Educating, Supporting and Empowering the Autism Community.
Episodes
Monday Nov 25, 2019
Monday Nov 25, 2019
EPISODE 44: AUTISM, ART & HONESTY
INTRO:
Hey, everyone! Thanks so much for joining me today. I’m speaking with Megan Heinz, an autism mom who has been dedicated and passionate about creating accepting and inclusive environments for her son on the spectrum. She’s also gonna share a super cool way that she has been able to connect with her son through art.
And, also a reminder, if you’re enjoying this podcast, please rate and review us wherever you listen to podcasts, and share with a friend. That’s how we make our voice stronger. Thanks for listening!
SEGMENT:
I first connected with Megan Heinz on her Instagram page entitled “Above Typical”; a page that she created to inspire others and connect through autism, art and honesty. A place to laugh and to learn. She shares the real, un-sugarcoated everyday life of her family, and I love how she has taken a somewhat unique approach in bonding with her son through art. I can’t wait for her to share her story on how she fell into this. Please welcome this episode’s amazing guest, Megan Heinz.
CONCLUSION:
Parents have a huge influence over a child’s development and happiness. But this influence can look extremely different from family to family. No textbooks, no manuals, but each family trying to figure out how to best parent their child that has come into this world with their own temperaments, their own personalities, and their own strengths and weaknesses. We teach our children, and they teach us. That’s what is so awesome! To everyone out there putting forth what I know to be an amazing effort to support our children, thank you. Keep up the great work, and thanks for being a part of My Autism Tribe. See ya next week!
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
Monday Nov 18, 2019
Monday Nov 18, 2019
EPISODE 43: AUTISM PARENTING…AND A SIDE OF FRIES
INTRO:
Hello, my fellow tribe members! Thanks for joining me today. I’m gonna start right off and say this week’s episode is gonna to make you laugh your socks off. Today, I’m speaking with Eileen Shaklee, also known as “Mama Fry” to all her blog followers. She’s the proud mom of a teenage son with autism, and shares with us how humor (and a side of fries) has helped her family in everyday life.
And if you’re enjoying this podcast, please rate and review us wherever you listen to podcasts, and share with a friend. That’s how we make our voice stronger. Thank you so much for listening!
SEGMENT:
Autism can be isolating at times. There are great days, and then the not-so-great days that leave us scratching our heads and questioning if we’re doing enough…if we ARE enough. But one thing that I believe is super important is finding the humor in all of it. Sometimes it’s difficult to laugh when everything around you is hitting the fan and causing what feels like mass destruction…but you CAN. Eileen Shakle started a blog several years ago as an outlet to connect with others that were experiencing the same things, and people…she’s FUNNY. I love her viewpoint on everyday life, and I know that you will, too. Please welcome, Eileen Shaklee…or as many know her…”Mama Fry”.
CONCLUSION:
Don’t get stuck in the trenches. Sure, it’s important to experience emotions, vent frustrations, but take the time to find goodness every day. Those little things that you can laugh about…maybe it’s at a later time rather than in the moment…but those things or people that will make you chuckle. Life’s too short to stand under a rain cloud all the time. Find the sunshine. Thanks for being a part of My Autism Tribe, and I’ll see ya next week!
COOL ANNOUNCEMENT: My Autism Tribe has been recognized in the "Global Top 20" autism podcasts on Feedspot! https://blog.feedspot.com/autism_podcasts/
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
www.autismwithasideoffries.blogspot.com
https://www.facebook.com/AutismWithASideOfFries/
Wednesday Nov 13, 2019
Wednesday Nov 13, 2019
EPISODE 42: A FAMILY’S AUTISM JOURNEY
INTRO:
Hi, there! Thanks for joining me. Today, I’m speaking with Laurie Hellmann. She hales from Indiana, and is a proud autism warrior mom who recently wrote a memoir documenting the journey her family has been on since her 16 - year old son, Skyler, was diagnosed with autism in 2006. I’m so happy to have met yet another powerful advocate, and I hope that you enjoy listening.
And you’re enjoying this podcast, we kindly request that you rate and review us wherever you listen to podcasts, and share with a friend. That’s how we make our voice stronger. Thanks for listening!
Today’s podcast is brought to you by Audible – get a FREE audiobook download and 30 day free trial at www.audibletrial.com/MyAutismTribe. Over 180,000 titles to choose from for your iPhone, Android, Kindle or mp3 player.
SEGMENT:
Laurie Hellmann has spent the last 14 years fiercely navigating through therapies, medications and countless other medical and personal challenges with her son, all while continuing to fight for and be the voice for other families with a loved one on the autism spectrum. She also has a 14-year old neurotypical daughter who is just now starting to express that being a sibling of autism is not for the weak because it means that every day is a whirlwind and you never know what to expect.
Most recently, Laurie started a podcast called “Living the Sky Life” to further document and bring a voice to the often-unspoken struggles that families with special needs children, and specifically teenagers, face day to day. Let’s welcome Laurie!
CONCLUSION:
The roles of advocacy can have many forms, but all are important. There are those of us who are talkers, those of us who are the silent giants working magic behind the scenes, but all of us who spend countless hours advocating for those we love – and some we have yet to meet. I’m so proud of each and every one of you, for your dedication, for your heart, and for your support. Thanks for being a part of My Autism Tribe, and I’ll see ya next week!
