In this week's episode, Mckell Smith is back to answer your questions about speech therapy. Mekell is a Speech and Language Pathologist, as well as a special needs Mom. Speech therapy is so important to so many kids, and won’t believe some of the things speech therapy can actually help with. It’s actually, kind of amazing. Mckell helps you navigate your speech journey by sharing things like when to get your child evaluated, how to prepare for your initial evaluation, what questions to ask, how to ensure the best possible outcome and everything in between. This episode is designed to be a community resource and I hope it helps you to better understand, prepare for, and navigate speech therapy. If you enjoyed this episode, please take 30 seconds and leave…

In this weeks episode, I take some time to answer one of your listener questions. Since I began talking about the challenges I’ve been facing as I help my son make the transition into his adult life, you folks have been asking me “How do I prepare my kids for adulthood and when should I start?” This is such a good question and honestly, I had a tough time recording this episode because in doing so, I recognized some mistakes I’ve made as a parent. Those mistakes have made preparing my kids for adulthood, a bit more challenging. These realizations were a bitter pill to swallow for me but at the same time, I’m hoping you can learn from my mistakes. This turned into a great episode and I hope…

In this week’s episode, Dr. Crystal Morrison and I discuss our personal experiences with parenting guilt. We all experience parenting guilt, but how do we manage it and prevent it from impacting how we parent our kids? Secondly, on the topic of parenting, we talk about the importance of not only building your village but keeping the people within it communicating with each other for the betterment of your child. Dr. Crystal Morrison introduces us to Meerkat Village, a tech platform she Co-Founded that helps to keep everyone in your village aligned and working together. About Dr. Crystal Morrison: Dr. Crystal G. Morrison is a highly regarded executive advisor, strategist, leader, scientist, and tech entrepreneur. While progressing in her career as a scientist, Dr. Morrison was also growing her family.…

In this weeks episode, you’ll learn everything you need to about ABLE accounts. Sarah Pennington from ABLEnow, explains that ABLE accounts are tax-advantaged savings and investment accounts for individuals with disabilities. They allow these individuals to save money without impacting their eligibility for public benefits like SSI or Medicaid. This is incredibly important for special needs families. About Sarah Pennington: Sarah Penningtonserves asBrand Managerfor ABLEnow, the national tax-advantaged disabilitysavings program offered by the Commonwealth of Virginia and administered by Virginia529.With accounts in all 50 states, ABLEnow is one of the fastest-growing ABLE programs in the country.Sarah is honored tohelp build thisentirelynewfinancial productthatcanempower millions ofAmericans with disabilities to save for their future– just like everyone else. Prior to joining ABLEnowin 2016, Sarah workedforstateagenciesincluding theVirginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services,theVirginia Museum…

My guest this week is Marissa Pittard and she is empowering parents. We talk about what inspired her to create a free service that not only helps parents locate desperately needed services, supports, and resources but also builds out a roadmap for their newly diagnosed special needs kids. This is a free service for families within the United States and it's changing lives. About Marissa (Missy) Pittard: Missy is the Co-Founder & CEO ofBeamingHealth. More importantly, she and her brother are neurodivergent, and she builtBeamingto make life easier for neurodiverse families everywhere. The site is the easiest place to find care for autism and other developmental differences. Missy graduated from Stanford and Georgia Tech before spending three years at McKinsey & Company where she focused on improving access to quality…

Welcome to The Autism Dad podcast, I'm Rob Gorski. This show is inspired by my own personal journey as a single dad raising three autistic kids. It's all about special needs parenting, the challenges that we face every day, and some of the things we have to learn to navigate along the way. This season, we're going to put a major focus on empowering parents. We're going to talk about building a community of support around your family, the importance of self-care, and connecting with the services and resources that are vital when it comes to raising a special needs child. So be sure to check us out at listen.theautismdad.com and subscribe on your favorite podcast listening app.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Season 5 is officially over and I thought it would be fun to close the season out by revisiting one of my favorite interviews from this season. Sit back and enjoy a great conversation with my friend Kate Swenson. Connect with Kate Swenson: Finding Cooper's Voice Check out Forever Boy About Kate Swenson: Kate is Cooper's mom, the founder of Finding Cooper's Voice, and the author of the new book Forever Boy. Host Bio: Rob Gorski is a single Dad to three amazing autistic boys and Found and CEO of The Autism Dad, LLC. Multiple award-winning blogger, podcaster, content creator, digital marketer, social media influencer, and respected public figure for well over a decade. Connect with Rob Gorski: https://listen.theautismdad.com Mentioned in this episode: Learn More About Bened Life Bened Life…

In this episode you'll learn what Board of DD is, who SSA's are and what OOD stands for. Autistic kids grow up to be autistic adults and many will need the services and supports that these agencies provide. This is our experience and what we've learned along the way. We've been talking about this on Facebook and I wanted to share what our journey has been so far. Come join the conversation at facebook.com/theautismdad Host Bio: Rob Gorski is a single Dad to three amazing autistic boys and Found and CEO of The Autism Dad, LLC. Multiple award-winning blogger, podcaster, content creator, digital marketer, social media influencer, and respected public figure for well over a decade. Connect with Rob Gorski: https://listen.theautismdad.com Mentioned in this episode: Learn More About Bened Life…

In this final episode of season 5, I sit down and speak with Doug Farrago, retired family physician and author, about his book, “Noki.” Noki is about an autistic young man who has the remarkable ability to essentially become any boxer he’s ever seen fight. It’s a brilliant story, a fairly quick read, and I love the representation. Guest Bio: Douglas Farrago is a retired family physician, author of seven books, and loves working with autistic people. Doug authored Noki, a book that blends his love of working with autistic people and his passion for boxing. Website: letnokibox.com Buy the book: Noki Host Bio: Rob Gorski is a single Dad to three amazing autistic boys and Found and CEO of The Autism Dad, LLC. Multiple award-winning blogger, podcaster, content creator,…

In this brief episode, I share a look back at Season 5 and a glimpse of what I have in store for Season 6. Thank you all for helping to make this podcast such a success. I'm looking forward to continuing to bring you content that is positive, relevant, and educational. Have a fantastic holiday season, and I'll see you in the new year. Host Bio: Rob Gorski is a single Dad to three amazing autistic boys and Found and CEO of The Autism Dad, LLC. Multiple award-winning blogger, podcaster, content creator, digital marketer, social media influencer, and respected public figure for well over a decade. Connect with Rob Gorski: https://listen.theautismdad.com Mentioned in this episode: Learn More About Bened Life Bened Life supports a neuroinclusive community with education and science-backed…