The Moms Unpacking Autism Podcast

We vanished for a few weeks - but only to you - and now we're back with a report on the past few weeks, musings of what it means to rejoin life, how we handle overwhelm and shut down and more. This episode is full of stories and laughter which we all need right now so join us! Join our FACEBOOK page and group Mom's Unpacking Autism.  

Do you feel overstretched - or perhaps overstressed? Is taking a vacation or engaging in other "normal" activities in life a bit too much for you? How do you manage your expections or find that joy in the midst of parenting your child with autism? Join us for an illuminating discussion! Join our FB group Mom's Unpacking Autism.  

Today Stacy and Anne talk about what they've learned from trips to Disney World, and family vacations with kids with special needs. Join us!

Today Stacy and Anne talk about the challenges of having a business or personal interests in the midst of the demands of mothering a child or young adult on the spectrum.

Today we talk about the topic of friendship and your special needs child. Are our or our child's expectations realistic? Are we looking for a "Friends" sitcom kind of life? Join us for our discussion!

Today is one of the more difficult episodes that we have to talk about in light of current events. A young adult child on the spectrum was shot in his own home by law enforcement sent to help calm an escalating situation. Listen as Stacy and I try to unpack this issue.

How are you at listening? Let's find out on today's episode as Stacy and Anne unpack their experience as parents of adults with autism.

Sometimes it's all about the small and steady steps. There are times when we aren't able to take them for whatever reason. Join Stacy and Anne as we unpack parenting children with autism.

Sometimes in the hard and heavy of day to day, we all need a bit of good news! Join us for a little happy chat today!

Today Stacy and Anne discuss the difficult concept of comparing your child to another. Why do we do this? There are no winners or losers here. Listen to our discussion.   Thanks for listening!

Join Stacy and Anne as we talk about power and the feeling of being powerless. Have we learned to be controlling and manipulating in order to try to manage certain behaviors? What is good parenting anyway when you have a child on the autistic spectrum?

This show isn't about what you may think. It's about how raising a child with autism has prepared us favorably for COVID. It's a comical look at life.

Today Stacy and Anne talk about addressing our fears and how they paralyze us. It's great conversation today!

In this episode Stacy and Anne discuss how to approach sensitive issues with your adult child with autism. She also discusses a website that you can look up to find out what states will provide the best services for your adult with special needs. www.ablenrc.org  

Today Stacy and I unpack who's expectations are they for our children, and who's really matter. We also continue to talk about trust funds and preparing for our child's future. Join us for another heartfelt discussion on caring for your adult child with special needs.

We're back! 2020 was just a hard ride for all of us and the show didn't go on. But we're back with new weekly episodes for you! These will be shorter and more concise - just enough to give you what you need to chew on for the week. Today Stacy talks about visiting with a special needs lawyer to set up a trust for her adult child with Autism. 

In this episode Stacy and Anne unpack some writing/homework hacks for kids in school along with the ever present problem of being there for the siblings of a high need child. How do you cultivate healthy relationships and keep things from getting too competitive or having the other siblings become resentful of the time given to the special needs child. How do you balance your own needs, the needs of your other children and your special needs child? We don't have the answers, but we have some thoughts, right here today on Moms Unpacking Autism.

It's hard to make decisions and sometimes our fears really get in the way. Who's fear is it anyway - our children's, ours, our partners? We all have fears and sometimes they really get in the way. Join us this week as we unpack this topic.

Autism shut downs happen. Things get confusing, the mind muddles and then bam, all functions shut down for maybe a long period of time. The pressure is too much. Or on a smaller scale your child will fall asleep in the strangest places. It's a scary situation and if you don't know what's going on you are prone to many diagnosis errors and much heartache. Listen as Stacy and Anne begin to unpack this from a mom's perspective. Join our Facebook Page Moms Unpacking Autism. Or watch us on YouTube.

In this really raw and vulnerable talk, Anne and her husband of 30 years talk about the complexities that they had in their marriage as they tried to raise their special needs child. Marriage is hard under the best of circumstances. Raising special needs children is not for the faint of heart and unfortunately, nothing that anyone chooses. We get the kids we get and then we have to figure out how to raise them and sometimes it is not easy, especially when the answers are not available. Some sources say that there could be up to an 80% divorce rate among families of special needs children. Even though this statistic has been debunked and some say that special needs kids can help your marriage grow stronger, there are many complexities that lie behind this tender relationship. Join us as we unpack some of the issues that we experienced. We weathered the storm, but what matters is that you come out in a place of better health and support in the end.