My guest today is Dennis Procopio. Dennis is a life coach for men and an autism Dad. He's been on the show a few times and he's here today to talk about Dad stuff and share some autism parenting stories. This is a great conversation and ends up going to a place I hadn't seen coming. Dennis opens up about his personal journey raising his son and learning more about himself. ☺ Find Dennis: MAN-UP! Life Coaching About Rob Gorski: All my information and relevant links are here Support this podcast: venmo.com/theautismdad Mentioned in this episode: BrainyAct BrainyAct® provides tech-enabled, patent-pending therapy programs delivered via gamification for neurological disorders such as Autism, Asperger’s, Dyslexia, and ADHD. BrainyAct activates the underdeveloped areas of the brain through exercises that strategically target a child’s balance, gravity, gross/fine motor, rhythm and timing, visual motor perception, and memory. Putting hope in motion means putting your family first in everything we do and using movement to affect real change. Shifting hope to a reality. 91% of families report global brain improvements after four months. Our company was built on the premise to create real, measurable, and visible change that shows you how your child is improving through data. BrainyAct is for homes and schools. Visit Kinuu.com. Use promo code THEAUTISMDAD and save $500. This is a limited time offer. Visit BrainyAct Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Dolly Lowery. Dolly is the CEO and Founder of a company called Kinuu. She's here to talk about their program called BrainyAct and how it's literally changing the lives of autistic kiddos and adults. This is a perfect example of technology being used to improve quality of life. This is so cool and I can't wait for you to hear this. I love bringing information to you that can help or at least inform you as to things that are currently available to help your family. ☺ ♥ About Dolly: As an entrepreneur and hard worker, my underlying passion is to look for ways to make the world a better place. I had a successful 20+ career selling software and services in the US and Europe. After losing two siblings to brain cancer, I co-founded and launched Gilda’s Club Twin Cities, a place for families living with Cancer. As a Mom of three kids, I became familiar with the growing epidemic of neurological based learning challenges, such as ADHD and Dyslexia. With over 1200 clinic visits, I know firsthand how difficult it can be to juggle demanding schedules and I was determined to find a way for families to have a program that was effective, affordable and convenient. After years of research combined with my background in technology, I assembled a team with the perfect combination of heart and experience to launch Kinuu. Together we will restore hope for families so that every child can achieve beyond what they dreamed possible and to truly believe in themselves. Learn more about BrainyAct and get information to provide your school or local community center: Kinuu.com Check out these short videos: https://vimeo.com/kinuu/brainyact3moms https://vimeo.com/kinuu/sciencebehindbrainyact You can find me at theautismdad.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Mentioned in this episode: Learn More About Shelley Kenow I know how frustrating and scary and overwhelming IEP meetings can be. I want to connect you with my friend, Shelly Keno. She is an IEP coach with over 30 years of experience in special education. IEP meetings don't have to be scary. It's so important that we empower ourselves with knowledge and insights so that we can better navigate these difficult situations and work together with the school for the betterment of our kids. So if you're interested in learning about what Shelley does visit shelleykenow.com, and use the code, "theautismdad" to save $7 off of an IEP review. Visit Shelley Kenow Learn More About Mightier Mightier is a clinically proven mobile gaming app that was developed at Boston Children’s Hospital. It’s already helped more than 100,000 kids, including my crew here at home. Kids play on a tablet or a phone while wearing a heart rate monitor. And Mightier incorporates breathing exercises and other calming techniques as part of the game. Kids get to see when it’s time to cool down and learn how to do it themselves. And parents get to track their progress. Visit mightier.com and use the promo code "theautismdad22" at checkout to save 10%. Visit Mightier Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guests today are Herman Lintvelt and Michael (Fox) van der Linde of Augmental Technologies (Pty) Ltd. They created a FREE app called Tracto that is empowering parents to better support their autistic kids. I love bringing you resources that can help improve your families the quality of life. It's even more satisfying for me when something is as affordable as free. Check out this episode and let me know if you have any questions.. You can find more information about Tracto at tracto.app Guest bios and contact info: Herman Lintvelt Role: Founder, CEO, CTO LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hermanlintvelt/ Herman