December 7, 2025 • 29 mins
What if social apps actually met neurodivergent needs? That question drives a warm, candid conversation with educator-turned-founder Brittany Moser as we dig into Synchrony, a new social and dating app for autistic and otherwise neurodivergent adults. Brittany traces the journey from a rural Queensland classroom to a Manhattan charter school, where practical inclusion strategies showed that supports designed for autistic students often help everyone. Those lessons—visuals, social stories, structured coaching—evolved into a product built to solve a quiet but urgent problem: the moment when a promising connection stalls because the right words or clarity just won’t come.
Synchrony’s heart is Jesse, an AI social coach named for Brittany’s cofounder’s autistic son. Jesse appears inside a live chat with three clear options: help me express myself, help me understand what’s happening, and protect my comfort. Instead of generic advice, Jesse looks at the actual conversation, offers concise interpretations, and suggests language that users can personalize. The goal is not to script people into neurotypical patterns; it’s to support authentic expression, reduce masking, and make room for different goals—whether that’s platonic friendship, romance, or simply a safe way to practice. Independence matters too: users can explore questions privately without leaning on parents or therapists for every step.
Safety and community design are built into the app. Synchrony uses government ID verification plus a vouching step from a trusted person to keep bad actors out and the culture strong. Available soon on iOS and Android, the team is focused on growing the waitlist so early members find real matches and conversations right away. We talk visibility, representation, and why autistic adults are not antisocial; they’re often underserved by tools that ignore their communication styles. Brittany also shares hopes for supported in-person events and partnerships to bridge app-based gains into daily life.
Want to help build an inclusive, responsive community from day one? Join the waitlist at joinsynchrony.com, share this episode with someone who needs it, and leave a quick review so more listeners can discover these conversations. Your support helps turn better design into better
Manifest your dreams with Happily Ever After: a cosmic toolkit for real life change.
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.
SJ CHILDS - SOCIALS & WEBSITE MASTER LIST
WEBSITES
- Stream-Able Live — https://www.streamable.live-COMING SOON
- The SJ Childs Global Network — https://www.sjchilds.org
- The SJ Childs Show Podcast Page — https://www.sjchildsshow.com
YOUTUBE
- The SJ Childs Show — https://www.youtube.com/@sjchildsshow
- Louie Lou (Cats Channel) — https://www.youtube.com/@2catslouielou
- Personal Profile — https://www.facebook.com/sara.gullihur.bradford
- Business Page — https://www.facebook.com/sjchildsllc
- The SJ Childs Global Network — https://www.facebook.com/sjchildsglobalnetwork
- The SJ Childs Show — https://www.facebook.com/SJChildsShow
- https://www.instagram.com/sjchildsllc/
TIKTOK
- https://www.tiktok.com/@sjchildsllc
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/sjchilds/
PODCAST PLATFORMS
- Spotify — https://open.spotify.com/show/4qgD3ZMOB2unfPxqacu3cC
- Apple Podcasts — https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-sj-childs-show/id1548143291
CONTACT EMAIL
- sjchildsllc@gmail.com
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
The SJ Child Show is back for its 13th season.
Join Sarah Bradford and the SJChild Show team as they explore
the world of autism and sharestories of hope and inspiration.
This season, we're excited tobring you more autism summits
featuring experts and advocatesfrom around the world.
(00:20):
Go to SJCilds.org.
SPEAKER_03 (00:24):
The heart of the city, Janet Friday.
Oh yeah.
Stories of love and could eachjob to have that.
SPEAKER_01 (00:36):
Well, hello.
We are back.
It's a beautiful morning here.
It's fall.
Oh, I just love fall.
I think it's one of my favoritetimes of year.
I don't know.
The seasons have been prettyamazing this year.
And you are um also here with mein the US, which we might not
have been able to say thatbefore.
Um, I love to uh actuallyintroduce some of my other
(00:59):
Australian guests as my friendsfrom the future.
Um I think it's so much fun.
It's so great to have you heretoday, Brittany.
I'm really looking forward togetting to know more about you
and sharing with my listeners.
So, hello, listeners.
Hello, Brittany.
Hello, introduce yourself, letus know a little bit about you.
SPEAKER_02 (01:22):
Yes, hello, Sarah, and hello to all your listeners.
My name is Brittany Mosa.
I am so excited to be here todayand have this chat about
synchrony, our new productlaunching, and just share a
little bit about my backgroundand how we got here.
SPEAKER_01 (01:36):
Yay, I love that.
I know it's you know, the thingabout um just community building
in general is that there's somany resources that you want to
get to everyone.
You want everyone to have theopportunity to find the
resources that fit best withthem, that align best with their
lives.
(01:57):
And so I love being able tooffer so many different voices
to come on and and share theirresources and their
opportunities and things.
So tell us a little bit aboutkind of what um you know got you
started on your journey andwe'll just go from there.
SPEAKER_02 (02:15):
Yeah, well, I mean, so I'm yes, I'm from Australia.
I was a teacher in Australia.
I'm from a little country townin Queensland.
Shout out to Kingaroy, and Ihave to say that because I know
my dad will listen and he'll beproud.
Hi Dad.
Hi, dude! And so I started offas a primary school teacher in
Australia and then I quicklymoved over here to New York, New
(02:38):
Jersey, because my husband isfrom here.
And I was very, very lucky tostart my career off working in a
charter school in Manhattan thatspecialized in supporting kids
on the autism spectrum orautistic kids in more of a
mainstream classroom setting.
And they did that in such a insuch a unique way, where they
(02:58):
really took the features andthis and the struggles of those
students, and they had aspecialized program where it was
all of these different supportsthat were in place to help with
that integration and inclusion,but with the idea that any
supports that we put in placethat are helpful for our
autistic students are going tobe good for all of our students.
(03:21):
And I really loved that.
And so once I started teachingthem, I just became really
intrigued with how to supportthose students and how it felt
like there were just clear, verytangible strategies and supports
we can put in place that reallydo work, and there's a creative
side to that as well, becauseyou're understanding what are
(03:43):
these social gaps that arehappening, and like there's a
there's a solution that we canpair with that.
