Tag: caregivers

There are wonderful initiatives that focus on people from all walks of life sharing their stories. The #ifyoucoulseeme project is one of them. Today we speak with its founder, Erin Mahone, and her hope to have someone on the Autism spectrum join the movement. This project has taken off, been reported on in the news, and is becoming known around the globe for its groundbreaking ability to help people be seen and heard.

Erin’s “day job” is as a caseworker in the state of Virginia working with families to find services for their children with special needs – many with Autism. Her great passion is providing space for difficult conversations about mental health in all areas of life. She offers audiences tips for recognizing their inner critic and shares proven strategies to develop self-compassion and quiet the voice of resistance with humor, passion, and humility. Her work is intended to change the way we talk about mental health and related issues with the understanding that to make that change we must first tackle our own shame and fear. Erin educates and empowers people of all backgrounds and experiences to use the stories of their lives to create a more just, equitable, and compassionate world understanding that everyone’s story has value and innate power.

Erin is the author of the book If You Could See Me: Life, Motherhood, and the Pursuit of Sanity (Author’s Place Press, 2018). She is the creator of #IfYouCouldSeeMe a multi-media storytelling project designed to change the way we talk about, think about, and address mental health and related issues. Erin leads ReStory, a personal narrative coaching initiative, and she is creator of two one-woman shows, It Runs in the Family a collection of songs and stories about laughter, family, mental illness, and unconditional love; and her new show Shark Woman Meditates, an honest look into her own mental health journey. Erin is pursuing her master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling at Longwood University. She is particularly interested in exploring Narrative Therapy and its effectiveness in the treatment of complex trauma. Erin is a recent TEDx presenter and speaks frequently on the intersection of creativity, compassion, and change. She was recently named a Michele Dowdy Emerging Leader by the Virginia Counselors Association and she is an “A World of Difference” facilitator with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). Erin lives in the suburbs with her husband, three children, and a furbaby named Kismet.

www.ifyoucouldseeme.com

Join Aaron Huey, owner of a residential treatment center for at risk youth, as he discusses his experiences working with kids on the spectrum.

Aaron is the host of the podcast, Beyond Risk and Back.

Aaron has been working with children, teens, and parents for over 18 years. After ten years directing camps and empowerment programs around the world, Aaron opened Fire Mountain because he wanted to work with kids and families on a deeper level. Over the first few years of running programs like Teen Rites of Passage The Warrior Phoenix Challenge, and numerous cries for help from parents, Aaron realized the need to turn his efforts towards teens struggling with drugs, alcohol and the behaviors and issues related to addiction. An addict in recovery since 2000, he felt a calling to put together an expert team and open Fire Mountain. His mission is to awaken confidence and leadership. “It‘s not about being better, it‘s about giving up the struggle to be different from who you are.”

Aaron’s formal educational background is in acting. He graduated from the top acting school in the US, The American Academy of Dramatic Arts in 1990. His skills in comedy and drama make him an influential speaker and presenter, and a favorite among the kids. His confidence, compassion, and humor set the tone for deep healing, and fun.

Aaron is also trained as an EMT, a Wilderness Survival Instructor and Martial Arts teacher, all of which he weaves into the Fire Mountain RTC curriculum.

www.beyondriskandback.com

Join us for a discussion with Dr. Peter Vermeulen, the 2020 keynote presenter for the Converge Autism Summit, about Theory of Mind: How does it relate to Autism?

Peter is the founder, director, CEO, lecturer, consultant, website developer, secretary. Occasionally, Peter even does the cleaning of the office of Autism in Context, the senior Autism lecturer and consultant for Autisme Centraal, and the Chief Editor of “Sterk in Autisme!”, a bimonthly magazine of Autisme Centraal. Autisme Centraal is responsible for autism awareness campaigns and ‘autism friendliness’ support activities throughout Europe. He is a Member of the Editorial Board of ‘Tijdschrift voor Orthopedagogiek, Kinderpsychiatrie en Klinische Psychologie” (Journal of Special Education, Child Psychiatry and Clinical Psychology of the University of Leuven, Belgium) (currently Chief Editor of that Journal), a reviewer for Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders; Journal of Intellectual Disability – Diagnosis and Treatment.

