Lois Brady: Publishing Autism Digest and Exploring Real Stories and Experiences

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Lois Brady on Autism Digest, Real Stories, and Raising Expectations in Autism Support
Host Tony Mantor welcomes Lois Brady, publisher of Autism Digest and a speech-language pathologist, to discuss how the magazine blends expert guidance with lived experience using multimedia features like QR-linked videos.
Brady shares how writing Apps for Autism and contributing to Autism, Asperger’s Digest led to her acquiring the publication nearly two years ago. As the mother of an autistic son, she describes early signs, being brushed off by providers, choosing not to label him in school, and the long-term effort that helped him become independent and employed, though social challenges remain.
Brady emphasizes early identification, practical parent strategies, and avoiding the Rosenthal Effect of low expectations, including teaching non-speaking individuals to type.
She describes a breakthrough with a non-speaking child using text-to-speech, addresses public misconceptions, contrasts meltdowns with tantrums, discusses Asperger’s being folded into autism, highlights Temple Grandin’s practical advice, and explores how AI can support early intervention and diagnostic cues.
00:00 Show Intro and Mission
01:21 Meet Lois Brady
02:18 How Autism Digest Began
04:28 Early Career and Inspiration
05:14 A Mom’s Diagnosis Journey
07:39 Early Signs and Adulthood Today
09:16 How Autism Understanding Evolved
10:33 Raising Expectations and Communication
12:16 Typing Breakthrough Story
14:24 Lessons from Autistic Voices
16:06 Media Myths and Public Understanding
17:43 Aspergers vs Autism
18:17 AI for Early Support
21:10 From Cure to Support
22:51 Temple Grandin Wisdom
24:25 Meltdowns vs Tantrums
25:41 Stories and Rising Rates
28:52 Success and High Expectations
29:57 Transitions and Exposure
31:06 Ask Learn Connect

INTRO/OUTRO Music: T. Wild
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The content on Why Not Me: Embracing Autism amd Mental Health Worldwide, including discussions on mental health, autism, and related topics, is provided for informational and entertainment purposes only. 

The views and opinions expressed by guests are their own and do not reflect those of the podcast, its hosts, or affiliates.

Why Not Me is not a medical or mental health professional and does not endorse or verify the accuracy, efficacy, safety of any treatments, programs, or advice discussed.

Listeners should consult qualified healthcare professionals, such as licensed therapists, psychologists, or physicians, before making decisions about mental health or autism- related care.

Reliance on this podcast's contents is at the listener's own risk. 

Why Not Me is not liable for any outcomes, financial or otherwise, resulting from actions taken based on the information provided.

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2026-04-01 33 min Transcript

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Transcript

Welcome to Why Not Me Embracing Autism and Mental Health Worldwide?
Hosted by Tony Mantor, broadcasting from the heart of Music City, USA, Nashville, Tennessee.
Join us as our guests share their raw, powerful stories.
Some will spark laughter, others will move you to tears.
These real life journeys inspire, connect and remind you that
you're never alone. We're igniting a global movement to empower
everyone to make a lasting difference by fostering deep awareness on,
wavering acceptance, and profound understanding of autism and mental health.
Tune in, be inspired, and join us in transforming the world,
one story at a time. Hi, I'm Tony Mantor. Welcome
to Why Not May Embracing Autism and Mental Health Worldwide.
Before we jump in, if you haven't already, I invite
you to tap polow. It only takes a couple of
seconds and it helps this show reach more families who
need to hear these conversations. Thanks for being here. Joining
us today is Lois Brady. She's the publisher of Autism Digest,
a publication dedicated to sharing knowledge, resources, and real life
experiences from across the autistic community. Through her work She's
helped create a platform where information meets real experience, helping
families better understand autism while giving a voice to those
who are navigating it daily. Her work continues to help
shape conversation around understanding, inclusion, and support for individuals and
families worldwide. Today, we're going to talk about the evolving
conversation around autism, the importance of sharing real stories, and
how platforms like Autism Digest help bring those voices to
the forefront. We've got a great conversation coming, so before
we dive into our episode, we'll be back with an
uninterrupted show right after a word from our sponsors. Thanks
for joining us.