So it's like a lot of problemsolving and a lot of creativity,
but with kind of like a formulaassociated with it as well.
And so I became really excitedand interested in that.
I very quickly signed on to getmy master's in autism studies,
and I did that um online throughmy university back home.
(04:06):
And I just I just kept pursuingthat.
I kept, I went to the school andI had said, well, if we have
coaches for ELA and math andscience, why do we not have an
autism coach given that that isa huge part of our program that
we offer?
And so then I took that positionand went into more of a
leadership coaching role for ourteachers and creating resources,
(04:28):
checklists, social stories, youname it, like any of those
visual social supports we couldput in place.
That was like my my jam.
And then one thing led toanother, I just like kept going,
kept going.
And then eventually I had a bitof a career change, but I got
that was the same time whereLove on the Spectrum came out on
TV, and I just fell in love withthat show immediately.
(04:51):
But as I was watching it, Imean, number one, amazing
representation on television andjust so beautifully put together
an Australian founder TV show,too, which I've yeah, it's very
proud of.
Um, but yeah, and so I waswatching that and I could see
that there was a lot offoundational amazingness going
on on that show that you wouldset people up who were probably
(05:14):
compatible, and then you wouldget on this date, and
everything, all of the coaching,all of the tools just kind of
falling flat because we justthere was a little bit of a gap
there.
We would just need a little bitextra support along the way
while the interactions areactually happening.
And then eventually, fastforward, I had met my now
existing business partner, andwe just shared a love of the
(05:35):
show, and we had both wanted tomake a dating app for autistic
adults, and then we realizedvery quickly that you can't just
fast forward to dating if you'realso struggling with friendship
and just general socialconnections, and started to
piece together a solution forthat.
And now we are launching withsynchrony next month, and we can
(05:56):
talk a little bit more aboutthat later.
But that was kind of like thethe long story of how we got to
to coming up with how we couldhow can we solve this struggle
that's going on in a way thatfosters independence and social
connection and belonging?
SPEAKER_01 (06:12):
So important um on so many levels, let me tell you.
Because first off, I have ateenager, you know, and we're
going to be getting into thosephases at some point.
SPEAKER_02 (06:23):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (06:23):
Uh, you know, I'm not quite sure.
And I'm okay with sharing thisum with my listeners.
I don't even know if I've evershared this before, but this is
a really, really great time, Ithink, to share this because I
think this is a conversation youand I, I feel comfortable having
with you.
So bless your heart.
Um, my son, uh up to this point,from what we can tell, we you
(06:47):
know haven't had an actualconversation with him about
this.
I'm not quite sure what hislevel of understanding might be,
but from what we are perceivingthat it is a very asexual um
situation, which to us is brandnew.
You know, here we are in our ownheterose, you know, marriage.
(07:07):
And um, our daughter also is umvery, you know, is heterosexual.
So it's so interesting to kindof in the past have the concern,
the worry, the hope.
Oh, I, you know, I want him tohave friends, I want him to have
a girlfriend, I want him to fallin love.
And and he's had the opportunityto watch, you know, his dad and
(07:32):
I be in love this entire time.
And I he knows that he wantsthat.
Like he has said to us in thepast, oh, I want a girlfriend, I
want to be in love, I want truelove someday.
Like he said that to us.
But like you're saying, there'snot even been an opportunity
where he has had a cohesiveconversation with another
(07:56):
individual.
No, you can't definitely go fromthat extreme to the next.
Um, and there's this hugemisunderstanding of first of
all, of talking, language,communication, all of it like it
is all so very different.
And people just think talking,and then that's all they think,
(08:18):
you know.
There's oh my gosh, it's socomplex when you have a
semi-verbal, you know,communicator.
And um, yeah, it just goes itgoes so much deeper than that.
So tell us kind of how you umhave strategized ways to help on
in all the different type ofindividual needs, I suppose you
(08:41):
could say.
SPEAKER_02 (08:42):
Yeah, well, I mean, I kind of want to go back to
what you were just saying aboutjust how your your fears, your
hopes for your child, right?
And I think that is a huge pieceof what we've been trying to
create, which is a space forneurodivergent adults to come in
and meet people where they are.
(09:03):
Where is your communicationstyle?
Where are your preferences, yourinterests, and how can you how
can we support you to beexpressing yourself and meeting
other people who are similar toyou?
I think that's the biggest pieceis it's like it's about being
able to meet people where theyare rather than trying to fit
them into a box somewhere else.
And like, listen, the wholeworld is built for neurotypical
(09:26):
people.
So we can have that, but we'retrying to create something that
is for a different group ofpeople, that is for a
neurodivergent group of people,so they can come in and just be
met where they are, rather thantrying to make them something
that they're not, whether thatbe asexual and you're just
looking for platonic friendship,or whether you are looking for a
(09:49):
romantic relationship, but thatis going to look different for
you because you have differentgoals, wants, and needs.
I think that's really important.
So I think holistically that isthat kind of answers your
question a little bit about whatwe're trying to create.
But in terms of the strategiesthat come within that, there's a
few different things that we'veemployed.
And I have to say, from theoffset, we're so lucky that we
(10:11):
have been creating this on thistimeline than what we originally
had planned for because of justnatural delays and you know,
everything takes longer to buildthan what you expect.
Yeah.
Like, oh my god, we had dreamsof launching in September, and
that didn't happen.
It's already October, but that'sokay because we are launching in
January, that's for sure.
But regardless of that, so wehad originally planned based on
(10:34):
what we were thinking when wewere watching Love on the
Spectrum, we were thinking,okay, we will have like a dating
app or a friendship app or maybea little bit of both, and people
can talk and there will be likeprompts on the side, generic
prompts that we would have thatpeople can access when they need
them.
Now the future has arrived, andwe have had the the growth of AI
(10:56):
and how much that has becomeinvolved in our lives, and we've
been able to see the pitfallsassociated with AI and where it
can be safe, where it can be notsafe.
And we've been able to plan allof these different guardrails
around that too, and to harnessthat as a very responsive,
interactive social coach that wewouldn't have been able to have
(11:17):
otherwise.
