After a three year hiatus, Angie and Meg are back, and this time, Angie is in the hot seat. After completing her doctorate, Angie is here to share with us how and why she did it, and what it all means. You'll find out about her research which was dedicated to learning about caregivers who started businesses with and for their children with intellectual and developmental disabilities to provide a pathway to meaningful employment. Truly, her work was an extension of idea behind this podcast. Tune in and find out what she learned about caregivers and herself!

We are still here, and we have both missed you all.

Christina Adams, journalist, writer, disability advocate, and camel milk investigator, shares with us her powerful early intervention story of her son with autism and how she was able to help him through diet and camels. She outlines what she calls her "crazy camel journey" and how her research and travels to Isreal took her to a place of healing. She shares her website with us as a resource that details how camel's milk can help several conditions, from allergies and gut issues to neurodevelopmental issues. Join us as we learn about the amazing qualities of camels and how their milk can be a part of your healing journey!

Join us as we talk to Hannah Lowe, founder of the L-CMD Foundation and mother to Austin, who has LMNA-related congenital muscular dystrophy. Like many rare disease families we've talked to, her son's condition was caused by a random genetic mutation. There is no treatment or cure, and given how rare it is, they are unsure about his prognosis or life expectancy, making the mission even more urgent. The L-CMD Foundation she started inspires hope for a stronger tomorrow by seeking treatments and, ultimately, a cure. We talk about balancing grief with action, and Hannah exemplifies this in her graceful and determined approach to saving her son.

If you've ever worried about what adulthood might look like after high school or you've ever been inspired to create a meaningful space for your child to spend adulthood, tune in to our interview with critically acclaimed author, Cammie McGovern.

Cammie McGovern was awarded a creative writing fellowship at Stanford University, and has received numerous prizes for her short fiction. Her stories have appeared in many magazines including Glamour, Ladies Home Journal, Redbook and Seventeen , and she is the author of another novel, The Art of Seeing. She lives in Amherst, Massachusetts with her husband and three children, the eldest of whom is autistic. She is one of the founders of Whole Children, a resource center that runs after-school classes and programs for children with special needs.

This week we chat with Leylani Cardoso, warrior parent, and mother of Sophia, her daughter with Down Syndrome. Leylani and her family helped Sophia bring her passion for food and entertaining to life by creating the YouTube Channel Cheeky Sassy Me

For this episode, we share with you another Maryland parent and fellow autism mom, Lia McCabe, who started AutismWish.org which seeks to fulfill the wish lists of families across the country without all of the red tape of government programs. She and her husband also host a podcast called Embracing Autism, which is child focus and helps parents to understand and embrace their neurodiverse children. Give it a listen, follow, and subscribe to support their mission of helping families in the face of fear and the unknown.

We talk about:

Neurodivergent parenting

Empathizing with sensory needs

The formation of Autism Wish and the Embracing Autism Podcast

Accepting behaviors that are harmless

How IQ testing is not designed for children who are non-verbal

Maintaining a positive perspective

Growing to understand that a diagnosis doesn't mean future dreams are gone

Lia's website

Autism Wish

Autism Wish Facebook Page

Lia's Recommended Books

More Than Words: A Parents Guide to Building Interaction and Language Skills for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder or Social Communication Difficulties by Fern Sussman

The Reason I Jump by Naoki Higashida

Other books mentioned

Autism Breakthrough by Raun K. Kaufman

An Early Start for Your Child with Autism: Using Everyday Activities to Help Kids Connect, Communicate and Learn by Sally Rogers