Maureen Bennie - Autism Awareness & "The 8th Sense"

09/29/20 • 64 min

In this episode of the Sensory Friendly Solutions Podcast our Host Matt George is chatting with Maureen Bennie, the Founder of the Autism Awareness Centre.
Maureen Bennie created the Autism Awareness Centre in 2003 to address what she saw as a gap in support, information, resources and advocacy for those who experience autism spectrum disorders.

Maureen is the mother of two young autistic adults– Marc and Julia. For 8 years, she managed an at-home Intensive Behavioral Intervention Program which involved working with speech pathologists, child development specialists, psychologists, occupational therapists, and physical therapists.

EPISODE GUIDE
2:19 Maureen talks about the effects of COVID-19 on the Autism Awareness Centre
5:19 Maureen introduces her two adult children with autism and their experience with the pandemic
7:47 Maureen introduces the disruption of routine we've all experienced and it's effects on our wellbeing
12:13 How Maureen breaks down routine and consistency with her children
14:59 How important the discussion around PPE and Sensory Overload is to the current time
16:41 Creating consistency in the home
22:01 Maureen's unique solution that allowed her children to better experience the world
25:35 Interoception: The Eighth Sense
36:21 Where you can find Maureen's work
42:26 Maureen's strategy to reduce the noise of the current world
47:07 Christel Seeberger addresses our listeners
49:15 Acknowledgement of violence within families in this moment
54:29 Christel's reflections on Interoception
58:31 Innovation Segment
Thanks for listening - Christel Seeberger and the Sensory Friendly Solutions Team.
Full blog posts and transcripts for each episode can be found on our website.
Podcast leadership is provided by Sensory Friendly Solutions Founder & CEO Christel Seeberger.
This podcast was produced by Matt George and was engineered by Zachary Pelletier.
Thank you to our sponsor TakingITGlobal, ensuring that youth around the world are actively engaged. Head to risingyouth.ca to learn more and to become the next RisingYouth grant recipient.
The podcast is also supported by New Brunswick Community College as part of the Community Resource Awareness During and After COVID-19 applied research project, funded by the New Brunswick Innovation Foundation. Learn more about NBCC's efforts to transform lives and communities.

Sign up for the Sensory Friendly Solutions newsletter to receive sensory-friendly tips and strategies delivered straight to your inbox.
Connect with us on any of our social platforms:
Facebook
Instagram
LinkedIn
Twitter
YouTube

Previous Episode

Dr. Sarah Gander - The Social Determinants of Health

In this episode of the Sensory Friendly Solutions Podcast our Host Matt George is chatting with Dr. Sarah Gander, a General Paediatrician in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada
Her research and advocacy focus on the social determinants of health and the effects of poverty on the health of children and youth. Dr. Gander seeks bridge clinicians, other professionals, community organizations and families in research to highlight the reality of the complex social needs of our patients and families.
You can find Dr Gander at NB Social Pediatrics.
EPISODE GUIDE
3:00 Dr Gander talks about when multitasking can and cannot work.
5:40 Some of the biggest challenges ahead for our youth during covid.
8:00 Dr Gander shares a story of how one of her patients is dealing with the challenges of a post COVID school schedule.
13:00 Dr Gander shares what drives her in her work.
15:00 Matt shares some research: the word sensory overload was being searched over 40,000 times a month on Google, the discussion goes to sensory overload and the dopamine hit of social media! Social isolation of the pandemic has been pivotal in our screen time usage.
20:00 Dr Gander chats about how she has been having conversations and practice exercises with her own children about social skills.
22:00 Matt and Dr Gander dive into the social determinants of health.
28:00 Dr. Gander, shares strategies that she uses to reduce the noise of the current time. One of the ways is bringing outdoor education to schools.
32:00 Christel Seeberger joins Matt in the studio to reflect about the conversation with Dr Gander.
33:00 Sensory overload has not gone away with covid and the disruptions to our habits and routines.
38:00 Christel shares thoughtful feedback from a listener to the Podcast inspired the team to dive deeper in to how to improve the sensory experience of a podcast.
Thanks for listening - Christel Seeberger and the Sensory Friendly Solutions Team.
Full blog posts and transcripts for each episode can be found on our website.
Podcast leadership is provided by Sensory Friendly Solutions Founder and CEO Christel Seeberger.
This podcast was produced by Matt George and was engineered by Zachary Pelletier.
Thank you to our sponsor TakingITGlobal, ensuring that youth around the world are actively engaged. Head to risingyouth.ca to learn more and to become the next RisingYouth grant recipient.
The podcast is also supported by New Brunswick Community College as part of the Community Resource Awareness During and After COVID-19 applied research project, funded by the NewBrunswickInnovation Foundation. Learn more about NBCC's efforts to transform lives and communities

Next Episode

Renee Warren - Working From Home In a Pandemic

In this episode of the Sensory Friendly Solutions Podcast our Host Matt George is chatting with Renee Warren, the Founder of We Wild Women and the Host of the Into the Wild Podcast.
Renee wants to help women around the world start their dream business with the incredibly ambitious goal of support 1 Million women in her lifetime.

"I have one gigantic mission: To help a million female entrepreneurs launch and grow a wildly successful company!"

If you're engaging with Renee's work, she says, "you're in the right place!"

"You are here because you either want to:

Take that first step to uncovering your passion,
Get a little wild and finally start your damn business!

You don’t have to do it alone, that’s where this community and me come in. I’m here for you every step of the way. From dirty back-of-the-napkin idea to launch right through to scaling your marvellous business."
EPISODE GUIDE:
2:00 Renee's entrepreneurial journey
4:07 What will COVID change?
7:40 Renee on creating boundaries
8:23 Professional overwhelm
10:11 How Renee adapted to working from home
11:05 Renee's ideal customer
17:53 Renee's morning routine
20:45 How to deal with what Renee calls 'Down Cycles'
28:21 Renee calls 'BS'
31:59 Our deepest fears
32:37 Renee's son Max and his experience with hyper-sensitivity
37:17 Renee's strategy for reducing the noise of the current era
39:42 Renee's reflection
41:37 Christel's personal examples
44:46 Christel on boundaries
47:46 Christel's reflection on being curious

Thanks for listening - Christel Seeberger and the Sensory Friendly Solutions Team.
Full blog posts and transcripts for each episode can be found on our website.
Podcast leadership is provided by Sensory Friendly Solutions Founder & CEO Christel Seeberger.
This podcast was produced by Matt George and was engineered by Zachary Pelletier.
Thank you to our sponsor TakingITGlobal, ensuring that youth around the world are actively engaged. Head to risingyouth.ca to learn more and to become the next Rising Youth grant recipient.
The podcast is also supported by New Brunswick Community College as part of the Community Resource Awareness During and After COVID-19 applied research project, funded by the New Brunswick Innovation Foundation. Learn more about NBCC's efforts to transform lives and communities.

Sensory Friendly Solutions - Maureen Bennie - Autism Awareness & "The 8th Sense"

Transcript

Matt George (00:00:01):

Today's episode of the Sensory Friendly Solutions podcast on the Unsettled Media Podcast Network is brought to you by Sensory Friendly solutions. Discover Sensory Friendly Solutions for daily life. To learn more head to sensoryfriendly.net. Unsettled.