Life with Opal

It’s the Season Finale of the Spectrum Dad! This week I am talking to Katie Emde. She’s an incredible mom and advocate. We talked a lot about advocating and finding our voices as advocates for our kids. Katie was incredible to talk to and a great source of information.

This week on the Spectrum Dad I am joined by Ryan. He is an incredible dad to two kids on the spectrum. We had a great talk about dealing with and processing an autism diagnosis as a dad. Ryan also shares the advice he would give to dads of newly diagnosed children. It was really great to get the perspective of another dad

This week on the Spectrum Dad I am joined by Jessi. Jessi has two incredible kids Buddy and Lyla. Both kids wound up getting diagnosed with autism on the same day. Jessi is very open about how she learned to process what she felt going through that. Then we have a great talk about AACs. We talked a lot about finding the right therapy fit for our kids and we finished by discussing sibling relationships. Jessi was incredibly open and honest and we had a great conversation!

This week on the Spectrum Dad I have a great conversation with Brittany. She is mom to an incredible son, Teegan. We talk a lot about Teegan’s diagnosis and his story, but we also talk a ton about self-care. We have a great conversation about prepping and planning ahead and making sure we as parents are in a good place so we can do the best job for our kids.

This week’s episode of the Spectrum Dad covers it all. I have the pleasure of taking to Daniele. We talked about the early signs of autism in her son and quickly learning to advocate for him with doctors and professionals. We talked about finding the right school setting for our kids and then we finish with Daniele talking about her journey with sobriety.

This week I am joined by Renee, a special needs mom from Oklahoma. We had a great discussion about regression, acceptance and inclusion. We also talked about the inspiration behind Renee’s Disney reels highlighting some amazing kiddos.

This week I had the pleasure of interviewing Jennifer McCormick. She is the mother of two adults sons in Virginia. One son, Ashton, is on the spectrum. We had a great conversation about the transition from high school to being a young adult. We talked a lot about the options that are available to young adults on the spectrum.

This episode is a must listen! I am joined by Dr. Kristen Shay and Heather Grimaldi, MS, BCBA from Simple Spectrum Supplements. Aleks has been going through some digestive issues lately so we talked all about how picking eating and food aversions can affect gut health. There is a lot of great information this week about the affects poor gut health has on everything else. Make sure you take notes with this episode. Also stay tuned to the end of the show for instructions on how to win a special giveaway from Simple Spectrum!

This week I am joined by an incredible mom and advocate Claire. Claire is the mom of two amazing little girls. We chat all about having two kids on the spectrum and how they can be so alike and so different. We also trade some of our kids’ sleep stories back and forth and talk about how a lack of sleep impacts our kids.

This week on the Spectrum Dad I am chatting with Lexas. She is the mom of four amazing kids. Three of them are on the spectrum. We talk a lot about the differences and similarities in her kids and how autism is different for everyone. We also talk a lot of advocating and what to do when you disagree with what a therapy center or therapy providers recommends.