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September 30, 2025 15 mins

Being an autism parent can be incredibly rewarding — but it can also feel lonely, confusing, and overwhelming at times. Between navigating diagnoses, school systems, therapies, and daily challenges, it’s easy to feel like you’re facing it all on your own.

In this episode of The Aspie World Podcast, I’m sharing practical tips, emotional insights, and powerful resources to help autism parents find the support, community, and confidence they need. Because you’re not alone — and you don’t have to do this journey by yourself.

  • Where to find trusted autism support networks

  • How to connect with other autism parents who truly understand

  • The benefits of joining autism-friendly communities online and offline

  • Practical ways to reduce stress and overwhelm as a parent

  • How to advocate for your child without burning out

When you’re surrounded by the right people and resources, the journey becomes easier, lighter, and far more empowering.

  • Parents of autistic children seeking support and guidance

  • Newly diagnosed families looking for trustworthy resources

  • Teachers, carers, and professionals wanting to better support autism parents

  • Anyone feeling isolated or overwhelmed on their autism parenting journey

If you’ve been carrying the weight of this alone, this episode will help you find connection, understanding, and hope.

🎁 FREE Download: Get your Autistic Adult Bulletproof Brain Starter Kit — packed with strategies to reduce overwhelm, manage stress, and build unstoppable confidencewww.bulletproofbrain.org

If this episode supported you, please:
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Share this episode with friends, carers, or anyone navigating the autism parenting journey

You are not alone — and together, we can build a stronger, more supportive autism community. 💙

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:Who This Episode Is For:Resources & Support for Autism ParentsLet’s Stay Connected

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Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:02):
Hey guys, what's going on? Welcome to the Aspol podcast.
And this is kind of a little bitdifferent today.
This is just audio only. Usually I'm just repurposing,
you know, audio from my videos that I purposely make in a way
that I can use them for the podcast.
But today a little bit differently.
I come across a new friend. I'm going to say new friend,
this is Greer Jones. And it's kind of cool because
you got same last name as me, right?
So Daniel Jones, Greer Jones whomust be related somehow.

(00:24):
Now I'm joking everybody but Greer actually runs she runs the
podcast and it's just fascinating because her mission
is really something I think is is is highlighting.
There's there's a gap here for support, right for what is
about. Anyway, I'll let her explain.
But anyway, guys, if you are newto the podcast and you haven't
yet subscribed, make sure you subscribe because I can see all

(00:46):
you guys, 70% of you guys are listening and not even
subscribed. So please hit subscribe.
I also have figured out the ads thing so you don't get
interrupted with crazy ads rightnow.
And Greer, do you want to take it away?
Tell us who you are and what youdo and that kind of thing.
Yeah, so I'm Greer. I'm like, I always had a joke.
Now my I'm Greer. I'm a mum podcaster and advocate

(01:10):
which I always seem so silly to me but very true I think.
It's good. Because yeah.
I do the thing of like I have autism, idiot OCD and dyslexia.
Like I do this like 4 like thinglike it's part of who you are,
right? Yeah, yeah.
So, OK, so you're a podcaster mum advocate?
Yeah. And yeah, I started the
unfinished idea about a year ago.

(01:30):
I will just add, I know this is,I think audio only, but I do
have my son next to me. So if you hear little voices,
it's just everyday life, right? It's.
Just. Part of everyday.
But yeah, so I started a podcastcalled the Unfinished Idea, kind
of for two reasons. One was I wanted a space where
people who were raising autisticchildren or just neurodivergent

(01:53):
children, not even just autisticchildren, but neurodivergent
children could feel seen and heard and just be just know that
they're not alone. I think that was kind of my big
message is, is that, you know, they're not alone in this
journey and just talk about in the everyday.
It's the everyday like it's the getting to school and kind of

(02:14):
how that can be a struggle one day, but then the next day go
great, you know, and you know, getting, I remember going, my
oldest goes to like scouts, Beavers, whatever it's called.
And like, I remember putting in the group like, Oh, we're really
struggling today. Like, you know, just overwhelm,
blah, blah, blah, blah. And one of the moms like