Today, Yeah, no problem, it'd be fun.
Yeah, I'm looking forward to it. You published the Autism
Digest for those that may not be aware of it.
Can you share a little bit about the magazine I do, Tony.
I am the publisher of Autism Digests, which came about
to me in kind of an odd way. I'm a
language pathologist by trade. When technology first came out, specifically
like the iPad, When Steve Jobs stood up on the
stage and announced the iPad, it's almost instant I realized
that that could be.
A great tool for people with autism.
So I got one and I started researching and I
wrote the book Apps for Autism.
So of course, at that moment, you become the expert.
Now I'm a speech language pathologist and a technology expert,
and I started writing four At that time it was
Autism Assburger's Digests. I've written a book for Future Horizons,
which at that time published also Autism Assburgers Digest.
And they're in Texas.
And they were a family owned company, publishing company, and
I really like them.
So when they were getting ready to.
Sell it, they asked me, and I'm like, oh my gosh, no,
I'm too busy, but oh my gosh, that's so telling.
That's incredibly tempting. I'm gonna go ahead and take it on.
And I did, and I love it.
It's a great way to kind of get all the
experience that I have in my thirty years of being
a speech language pathologist, plus knowing all the experts in
the field and all the parents and just meeting and
working with probably tens of thousands of families, to take
that experience and give people good information.
Not information, because there's a ton out there. Tony.
You know you're in the business and everybody has information,
but I feel that, but I'm in a particular position
where I can actually pick out what's the greatest information
and entertain people as well. I've put in like QR
codes where you can go to movies or go to videos,
and I'm trying to make it more of just absorbing information,
but kind of like submersing yourself into the information multimodality.
That's kind of.
Where we are now, and I'm really proud of it,
had it for almost two years.
I'm right there with you. You should be proud of it.
Tell us what inspired your passion for this.
Originally, Tony, I just don't know. I used to go
to Oh my gosh, this is going to age me,
but it was called the Stockton State Hospital, Okay, which
then turned into developmental centers and now have been kind
of dissolved and volunteer and I love, love, love working there.
From that experience, I thought I was going to go
into teaching deaf kids, and I learned sign language, and
then autism became a thing, and it was it's so.
Different.
At the time, this is like thirty years ago, nobody
knew what it was. And then I had a son
who was on the spectrum. And that's when I took
the deep dive.
I'm like, oh my gosh, Okay, time to figure it out.
Now, you being the mother of an autistic son, how
did that change your perspective on what you had planned
on doing? And then ultimately, how did it change on
what you did do moving forward.
As a mom?
Yeah, as a career, well, let's do both, but let's
start out with the mom first.
And the mom well, you know, it completely changes your
whole perspective. Now there's that moment where you've had this
son and it was my first son, and he's you
have all these plans everyone does, and then there's that
second where you look into his eyes and you're like,
something's wrong, something's not right. I gotta figure it out.
And you start digging and working and digging. And then
it was over thirty years ago, Tony, this is thirty
two years ago.
And I took him to his pediatrician. Oh, he's just
a boy, and I'm like, no, he's not just boy.
There's actually things he's doing. I'm a sleechy language pathologist.
I know what just boys are and what behavior that's
not quite in the norm is too, he's not doing
things typical boys do.
But I got brushed off, brushed off, and I.
Think unfortunately parents still do get brushed off. I mean,
I was speaking with a mom who had a young
little girl two years old just the other day, Tony,
and she was telling me that one of her providers
from a state organization. I'm not going to say the
one told her not to even get him checked and
tell this little girl's three years old, don't even worry
about it, she'll grow out of it.
Wow.
This was just the other day, Like, oh my gosh,
that's amazing. Yeah.
Yeah, And in the middle of California, where you think,
you know, there's a lot of information here, we're very progressive,
cutting edge, and here this is still happening.
Yeah, yeah, back then, So of course my aim changed.
I was up and I hear this story over and
over again all night long on the computer, figuring out
what to do.
Where what my best choices were right.