When Peter is not presenting, writing, driving or flying around for his job, he can usually be found on one of his 4 bicycles, trying to imitate Tour de France winners, hereby being oblivious to his age and physical state. When tired from cycling, he can be found at home, with his wife and their dog (which actually is more a Gremlin than a dog). Or he is playing with his grandchild. Because the Gremlin loves the beach, Peter often spends his weekends at the seaside, savouring seafood and – being a descendant of a brewing family – enjoying a good beer.

www.petervermeulen.be

Join Stephen Kavalkovich, host of Rescue the Rescuer podcast, who was relieved to find out his son was just diagnosed with Autism.

Stephen worked as an EMT and was at ground zero on 911 working as a first responder. He shares the journey of finding out how his son’s diagnosis of Autism has affected his family and why this was such a relief for him. The diagnosis has galvanized him to work with other first responders on how to respond to those emergency calls when a child or adult is on the spectrum and the lack of training and understanding provided for this community.

www.rescuetherescuer.com

Jeff Cohn joins us to talk about his work as an Occupational Therapist in the field of Autism.

With a BS and MS in Occupational Therapy, Jeffery Cohn has a deep well of educational professional experience. As lead OT in a pediatric development outpatient clinic, lead OT in CA school districts, experience in long and short term rehab facilities, and now with experience in the Autism Program at Springbrook Behavioral Health, Jeffry brings a wide range of real-world patient and clinical experience with a specialization in Autism.

Melanie Watt who has a Masters of Education and a background as Special Education teacher joins us to talk about how equine therapy has changed the face of Autism. She is the Founder & Executive Director of Hope Remains Youth Ranch, an equine program that offers riding lessons, after school programs, certified equine therapy sessions and professional counseling to children and families throughout the Upstate of South Carolina. Melanie has a heart for seeing children succeed and sees Hope Remains Youth Ranch as a place of healing, both physically, emotionally and spiritually for children and families.

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Chris Medina, Andy Chavez, and Annie Escalante join Kristin Walker to talk about Applied Behavioral Analysis, Artificial Intelligence, Human Behavior, Mental Health, Virtual Reality, Autism, and more. 

We talk about how virtual reality is being used to help those with Autism. These young entrepreneurs created the organization BehaviorMe and we got the chance to use their simulator and the Oculus Go Virtual Reality Headset. 

BehaviorMe is developing immersive virtual reality simulations for behavioral specialists to treat their clients more effectively and efficiently. Their VR simulations will give practitioners the opportunity to teach basic life skills to individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder and developmental disabilities in a new, innovative, and effective way. Our roots lay in the behavioral sciences and our passion drives us to help people all over the world.

www.behaviorme.co

Recently, fellow MHNR Host Joseph Fusaro sat down to talk about writing, art, Autism, and Aspergers with Motesem Mansur. Motesem is an author and artist that uses creativity to write stories of hope for kids living with Aspergers and Autism. He faced struggles first hand as a kid and it is his mission to show this generation that there is nothing to fear, to let your passion guide you, and most importantly don’t allow others to take you off of your path. Moe gives his books to schools, hospitals, and organizations. He is one of the most talented and giving artists that I’ve ever met. Listen in and be inspired.

We sit down for a chat with Madonna Kilpatrick from Seattle Washington. Her I.Q. is off the charts. She’s an author, a blogger, a podcaster, a docent for the Museum of Arts in Seattle, and an artist. She’s also autistic. Madonna lets us behind the veil to discuss what it was like for her in school, how she manages her life and her unique abilities while feeling vulnerable and insecure at times because of her diagnosis.

It is a peek into a very rich and incredible life of a young woman on the spectrum.

Mary Neil, a student at the University of Florida down in Gainesville joins Kristin Walker live at the Converge Autism Summit. She is a mentor and student leader for their Social Gators program which is a new program that is a mentorship for students on the Autism Spectrum. This program helps them to get involved like any neurotypical student activities program.

https://disability.ufl.edu/students/get-involved/social-gators/

Mary explains her role and why it is vital to have programs like this in universities and colleges across the United States.