Isaac's Autism in the Wild

Episode #42 | Favorite School Accommodations

By isaac-autism-in-the-wild | April 13, 2020

On this episode, a group of parents joined me to talk about their favorite school accommodations and how they have helped their children over the years. The reality is that your favorite school accommodation is what works best for your particular child and this looks different person to person. However, I find that if you don’t know what options are available, it’s hard to know what to advocate to have in place for the best IEP or 504 for your kiddo.

A list of known school accommodations can be found on our website at: https://theisaacfoundation.configio.com/ShoppingCart.aspx?com=detailview&iid=478

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Episode #41 | A is for Autism… and sometimes …

By isaac-autism-in-the-wild | April 7, 2020

This week’s podcast may not be what you expected. Just because our loved ones are affected by an autism spectrum disorder, doesn’t mean that they aren’t capable of being naughty like every other kid. This week, a group of autism parents join me to share their laugh-out-loud stories we hope will improve your mood.

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Podcast #40 | Media Characters: Do they help or hurt the public’s perception of autism

By isaac-autism-in-the-wild | March 30, 2020

In this episode of ISAAC’s Autism in the Wild Podcast, a group of parents joined me remotely to talk about various television, movie, and theater characters who depict autism and whether they are truly helpful in educating the public about autism spectrum disorders. We also talk about the gaps in portraying those that are more significantly impacted by autism and other disabilities.

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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 #38 | Preparing for the Future ($$)

By isaac-autism-in-the-wild | March 16, 2020

On this episode of ISAAC’s Autism in the Wild, special guest Mary McDirmid, SpecialCare Planner with Mass Mutual (and more importantly – Special Needs Mama) joined me to give me the crayon explanation of all of the confusing numerical and alphabet terms associated with investment accounts that may be put in place to support individuals with special needs. We specifically talk about:

GET college saving plans
529 college saving plans
529(A) also known as ABLE accounts
Special needs trusts

…and so much more…

Mary McDirmid, ChSNC

SpecialCare Planner

Managing Director

MassMutual NorthWest

509-842-5732

mmcdirmid@financialguide.com

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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 #36 | School Administration Conflict

By isaac-autism-in-the-wild | March 2, 2020

In this episode of ISAAC’s Autism in the Wild, we talk about different ways parents have experienced conflict with school administrators and ways they handled and potentially resolved these conflicts. We wrap up the episode with some words of wisdom learned through these conflicting encounters.

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Episode #35 | Regression

By isaac-autism-in-the-wild | February 24, 2020

As special needs parents, we celebrate milestones that other parents might take for granted when raising a neuro-typical child. However, with progress often comes periods of regression which can be heart wrenching and depressing to endure. In this episode of ISAAC’s Autism in the Wild we talk about regression and how it looks for different families AS WELL as some positive experiences that parents have encountered from periods of regression.

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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 #33 | Step-Parent Challenges

By isaac-autism-in-the-wild | February 11, 2020

Marriage takes work. This is a common sentiment that rings true for most couples. In prior episodes we have discussed the toll that can be taken on a marriage while parenting your own children with special needs, but on this special episode we focused on an additional niche, parenting a step-child with autism. Or on the opposite side of this topic, working with exes and new step-parents to your child. Emotions can run high when discussing health/safety/discipline needs with an outside yet permanent second party.

Listen in as our panel of autism parents discusses their personal journey through parenting their children/step-children with special needs and maintaining/rebuilding their personal relationships.

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