(02:36):
privately messaged me and she wasn't being mean or anything,
but she's just like, I don't understand why this is a big
deal like that, you know, like all these things.
And she wasn't again, not being mean.
She was just trying to like, I don't, I don't understand, like
help me understand. And so that really like sparked
the idea of like people just don't get what the everyday is
like. And so through the podcast, just

(02:58):
having everyday conversations about about the everyday with,
you know, parents with professionals, with authors,
like you name it, and very informal, just really chats.
But then also realizing that there's a whole group of people
out there who want to support, you know, those who are, who are
neurodivergent or raising neurodivergent kids.

(03:19):
I think about my parents, you know, or my best friend, who
they're all neuro typical and want to understand what is it
like, you know what? And so again, creating that
space where people can learn andgrow and understand a bit more
about the everyday, which has been really fun.
I've learned a lot. I if you told me a year and a

(03:40):
half ago that I'd be podcasting,my tagline would be mom
podcaster advocate. I would have probably laughed at
you because I was in, like, I felt I was alone.
You know, I was like, no one else understands.
You know, like I always say, when we got our son's diagnosis,
it felt like I was thrown into apitch black maze and told find

(04:03):
your way out, you know, like you're just all of a sudden in a
whole different world. Yeah.
Yeah. And did.
Yeah. And so.
Here in the UK, right? Yes.
And yeah. Did you Did you also feel like
there was like little to no support afterwards?
Yeah, like we, so we, we went private.

(04:23):
I'll just be honest, we love theNHS, but we went private because
yeah, yeah, yeah, we knew that. Yeah.
Like the wait list was just really long and we knew we were
just being told actually things that weren't true about support.
So they're like, we can't support you until you have a
diagnosis and all these weird things that I look back and I'm

(04:44):
like, that was not true. Like, but but yeah, so we just
thought we need, we need to get him a diagnosis.
Like if that's how he's going toget support.
Because I have an education background.
So I kind of knew he was on the spectrum as in the big, big
neurodivergent spectrum. I wasn't sure if it was like
autism or AEC or both or dyslexia or, you know, like I

(05:07):
didn't know. So.
I get. It.
Yeah, So yeah. And then from there, yeah, go.
Sorry, no. How do you feel like what is the
most common? Because like you must speak to
like a lot of kind of like otherparents in your divergent kids
and stuff. What do you feel is like the
most common thing that you guys struggle with?

(05:27):
Like what It was like, what is like the the thing that everyone
when you hear you're like, ah, yeah, you know, this old
chestnut. Yeah, I think there's two things
that when come to mind is 1, themeltdowns, because they can be
so overwhelming for that, for the child who's going through
them, but also for the parent who's trying to support them and

(05:47):
keep them safe. And like, you know, and I find
that to be just emotionally draining.
It takes a lot of energy out of me 'cause then the meltdown
happens and then you got to keepgoing with life.
You know? You can't just sit in a dark
room for an hour and recoup, especially.
If you have. Like other kids.
So I, I think meltdowns and understanding meltdowns is a big

(06:11):
thing. And then also just the, the
judgement that we as parents getbecause you know, a lot of
children who are neurodivergent,not all of them, but a lot of
them don't look any different than any child.
And so when they are having a meltdown in the store or a
restaurant or the park, they just look like entitled

(06:33):
children, like, but they're not,they're not like, yeah.
And I've had, I mean, I had a comment from someone, a total
stranger on the street. My son was having a meltdown.
He sat down on the, like, sidewalk path, whatever you want
to call it, and was like just holding him and just kind of
we're trying to calm and breatheand just, you know, trying to do
it. And this woman walked past me

(06:55):
and was like, oh, he's such a little brat.
Like, you know, And I just was like, I was shocked that she
said that because she's a stranger.
Like, I mean, shocked anyone would say that.
But then also like, the fact that he's like a stranger and
just didn't know. Like that was a really, again, a
big turning point for me of like, OK, the world is not going

(07:15):
to understand him, but I can, I can help the world do that.
Like I can advocate for my childto help the world do that.
And so that was when I really started sharing a lot more about
our everyday kind of first online and then obviously
through the podcast. And so, yeah, she kind of
spurred me on the stranger spurred me on to do that.

