools, creates curriculum and supports other moms. Emma has no middle ground. She’s either all in or all out. Her mantra is ‘Let’s do something about it’. She’s integrated her problem solving superpower with her background in education and her husband’s graphic design background into a beautiful curriculum design business, which has lead her to the book she’s currently writing to help parents build crucial skills in their kids. We talk about - the disruption of childhood as an American in Bolivia: she was never the child that fits - Her first born with autism and the intervention approach that she took - How the Rapid Prompting Program helped her son integrate into typical community/family activities and the neurological homeschool group that they participate in - Her guiding principle ‘You can do, dabble or decline’ and how that helps her anchor to her priorities - How to stop ‘shoulding’ and ditch perfect and stay in the moment. - The magic of 5 mins in the bathroom - Her upcoming book, Motor Matters that will help your child build independence. Emma Eppard is a passionate homeschooling, with a degree in education. She loves scheduling, lesson planning, curriculum design. Check out her lesson plans for RPM at Autisticable.com

Edlyn is a catalyst of positive change in the autism community.  We had a beautiful conversation about believing what others can't believe, advocating for our kids voices and presence on a world that does not (yet) fit them.

Edlin Peña loves integrating and connecting with autistics and celebrating their voce.  Her core philosophy is that communication is the foundation of connection and she advocated for alternative communication for her son Diego, so that he could be included in age appropriate educational settings. The emergence of Diego's voice revealed his personality and wit, and opened the doors for his own advocacy, as he emerged as a writer and self-advocate within the autism community. If you haven't already, get a copy of his book, the Anatomy of Autism where he talked about the three areas that autism affects him.

Edlyn co-founded and is the Director of the Autism and Communication Center at California Lutheran University. 

She released her new book, Communication Alternatives in Autism, this week, and it's already become an amazon #1 new release! This book is filled with research based approaches to facilitating communication, as well as powerful stories of 10 autistic self-advocates who share deeply personal insights from their stories.

Professionally, she is Dr. Edlyn Peña, an Associate Professor of Higher Education Leadership and Director of the Autism and Communication Center at California Lutheran University. As an award-winning researcher, public speaker, and appointed member of the federal Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee, Dr. Peña is highly active in national conversations about autism and disability.

Connect with her at @autismresearcher, www.edlynpena.com or email: [email protected].

I’ve known Rachel for years... Seriously! There are yearbook pictures of Rachel and I together as pre-teens. Although her son has an undiagnosed neuromuscular disorder, Rachel is committed to 'squeezing every ounce out of life', and has built a practice of finding at least 3 gratitudes every day.

Our conversation is full of her wise tidbits that she got from her mom growing up, and other wise mentors in her life. We talk about 

Rachel describes herself as a nurturer at her core. As a certified fund-raising executive she helps non-profits raise money for their organization. 

Take some notes while listening to this one!

Connect with Rachel at https://www.facebook.com/nonprofitplusteam/

Sometimes autism interventions are culturally incentive. As 2 mamas of black children, Maria and I talk about a little of what that means.Maria, this amazing mother of three, wife, author, speaker, therapist and America's number one autism advocate for black families - as she likes to call her self- shows us how she created a solution to that problem through Autism in Black, LLC, a business that supports black families in their autism journey and train professionals on being culturally competent within the black disability community.  We talked about:

More about Maria

Maria is a licensed mental health counselor (LMHC) in the state of Florida. She graduated from Florida State University with a Bachelors of Science in Sociology and went on to obtain a Masters of Science in Mental Health Counseling from Nova Southeastern University. Fun facts: 

Maria’s passion is being an autism advocate with her mission being to bring awareness to the impact culture can have regarding an ASD diagnosis. 

You can go to www.autisminblack.org to subscribe to the monthly newsletter and check out all the other great resources on the site. 

Get her free self-care guide for special needs parents here:-> www.autisminblack.org/selfcare

Connect with her: Facebook: @autisminblk; Instagram: @autisminblack; Twitter: @autisminblack www.autisminblack.org; email: [email protected]