And I have to say, unfortunately, as a therapist working
in the school districts, I knew, and this is going
to be controversial, that that was not my option. Giving
him over to the special ed system would make him
worse and just create conflict. And you know, so I didn't.
I did not even have him labeled ever. You know,
it's a parent's choice. I hear people say it's good,
people say not to. Was my personal choice not to
have him labeled in to just send him through school.
Sure, So, what were some of the things you started
noticing that didn't quite seem typical compared to the other
children his age.
Yeah? Yeah, this lining up his little cars, you know,
not able to stay.
He was verbal, so that part was, you know, a blessing.
And he was one of.
The hyperverbal kids who would fixate state on his little cars.
And by the time he was I don't know three,
he knew the name of every piece of heavy equipment
where it was going.
So he was on one of those guys.
And just unusual physical movements besides the stemming, sure, kind
of a robotic gate, Unable to make friends, a little
bit of head banging.
Where is he today?
Today?
He's grown up, he's in construction, he has a job,
he has a car, he drives nice you know, he
lives on his own. He still has significant trouble with
the friendship stuff, you know, reading other people, the whole
dating and opposite sex thing is still very mysterious to him.
That's understanding.
So yeah, but he's functioning, he's out there. I'm telling
you that, Tony. It was a lot of work.
On parents part, sure, And from what I seen through
all my career, if there is that person, that parent,
that one whoever it is, who does not give up
and stays there, the child usually does very well.
Building that kind of bond and relationship takes a lot
of work and understanding. You mentioned earlier that just a
few days ago someone told you don't do it, which
is pretty surprising when you think back twenty five thirty
years ago. How have you seen the understanding and diagnosis
of autism change compared to what it is today.
Yeah, for the most part, that's rare. That I see
and hear that. That's a little scary, a little rare.
But now we have technology.
Yeah, that's so true.
I'm even creating tools for early intervention. That's great, early diagnosis.
Like me, I saw something that was different in my child,
something that was wrong.
Yeah, at the time, there was no autism. We didn't
even learn.
Autism in school. We had one half an hour election
on autism. You know, we all kind of like took
notes and then it was gone.
Yeah. So when I saw him, I really guys like,
something's wrong. I'm not sure what it was.
That's interesting you mentioned that a speech therapist who inspired
me to start this podcast once told me that during
her four years of college, she only had a small
portion of one semester that focused on autism. Now, fast
forward twenty thirty years, there are entire courses and programs
dedicated to it. With that kind of progress, what innovations
or research do you think are most important for us
to focus on moving forward?
You know, and I've written about this several times in
Autism Digest. I think we have and I don't know
if you you know, the Rosenthal effect. We have that
for our kids with autism, and I think in the
schools it's super pervasive. I think even parents have it
to a certain degree because I'm trying to coach them
and talk to them.
And they, you know, parents are over helpers.
It's like, you know, I have people writing in my
magazine who are non speakers. Teach these kids to type,
teach them how that's their mode of expression. Many of
my people on the autism sectrum, if they're going to
communicate it's going to be typing, talking and gestures and
some kind of what I call idiosyncratic language. But they
can learn to type. Teach them to type, Oh my goodness.
That is what I found to be a huge key.
But now I run into the Rosenthal effect where people
are assuming already that these.
Kids they can't talk, Well, how in the heck can
they type?
What? And if they're being you know, if they're stemming
or humming or whatever it is they are, people almost
all the time say they're also developmentally disabled, and so
until they can talk, why in the heck would I
even teach them how to type? Well, that's my you know,
that would be my key. Don't put limits on them.
You know, real life things. You know, you see these kids,
they're they're teenagers, they're already all over YouTube and you know,
managing these things.
And I'm like, did you teach them the type? Well? No,
I didn't think about that. Well, he's all beyond.
Their Yeah, that's such a great point. Is there a
time or a moment in your life, either with autism
digest or being the mother of an autistic child, where
a certain moment or experience with someone on the autism
spectrum really shifted your perspective and the way you look
at autism.
Yeah, yeah, I have that little guy. He's still here, okay.