(07:35):
But I just it was a big even nowwe go places and and I can tell
people are like, oh, why is she?Why is she allowing bad
behavior? I think is what and it, but it's
not. It's not.
Yeah, it's because they don't. See the bigger picture, right?
They're seeing like a small snapshot like the the the
viewpoint they have is a very narrow kind of like come out of

(07:57):
nowhere viewpoint, right? Yeah, exactly.
And it's that idea that they, someone said to me once that
they're seeing, like you said, exactly that snapshot, they're
seeing 30 seconds of a 24 hour aday, you know.
And so don't let their viewpointchange your whole day.
It's. And that was and that was
something that really helped me.Yeah, and it's and it's crazy,

(08:18):
isn't it? And I always like, you know,
it's funny, like there's only, and I always say there's a
haters. And when you're doing stuff
online, you'll know you'll get haters, right?
You always get haters. I don't like using the word hate
because like I always try and steer away from that word.
But that you know, the negative natives and there's only two
ways to deal with them, right? You can either do what Taylor
Swift says. You say, you know such thing as
a hater, There's just somebody who needs more love.

(08:40):
So you just over, you know, justoverwhelm them with kindness.
Like if somebody says to me online like you're an A hole or
whatever, I'm always like, I hope you're OK.
You're taking time out of your day.
Your life is very, very preciousand it's only short and you're
taking that time to come in and talk nonsense to me.
I hope you're OK. And if there is anything I can
help you with, just reach out because I genuinely mean that.

(09:01):
Because if somebody is, you know, if if like I don't know,
eBay, dude, 68 is like coming online and saying like Dan,
you're an hour or whatever. I'm like, dude, like you're not
OK Clearly. Like what is going on?
I wish. And then I say I wish what's
going on in your life is OK. I'm not 9 times out of 10,
they'll come back and be like, hey, look, I'm having a bad day.
I'm so sorry, blah, blah, blah. But the only other way to do it,

(09:21):
and this shuts down any haters and you can do this in real
life. So if you someone walking past
you with mother, like your kids,such a brat, like, yeah, you're
right. I'm sorry.
Because what are they going to say?
No, I'm not right. You know, they're not going to.
They can't argue with that. So you'd be like, yeah, you're
right 100% because. And you know how you know how we
do it? Here's a tip.
And I bet you probably know thisas well.
You seem a very, very intellectual woman who knows

(09:42):
exactly how to deal with all this stuff.
But in terms of how to how, how I think about it when I'm
feeling sometimes when people kind of like judge me on
something, I always think back to an analogy I heard.
And I think it was David Gogginswho said it, that he said, look,
use the blue hair analogy. You know, if you don't have blue
hair, that is, and someone says,hey, you've got blue hair and
you clearly don't have blue hair, you go, all right, makes

(10:04):
no difference, right? Because it's not true.
So it was like, oh, your kids are black.
You'd be like, Oh yeah, you're right.
Because it makes no difference that what they're saying is
completely relevant, right? So you're always kind of like,
and this is how you build like athicker skin, right?
And I think like you have to especially in situations like
that because they don't know, they don't understand, they
don't see, they just see like a kid tantruming or in their
tantrum and they don't see the struggle, right?
But anyway, so I have a question.

