Adventures in Autism

In today’s episode I’m chatting with fellow autism mom and podcaster, Malinda Cook. Malinda shares her journey with her daughter Paige, who is now 17 and beginning to plan for transitioning out of high school. Malinda gives a lot of important insight into this process and what it’s been like preparing for the next chapter in Paige’s life. It was because of this transition that Malinda and her husband decided to start their own podcast ‘Sans the Sugarcoat’ to share their journey as Paige begins adulthood as an individual on the spectrum, and how they’re supporting her through it all. Malinda is such a delight and I learned so much from our conversation! I hope you enjoy listening! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/megan-carranza/message

In today’s episode I’m chatting with fellow autism mom and author, Holly Teegarden. Holly shares her journey with her daughter and how hard work and determination lead to lots of progress. Holly’s daughter is in middle school now so we discussed the new challenges they’re facing now that she’s entering the teenage years. Holly also recently co-authored the book “It’s Going to Be AUlright” with other autism moms sharing their stories and experiences with their children on the spectrum. Holly is a lot of fun and we had a great conversation, enjoy listening! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/megan-carranza/message

In today’s episode I’m chatting with fellow autism mom Kelly Davis. Kelly shares her journey with her adult son, Steven, who is 28 years old. Steven was diagnosed with ASD at age 2 and has proved many doctors and professionals wrong with everything he has accomplished! Kelly shares their early struggles and challenges they faced with Steven- she drops many pearls of wisdom along the way! I loved hearing Kelly’s perspective as a mom with an adult child on the spectrum. Kelly’s story and positive attitude are so inspiring. I love chatting with her and I hope you enjoy listening! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/megan-carranza/message

In today’s episode I’m chatting with Haley Moss, Florida’s first openly autistic lawyer. Haley is also an author, an artist, and amazing activist in the autism community. Haley is truly remarkable and I learned SO MUCH from our conversation. Haley talks about growing up as an individual on the spectrum and the challenges that she faced. She shares how her passion for advocating led her to pursue law as a career because she saw it as a way to make real changes. Haley and I also chat about the disparity of females on the spectrum being diagnosed, and how often times symptoms get overlooked or misunderstood in girls. Haley speaks a lot about neurodiversity and I even learned something very surprising about myself! Our conversation was so insightful and I am honestly just blown away by Haley. We had so much fun chatting and I hope you enjoy listening! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/megan-carranza/message

In today’s episode I’m chatting with fellow autism mama, Sara Lex. Sara shares her journey with her son Owen, and how early concerns led her to seek a diagnosis for him at just 16 months old. Sara went on to get a second and third opinion which confirmed that Owen had ASD. From there they faced some difficulty with getting services and therapy set up for Owen. Sara and her husband were determined to get Owen in ABA therapy but insurance issues made that a real challenge! Sara and I talked about the insanely high cost of therapy and the hurdles a lot of families face when it comes to getting insurance to cover these very needed services. I really enjoyed talking to Sara and I hope you enjoy listening! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/megan-carranza/message

In today’s episode I’m chatting with school psychologist, Kathryn Cooley. Kathryn currently works as a consultant for several schools, primarily doing diagnostic assessments and specializing in autism. Kathryn talks about what first drew her to the field and how she found a passion working with individuals on the spectrum. She also shared a lot of really useful information for what exactly goes into the assessment, and how a school based diagnosis differs from a medical one. Kathryn also shared some really great tips for navigating the school system in general and more specifically how parents can best prepare for an IEP meeting. It was so interesting to hear the journey of Kathryn’s career and the variety of settings she’s worked in, all pertaining to autism. We had a great conversation and I hope you enjoy listening! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/megan-carranza/message

In today’s episode I’m chatting with autism sibling, Juliana Fetherman. Juliana shares her family’s journey with her brother, Michael, and also talks about developing her app ‘Making Authentic Friendships’, which is designed as a way to facilitate friendships for people with special needs. Juliana is such an incredible sister and she talks all about the lessons she’s learned from having a brother with ASD. She explains how the idea of the app was inspired because of Michael and his desire to make friends. It was such a pleasure to connect with Juliana and I’m so thrilled to welcome her a guest! I hope you enjoy listening! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/megan-carranza/message