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/livingtheskylifeautismjourney
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/living_the_skylife_autismtrip
Monday Nov 04, 2019
Monday Nov 04, 2019
EPISODE 41: WHEN I FEEL DEFEATED
INTRO:
Hello there! Today, is a solo episode. Just me, talking about my feelings of defeat. We’ve all been there, am I right? Maybe you’re there right now, listening and thinking, “is this going to be another person telling me how to not feel defeated, giving me a checklist on ways cope?” Nope. None of those. I’m just here sharing my feelings on defeat, and offering my recent viewpoint on this feeling.
And if, by chance, you feel like you’ve connected in some way on what I’m sharing, I’d love for you to take one minute to rate and review this podcast. Maybe even share it with a friend. This podcast is one way that we make our voices stronger, and to connect with those that are traveling alongside us in our crazy journey of parenting. Thanks for listening.
SEGMENT:
Let’s face it, parenting is tough stuff. You can go into any bookstore or newsstand and peruse hundreds of books and magazines with “Tips on How to Be an Exemplary Parent”. Try Googling “parenting”. Have you ever tried this? Just type “parenting”. You’ll be introduced to millions of articles, studies, Amazon links, parenting blogs, you name it – everyone is trying to figure it out. Professionals are telling you the parenting style that creates the most well-adjusted children, and I even read an article recently that said for better or worse, parenting changes your child’s DNA. Think about that. It’s no wonder that we have feelings of defeat Every. Single. Day. And let’s talk about Pinterest. Have any of you tried to make these elaborate birthday cakes that have a simple 5 Steps to a Magical Creation, only to have your child ask what it is that you just created? Raise your hand…you know who you are, and I’m included.
Granted, there are days when I say to myself, and even out loud with a pat on my back, “Susan, you know what? You’re not a terrible mom. You are a downright ok-ish mom”. Did you hear that? “Ok-ish”. Why is it that we don’t allow ourselves to say that we are awesome? That we are absolutely slaying this whole parenting thing? Well, let’s talk about stress and fatigue for a hot second.
Stress and fatigue enter (and sometimes lingers) in our lives when our demands exceed the expectations and resources available to us. And let’s face it, Pinterest has not helped, and as special needs parents, we often struggle to find enough resources available to help us. It’s hard to manage a home with an increasingly amount of clutter building, a list of chores longer than the Great Wall of China, work responsibilities, holiday preparations, school functions. I’ve read blogs and watched TV shows on how to create more organization, like Tidying Up with Marie Kondo (which by the way, is she even real…is someone really THAT organized)? Something that I’ve come to realize…and just recently…is that there is no ONE cookie-cutter approach to all of it. I’m tired of trying to fit in the box that social media and TV shows tell me I need to be in in order to feel like a great mom, a worthy friend, a socially-acceptable human being. Sometimes that box just doesn’t feel right. Plus, our social norms are constantly changing, right? What Hollywood is defining as beautiful and the articles that are telling us what is right will inevitably change. For example, remember when everyone freaked out years ago trying to eliminate ALL fat from our diets. Everything on the shelves in stores turned to “Fat Free”? Now, it turns out that we actually need fat in our diets – the healthy kind, of course. I challenge you to go down that Google rabbit hole.
I tell my son all the time that we are all different, and differences aren’t bad, but beautiful. So why can’t I take these words and apply them to my own life? Why is it that I keep coming back to these socially-created definitions of perfection? It always leads me to the same abandoned house, filled with feelings of defeat. I’m so tired of it. I’m tired of even acting like I have all my stuff together…because I don’t. And I’m not afraid of admitting that to ANYONE. Maybe this is what it’s going to take to change my mindset…like a detour from the path I’ve been traveling. There will be days that are easier, and then there will be days where I feel absolutely freaked out because it’s hard, hard, hard work shaping another human being, my child, my heart, the very reason, in fact, that I feel like most days I’m still breathing.
So, let me take a look at another way of viewing the stress and feelings of defeat. What if, the whole parenting thing is not just about shaping my child, but shaping me as well? That I’m actually becoming a better woman, a better parent, just by being a parent and the challenges (and celebration) it gives. I can’t tell you the number of times that I’ve given a stink eye to someone who told me “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”. No one wants to hear that from someone else, but maybe I can tell myself that. The stretching and growing from parenting is actually a great thing. It’s a gift, a blessing, that my home needs me.
Let’s look at defeat as power. I think about the times, when I was a child, and even as an adult, where I failed. It did build strength. It did build character, and almost a stubbornness to overcome – to succeed and win. I come from a long line of STRONG women – women that didn’t take “no” for an answer, trail blazers in their time. They weren’t strong because they never failed. They became strong because they experienced defeat, more times, I’m sure, than they admitted. I’m woven from their cloth – a piece of their patchwork quilt.
Most of us cling to the idea that skill comes naturally. We’re born with it. Either we’re good, or not good, at something. Well, that’s simply not true. Even people that are born gifted have to work hard to hone their ability. We’re not born as parents. We have parents when we are born. These trials we experience are honing our ability to become better.
CONCLUSION:
So, let’s all take the time to lift each other up, to give each other high fives, to smile as we’re passing by that person in the grocery store. We all have feelings of defeat, and we’re just honing our ability to become better. For ourselves and for each other.
Thanks for taking the time to listen, and for being a part of My Autism Tribe. You all are very much appreciated. See ya next week!