(10:25):
What is, you know, what is some tips that you can give?
Because look, one of the things I feel like a lot of parents of
autism can kind of all agree with is that some days you wake
up and you're like, you feel so broken down and exhausted that
you're like, I don't want a parent today.
And this is a horrible feeling because these kids need me and I

(10:47):
need them or this kid needs me and I need the kid, but I can't
go like, what? How do you find that?
What do you get? You know, how do you find the
energies to go? OK, let's let's go on.
Like how, what what is? Do you have any tips or anything
like that? I think so.
One thing that this was actuallysaid to me even before we were
on this journey of the neuro diverse worlds, but was get

(11:09):
dressed every day. But getting dressed can mean
putting on one specific thing. So for me, I put on earrings.
That is my I'm I am dressed for the day.
If I have earrings on like whichfor some people that could be
lipstick, a hat, a certain shirt, like it can be whatever
you want. Like you pick the one thing that
you're like, OK, when I'm wearing this, I'm dressed for

(11:30):
the day because you have a different mindset when you're
dressed, like when you're, you know, and I'm not saying don't
get me wrong, there are days where I don't wear earrings and
I'm not saying I'm not productive, but it's just
there's a different mindset whenyou're dressed and.
Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
And so I would say get dressed for the day because it helps
you. And there's like studies that

(11:51):
have been shown that when you are in the I'm dressed mindset,
there's a, there's an actual name for it, but I don't know
what it's called. You're, you are able to do more
than you think you can. And being a parent to a
neurodiverse child, you're goingto have to do things that you do
not think you were ever able to do.

(12:12):
And, and so being in that mindset, doing something so
simple, like for me, putting on earrings, I can be wearing a
hoodie and leggings and look, myhair is like chaos.
But if I have earrings on for, you know, that triggers my brain
to go, you're dressed for the day.
You can do this. And so I said, that's my kind of
big one is just to say like get dressed for the day and it takes

(12:36):
time. Like it it does, it's a, it's a,
it's a rhythm or a, a practice that you need to do.
So it's not going to be instant,but it's worth it.
And then the other thing I woulddo is reach out if your child is
whatever, whatever school your child is going to or nursery,
preschool, whatever, reach out to them and say, Hey, I want to

(12:56):
meet other parents like me. I did that and we have started a
whole thing in our school that's.
A great. Idea I I just said I want to
meet other parents like me, AKA raising children with additional
needs and we did a coffee morning, which has turned into
monthly coffee mornings that we do and then from that we do we

(13:18):
also do monthly like learning sessions like online.
So we get other big professionals in, you know, who
are from working with the child at school or maybe just another
professional, you know, who can talk about it like.
And so we then have created thislike learning atmosphere and
it's just, it's grown. It's been amazing to see even I

(13:39):
mean, that was a year and a halfago, like and it's grown up
massively. So I would just say reach out,
ask someone at your school if that's a teacher or the Cinco or
whoever that whoever you have connection with to say, hey, I
want to meet other other parentslike me.
How can we do that? Because that gives you community

(14:01):
instinct, community that who getit and it's amazing.
This is amazing. I love that.
I love the whole because I I preach like the buddy system.
I I preach kind of like a problem shared problem halved,
and you kind of cover all of those with creating that like
in, you know, by by creating thegroup or or the the community of

(14:21):
people. I love that.
It's great advice, so great. How do people find you online If
they want to listen to more moreto your podcasts?
I'll try and tag you in this oneif it'll allow me to, but how do
people find you online? Yeah, so the podcast is called
The Unfinished Idea. That's anywhere and everywhere,
wherever you listen to podcasts,it will be.
So just search the unfinished idea.
And the logo is like a little bit of a brain.

(14:41):
So I always say follow the brain.
And then I'm on social. So I'm on Instagram, Facebook,
TikTok, again under the unfinished idea.
And I have each of those have a profile picture, but in them
there's a brain, some more hidden, somewhat more obvious
than some, but but yeah, follow me there.
I'd love to have people join, you know, wherever.

(15:02):
I have lots of things so fault, like if you get to my any of
those pages, I also have a website that has all this
information as well. But if you find any of those
pages, there's lots of ways to connect and and get involved.
Amazing. Thank you so much for being on
the show. And yeah, I wish you so much
luck with everything you're doing.
It's amazing. Thank you for serving the
community so well. Thank you.

(15:22):
Thank you for having me. All right.
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