And it was the first time I actually took this
very what most people would say profound young man. Okay,
in his afternoon screaming, crying. He lived in a group home.
But there was something about this little guy. I could
see that when the teacher put her starbucks on the table,
the second she turned.
Around, he was over there getting So he's.
Watching and if you see those things, you're like, well,
there's a level of intelligence, you know.
Yeah, right, And he was I.
Don't know, maybe let's just say eight.
He was still having trouble using the bathroom, so, oh
my god, he's so low. And I realized he would
walk around with these little styrofoam letters in his hands,
and I said, you know, let's just take those letters
and spell your name. And so I spelled it, and
then I picked up my phone and I put it in.
My text to speech. So we spelled it in the
text to.
Speech, and then I put speak and he heard it,
and he turned around and he looked and he's like,
oh my gosh, you know, and I'm my only I
think I just you know, turned on a light here.
So we were doing all kinds of things like spelling
high and my name and come back the next session
and he remembered it nice.
And I'm like, oh my gosh.
So this little child learned to type, and then he
became self taught because he realized that he could do that,
that's something he can do.
He started typing.
But then it got heartbreaking because as he got better
and better, we realized that, like I said, he lived.
In a group home.
He was very bitter about that. Yeah, and that's why
he was crying most afternoons because he was very angry
with his mom because she Anyway, it turns into a sadder,
darker story at that point, and I'm like, oh, there's
this little child and nobody knew what was going on,
and now we can address it.
So yeah, that makes sense. Now, some of the best
teachers of autism are those who are autistic. Yes, So
tell me what have you learned over the years from
autistic people that you might not have learned if they
were not autistic.
Oh my gosh.
Probably you know, just in myself how to navigate the
world and realize that my actions really have an effect
on other people, you know, because that's what we try
to teach him, that what you do affects other people,
and just to learn how to do that better myself.
I don't think I would have learned that because we're
all kind.
Of a little bit shut off to other people in
our own world. But when you start like really trying
to get into other people's world and then bring them
to yours, you just kind of like start feeling everybody
else's like energy and empathy and be aware of it
and really navigate that much better.
Over the years, you've had so many stories that have
come to you through the autism digest. Is there a
special story or moment that has stayed with you all
these years coming from someone this autistic.
Oh, you know, there's so many and they're all similar. Yeah,
there's not one that sticks out. There's just the story.
Yeah, it's my story.
It's the mom with the sun usually the son, and
how her life has changed because she's been struggling to
try to raise this sun with autism. Sure, learn how
to do it, and that's the story.
Yeah, I say.
Moms typically mom, right, father, It has been daughter, But
there's just errant who's just their whole life got rearranged
in a second.
Autism has received a lot more media attention, especially in
the last twenty or thirty years, but sometimes the message
is just not always accurate, and that can leave families
feeling very confused. When people hear the word autism, many
still do not understand what it means. With all that confusion,
it can make the journey for an autistic family even
more difficult. What do you think we need to do
to create a clear understanding for the word autism to
the public.
You know, I've been asked that before, Someone asked me,
can you explain autism to me? Like, like, I'm a toddler, Yeah,
And I'm like, I can't.
Right, you have to know those folks, and you have
to know each one is different. And I think like
somebody the main the general.
Public has a perception of maybe Sheldon on the Big
Bang Theory. Yeah, yeah, someone like that, and that's you,
and that's why they're.
Saying leave them alone, let them live like they want
to live.
But my perception is very, very different because right now,
if you walk into a school, you're gonna find out one,
maybe two classrooms full of very young autistic, very severe kids,
and these kids can't talk. These kids are running out
of the classroom into the street, you know. And there's
this whole movement towards empathy, which I get and just
you know.
Live with them and learn how to embrace them.
And it's like, but they're running out in the street,
you know, we got to teach them.
Certain things, right, Yeah.
So, yeah, those two movements don't get along with each
other because people have different perceptions of what autism is. Yeah,
And I think when they took Aspergers away and moved
it in with autism, it was a huge disservice because
Asperger's is not autism, right, They're very very different kinds
of symptoms in very different ways that we manage those
symptoms communicating wise. Yeah right, I think that was a
huge disservice to clump them together. And I'm not even
sure why that happened. Is probably something financial.