So we ended up coming up withJesse, which is our AI social
coach, which is named after mybusiness partner, Jamie's son,
who is you know a bit of the thelove behind this project.
He's almost 21 and he's autisticand and he, yeah, he's a he's a
real soul behind this project.
I love that.
Yeah, and so Jesse is our AItool.
(11:38):
And so basically how thatfunctions is when you are
messaging with another memberthat you've connected with, you
can click Jesse whenever you'restuck.
It's like a little icon, and upcomes three different options.
And these different options areAI prompts that we've already
put together for our usersbecause half of the problem with
using AI is being good at theprompts.
(12:00):
So when you look at that, it'sbased on the social
communication difficulties ofneurodivergent people.
So you can click help me expressmyself, help me understand
what's happening, like a littlebit of social decoding, and
protect my comfort.
So some value in there.
Yeah.
Love that.
And so what that does is it'snot just gonna generate like
(12:21):
just generate generic things toyou, like as if you were talking
to an airline chat bar.
It's actually gonna go and lookat the messages that you have
been sending with that member,analyze based on what you're
looking for, and give you someoptions, help you understand
what's going on, help youactually interpret the social
(12:41):
interaction so that the skillbuilding aspect, but then also
give you the language that youcan use and personalize so that
you can continue chatting withthat member and hopefully just
build skills and and humanconnection along the way.
SPEAKER_01 (12:54):
Yeah.
You know, as uh an autisticwoman, using ChatGPT is
priceless.
Like I uh and I love that youhave those different functions
because it's not only in aconversation that it you might
be thinking, oh, the promptswould be like what to say next.
(13:16):
But I love how you've got likeput those safeguards in
basically to say, I'm notunderstanding this conversation.
Help me clarify these types ofthings because I am a clarifier,
I will ask questions andprobably drive some people
crazy.
And in the past, I mean, whenyou're growing up and you're
that way, um, and you know,hopefully our generations are
(13:36):
changing, but it was why are youasking like don't ask questions,
just shut your mouth and listen,basically.
And it was just like, but but Ihave all of this.
Um, and so I love that we'reembracing that we need
clarifications in some of thesesocial situations, in some of
(13:57):
these conversations, and um,that's just so beautiful.
What a really thoughtful and umrelatable thing, you know, a
real like a real problem tosolve, if you will.
Um so I I think that that's justfantastic.
SPEAKER_02 (14:13):
Well, I think a key piece to that too is the
independence that comes withthat, and so as kids grow up and
become adults, before you'vemade that transition into
adulthood, you will always go toyour parents, or you'll go to
your therapist, or you'll go towhoever and be debriefing these
things or asking for advice orjust expressing your confusion.
(14:35):
But as we transition, we getolder into adulthood, you know,
many people don't want to haveto go.
And those things are private,and you could feel embarrassed
by the questions that you have,or you know, you're not so
inclined to go and ask mom whatdo you think that this girl
means, or what do you think thatthis boy means when he says this
to me, you know, those thingsjust a little bit more it's
(14:56):
developmentally expected, right?
To to not want to shareeverything with your parents or
another adult who's operating inkind of like a coach lens.
So we, you know, I like theindependence piece where you can
you can be unfiltered, unmasked,and get to the bottom of how
you're thinking, feeling, andexpressing without having to,
(15:18):
you know, showcase that toanybody else.
It's just between you and Jesse.
SPEAKER_01 (15:22):
Oh, that's so lovely.
What an amazing engine, likeingenuity.
I I just I love it so much.
What age groups are you cateringto and opening this up for?
SPEAKER_02 (15:35):
Yeah, that's a great question.
We're doing 18 plus, so anyadult, neurodivergent adult, um,
can access this.
We have a verification processin order to keep it safe and
keep the community tight, andthe people who should be in it
will be in it.
And so how that will work isit's very simple.
It's like it's simple but with anecessary boundary, I will say,
(15:57):
to keep people out thatshouldn't be in there.
And that is you can you log onceyou've logged in or you've
created your account, you'll gothrough like a photo editing
verif, um, sorry, not photoediting, a photo ID verification
where you upload your governmentID in a selfie.
And then what it will do is itwill you can elect somebody that
you want to vouch for you tosay, yes, they're a good fit for
(16:19):
the synchrony community.
Could be you, like it could be aparent, could be a friend, could
be a therapist, a teacher, atrusted person, and you'll send
off an email to them and theywill read synchrony is and
they'll indicate yes or no, andthen you'll you'll be in and
ready to go.
SPEAKER_01 (16:35):
Wow.
SPEAKER_02 (16:36):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (16:37):
That's a different step to take.
SPEAKER_02 (16:39):
You don't want it to be too complex of a process to
have people log in and and bepart of this amazing resource,
but in but you also have to putsome things in place because you
know, anything that's on theinternet, there's gonna be
people that are trying to get inwhen they shouldn't be in there.
SPEAKER_01 (16:58):
Absolutely.
It tell me where it will be whenit's up and running.
Will it be an app, a website?
Uh, I'm gonna put that up on thescreen so everybody can see
that.
SPEAKER_02 (17:09):
Oh, thank you.
So, yeah, it's going to be anapp, it'll be available across
all devices, Apple, Android.
It'll be in all of those appstores.
And the success really that'sgoing to come from it is how
quickly we can grow ouraudience, right?
Like any sort of social group,app, program is only as
successful as as many people asthey have in there for people to
(17:31):
be actually interacting witheach other.
So we are encouraging people tosign up for our wait list, which
is on our website.
I'll do a quick plug, which isjoinsynchrony.com.
And that way, join synchrony.
So synchrony, like we're in syncs y n c r o n y perfect.
(17:52):
We're like the bank.
Yeah, we're competing with themonline for sure.
Yeah, you got it.
Yeah, and so we are encouragingpeople to sign up for the wait
list so that number one, theycan get the most out of our free
trial in the beginning forlaunch phase, but also number
two, we want as many people tojump on there and start
(18:15):
connecting with each other aspossible so that we can have
successful interactions and wejust want to help and foster
belonging.
