Dads Talking Autism (feat. Ray Bracht) S6E06

In this week's episode, my friend Ray Bracht joins me to talk about special needs parenting from a dad’s perspective. Ray is an autism dad and an autism step-dad. He opens up about what his journey as a special needs dad has been like. We talk about some of the challenges he’s currently facing, what he fears about the future, how all the stress impacts his marriage, and what his hopes are for his amazing family. We talk dad stuff and even answer some listener questions. This was a great conversation and I hope it inspires other dads to open up. Please note that in the episode, Ray states that he’s 56 years old. He is in fact 52 years old and I promised I would clarify that in the…

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Confessions of a Depressed Dad (feat. Rob Gorski) S5E26

I don't know who needs to hear this, but I'm a single Dad battling depression, anxiety, and burnout. If you can relate, you're not alone. In this short episode, I talk honestly about my current mental health struggles and the importance of normalizing these conversations. Host Bio: Rob Gorski is a single Dad to three amazing autistic boys as well as 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 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.…

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Parenting with Purpose (feat. Mitch Leppicello, LICSW) S5E6

I'm excited to bring you another episode about empowering parents to better help their autistic children. My guest today is Mitch Leppicello. Mitch is a social worker who's spent decades working with autistic kids and their families. Mitch has used his experience to create a program called The Calm Compass. The Calm Compass is an online resource for parents of autistic children, helping them to better navigate difficult situations, as well as gain insight, and outside-of-the-box solutions for everyday challenges. I'm a huge fan of empowering parents and unfortunately, many of these things weren't available to me when I was first starting out. The Calm Compass is a fantastic resource for parents and I hope you enjoy the show. Learn more about Mitch and The Calm Compass by clicking here.…

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Why are men so hard on themselves? (Feat. Dennis Procopio) S4E13

This was a really challenging episode for me to edit for a couple of reasons and I’ll explain in a minute. My guest is Dennis Procopio, founder of Man-Up! Life Coaching, and fellow autism Dad. He’s here as a resource for men and helps them to become the best version of themselves. This episode didn’t go as planned but that’s okay. The whole point was to highlight what Dennis is doing because whether or not we like to admit it, men need help sometimes. What ended up happening is that Dennis turned the interview around on me and we sorta dug into my life. It was a rather profound experience for me on a personal level. The struggle with editing this was that I shared a bit more than I have…

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Co-Parenting Through Divorce (feat. David Hill, MD, FAAP) S3E25

I’ve been wanting to take on the topic of co-parenting through divorce for a while now. It’s relevant to so many families out there, including mine. David Hill, MD, FAAP literally co-wrote the book on Co-parenting Through Separation and Divorce: Putting Your Children First for the American Academy of Pediatrics. This is such an important topic because divorce is common, but unfortunately, navigating divorce, especially with kids (in general) can be incredibly challenging for a million reasons. There are common mistakes that parents make when going through something this emotionally challenging and Dr. Hill helps us to understand those common mistakes and how to avoid them. This is such an important conversation and I encourage you to listen and share this. The message is a very positive one. David Hill, MD, FAAP,…

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Caring For The Caregivers (feat. Eileen Silverberg) S3E24

My guest is Eileen Silverberg. She’s a Life Coach in Emotional Management and author of “A Warrior of Light: A Guide of Inner Wisdom For Challenging Times”. We have a very important conversation about the physical and emotional challenges of being a caregiver. Eileen shares her personal journey of becoming a caregiver to her mother. The message here is very important. Please listen, share, subscribe and rate this episode. Eileen Silverberg’s Links: Website: https://eileensilverberg.com/ Get her book here All my information and relevant links are here Sponsors This episode is sponsored by Mightier. Mightier is an amazing program out of Harvard Medical and Boston Children’s. It uses video games to teach kids to emotionally self-regulate. Visit theautismdad.com/mightier and find out more information, including how to get a free 30-day trial. This episode is also brought…

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When Schools Are Closed (feat. Matthew Boulay) S3E23

In this episode, I speak with Matthew Boulay about education in the advent of COVID19, as well as the importance of summer learning. We talk about his new book “When Schools are Closed: A Guide for parents to discover the extraordinary power of summer learning in the era of COVID19”. It’s a great conversation and I recommend you check out his book. Link below.About Matthew Boulay: Founder and Former CEO of the National Summer Learning Association (NSLA) Author of “When Schools Are Closed” A guide for parents to discover the extraordinary power of summer learning in the era of COVID19.. You can get his book on Amazon You can find me: theautismdad.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/theautismdad Sponsors This episode is sponsored by Mightier. Mightier is an amazing program out of Harvard Medical and Boston Children’s.…

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The Struggle Is Real (feat. Amy Kelly) S3E22

Amy Kelly is the mother of Danny, Annie, and Ryan. Her daughter Annie is diagnosed with moderate to severe autism, verbal apraxia, intellectual and developmental disabilities, and general anxiety disorder. Amy Kelly is the National Director of Family Engagement for Devereux Advanced Behavioral Health. Devereux is one of the nation’s oldest and largest nonprofit providers of behavioral healthcare. She also serves as a family representative on several special-needs boards in the community, locally and nationally. Amy also participates with other patients and families in efforts supported by the American Board of Pediatrics Foundation. The goal is to address children with special needs and the importance of quality care. Amy and I have a conversation about the many challenges facing our special needs kids as they transition to remote learning. She…

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Talking to Your Kids About COVID19 (feat. Kristin Canavera from St. Jude) S3E21

If you’re a parent who’s trying to discuss COVID19 with your children, this show is definitely for you. Kristin Canavera is a child psychologist at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and she’s on the pod today to discuss the St. Jude COVID19 resource kits for kids, tweens, adolescents, and parents. These are free downloadable resource kits and can be found at the link below. We discuss talking to kids about COVID19 in a way that’s developmentally appropriate. Please take a listen and pass this along because COVID19 is here and it isn’t going away anytime soon. I know that’s scary but it’s very important to deal with the facts and St. Jude is here to help us talk with our kids about COVID19. You can find Kristin: https://www.stjude.org/directory/c/kristin-canavera.html St. Jude COVID19…

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Stronger In The Broken Places (feat. Laurie Nadel, Ph.D.) S3E20

We have never experienced anything like COVID-19 in our lifetime and people are scared, myself included. Many of us are dealing with high levels of acute stress, irritability, and sleep disruption. My guest today is Laurie Nadel, Ph.D. Dr. Laurie is a very well-known author, psychotherapist, disaster stress expert and is considered a thought leader in the emerging field of acute stress and PTSD. Dr. Laurie has been a guest on Oprah, CNN, Coast to Coast AM with Art Bell and George Noory, and numerous TV and radio shows in the U.S. and Europe. She has been interviewed about her work with PTSD populations in such major news media as the New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Newsday, Reuters News Service, and other publications around the world. Dr. Laurie, is uniquely qualified to help us find the calm…

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