In today’s episode I’m chatting with special education teacher, Stephanie DeLussey, AKA Mrs. D from Mrs. D’s corner! Stephanie is a wealth of knowledge on all things regarding special education, from lesson planning to IEP meetings- she is truly an expert in her field. Stephanie and I chat all about how teaching was her calling from a young age, and how she got into special education specifically. Stephanie shares so many amazing tips and helpful pieces of information, for parents and teachers! We also discuss her personal journey with anxiety, something she has been very honest and open about, which is really refreshing. Stephanie explains how her anxiety was affecting her as a teacher and how it lead to make tough but important decisions regarding her career. I loved chatting with Stephanie and I was SO appreciative to her perspective as a special needs teacher. Enjoy listening! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/megan-carranza/message

In today’s episode I’m chatting with autism mom and author, Kathryn Jenkins. Kathryn shares her journey with her son Logen, and how he inspired her to write her book, The Inclusion Alphabet. The book is a beautiful story of what it means to be inclusive, with a different word representing each letter of the alphabet. Kathryn also talks about her sons sibling relationship and how incredible those bonds are. We also touched on common issues associated with ASD that both our sons deal with, like disordered sleep and the need for oral sensory input! Kathryn is a true delight and I loved chatting with her- I hope you enjoy listening! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/megan-carranza/message

In today’s episode I’m chatting with Anesa, who is a BCBA and creator of “8 the plate”. Anesa and I get in depth about all things ABA therapy! We discuss why it is so effective and also shed some light on the misconceptions surrounding ABA. She shares what led her to work in this field and how it truly became her passion. Through that passion, she saw there was a real need for help when it came to over coming food struggles for many individuals on the spectrum. Anesa took that need and created 8 the plate- which uses ABA principles as a means of encouraging more variety into mealtime. Anesa was an absolute delight and I loved hearing her expert take on ABA therapy- something I feel very strongly about! Enjoy listening! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/megan-carranza/message

I wanted to put together this special bonus episode as way to honor World Autism Awareness Day 2019. Today I’m talking about what autism awareness means to me personally and why it is SO important. I also discuss my favorite ways to advocate for autism (hint: this podcast!) and what I wish people knew about autism. I posed these same topics in my Instagram stories last week and I’m sharing all the awesome feedback I got as well. Autism awareness is the first stop on road to acceptance and inclusion! Thank you so much for all your support and I hope you enjoy this bonus episode! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/megan-carranza/message

On today’s episode I’m chatting with speech and language pathologist and autism mom, Deidra Darst. Deidra shares her journey with her son Colin, and talks about how his diagnosis lead her to not only start a blog, but also write two books! We also discuss her work as an SLP and how that affected her when it came to her own son. As if she’s not busy enough, Deidra also does amazing advocacy work in her home state of West Virginia as director of The Mountaineer Autism Project. Deidra is an absolute delight and I loved talking with her! Enjoy listening! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/megan-carranza/message

On today’s episode I’m chatting with Eileen “Mama Fry” Shaklee, of the blog ‘Autism with a side of fries’. Eileen was really at the forefront of blogging- especially when it comes to autism! I personally have followed her for years and it was such a treat to chat with her! We talk all about her journey with her son, who she lovingly refers to as “Kiddo”. Eileen shares how their story started and how things have changed for them over the years now that Kiddo is 14. Eileen is not only a wealth of knowledge but she is also a hoot! I loved talking with her and I am so honored to welcome her as a guest. Enjoy listening! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/megan-carranza/message

On today’s episode I’m chatting with fellow autism mama Brittney, who you might know as The Unapologetic Autistic. Brittney is not only a mother to two little ones with ASD but she herself is also on the spectrum. I connected with Brittney through her Instagram account and I was immediately drawn to her honesty and sense of humor. She brings both to today’s episode as she shares her journey and very unique perspective! I’m so thrilled to welcome her as a guest and I hope you enjoy listening! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/megan-carranza/message

Today’s episode includes a lot of firsts! My guest Kristin was the first listener to ever reach out to me after I started the podcast. She’s also my first guest with a daughter on the spectrum and she details her journey with her little girl, Mikayla. Kristin also lives in Sydney, Australia making her my first international guest! Kristin and I chat all about her daughter and how it initially took her some time to come to terms with Mikayla’s delays and other “red flags”, and later her diagnosis of ASD. Kristin shares very openly about how overwhelming the whole process can be. I had a great time time talking with Kristin (especially because of her Australian accent!) and I hope you enjoy listening! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/megan-carranza/message