That's the big goal.
SPEAKER_01 (18:26):
Love that.
I mean, that's so important, andthat's what uh so many people
are wanting to find forthemselves in their lives today,
and um, such a huge differencefor people when they find a
community.
When you find a little bit ofsupport, it just makes such a
big difference in their lives,right?
SPEAKER_02 (18:46):
That's a whole well-being human need.
It doesn't matter if you'reneurodivergent or not, we all
need it, and that's a hugestereotype for autistic people
that I hate is that is thatthey're antisocial because we
know that it's not true.
SPEAKER_01 (19:00):
Isn't that yeah, isn't that the truth that it's
not true?
Funny, but yeah, it it's it'samazing, you know.
I love that we are in this eranow where the word autism itself
is just in so many more eyes,ear, you know, ears, mouths, and
(19:20):
it's been spoken about umregardless of its kind of the
depth of what it might be spokenabout.
It's being spoken about.
The word autism is is so is justmore well known today than ever
before.
And I really, really hope thatthat we can uh take this
(19:44):
opportunity as you knowcommunity members to really help
nurture the understandings andlike you said, um, really
support the love on thespectrum, um, the
representation.
And I think that I I hope thatthey can maybe can you like
(20:05):
match with them?
Can you guys partner up withthem or something?
That would be dream come true.
I got some friends, we canconnect, we can make some
connections right after this.
Let's do this.
Um, yeah, for real.
I'm I've Danny Bowman, in fact,was on the show two years before
she was Love on the Spectrum wason the SJ Child show before she
(20:28):
was on Love on the Spectrum.
I love she's amazing.
I love her.
I've had Kaelin and Devin andquite a few of uh some of the
other um cast members.
So it's just so much fun tocatch up to see all the changes
that's that have happened afterthe show for them.
Oh my gosh, it's incredible.
(20:48):
Um I'm so excited for for themand for, like you said, the
representation that's um and andsocial media is, I feel now with
all of these character castmembers, I don't want to call
them characters, cast membershaving their own socials, being
able to push that advocacy evenfurther.
(21:09):
Um and it's incredible.
What are your hopes and goalsfor synchrony moving forward?
Like, where does it what is youknow the end goal for everyone?
SPEAKER_02 (21:20):
I mean, the end goal, I mean, we have some lofty
goals of how we can expand it inorder.
I I want to change this.
Is this sounds big?
I want to change the world, andI know that sounds like you and
me both.
Exactly.
And so I just feel like we justkeep pushing towards visibility.
(21:42):
Number one, I would love for theautistic population to be more
visible in the public eye, andalso the uh another part of this
app is we wanted to buildsomething so that our autistic
users or our neurodivergentusers as a in a broader sense
can experience something likethis just like everybody else,
(22:02):
right?
It's not designed in a way thatis like that feels like a
disability support app.
It's designed in a way that iscool, that's fun, that's warm,
and that I want our users to beable to just go about experience
life, connection, love,belonging, just like anybody
else would.
It just maybe the path or thetools to get there is a little
(22:23):
bit different, and that'stotally fine.
SPEAKER_00 (22:25):
Yeah.
Right.
SPEAKER_02 (22:26):
And so for the future for Synchrony, I just
want to number one, launch inJanuary, get this up today, grow
our audience space, and thenlet's see what's next.
If that means that we have somein-person supported events, then
that would be great if we couldpartner with some organizations
so that we can bring some ofthese supports that are in-app
into real life as well, so thatthere's not such a harsh
(22:49):
transition from in-app into thereal world, that would be
amazing.
Um, yeah, and it'll really comedown to what does our audience
want?
What do our members want at theend of the day?
Because uh not everybody wantsto go on these in-person events,
they're incredibly daunting.
But hopefully, with the supportsof Jesse and the successful and
(23:10):
positive social interactionsthat the members have, hopefully
that just builds confidence,skills, and overall positivity
towards these kinds ofrelationships and connections.
SPEAKER_01 (23:21):
I love that.
I'm I really think that there isuh such a great future for this
resource for individuals.
And I'm so excited.
I mean, I'm married, happilymarried 21 years, so I won't be
as easy.
Congratulations.
I got kids that are gonna bethere, and um yeah, I want them
(23:44):
to have a safe place forthemselves someday.
And so something I'll definitelybe advocating for.
And I love to share, I havecommunities online, so when um
the you know, when theinformation comes out and
everything, please remember toshare it with me so I can share
it with all my community membersas well.
(24:04):
And excitingly, this willactually be coming out
mid-December or beginningmid-December.
So we'll really push thatJanuary launch and help do that
for you.
And hopefully at listeners, youknow, if you have friends,
family members, any, you know,co uh colleagues, co-workers
(24:25):
that this is something thatwould be a positive experience
for them, please supportBrittany and this um wonderful
resource synchrony.
I'm gonna put it back up reallyquick so you guys can see that.
Um, and then what is it, what'sthe the actual website address?
So I didn't I was gonna type itand I didn't.
SPEAKER_02 (24:47):
Yeah, the actual website is join synchrony.
SPEAKER_01 (24:50):
Okay.
SPEAKER_02 (24:50):
Joinsynchrony.com.
And you can access the wait listif you're interested.
You can learn more about me, theother founders, what our mission
is.
And then our socials are justsynchrony app.
Great.
You can find that it's on uhTikTok, Instagram, Facebook, all
of those things.
I've actually been having areally great time documenting
(25:12):
the build on TikTok.
I'm not, you know, I'm somebodywho works on TikTok and loves to
watch funny videos.
I haven't created much myself,but I've been forced into that
realm with this production.
So that's been great.
So if you're interested inwhat's like the behind the
scenes of the app and just appbuilding in general, I've been
putting a lot of that up onTikTok too.
SPEAKER_01 (25:32):
I'm definitely gonna be checking that out because I
am actually working on um on atech build myself.
So I'm excited to share that.
SPEAKER_02 (25:39):
Yeah, please, please share like vice aggressive.
So please share anything thatyou're doing with us too, where
we're just building thatcommunity.
SPEAKER_01 (25:47):
Exactly.
