Welcome to our new podcast series! This episode I chat with Tess; mum of an adult Autistic child who also faced major health challenges while growing up.

Tess shares her experience and insights including what she would say to herself if she could go back 5 years, and what it's like bringing up an adult neurodivergent son as she ages and needs to think about her future and how it effects his future.

What families go through with school-aged ASD children compared to adults is very different, and it's nice to hear Tess talk about that.

Helpful for parents with ASD kids edging closer to end of their schooling years, to start thinking about the future; the workforce, living arrangements etc

Advice Tess shares for other parents is to look at the neurodevelopmental milestones not the neurotypical ones in life that most other families use. She realised this was something she needed to do with her kids.

Being a parent of a neurodiverse child is “a window into a completely different world”

We hope you get a lot out of listening and we would appreciate your feedback, so please reach out via comments, emailing us etc. We'd love to hear from you.

Clint

Autism & Beyond Australia

If you enjoyed listening and found this content valuable we'd appreciate it if you could provide a positive review and to share this with your network to potentially reach and help more parents and families 🙏

In this episode I chat with Sally, a mum of two children with ASD and a busy business owner - about her struggles, the many and constant ups and downs, what she's learned along the way and advice she's happy to share with other parents.

When Sally's son Arley was 3 years old it was suggested to her by a friend to have him assessed for ASD because he couldn't touch many objects and other apparent signs. A group of therapists evaluated him for three days, they couldn't make a diagnosis but encouraged her to seek further help so she did. Arley was then 4 years when when officially diagnosed.

Sally's view at the time of Autism was 'Rain Man'; that's what came to mind for her when she thought about the condition. It took her two years to come to terms with Arley's diagnosis and to learn about and understand it.

When she went down the track of trying to have her daughter Carmie assessed and diagnosed it was a real mission. Her trusted pediatrician and other therapists didn't believe her when she went to them for help to have evaluations performed. Eventually she found the help she needed and at 8 years old Carmie was diagnosed with Autism.

Both children have multiple conditions and associated challenges. It's been a roller coaster ride, and continues to be, for this family but they're rolling with the punches, always learning and trying to make the best choices as a family unit.

We hope you get a lot out of listening and we would appreciate your feedback, so please reach out via comments or email us. We'd love to hear from you.

Clint
Autism & Beyond Australia

If you enjoyed listening and found this content valuable we'd appreciate it if you could provide a positive review and to share this with your network to potentially reach and help more parents and families 🙏

Welcome to our new podcast series! This episode introduces you to what the series is all about, who I am as your host is, my backstory, and what you can expect from future episodes when I chat to parents of ASD children.

We hope you get a lot out of listening and we would appreciate your feedback, so please reach out via comments, emailing us etc. We'd love to hear from you.

Clint
Autism & Beyond Australia

If you enjoyed listening and found this content valuable we'd appreciate it if you could provide a positive review and to share this with your network to potentially reach and help more parents and families 🙏