Lintvelt has more than 20 years experience in creating software products, and in growing productive software teams. He has been involved in various startups over the last number of years. He specializes in initiating projects; growing the software architecture and team structure so both can start lean, and scale when it needs to. He is passionate about using technology to develop products that empowers people. Michael (Fox) van der Linde Role: Founder, Chief Product Officer LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelfoxsa/ Michael has 11 years of technology product management and entrepreneurship experience. During this period he has managed various local and international technology product portfolios ranging from digital health and telematics. He also has extensive experience in managing technology product roadmaps within various company maturity levels, from start-up, scale-up and NYSE listed company environments. Michael is passionate about addressing meaningful problems by leveraging software, hardware, data science, design and business model innovation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Mentioned in this episode: Happy Ladders Happy Ladders is Parent-Led Early Autism Therapy that empowers you, the parent, to teach your toddler essential developmental skills through play. Studies have shown that the parent-led model is highly effective while eliminating frustration over long wait lists, or the worry about losing precious developmental time. All without the disruption of people coming into your home Happy Ladders includes activities that target 150+ essential developmental skills every toddler needs as well as assessments in 4 different developmental areas. There’s also an exclusive community of parents just like you, and professional coaching to ensure success for both you and your toddler. To learn more, get a free trial, and take advantage of an exclusive, limited-time offer for my listeners, visit happyladders.com. Use the code "theautismdad" at checkout to save 50% off the monthly membership. Plus get a free one-on-one session as well as access to the Tantrums and Meltdowns mini-course. This is a limited-time offer so act now. Visit Happy Ladders Just two Dads Podcast Shawn Francis and Brian Altounian host "Just two Dads." A weekly conversation with two dads about raising children with special needs. Listen, every Wednesday at 12PM PST. Find them on Facebook and anywhere you get your podcasts. Just two Dads Podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I recently discovered my autistic kids are having to do active shooter and lockdown drills at school. I was caught off guard because my kids are in a school for autistic kids and kids with other learning disabilities. I had no idea this was happening and I wanted to learn more. I found so many stories about how traumatizing these drills are for kids in general. Concerned, I wanted to speak to someone who has experienced these first hand. As parents we need to be aware of what our kids are experiencing and how they are being impacted. In honor of National Gun Violence Survivors Week, I wanted to have a conversation about this. I'm connected with Shannon Watts on Twitter. Shannon is the founder of Mom's Demand Action and is leading the fight for gun safety. I asked if I could speak with someone about this and she delivered. My guest today is Avery Hamill. Avery is a senior in high school, a Student Demands Action volunteer and Students Demand Action National Advisory Board member. Avery literally took time out of his school day to talk about what it's like to experience active shooter and lockdown drills first hand. He also shares why they're so traumatizing to kids and what can be done to help reduce the impact. As a parent, this interview really hit me hard and I'm so grateful to have connected with Avery. Some heros don't wear capes and some are still in high school.. You can follow and support Avery on Twitter by clicking here. You can find more information about Students Demand Action, Mom's Demand Action, and Everytown below: Research report on the Impact of Active Shooter Drills in Schools Students Demand Action Mom's Demand Action Everytown Text "READY: to 644-33 to join the movement of Americans working together to end gun violence and build safer communities." More information about National Gun Violence Survivors Week Find me at listen.theautismdad.com All my information can be found here Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Mentioned in this episode: Learn More About Mightier Mightier is a clinically proven mobile gaming app that was developed at Boston Children’s Hospital. It’s already helped more than 100,000 kids, including my crew here at home. Kids play on a tablet or a phone while wearing a heart rate monitor. And Mightier incorporates breathing exercises and other calming techniques as part of the game. Kids get to see when it’s time to cool down and learn how to do it themselves. And parents get to track their progress. Visit mightier.com and use the promo code "theautismdad22" at checkout to save 10%. Visit Mightier Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices