Inclusion – Page 2 – Isaac's Autism in the Wild

#122 | Red Instead vs. Light it Up Blue Podcast Promo

By isaac-autism-in-the-wild | January 28, 2022

In this segment, David, Maria and Holly discuss the upcoming recording of Red Instead vs. Light it Up Blue: Creating a Community of Purple.

If you are interested in participating in the upcoming recording of Red Instead vs. Light It Up Blue, please email Hello@theisaacfoundation.org with Red Instead podcast guest in the subject like and we will connect with you regarding scheduling. This goest for any of our upcoming podcasts. We love you guests to join us.

Other upcoming podcast recordings:

How to find personal care providers

Suicide: Threats vs. Valid Concerns

Using birth control to help manage mood swings

Levels of Severity Ratings: Are they important or should they go away?

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#121 | IEP and Special Ed Gripes

By isaac-autism-in-the-wild | January 24, 2022

Every now and again, you need to get some of your safe people together and gripe about how special education and the IEP process just-plain-sucks. In this episode, David and Maria join me to vent about complicated seasons of sadness parents experience at different times, frustrations with IEP conversations and how we wish systems were better when it comes to meeting the various needs of our kids on the spectrum.

You’ll notice an abrupt end to this episode, as the remaining content can be heard later this week under: Red Instead vs. Light it Up Blue Upcoming Podcast.

Disclaimer: We ran into microphone complications at the start of this podcast and had to share one microphone but since it’s great content, we still wanted to share.

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#114 Self-Advocate & Son, Caleb

By isaac-autism-in-the-wild | November 5, 2021

In this special episode of ISAAC’S Autism in the Wild, Holly is joined by her very own son, Caleb. Caleb is 13 years old and was diagnosed with autism when he was very young, in fact during this episode he reveals that he does not remember a time when he was not in therapy. Listen is as Holly discusses with Caleb; what autism means to him, what he notices in his day to day life as a child with autism, his likes/dislikes and specifically where some of them stem from, and so much more!

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#113 Self-Advocate RoundTable–LIVE!

By isaac-autism-in-the-wild | October 25, 2021

On this very special episode of ISAAC’S Autism in the Wild Podcast we are joined by two of our favorite self-advocates, Tracey Cohen & John Lemus. Tracey is an author of three books, two about autism and one about her passion for running. We had featured Tracey in an episode earlier this year and were so excited to meet her in person when she came to Spokane to visit at the end of the summer. While Tracey was visiting we introduced her to John Lemus, a Spokane based disabilities professional who advocates for the disability community through his various positions in local and state leadership.

Please take a listen and excuse the background noise as we are recording LIVE on the stage at Pitotti Coffee as we discuss several topics regarding advocacy.

References:

Full Spectrum Agency for Autistic Adults

https://fullspectrumasd.org/

Author, Autism Advocate

http://www.growingupautistic.com/tracey.html

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Episode #107 | Autism & Siblings-Kelly’s Story

By isaac-autism-in-the-wild | August 18, 2021

This week on ISAAC’S Autism in the Wild our host Holly is joined by a VERY special guest, her daughter Kelly. Kelly is 11 years old and has been raised in an “autism house” since day one. Her older brother Caleb (13yrs) has ASD 1 and now through Holly’s recent marriage she has gained an 18 year old step-brother, Cooper, who is more significantly impacted.

On this episode we discuss what life is like as a neuro-typical kid in a home where autism is present. As Kelly will divulge it is not all roses and sunshine, despite that, Kelly has a very optimistic view of her life and the challenges autism presents in general. Kelly is a very kind, empathetic young woman that is a fierce advocate for her brothers. She discusses the issues that have arisen as a result of autism, how she has dealt with those issues, as well as what she sees in the future for herself and her brothers with autism.

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Episode #106 What NOT to say to a special needs parent

By isaac-autism-in-the-wild | August 11, 2021

In this episode we discuss the cringe-worthy compliments we have received over the years. Sentiments like “God gives special children to special people” and “You are such a great advocate for your child” are meant to be confidence boosters, but over time can grate the nerves of a special needs parent. So listen in and hear some of the well meaning comments that have irked our parents over the years!

