Living the Sky Life - Our Autism Journey Laurie Hellmann
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- Kids & Family
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This podcast comes to you from a very tired, slightly slap happy and eternally hopeful warrior mom of a young adult son with severe, non-verbal autism. My hope is to bring together parents of special needs children and professionals so we may share stories and experience to build a worldwide village of support for one another. Living the Sky Life offers a personal connection and understanding from those who have likely walked in your shoes.
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S5: Episode 179 - Keeping hope alive... and the power of 'yet'
On this solo episode, I outline our 20 year journey to uncovering and resolving Skyler's GI issues. It finally feels like we are making significant progress! Through his smiles, laughter and decreased frustration (and subsequent hitting), it appears Skyler is becoming less uncomfortable in his own body!
I provide a more detailed account of our experiences in my book 'Welcome to My Life - A Personal Parenting Journey Through Autism' which is available on Amazon.
Want to be a guest on Living the Sky Life? Connect with me via my website lauriehellmann.com to learn how!
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S5: Episode 178 - Turning those labeled as "low functioning" into higher functioning individuals through a successful life & job skills training program
Mike Stuart is a 74 year old retired educator who lives in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. He and his wife Harriet and their 32 year old autistic son, Aaron, moved from Florida 16 months ago to be closer to their daughter and her family.
In 2015, Mike created a life and job skills program for the more significantly-challenged autistic and other developmentally-disabled individuals called Operation Meaningful Life. It has been incredibly successful in turning Aaron into a skilled higher-functioning individual from his formerly designated "low-functioning" label.
Through the FB group for Operation Meaningful Life, Mike shares programming and behavioral insights with his 12,000 followers. Mike and Harriet are now formulating the next major phase of Aaron's life: a permanent, secure, life-fulfilling, and compassionate residential model for Aaron and others who are considered more-heavily or severely challenged.
You can connect with Mike via his FB page: @Operation Meaningful Life or his website: operationmeaningfullife.com -
S5: Episode 177 - The importance of improving GI health to eliminate additional neurological effects caused by IBD/Crohn's/ Colitis
Josh Dech is an ex-paramedic and Holistic Nutritionist, specializing in Crohn’s and Colitis, and other related gut issues. It was the successes his clients have had with complex digestive
diseases, previously thought to be impossible to fix, that got
him connected to some of the world’s most renowned
doctors.
Since then, he’s been recruited to the Priority Health
Academy as a medical lecturer, helping educate doctors on
the holistic approach to gut health, and inflammatory bowel
disease.
You can connect with Josh on FB & IG @Josh Dech and find his podcast ReversABLE on all platforms. -
S5: Episode 176 - Diving deep into the methods of toilet training
Dr. Mary Barbera “fell” into the autism world in 1999 when her first-born son, Lucas was diagnosed with autism. Since then, Mary transformed from a confused and overwhelmed parent to a Board-Certified Behavior Analyst and best-selling author. After earning a PhD, Mary launched her first online course in early 2015 and later built additional courses and a membership program to help both parents and autism professionals.
In her vlogs, podcasts, books, webinars, and online courses, Mary teaches her unique step-by-step system and method to help children with autism (or signs of autism) talk more while reducing tantrums and other problem behaviors.
Mary’s latest book Turn Autism Around was published in 2021 by Hay House and is helping parents and professionals start turning things around for young children with early signs of autism and older children with an autism diagnosis who are still struggling with talking, tantrums, eating, sleeping and potty training.
For more information go to marybarbera.com to access her FB, IG & YouTube pages. -
S5: Episode 175 - Chatting with an OG of the Spelling Method for Communication and why it's important to always presume competence
Dawnmarie Gaivin is the Founder & Executive Director at Spellers Center San Diego, located in Oceanside, CA. Before her career moved into the world of nonspeaking autism, Dawnmarie worked for over 11 years as a trauma & transplant RN. In 2005 her first son regressed and was diagnosed with autism. A year later, her second son followed the same path. Today her eldest, Evan (20) is a nonspeaker and fluent letterboard communicator. Her younger son, Trey (18) is a minimal speaker who uses multiple modalities for effective communication.
Dawnmarie is a former DIR/Floortime® provider, cofounder of the Spellers Method, and an Assistive Technology Specialist (AT-ACP).
In March 2021, Jamison Handley, a fluent speller, and his dad JB wrote a book entitled “Underestimated" about their journey learning how to spell for communication with her. In 2023 their award-winning documentary SPELLERS was released, showcasing how spelling and typing as a method of communication has liberated many nonspeakers from a lifetime of silence. Dawnmarie also currently serves as the interim co-director of Spellers Freedom Foundation, a nonprofit run by a board made up mostly of nonspeakers, who give scholarships and help create community for other spellers.
Dawnmarie's children inspired her specific passion to support all nonspeakers in the development of purposeful motor skills and a reliable form of communication. You can learn more about her and the programs offered through her team at www.spellers.com.
You can connect with her via various social media accounts:
IG = spellers__
IG = spellers center_sandiego
FB = www.facebook.com/spellersrev
FB Group = Spellers Community -
S5: Episode 174 - Sharing a love of the outdoors & spending quality time with each other has created an unbreakable bond between these sisters
Claire Thomas is 15-years-old and has a 12-year-old sister named Leah, who was diagnosed with autism as a toddler.
Claire enjoys spending time outside whether it's hunting with her dad or fulfilling her passion for photography by capturing the beauty around her. When she's not doing either of those hobbies, Claire is quite busy in high school as a member of the swim team.
According to her mom, Claire is a great helper and wonderful sister, often taking Leah on walks to explore the woods and nature together.
Customer Reviews
All the feels!
I’ve been following this podcaster on social media for a while and have recently learned about podcasts. I find this podcast to be so refreshing and uplifting after a year of road bumps with my son. So I’m thankful for these episodes because all of my feelings from good to bad are validated and felt by so many parents! Looking forward to finishing past and staying up to date with future episodes! Thank you so much for this podcast it has definitely been a form of therapy for me.
Relatable
It is so powerful to feel like our journey is not a solo trip. Thanks to the brave people who have decided to open the doors to their world and share truths, fears, challenges, joys, accomplishments and all of the crazy emotions despite how hard it can be to do so. You make a difference and it matters. ❤️
Amazing
Amazing ! So much insight into the future and so informative 💙