Emotional Health – Page 4 – Isaac's Autism in the Wild

Episode #46 | Dealing with explosive language and behavior

By isaac-autism-in-the-wild | May 14, 2020

This is a jam packed episode filled with amazing content. The first half is a group of parents who joined me to tell us how they deal with explosive language and behavior as well as ways we use self-care to decompress.

For the second-half of the episode, Roni Gross, special education teacher and Sibling Spotlight extraordinaire, shares with us:

Her 3 BIG strategies to say “No” without actually saying the word, “No.”
- Choices
- “Grandma” Rule
- Behavior Specific Praise
Teaching your child to politely ask for five more minutes
Why Do We Lose Control of our Emotions YOU TUBE VIDEO
Zones of Regulation and how this material teaches parents the art navigating Green, Yellow and Red emotions
- YOU TUBE VIDEO
Trauma based training
- ACES questionnaire
- YOU TUBE VIDEO Empathy vs. Sympathy
- Suggested reading: The Deepest Well, by Burke-Harris
- Suggested reading: The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel Van der Kolk, MD
Hot moment suggestion to redirect obsessive fixations

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Episode #39 | Should Parent’s Participate in Weekly Therapy

By isaac-autism-in-the-wild | March 23, 2020

In this unique episode, we virtually connected our guests (due to the need for social distancing) to discuss the pros and cons of participating in weekly therapy visits. In this episode, we talk about:

the benefits and potential gains when parents participate in weekly therapy;
the challenges associated with participating in weekly therapy;
how to keep partners/spouses involved in therapy when they work outside the home;
Using therapy time as self-care time;
What to do if your provider prevents you from participating in therapy.

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Episode #37 | Loss of Adult Relationships After the Diagnosis

By isaac-autism-in-the-wild | March 9, 2020

The loss of adult relationships after an autism or other diagnosis is really not that uncommon. Since friendships are often forged based on common interests, hobbies, and kids, these connections can become fractured when our paths take a different turn after a diagnosis. In this podcast we talk about situations where friendships have ended and where new friendships have been formed. We also talk about defense mechanisms that might be in place to protect our hearts from hurt and rejection.

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Episode #34 | Guilt of Working Parents

By isaac-autism-in-the-wild | February 20, 2020

For years I have struggled with complicated emotions of whether to work outside the home to earn an income to help support my family and the added expense of raising a child with special needs versus staying home to be able to dedicate more time to my children and pursue additional interventions for my struggling child. It was no surprise that there was a tremendous amount of parent interest in participating in this topic discussion. In this podcast you will hear different parent pro and con perspectives related to working outside the home as well as perspectives from parents who staying home to focus their attention on raising their children.

*this episode contains adult language.

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Episode #24 | What advice would you give a new parent or your younger self?

By isaac-autism-in-the-wild | December 10, 2019

Two common sayings you might here me say are: hindsight is 20/20 and wisdom is wasted on the old. There are so many times that I have looked back at a moment or phase in my life wishing that I could change my response to a situation or that I could somehow share some of my current wisdom with my younger self. In this podcast a group of parents joined me to share some advice and words of wisdom that they hope might help other parents along their autism journey.

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Episode #20 | Stages of Grief

By isaac-autism-in-the-wild | November 15, 2019

Many parents experience grief after an autism diagnosis. These stages of grief mirror the same stages that grieving parents experience after the physical death of a child. In this podcast, we talk different stages of grief and its impact in our lives and relationships around us. We also talk about how we circle back to grief phases at different stages of development.

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Episode #17 | Parent Guilt

By isaac-autism-in-the-wild | October 21, 2019

I think that all parents feel guilt in some capacity when it comes to raising children. Unfortunately, the feeling of guilt sometimes runs a little deeper when your child has special needs. In this podcast, a very authentic group of parents joined me to discuss ways that parent guilt (and a bit of rage) has manifested in their lives. We hope that this podcast helps normalize any feelings of guilt you may be feeling. We will continue to podcast on this important topic moving forward as we discuss other ways guilt manifests within a family. In the meantime, we hope this podcast episode helps you feel that you are not alone.

*we apologize for the poor audio quality of this podcast.

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Episode #11 | Caregiver Self-Care

By isaac-autism-in-the-wild | September 13, 2019

Our focus this week is on caregiver self-care. Self-care is difficult for any parent to fit into their day – but it often becomes more challenging for parents of special needs kids when respite care is hard to come by. In this week’s episode of ISAAC’s Autism in the Wild Podcast, a small group of moms joined me for a lunch hour to discuss:

What does caregiver self-care look like?
Reconciling mommy guilt.
Creative ways these moms have been able to sneak self-care into their day.
Dad vs. mom self-care.
Setting boundaries to protect your self-care activities.
How much self-care is needed per week.

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Episode #5 | Parent Isolation

By isaac-autism-in-the-wild | July 28, 2019

The feeling of isolation is real for many parents who have a loved one touched by autism. In this episode of ISAAC’s Autism in the Wild a group of parents joined me to discuss:

Types of isolation parents feel;
Strategies, both series and funny, for reducing the feeling of isolation;
How the age of your child often affects the feeling of isolation
Social media impact, both positive and negative, on the feeling of isolation

*We apologize for the poor audio quality of this podcast. Thank you for bearing with us as we upgrade our equipment for future recording sessions.

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