And that's what it's all aboutis uh building a community of
inclusion.
And we are doing that heretoday.
We're doing that here in Utah,in New Jersey, we're doing it
around the world, actually.
So please join us.
And it was so much fun to haveyou on today.
I I really would love to stay intouch.
Let's definitely go follow eachother on socials so that we can
(26:09):
stay in touch.
And um, yeah, I I hope that thefuture of synchrony, I don't
even hope.
I know that it's going to bewonderful and um so valuable for
so many individuals.
And thank you to Jesse, who theloved you know, soul behind this
(26:30):
all, for bringing this amazingresource to us.
So please give him our specialthanks.
SPEAKER_02 (26:37):
Well dude, thank you so much for having me, Sarah.
This was fantastic.
SPEAKER_01 (26:40):
Yeah, so much fun.
And I am looking forward tostaying in touch and seeing
where this all goes.
SPEAKER_02 (26:46):
Definitely.
SPEAKER_01 (26:47):
Yeah, thank you so much.
Bye.
SPEAKER_03 (27:08):
Oh, yeah, we are.
The SJ Child Show is back for its 13th season.
Join Sarah Bradford and the SJChild Show team as they explore
the world of autism and sharestories of hope and inspiration.
This season, we're excited tobring you more autism summits
featuring experts and advocatesfrom around the world.
(00:20):
Go to SJCilds.org.
SPEAKER_03 (00:24):
The heart of the city, Janet Friday.
Oh yeah.
Stories of love and could eachjob to have that.
SPEAKER_01 (00:36):
Well, hello.
We are back.
It's a beautiful morning here.
It's fall.
Oh, I just love fall.
I think it's one of my favoritetimes of year.
I don't know.
The seasons have been prettyamazing this year.
And you are um also here with mein the US, which we might not
have been able to say thatbefore.
Um, I love to uh actuallyintroduce some of my other
(00:59):
Australian guests as my friendsfrom the future.
Um I think it's so much fun.
It's so great to have you heretoday, Brittany.
I'm really looking forward togetting to know more about you
and sharing with my listeners.
So, hello, listeners.
Hello, Brittany.
Hello, introduce yourself, letus know a little bit about you.
SPEAKER_02 (01:22):
Yes, hello, Sarah, and hello to all your listeners.
My name is Brittany Mosa.
I am so excited to be here todayand have this chat about
synchrony, our new productlaunching, and just share a
little bit about my backgroundand how we got here.
SPEAKER_01 (01:36):
Yay, I love that.
I know it's you know, the thingabout um just community building
in general is that there's somany resources that you want to
get to everyone.
You want everyone to have theopportunity to find the
resources that fit best withthem, that align best with their
lives.
(01:57):
And so I love being able tooffer so many different voices
to come on and and share theirresources and their
opportunities and things.
So tell us a little bit aboutkind of what um you know got you
started on your journey andwe'll just go from there.
SPEAKER_02 (02:15):
Yeah, well, I mean, so I'm yes, I'm from Australia.
I was a teacher in Australia.
I'm from a little country townin Queensland.
Shout out to Kingaroy, and Ihave to say that because I know
my dad will listen and he'll beproud.
Hi Dad.
Hi, dude! And so I started offas a primary school teacher in
Australia and then I quicklymoved over here to New York, New
(02:38):
Jersey, because my husband isfrom here.
And I was very, very lucky tostart my career off working in a
charter school in Manhattan thatspecialized in supporting kids
on the autism spectrum orautistic kids in more of a
mainstream classroom setting.
And they did that in such a insuch a unique way, where they
(02:58):
really took the features andthis and the struggles of those
students, and they had aspecialized program where it was
all of these different supportsthat were in place to help with
that integration and inclusion,but with the idea that any
supports that we put in placethat are helpful for our
autistic students are going tobe good for all of our students.
(03:21):
And I really loved that.
And so once I started teachingthem, I just became really
intrigued with how to supportthose students and how it felt
like there were just clear, verytangible strategies and supports
we can put in place that reallydo work, and there's a creative
side to that as well, becauseyou're understanding what are
(03:43):
these social gaps that arehappening, and like there's a
there's a solution that we canpair with that.
So it's like a lot of problemsolving and a lot of creativity,
but with kind of like a formulaassociated with it as well.
And so I became really excitedand interested in that.
I very quickly signed on to getmy master's in autism studies,
and I did that um online throughmy university back home.
(04:06):
And I just I just kept pursuingthat.
I kept, I went to the school andI had said, well, if we have
coaches for ELA and math andscience, why do we not have an
autism coach given that that isa huge part of our program that
we offer?
And so then I took that positionand went into more of a
leadership coaching role for ourteachers and creating resources,
(04:28):
checklists, social stories, youname it, like any of those
visual social supports we couldput in place.
That was like my my jam.
And then one thing led toanother, I just like kept going,
kept going.
And then eventually I had a bitof a career change, but I got
that was the same time whereLove on the Spectrum came out on
TV, and I just fell in love withthat show immediately.
(04:51):
But as I was watching it, Imean, number one, amazing
representation on television andjust so beautifully put together
an Australian founder TV show,too, which I've yeah, it's very
proud of.
Um, but yeah, and so I waswatching that and I could see
that there was a lot offoundational amazingness going
on on that show that you wouldset people up who were probably
(05:14):
compatible, and then you wouldget on this date, and
everything, all of the coaching,all of the tools just kind of
falling flat because we justthere was a little bit of a gap
there.
We would just need a little bitextra support along the way
while the interactions areactually happening.
And then eventually, fastforward, I had met my now
existing business partner, andwe just shared a love of the
(05:35):
show, and we had both wanted tomake a dating app for autistic
adults, and then we realizedvery quickly that you can't just
fast forward to dating if you'realso struggling with friendship
and just general socialconnections, and started to
piece together a solution forthat.
And now we are launching withsynchrony next month, and we can
(05:56):
talk a little bit more aboutthat later.
But that was kind of like thethe long story of how we got to
to coming up with how we couldhow can we solve this struggle
that's going on in a way thatfosters independence and social
connection and belonging?
