Autism Parenting – Page 8 – Isaac's Autism in the Wild

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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Episode #31 | Coffee Chat with Tanya Holmes

By isaac-autism-in-the-wild | January 27, 2020

Tanya Holmes has been a regular guest on ISAAC’s Autism in the Wild podcast since it’s launch in 2019. Each time she joins me, she brings her unique experience as not just a mother, but also a primary school counselor and teacher. While Tanya’s demeanor is soft and more reserved, she is not afraid to challenge her school district when it comes to advocating for the needs of her child in the classroom and fighting for the IEP she knows her child is legally entitled to have. Tanya has taken more IEP workshops of any parent I know – which is why I refer so many of my struggling families her direction. I call her my IEP legal eagle.

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Episode #30 | Self-Advocate Taylor Crisp

By isaac-autism-in-the-wild | January 21, 2020

I have had the pleasure of getting to know self-advocate Taylor Crisp since the summer of 2019. Don’t let Taylor’s quiet demeanor fool you. While timid at first, Taylor is not afraid to open up about her experiences growing up in a time where fitting in with her peers meant hiding her autism diagnosis from her friends. Taylor is also a mother and shares some of her experiences raising her young daughter.

In this episode, Taylor and I talk more about:

labels and the struggles of wanting to be liked by others
how she came out of her shell in high school
fears and things she wishes she could do differently
recommendations for parents who are raising children with autism.

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Episode #27 | Parent Strife

By isaac-autism-in-the-wild | December 30, 2019

As parents, it is difficult to agree on every single decision when raising children. It becomes even more difficult when you raise children with special needs. In this episode, we discuss:

Root causes that seem to cause the most parent strife;
How parents have found compromise;
When divorce is a factor; and
What happens when compromise cannot be reached.

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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 #23 | Perspectives Over Time

By isaac-autism-in-the-wild | December 6, 2019

In this weeks podcast, I was very fortunate to have an autism mom veteran join me. Clara’s daughter Sophie, now in he early twenties, was diagnosed in a time when there were very little knowledge and resources available to families. It’s moms like Clara that helped pave the way for better services and inclusion for the younger generation of children diagnosed with ASD. In this podcast you will learn about her journey and advice she wish she would have had when Sophie was younger.

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Episode #22 | Having another child after the autism diagnosis

By isaac-autism-in-the-wild | November 27, 2019

While the decision to have more children may be easy for some families, it can become complicated for others – especially when you have a child touched by autism. Statistics tell us that parents who have a child with autism only have a 2-18% chance of having a second child affected, this information does weigh into some family’s decision as to whether they want to add more biological children to their family. In this podcast, a group of us shared our experiences and thoughts when we made the decision to have more children.

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Episode #16 | Independent Living

By isaac-autism-in-the-wild | October 14, 2019

In this episode, I sat down with Rachael Leonard who not only is a parent to two amazing young people with an autism spectrum disorder, she also has spent the majority of her carrier working to support clients in a supported living environment. Rachael shares with us:

The importance for all individuals, regardless of abilities, to have the opportunity to live independently (with supports) outside of the family home
Why, at times, parents can be an obstacle for young people to reach their full potential
Instances where supported living environments failed her pasts clients
Long-term consequences for not implementing a transitional living plan for your loved with one a disability

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