THE SJ CHILDS SHOW-Building a Community of Inclusion
🎙️ Welcome to The SJ Childs Show Podcast! 🎉 Join Sara Bradford—better known as SJ Childs—as she bridges understanding and advocacy for the neurodivergent community. This podcast shines a light on autism awareness, empowering stories, expert insights, and practical resources for parents, educators, and individuals alike. Brought to you by The SJ Childs Global Network, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting autistic individuals and their families worldwide, this show is your weekly dose of inspiration and actionable ideas. Visit sjchilds.org to learn more about our mission, find resources, and connect with our growing community. Catch us on platforms like Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Goodpods—or tune in Fridays at 8:30 AM EDT on the Helium Radio Network’s Life Improvement Radio (Channel 1). Together, let’s foster a brighter, more inclusive world! 🌟 Go here to download training materials! https://sjchilds.myshopify.com/
Episodes
A simple song sparks a bigger truth: creative expression can move us through trauma and toward purpose. From that opening, we dive into a frank, compassionate conversation with neurodiversity consultant and advocate Lisa Richer about late diagnosis, parenting autistic and ADHD kids, and the hard-earned art of trusting your gut when the “experts” disagree.
Lisa traces her path from anxiety and ADHD to burnout ...
A rainy Saturday, a canceled playground trip, and a child named Logan turn into an unforgettable lesson on resilience. We welcome Dr. Ambrose Pass Turner—counseling psychologist, professor, and longtime clinician—to share how a personal health crisis became the spark for a children’s book that helps families navigate disappointment with calm, creativity, and connection. You’ll hear how simple moments can coach big ski...
A candid, joyful talk with author Bria Rose about flipping Beauty and the Beast on its head, managing perfectionism as autistic creatives, and building momentum as an indie author through outreach, edits, and community. We share practical steps for starting, finishing, and promoting a book while keeping your voice intact.
• season focus on autism summits and storytelling magic
• Bria Rose’s path from Disn...
A dream, a diagnosis, and a blueprint for calmer families—this conversation with Constance Lewis traces how a sudden medical crisis turned into a playful, powerful tool for emotional regulation. When her son Miles began having grand mal seizures at four, Constance and her husband Andre (a pediatric dentist) entered a maze of tests, medications, and second opinions. After a brain lesion finally came to light and surger...
The conversation starts with a memory many families know too well: an early checkup, a handful of red flags, and years of whispered support plans. From there, we move into motion—Carol Waldman shares how a lonely path through therapies and IEPs grew into public advocacy, culminating in a unanimous San Diego measure to expand training and hiring for neurodiverse adults. Along the way, we unpack what real inclusion look...
What if the most powerful support is simply letting people try? That’s the thread we follow with guest Shea Belsky—autistic self-advocate, software engineering tech lead, and host of Autistic Techie—through a candid tour of early supports, hard-won boundaries, and the everyday tactics that make work and life more humane.
We start with the shift from “I’m uncomfortable” to “I’m uncomfortable because… and here’...
What if “treatment-resistant” isn’t about you—it’s about the tools? We sit down with Dr. Theodore Henderson, a neurobiologist and psychiatrist, to rethink brain care for autism, TBI, depression, anxiety, and long COVID through neuroplasticity, functional imaging, and smarter energy-based therapies. Instead of labels and guesswork, we dig into how infrared light can reach mitochondria, raise BDNF, and trigger repair; w...
Dive deep into the fascinating world where regenerative agriculture meets human health with landscape architect and author Mattieu Mehuys. From his roots on a Belgian family farm to his current mission transforming farmland in the Azores, Mattieu shares how his personal journey through crisis became the catalyst for his life's purpose.
The conversation reveals startling truths about our modern food syste...
Curiosity drives creativity in this heartfelt conversation with author Mila Maxwell, whose debut novel "Finding Lady Baltimore" emerged from a simple yet profound question: "What if something happened to me that allowed me to see her perspective?" This burning desire to understand her sister Sarah's experience with cerebral palsy ultimately became the foundation for a work of fiction that blen...
Kathy O'Connell opens up about her journey navigating dating while living with cerebral palsy, revealing how vulnerability and self-acceptance transformed her personal life and launched her mission to help others. As founder of Radiant Abilities, she's developed a framework that guides people with disabilities through the often challenging world of dating and relationships.
Her story is both touchin...
What if your child's seemingly unusual behaviors are actually their way of connecting with a world most of us can't see?Â
Catherine Crestani, leadership coach and intuitive healer with nearly two decades of experience as a speech-language pathologist, shares profound insights about the spiritual dimensions of autism that mainstream approaches often miss. Drawing from her extensive work with hundreds...
What if autism isn't a modern condition but an ancient, essential thread in human evolution? Dr. Kristen Williamson, a professional counselor diagnosed with autism at 39, takes us on a journey that challenges everything we think we know about neurodiversity.
"I feel like an alien wearing a matching skin suit of a human," Dr. Williamson confesses, describing the exhausting process of studying an...
What happens when children struggle to read despite their best efforts? How can parents spot the early warning signs of dyslexia or dysgraphia? And why do millions of children continue falling behind in reading despite classroom interventions?
Daniela Feldhausen, founder of Kids Up Reading Tutors, brings both professional expertise and transformative solutions to these pressing questions. After 25 years pract...
Ever felt like your brain works differently than everyone else's? Dr. Albert Bramante invites us to celebrate these differences as superpowers rather than limitations in this enlightening conversation about neurodiversity.
Drawing from his 22 years as a talent agent and his background in psychology, Dr. Bramante shares why he prefers the term "neurodivergent" over "on the spectrum" - ...
What if the key to transforming children's mental health wasn't found in medication or traditional therapy, but in teaching them to quiet their minds and connect with their bodies? In this eye-opening conversation with healer and educator Luminara from Manchester, UK, we discover the remarkable impact of bringing meditation, visualization, and energy work into school settings.
Luminara's journe...
What happens when artificial intelligence meets neurodivergent thinking? Magic, innovation, and life-changing tools for those who've always felt different.
Meet Derek Crager, a late-diagnosed autistic entrepreneur who spent decades feeling like "an alien here on Earth to observe" before discovering his neurotype at age 50. Now he's channeling his unique perspective into creating AI solutio...
What happens when you uncover a hidden family history that reveals both heartbreak and resilience? Janet's discovery of a banker's box filled with her brother's medical records sparked an unexpected journey into autism's troubling past and ultimately led to her powerful memoir, "The Alien Savant."
Born in the 1950s when autism wasn't recognized as a diagnosis, Janet's b...
What if you suddenly experienced the sensory challenges your autistic child faces every day? Jacki Edry's life took a dramatic turn when doctors discovered a massive tumor on her brainstem. After surgery, she woke to a transformed reality - faces appeared to melt, floors became disorienting patterns, and everyday sounds overwhelmed her completely.
This remarkable conversation explores Jacki's extrao...
What happens when autism representation meets reality? Kaelynn Partlow pulls back the curtain on life before, during, and after Netflix's "Love on the Spectrum" in this candid conversation about authenticity and advocacy in the public eye.
Diagnosed with autism at age 10 after years of medical professionals dismissing her mother's concerns ("In the nineties, girls couldn't catch autis...
Every movement matters. That's the powerful message Dr. Mark Fleming brings to his work with autistic individuals seeking to improve their physical wellness. Diagnosed with autism at age 11 due to motor and speech challenges, Dr. Fleming has transformed his personal experience into a mission that's changing lives across the autism community.
The conversation reveals how seemingly simple movements ca...
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