SPEAKER_01 (06:12):
So important um on so many levels, let me tell you.
Because first off, I have ateenager, you know, and we're
going to be getting into thosephases at some point.
SPEAKER_02 (06:23):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (06:23):
Uh, you know, I'm not quite sure.
And I'm okay with sharing thisum with my listeners.
I don't even know if I've evershared this before, but this is
a really, really great time, Ithink, to share this because I
think this is a conversation youand I, I feel comfortable having
with you.
So bless your heart.
Um, my son, uh up to this point,from what we can tell, we you
(06:47):
know haven't had an actualconversation with him about
this.
I'm not quite sure what hislevel of understanding might be,
but from what we are perceivingthat it is a very asexual um
situation, which to us is brandnew.
You know, here we are in our ownheterose, you know, marriage.
(07:07):
And um, our daughter also is umvery, you know, is heterosexual.
So it's so interesting to kindof in the past have the concern,
the worry, the hope.
Oh, I, you know, I want him tohave friends, I want him to have
a girlfriend, I want him to fallin love.
And and he's had the opportunityto watch, you know, his dad and
(07:32):
I be in love this entire time.
And I he knows that he wantsthat.
Like he has said to us in thepast, oh, I want a girlfriend, I
want to be in love, I want truelove someday.
Like he said that to us.
But like you're saying, there'snot even been an opportunity
where he has had a cohesiveconversation with another
(07:56):
individual.
No, you can't definitely go fromthat extreme to the next.
Um, and there's this hugemisunderstanding of first of
all, of talking, language,communication, all of it like it
is all so very different.
And people just think talking,and then that's all they think,
(08:18):
you know.
There's oh my gosh, it's socomplex when you have a
semi-verbal, you know,communicator.
And um, yeah, it just goes itgoes so much deeper than that.
So tell us kind of how you umhave strategized ways to help on
in all the different type ofindividual needs, I suppose you
(08:41):
could say.
SPEAKER_02 (08:42):
Yeah, well, I mean, I kind of want to go back to
what you were just saying aboutjust how your your fears, your
hopes for your child, right?
And I think that is a huge pieceof what we've been trying to
create, which is a space forneurodivergent adults to come in
and meet people where they are.
(09:03):
Where is your communicationstyle?
Where are your preferences, yourinterests, and how can you how
can we support you to beexpressing yourself and meeting
other people who are similar toyou?
I think that's the biggest pieceis it's like it's about being
able to meet people where theyare rather than trying to fit
them into a box somewhere else.
And like, listen, the wholeworld is built for neurotypical
(09:26):
people.
So we can have that, but we'retrying to create something that
is for a different group ofpeople, that is for a
neurodivergent group of people,so they can come in and just be
met where they are, rather thantrying to make them something
that they're not, whether thatbe asexual and you're just
looking for platonic friendship,or whether you are looking for a
(09:49):
romantic relationship, but thatis going to look different for
you because you have differentgoals, wants, and needs.
I think that's really important.
So I think holistically that isthat kind of answers your
question a little bit about whatwe're trying to create.
But in terms of the strategiesthat come within that, there's a
few different things that we'veemployed.
And I have to say, from theoffset, we're so lucky that we
(10:11):
have been creating this on thistimeline than what we originally
had planned for because of justnatural delays and you know,
everything takes longer to buildthan what you expect.
Yeah.
Like, oh my god, we had dreamsof launching in September, and
that didn't happen.
It's already October, but that'sokay because we are launching in
January, that's for sure.
But regardless of that, so wehad originally planned based on
(10:34):
what we were thinking when wewere watching Love on the
Spectrum, we were thinking,okay, we will have like a dating
app or a friendship app or maybea little bit of both, and people
can talk and there will be likeprompts on the side, generic
prompts that we would have thatpeople can access when they need
them.
Now the future has arrived, andwe have had the the growth of AI
(10:56):
and how much that has becomeinvolved in our lives, and we've
been able to see the pitfallsassociated with AI and where it
can be safe, where it can be notsafe.
And we've been able to plan allof these different guardrails
around that too, and to harnessthat as a very responsive,
interactive social coach that wewouldn't have been able to have
(11:17):
otherwise.
So we ended up coming up withJesse, which is our AI social
coach, which is named after mybusiness partner, Jamie's son,
who is you know a bit of the thelove behind this project.
He's almost 21 and he's autisticand and he, yeah, he's a he's a
real soul behind this project.
I love that.
Yeah, and so Jesse is our AItool.
(11:38):
And so basically how thatfunctions is when you are
messaging with another memberthat you've connected with, you
can click Jesse whenever you'restuck.
It's like a little icon, and upcomes three different options.
And these different options areAI prompts that we've already
put together for our usersbecause half of the problem with
using AI is being good at theprompts.
(12:00):
So when you look at that, it'sbased on the social
communication difficulties ofneurodivergent people.
So you can click help me expressmyself, help me understand
what's happening, like a littlebit of social decoding, and
protect my comfort.
So some value in there.
Yeah.
Love that.
And so what that does is it'snot just gonna generate like
(12:21):
just generate generic things toyou, like as if you were talking
to an airline chat bar.
It's actually gonna go and lookat the messages that you have
been sending with that member,analyze based on what you're
looking for, and give you someoptions, help you understand
what's going on, help youactually interpret the social
(12:41):
interaction so that the skillbuilding aspect, but then also
give you the language that youcan use and personalize so that
you can continue chatting withthat member and hopefully just
build skills and and humanconnection along the way.
SPEAKER_01 (12:54):
Yeah.
You know, as uh an autisticwoman, using ChatGPT is
priceless.
Like I uh and I love that youhave those different functions
because it's not only in aconversation that it you might
be thinking, oh, the promptswould be like what to say next.
(13:16):
But I love how you've got likeput those safeguards in
basically to say, I'm notunderstanding this conversation.
Help me clarify these types ofthings because I am a clarifier,
I will ask questions andprobably drive some people
crazy.
And in the past, I mean, whenyou're growing up and you're
that way, um, and you know,hopefully our generations are
(13:36):
changing, but it was why are youasking like don't ask questions,
just shut your mouth and listen,basically.
