No matter where you are in your child's autism journey, we've got your back. Hi! We are Lia and Matthew McCabe, neurodiverse parents of autistic children and founders of AutismWish. Tune in as we discuss how our special needs girls inspired us to create our charity initiative and what we have in store for you on Embracing Autism.

2021

Chapters

0:00:00 Introducing Embracing Autism: A Journey with Autistic Children 0:01:30 Realizing Red Flags and Seeking Evaluation for First Child 0:04:31 Unexpected Autism Diagnosis for Second Child 0:08:35 Unnoticed Red Flags and Disconnecting 0:11:14 Coping with the Autism Diagnosis 0:16:06 Embracing the Diagnosis and Getting into Their World 0:18:32 Shifting Perspectives and Coming Together as a Family 0:20:18 Rethinking Autism and Embracing Neurodiversity 0:24:42 Expanding Resources for Parents of Autistic Children 0:26:35 Looking Forward to More Episodes and Information

Long Summary

In this episode, we discuss our personal journey as a married neurodiverse couple raising autistic children. Our goal is to provide support and resources to parents of autistic children while spreading awareness and acceptance of autism spectrum disorder. We share our own stories, tips, and guidance, hoping to create a sense of community among our listeners.

We then dive into our personal journey with autism, starting with the red flags we noticed in our first child when she was about a year and a half old. We reached out to Infants & Toddlers for more information and started to learn about autism. It was a scary and uncertain time for us because we didn't have much knowledge about autism, and we had to quickly educate ourselves.

We discovered that autism only affects a small percentage of the population, making it unlikely for us to personally know someone with autism. Our daughter's speech delay was one of the initial signs that led to her evaluation and subsequent autism diagnosis. We also noticed behaviors like lack of eye contact, playing in isolation, and stimming activities, such as arm flapping. Initially, we didn't think much of these behaviors, considering them normal for her age. However, as the evaluation process progressed, we became more aware of the possibility of autism. Eventually, our daughter received her formal autism diagnosis from a developmental pediatrician.

Surprisingly, 11 months later, our second child was also diagnosed with autism, which was unexpected for us. This second diagnosis helped us understand the autism spectrum better and the varied ways it can present in individuals. We discuss how our second child is different from our first child, with unique traits and needs.

We share the challenges we faced throughout this journey, including language regression and difficulty in socialization. We talk about our initial reaction to the diagnosis, the mixed emotions, and the fear of the unknown. We emphasize the importance of community support and acceptance in navigating the journey of autism.

We also explain how we learned to overcome challenges and embrace our children's unique strengths. We discuss techniques to connect with our children on their level and understand their world. We urge parents to rethink their perception of autism and see it as part of their child's identity, learning a new language and opening themselves up to a whole new culture and understanding.

In this episode, we also introduce our charity project, AutismWish, which aims to provide sensory therapeutic items to autistic children. We express our determination to create a support