One of the things I heard recently really caught me
off guard. I was talking with a gentleman who had
just gone through the process of being evaluated for autism.
The reason he started that journey was because his ten
year old daughter had been diagnosed. She actually told him
she thought he might be autistic too. Here's the fascinating part.
He uses AI specifically chat GPT a lot in his
work and had about two or three years of conversation
stored there. When he asked it to look at patterns
in those interactions, it pointed out traits commonly associated with autism.
So now, even undiagnosed, because of commonalities with his daughter,
he now believes he is autistic as well. So this
raises an interesting question. How do you see AI in
emerging technologies helping people better understand autism and how do
you see A supporting people that are on the spectrum.
I think, you know, and like I say, I'm using
I'm developing one right now.
But if we can identify.
Kids as early as possible, yeah, and start working with
them as early as possible, we can really suppress a
lot of the characteristics and a lot of the things
that really make it difficult as they grow older. We
can super help parents with strategies. I mean, there's just
maybe ten strategies that are so easy to implement. And
if we taught the parents as your child's growing up,
you know, and he wants something, most parents will say,
oh is it this?
You want is it this?
You know, get them to point, get them to do
a sign, whatever it is, and give them choices and
just teach those strategies. We could really avoid a lot
of problems as they're growing up. A I can help
us do that. So I have right now on autism digest.
You could go in and say, hey, I'm cooking pasta tonight.
I have a non speaking let's see a five year old.
How can I use this little dinner cooking event to
help my non speaking five year old learn going to tension.
You can even go that detailed and it'll tell you.
I'll give you all these wonderful strategies. And I love
that about the LMS.
It doesn't have to be chat GPT, right, chat GPT
is just one of them. There's a lot of them
out there now.
Yeah, and there's so supportive that a diagnosis where are
actually there.
Is vocal characteristics. So we can get a little sample of.
A voice, whether it's a word or not, and run
it through our system and we can tag certain characteristics.
We can say that's for diagnostic purposes. So if you have.
Any suspicions that all something's wrong, just go ahead and
start the strategies.
They're super easy.
It doesn't mean you don't love your child, doesn't mean
you're not being a great parent.
These are very easy strategies that you can start.
Now you have to is go to a chat GPT.
What are some strategies for early intervention for autism?
Boom up there.
We've come a long way since the fifties and the
sixties when autism really wasn't understood at all. When I
talk with families today, I still hear stories where someone
shares their diagnosis and people around them think it's something
that can be cured or fixed.
Yeah, I know.
The truth is it's not about fixing anything. It's just
a different way the brain processes and receives information. You
can explain that to people, but sometimes it fully doesn't
register with them. Now, how do we shift the conversation
on how to fix autism to helping people understand it
so that individuals on the spectrum have the tools and
support they need to navigate a world that wasn't originally
designed for them.
Yes, yes, give them their best life possible. Absolutely, that's
what we want to do. It is a brain difference.
There is no fixing it.
And I think a lot of the early messaging was
it is a condition that we're looking for the cure, right,
you know.
And I think the.
Early messaging is still there, and you know, maybe there
are things we can do.
I don't know yet.
You know, I have my personal biases about what can
make it worse trigger it. I know what triggered my
own sons. And you know, it's very controversial. And if
you say anything, either you're on this side or that side.
And it's like, I'm not on two sides. This is
what triggered my son. And I know it as a fact, but.
I've heard other parents say it.
You know, the waters are muddy, They're really muddy, and
you know, the true voices come out, like like Temple
Brand And I look at Temple Grand and she's still.
Tumble Brandon in her what eighties. According to her, there's
no cure.
Okay, she's learned to live within her own self and
she's happy. Yeah.
And you bring up Temple Grand and I had her
on my podcast twice.
Didn't she great?