And it was just like, but but Ihave all of this.
Um, and so I love that we'reembracing that we need
clarifications in some of thesesocial situations, in some of
(13:57):
these conversations, and um,that's just so beautiful.
What a really thoughtful and umrelatable thing, you know, a
real like a real problem tosolve, if you will.
Um so I I think that that's justfantastic.
SPEAKER_02 (14:13):
Well, I think a key piece to that too is the
independence that comes withthat, and so as kids grow up and
become adults, before you'vemade that transition into
adulthood, you will always go toyour parents, or you'll go to
your therapist, or you'll go towhoever and be debriefing these
things or asking for advice orjust expressing your confusion.
(14:35):
But as we transition, we getolder into adulthood, you know,
many people don't want to haveto go.
And those things are private,and you could feel embarrassed
by the questions that you have,or you know, you're not so
inclined to go and ask mom whatdo you think that this girl
means, or what do you think thatthis boy means when he says this
to me, you know, those thingsjust a little bit more it's
(14:56):
developmentally expected, right?
To to not want to shareeverything with your parents or
another adult who's operating inkind of like a coach lens.
So we, you know, I like theindependence piece where you can
you can be unfiltered, unmasked,and get to the bottom of how
you're thinking, feeling, andexpressing without having to,
(15:18):
you know, showcase that toanybody else.
It's just between you and Jesse.
SPEAKER_01 (15:22):
Oh, that's so lovely.
What an amazing engine, likeingenuity.
I I just I love it so much.
What age groups are you cateringto and opening this up for?
SPEAKER_02 (15:35):
Yeah, that's a great question.
We're doing 18 plus, so anyadult, neurodivergent adult, um,
can access this.
We have a verification processin order to keep it safe and
keep the community tight, andthe people who should be in it
will be in it.
And so how that will work isit's very simple.
It's like it's simple but with anecessary boundary, I will say,
(15:57):
to keep people out thatshouldn't be in there.
And that is you can you log onceyou've logged in or you've
created your account, you'll gothrough like a photo editing
verif, um, sorry, not photoediting, a photo ID verification
where you upload your governmentID in a selfie.
And then what it will do is itwill you can elect somebody that
you want to vouch for you tosay, yes, they're a good fit for
(16:19):
the synchrony community.
Could be you, like it could be aparent, could be a friend, could
be a therapist, a teacher, atrusted person, and you'll send
off an email to them and theywill read synchrony is and
they'll indicate yes or no, andthen you'll you'll be in and
ready to go.
SPEAKER_01 (16:35):
Wow.
SPEAKER_02 (16:36):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (16:37):
That's a different step to take.
SPEAKER_02 (16:39):
You don't want it to be too complex of a process to
have people log in and and bepart of this amazing resource,
but in but you also have to putsome things in place because you
know, anything that's on theinternet, there's gonna be
people that are trying to get inwhen they shouldn't be in there.
SPEAKER_01 (16:58):
Absolutely.
It tell me where it will be whenit's up and running.
Will it be an app, a website?
Uh, I'm gonna put that up on thescreen so everybody can see
that.
SPEAKER_02 (17:09):
Oh, thank you.
So, yeah, it's going to be anapp, it'll be available across
all devices, Apple, Android.
It'll be in all of those appstores.
And the success really that'sgoing to come from it is how
quickly we can grow ouraudience, right?
Like any sort of social group,app, program is only as
successful as as many people asthey have in there for people to
(17:31):
be actually interacting witheach other.
So we are encouraging people tosign up for our wait list, which
is on our website.
I'll do a quick plug, which isjoinsynchrony.com.
And that way, join synchrony.
So synchrony, like we're in syncs y n c r o n y perfect.
(17:52):
We're like the bank.
Yeah, we're competing with themonline for sure.
Yeah, you got it.
Yeah, and so we are encouragingpeople to sign up for the wait
list so that number one, theycan get the most out of our free
trial in the beginning forlaunch phase, but also number
two, we want as many people tojump on there and start
(18:15):
connecting with each other aspossible so that we can have
successful interactions and wejust want to help and foster
belonging.
That's the big goal.
SPEAKER_01 (18:26):
Love that.
I mean, that's so important, andthat's what uh so many people
are wanting to find forthemselves in their lives today,
and um, such a huge differencefor people when they find a
community.
When you find a little bit ofsupport, it just makes such a
big difference in their lives,right?
SPEAKER_02 (18:46):
That's a whole well-being human need.
It doesn't matter if you'reneurodivergent or not, we all
need it, and that's a hugestereotype for autistic people
that I hate is that is thatthey're antisocial because we
know that it's not true.
SPEAKER_01 (19:00):
Isn't that yeah, isn't that the truth that it's
not true?
Funny, but yeah, it it's it'samazing, you know.
I love that we are in this eranow where the word autism itself
is just in so many more eyes,ear, you know, ears, mouths, and
(19:20):
it's been spoken about umregardless of its kind of the
depth of what it might be spokenabout.
It's being spoken about.
The word autism is is so is justmore well known today than ever
before.
And I really, really hope thatthat we can uh take this
(19:44):
opportunity as you knowcommunity members to really help
nurture the understandings andlike you said, um, really
support the love on thespectrum, um, the
representation.
And I think that I I hope thatthey can maybe can you like
(20:05):
match with them?
Can you guys partner up withthem or something?
That would be dream come true.
I got some friends, we canconnect, we can make some
connections right after this.
Let's do this.
Um, yeah, for real.
I'm I've Danny Bowman, in fact,was on the show two years before
she was Love on the Spectrum wason the SJ Child show before she
(20:28):
was on Love on the Spectrum.
I love she's amazing.
I love her.
I've had Kaelin and Devin andquite a few of uh some of the
other um cast members.
So it's just so much fun tocatch up to see all the changes
that's that have happened afterthe show for them.
Oh my gosh, it's incredible.
(20:48):
Um I'm so excited for for themand for, like you said, the
representation that's um and andsocial media is, I feel now with
all of these character castmembers, I don't want to call
them characters, cast membershaving their own socials, being
able to push that advocacy evenfurther.
