Autism Resource Podcast

Partners for Youth with Disabilities with Nicole Homerin

Nicole Homerin is an Inclusion Communities Manager at Partners for Youth with Disabilities and has over a decade of experience working with disabled children and youth. She has a background as a special education teacher and adaptive performance arts instructor, and joins us to discuss the training provided by her organization to support neurodivergent and disabled individuals and the community that supports them.

Strategies for Study Success with Dr. Emily Levy

Dr. Emily Levy is the founder and director of EBL Coaching, a specialized tutoring program that offers individualized one-on-one home, virtual, and on-site instruction.  Her program uses research-based, multi-sensory techniques that have proven successful in helping students who are struggling with their studies. We discuss academic challenges often faced by neurodivergent students and the best ways to support them both in and out of school.

Employed and Neurodivergent with Ben VanHook

Ben VanHook is a young, neurodivergent person whose goal is to reform employment and education policy to make both domains more inclusive for neurodivergent individuals. He is a speaker and writer and has been featured in the media from PBS programs to the New York Times. In this second episode of a two-part appearance, he shares his own experience of being employed and neurodivergent, as well as various challenges he has faced.

Adopted and Neurodivergent with Ben VanHook

Ben VanHook is a young, neurodivergent person whose goal is to reform employment and education policy to make both domains more inclusive for neurodivergent individuals. He is a speaker and writer and has been featured in the media from PBS programs to the New York Times. In this first episode of a two-part appearance, he shares his own experience of being adopted and neurodivergent, as well as various challenges he has faced.

Clinikids, Autism, and Australia with Professor Andrew Whitehouse

Professor Andrew Whitehouse helped to create the first national guidelines in Australia for diagnosing autism and supporting autistic children. He is the Director of Clinikids based in Perth, where they are breaking ground in terms of combining research and support for neurodivergent children and their families. Andrew also discusses the importance of early intervention and guiding parents through the first few years of a child’s life. Clinikids makes their services available to families all over the world.

Advocacy and Filmmaking with Devon MacNerland

Devon MacNerland is a neurodivergent advocate and documentarian. He has been working in this realm for several years and is spending his time and resources on bringing his cause to the media realm. He discusses his latest project, a documentary about restraints and restrictions for neurodiverse students in schools. He highlights relevant issues and shares his thoughts on needed change and system reform.

Warning: This episode contains material that some listeners may find disturbing.

Neurodivergence in Females with Zhara Astra

Zhara Astra is a writer, producer, and television executive. She is also a professor at Arizona State University where she developed the first course in the world on understanding neurodivergent women. After discovering as an adult that she was on the autism spectrum and had ADHD, she set out on a mission to help other women better understand themselves and their potential neurodivergences, while aiming to educate and equip the neurotypical world with a greater understanding of how to interact with those who think differently, operate differently, and see the world through a different lens. 

The Rhythmic Arts Project with Eddie Tuduri

Eddie Tuduri is a career musician who has worked with many of the world’s great entertainers. He has also received many awards for his work with neurodiverse and disabled communities all over the world. After a near-death and disabling experience, Eddie founded The Rhythmic Arts Project, known as TRAP, which he created to help neurodiverse and disabled individuals overcome learning issues and address cognitive, emotional, and physical challenges.

Empowering Families with Ashley Keller

Ashley Keller, Founder of Empower Self-Care and Consulting joins us to discuss helping families cope with the challenges they face when the system has failed them and they lack the support and resources they need. She talks about the “old vs. the new” ABA model. She believes in building proper communication on a foundation of mutual respect and trust between parent and child. Her goal is to maintain a strong parent-child bond, address caregiver burnout and support children to build skills that help them and their families live life to the fullest.

Supporting LGBTQIA+ Youth and Their Families with Jay Baldwin

Jay Baldwin, Program Navigator at the Help Group’s Kaleidoscope organization for LGBTQIA+ youth, joins us to discuss the intersection of autism and LGBTQIA+ identities. They share the importance of creating a safe place for these young people to explore and grow. Jay also offers advice for the families of these individuals to support them in their journeys, as well as to facilitate communication in order to ease the transition and discovery process for everyone concerned.