Yeah? She is. She had a consistent thing she would say,
and that was, give me a pilot's checklist. I can
check it off and I'll get it done. That's the
best way for me to understand what you want to
get done. The interesting thing that I found about Temple
Granted is that some people seem to view her in
two very different ways. Some see her as having one
of the most important voices and platforms in the autism community. Yeah,
while others feel her perspective reflects an earlier era. Yet
many of the things she talks about are common sense, practical,
and rooted in real world experience. How do we help
people appreciate that age or experience does not necessarily make
someone's insight outdated.
You know, she's a scientist and she loves technology, and
when I first got into the autism world, she was
my go too. Yeah, understandably, even in my speech therapy
sessions she published I think it was twenty eight teaching tips.
Yeah, I still use today.
They're fantastic, Right, give them to.
My parents and I say, use these. It doesn't change.
Autism has not changed, right. Autism is autism.
So whether you're in your eighties or you're ten years old,
you're still going to have the same kinds of symptoms
and the same things are going to help you.
In many ways. Autism hasn't changed. The way individuals experience
the world is the same. What's evolving is how society
responds to it. But there's still a lot of misunderstanding.
I recently spoke with parents supporting their child through a meltdown,
trying to give them the space they needed to regulate.
People around them assumed it was poor parenting, when in reality,
it was exactly what the child needed. Yeah, I know,
how do we shift people's awareness so situations like that
are met with empathy and understanding rather than criticism. There
is a difference between a meltdown and a temper tantrum.
Yes, yes, the huge difference. And Tony, I don't know.
It's I look at it and if I can hit
one parent at a time, and even even if I
tell them and explain to them the differences, it takes
so long for the parent to understand that themselves. Get
to go to someone who doesn't even know what autism
is and try to explain that.
Like, oh my gosh, it's so hard.
So I think you know things like autism, digest things
like what you're doing just continuing pushing the information out there.
If you look at things like we all know it's
bad to eat at McDonald's and oh my god, don't
feed your kids that stuff.
But how lobby meals do they serve a day? People
don't want to know things, They just want to live
their life.
When I first started exploring autism podcasts, many of them
were incredibly knowledgeable, but they were also very clinical. There
were acronyms and terminology that someone new to autism might
not understand. I kept thinking about parents who had just
heard their children's diagnosis. If that's the first thing they hear,
could feel so overwhelming. That's why I wanted this podcast
to be different, to focus on the human stories, because
when people hear real experiences, they tend to begin to
understand autism in a way that clinical language alone can't provide.
I think the stories are very important for people to
hear because it's very relatable.
Yes, Yes, more stories.
And you know, I know that we're having a debate
on the explosion of autism. What's really causing it is
that identification. Are they really more kids with autism? Bottom
line is yes, there are there's a lot more. I mean,
I again, I've been here thirty thirty five years and
where I used to have only one non speaking now I.
Got a whole caseload.
It's like, okay, so they weren't hiding anywhere. These are
non speaking, very severe little kids.
So what helped me. I actually picked up a couple
of books written by non speaking people. There's Ido Kadar Penya,
Daniel Penya, Carly Fleischmann. So pick up those books. They
tell great stories about their lives. What does it feel
like to try to talk? Why do you slam your
hands sometime? Now? Why are you going like this? There's reasons.
Carly told this great story.
She went to school and the teacher said she just
kept flicking her head and was wondering did she have
a headache?
Did you check with the dentist?
And essentially, when Carly was able to type and learn
to communicate, she said no, it was a cute boy
in class and she was flicking her hair. It's like,
those are great stories from the people themselves.
So pick up those books. They're inspirational.
They are when I go around and talk about technology,
those are the first books I bring up. Look at
These are non speaking individuals who actually sat there and
typed these things out. And again I understand there's a
controversy there too.
I hate to say this, I think they can create
a controversy on anything they want to create. Yes, what
I think it comes down to, as common says, yes,
beautiful things about what you do with Autism Digest and
what I try to do with this podcast is storytelling.
Some of the stories people have shared with me are
ones I'll never forget, and I think that's a huge
reason Autism Digest has been so successful, because you're telling
real stories that people can connect with. When people don't
understand something, stories help them begin to see in a
way facts alone sometimes can't. The reality is, unless someone
is living that experience every day, they will probably never
fully understand autism the way an autistic person or their
family does. I know, I don't have that lived experience.