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Episode #104 | Housing Options for Adults

By isaac-autism-in-the-wild | July 19, 2021

In this episode we are joined by Desiree Kameka Galloway of The Autism Housing Network. Holly had first learned of their work as well as the Madison House Autism Foundation a few years back while attending a conference about “Life After High School.” Holly was so impressed with Desiree’s presentation and has used their site as a reference to our families for years. The ISAAC Foundation has been receiving more and more calls from parents regarding concerns for long term living situations for their adult children in recent years so we reached out to Desiree to see if she could explain some of the housing options that exist and what the Autism Housing Network can do to help families as they determine the long term plans for their loved ones.

Contact Info:

Desiree Kameka Galloway

Director, Autism Housing Network

National Coordinator, Coalition for Community Choice

Madison House Autism Foundation

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Episode 103 | Self Advocate: Sydney

By isaac-autism-in-the-wild | July 15, 2021

This week on ISAAC’S Autism in the Wild our host Holly is joined by Sydney. Sydney is a 27 year old self advocate that just relocated to Spokane from Alaska. We cover it all in this episode: from her diagnosis as a child, to her career in Alaska, and now how she is settling in to life in Spokane. Sydney is an ambitious young woman with a strong sense of self and will be a great ambassador for self advocates in Spokane, we are happy to have met with her and look forward to collaborating with her again soon!

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Episode 102 | Bullying

By isaac-autism-in-the-wild | July 6, 2021

In this episode we discuss bullying, we have talked about this in the past in other episodes but felt that we had enough content to re-visit and dedicate an entire episode. We have three moms joining our host Holly and all of them have dealt with bullying to some extent when raising their children. Each of the parents recount the situations and share how the issues were resolved. We also discuss how the world has changed and cover how the bullying of 2021 compares to the “bully standards” of the 1990s when we were living the middle/high school experience.

UPDATE: Be sure to listen after the closing statements, we get a little update from Holly regarding Caleb’s rocket project in school

References:

Power of words: TikTok video by _iamdiosa_

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Episode 94 | Sabita Finds Her Voice: Advocacy for the nonverbal

By isaac-autism-in-the-wild | May 24, 2021

This week on ISAAC’S Autism in the Wild podcast Holly is joined by an amazing mother, entrepreneur, and advocate for the nonverbal community, Dr Stephanie Vavilala. We were honored to zoom chat with Dr Stephanie about the amazing facility she is opening as well as the services she is currently offering in St. Augustine Florida through her LMH practice Therapeutic Expressions and her nonprofit organization Sabita Speaks. Listen in as we discuss important programs that have been created to fill the many gaps in special needs care across the country and the release of Dr. Stephanie’s book, Sabita Finds Her Voice which serves as a flagship for educating the youth about AAC Speech Devices and how they can better bridge the gap between the verbal and non-verbal populations.

Dr. Stephanie Vavilala, Ed.D, LMHC, BCBA, RPT-S is the CEO and founder of Therapeutic Expressions and Awetism Wonderland (an autism therapy center), as well as the author of the children’s book Sabita Finds Her Voice. She is the mother of a daughter who has autism and is non verbal, Sabita. Stephanie’s daughter inspired her to become a leader in the space of special needs. Her therapeutic style is holistic, empowering, and action-oriented. She and her daughter reside in St. Augustine, Florida.

The main link that Stephanie uses as a one-stop shop for her initiatives: https://stephanievavilala.com/

Sabita Speaks: A nonprofit which seeks to raise awareness around AAC devices for non-verbal folks: https://www.sabitaspeaks.org/

The website for her main practice (which isn’t limited to special needs) is here: https://therapeuticexpressions.com/

Purchase Sabita Finds Her Voice: https://www.amazon.com/Sabita-Finds-Voice-Stephanie-Vavilala-ebook/dp/B092Q2GFTW

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