(21:09):
Um and it's incredible.
What are your hopes and goalsfor synchrony moving forward?
Like, where does it what is youknow the end goal for everyone?
SPEAKER_02 (21:20):
I mean, the end goal, I mean, we have some lofty
goals of how we can expand it inorder.
I I want to change this.
Is this sounds big?
I want to change the world, andI know that sounds like you and
me both.
Exactly.
And so I just feel like we justkeep pushing towards visibility.
(21:42):
Number one, I would love for theautistic population to be more
visible in the public eye, andalso the uh another part of this
app is we wanted to buildsomething so that our autistic
users or our neurodivergentusers as a in a broader sense
can experience something likethis just like everybody else,
(22:02):
right?
It's not designed in a way thatis like that feels like a
disability support app.
It's designed in a way that iscool, that's fun, that's warm,
and that I want our users to beable to just go about experience
life, connection, love,belonging, just like anybody
else would.
It just maybe the path or thetools to get there is a little
(22:23):
bit different, and that'stotally fine.
SPEAKER_00 (22:25):
Yeah.
Right.
SPEAKER_02 (22:26):
And so for the future for Synchrony, I just
want to number one, launch inJanuary, get this up today, grow
our audience space, and thenlet's see what's next.
If that means that we have somein-person supported events, then
that would be great if we couldpartner with some organizations
so that we can bring some ofthese supports that are in-app
into real life as well, so thatthere's not such a harsh
(22:49):
transition from in-app into thereal world, that would be
amazing.
Um, yeah, and it'll really comedown to what does our audience
want?
What do our members want at theend of the day?
Because uh not everybody wantsto go on these in-person events,
they're incredibly daunting.
But hopefully, with the supportsof Jesse and the successful and
(23:10):
positive social interactionsthat the members have, hopefully
that just builds confidence,skills, and overall positivity
towards these kinds ofrelationships and connections.
SPEAKER_01 (23:21):
I love that.
I'm I really think that there isuh such a great future for this
resource for individuals.
And I'm so excited.
I mean, I'm married, happilymarried 21 years, so I won't be
as easy.
Congratulations.
I got kids that are gonna bethere, and um yeah, I want them
(23:44):
to have a safe place forthemselves someday.
And so something I'll definitelybe advocating for.
And I love to share, I havecommunities online, so when um
the you know, when theinformation comes out and
everything, please remember toshare it with me so I can share
it with all my community membersas well.
(24:04):
And excitingly, this willactually be coming out
mid-December or beginningmid-December.
So we'll really push thatJanuary launch and help do that
for you.
And hopefully at listeners, youknow, if you have friends,
family members, any, you know,co uh colleagues, co-workers
(24:25):
that this is something thatwould be a positive experience
for them, please supportBrittany and this um wonderful
resource synchrony.
I'm gonna put it back up reallyquick so you guys can see that.
Um, and then what is it, what'sthe the actual website address?
So I didn't I was gonna type itand I didn't.
SPEAKER_02 (24:47):
Yeah, the actual website is join synchrony.
SPEAKER_01 (24:50):
Okay.
SPEAKER_02 (24:50):
Joinsynchrony.com.
And you can access the wait listif you're interested.
You can learn more about me, theother founders, what our mission
is.
And then our socials are justsynchrony app.
Great.
You can find that it's on uhTikTok, Instagram, Facebook, all
of those things.
I've actually been having areally great time documenting
(25:12):
the build on TikTok.
I'm not, you know, I'm somebodywho works on TikTok and loves to
watch funny videos.
I haven't created much myself,but I've been forced into that
realm with this production.
So that's been great.
So if you're interested inwhat's like the behind the
scenes of the app and just appbuilding in general, I've been
putting a lot of that up onTikTok too.
SPEAKER_01 (25:32):
I'm definitely gonna be checking that out because I
am actually working on um on atech build myself.
So I'm excited to share that.
SPEAKER_02 (25:39):
Yeah, please, please share like vice aggressive.
So please share anything thatyou're doing with us too, where
we're just building thatcommunity.
SPEAKER_01 (25:47):
Exactly.
And that's what it's all aboutis uh building a community of
inclusion.
And we are doing that heretoday.
We're doing that here in Utah,in New Jersey, we're doing it
around the world, actually.
So please join us.
And it was so much fun to haveyou on today.
I I really would love to stay intouch.
Let's definitely go follow eachother on socials so that we can
(26:09):
stay in touch.
And um, yeah, I I hope that thefuture of synchrony, I don't
even hope.
I know that it's going to bewonderful and um so valuable for
so many individuals.
And thank you to Jesse, who theloved you know, soul behind this
(26:30):
all, for bringing this amazingresource to us.
So please give him our specialthanks.
SPEAKER_02 (26:37):
Well dude, thank you so much for having me, Sarah.
This was fantastic.
SPEAKER_01 (26:40):
Yeah, so much fun.
And I am looking forward tostaying in touch and seeing
where this all goes.
SPEAKER_02 (26:46):
Definitely.
SPEAKER_01 (26:47):
Yeah, thank you so much.
Bye.
SPEAKER_03 (27:08):
Oh, yeah, we are.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark
My Favorite Murder is a true crime comedy podcast hosted by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark. Each week, Karen and Georgia share compelling true crimes and hometown stories from friends and listeners. Since MFM launched in January of 2016, Karen and Georgia have shared their lifelong interest in true crime and have covered stories of infamous serial killers like the Night Stalker, mysterious cold cases, captivating cults, incredible survivor stories and important events from history like the Tulsa race massacre of 1921. My Favorite Murder is part of the Exactly Right podcast network that provides a platform for bold, creative voices to bring to life provocative, entertaining and relatable stories for audiences everywhere. The Exactly Right roster of podcasts covers a variety of topics including historic true crime, comedic interviews and news, science, pop culture and more. Podcasts on the network include Buried Bones with Kate Winkler Dawson and Paul Holes, That's Messed Up: An SVU Podcast, This Podcast Will Kill You, Bananas and more.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com