What I have is a basic understanding. But through conversations
like this and through people sharing their stories, we can
at least help others gain insight and understanding, even if
they haven't walked that path themselves.
Yeah, exactly.
And I've started really putting some success stories in there.
Oh nice, I got entrepreneurs.
Yeah, it's not a lifetime of being locked in a room.
Know these people are doing things, even.
If they're not what I want to say, like the
Aspergers guys, there's some people who have trouble communicating. Yeah,
they're going to college, they're doing all kinds of things.
You know.
Again, I come back to the Rosenthal syndrome. Don't put
limitations on them. And that's what Temple says too. Her
mom pushed her to go to college, Her mom pushed
her to go to her aunt's farm, and.
The best things she could have done.
Yeah, you know, don't protect them, don't hover over them,
and just keep pushing them forward.
Yes, give them the same opportunity that you would give
to a neurotypical child. Right, there will be certain limitations
that both of them will have. Absolutely, like the old saying,
you've seen one autistic person, you've seen one autistic person.
Everyone's different and they all have different things that they
can do throughout their life.
Right right, And here's another.
I'm going to throw this out here because I think
this is super important. Okay, you know they have the
transitions are huge for people with autism. And if you
have a youngster, they don't like to go anywhere. They'd
like to sit in front of the TV. And if
you leave them, that's where they're going to be right.
And I remember taking my son and going to the
park at least twice a day, and the second he
thought I was going to go to the park, he'd
start crying and then there was a tantrum. And at
that point I almost just said forget it, but I
picked him up and I took him crying, screaming, sat
them into the car. We're going to the park.
You're gonna sit there with the other kids. I don't
care what you do. You're just gonna sit there. And
then brought them home.
And you know, for the first few months, that's what
we did, and then and then it started getting less
and less and less, and then he liked the park.
So it's like, you'll got to like get out there
and expose him.
And it's hard because you get the looks, you get
the oh my god, why is this mom bringing her
screaming kids? So you just have to be confident, just
get out there and if a mom wants to know,
you explain it to her. These sensory these transitions are hard.
But he's still got to learn how to come out
enjoy the outdoors. And you know, I'm going to get
him off of his videos for a while.
Because it was like the video.
Yeah, as we wrap up, what message would you most
like families and listeners to remember about autism and the
work you're doing with autism Digest especially from your perspective
as an autistic mom.
Yeah, yeah, you know, there's a whole bunch of things.
You know, just just ask the person, walk up to
him and ask him what's it like. I've noticed that
most folks with autism don't mind telling you, most families
don't mind telling you.
If you really want to know, just go ask.
You know, I've read so many lists, Tony where people
say never say this to an autistic person or never
say this to an autism mom.
And what you're doing is you're making people afraid to
talk to you. Yeah, oh my god, Okay, I can't.
I forget what I can't say. I'm just not going
to go say anything.
Right.
We need to stop putting those lists out there. Just
stop that.
Yeah, right, And because it's taking the opposite effect, just
go talk to them. Volunteer somewhere, get in there and
figure it out. And you know, someone's acting a little
bit out of the norm, it's okay, Yeah, may or
may not be autism, whatever.
It is It's okay, right, let them go. Yeah, learn
with them. You know, we're all I have our little
quirks and things.
Yeah, we all do.
And then just search out more knowledge, more and more.
It's better.
Yeah. Now, how do they find you?
Well, I'm on the website autismdijist dot com. Okay, yeah,
all the informations there. They can contact me. Anyone's interested
in any of the research, Yeah, contact me and see
what's going on.
Happy to share.
This has been a fantastic conversation and incredibly informative. I
really appreciate you taking the time to join us and
share your perspectives.
Yes, thank you, Tomy, Thanks for having me.
It's been my pleasure. Thanks again. Thanks for taking time
out of your busy schedule to listen to our show today.
We hope you enjoyed it as much as we enjoyed
bringing it to you. If you know someone who has
a story to share, tell them to contact us at
why notmt World. One last thing, spread the word about
why Not Me, our conversations, our inspiring guests that show
you are not alone in this world.

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