Latest / Black Fridays: Business Growth for Entrepreneurs, Creators & Professionals / She Couldn't Find Support for Her Autistic Son, So She Built It - Ep. 175 w/ Autism In The D

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She Couldn't Find Support for Her Autistic Son, So She Built It - Ep. 175 w/ Autism In The D · Black Fridays: Business Growth for Entrepreneurs, Creators & Professionals

0:00
[SPEAKER_02]: Also, I'm going to do started with my first um, it was really during that height of COVID.
0:05
[SPEAKER_02]: It was, my kid was diagnosed right before his third birthday, um, it was right after height of COVID.
0:12
[SPEAKER_02]: My mom couldn't help me be a mom and not like shade to her, but you can't help parents a near the diversion child from a near typical perspective.
0:22
[SPEAKER_02]: Um, so I was lost.
0:24
[SPEAKER_02]: Um, you and the house I did during COVID, you know, I'm like talk to my friends.
0:27
[SPEAKER_02]: We're not able to relate to me because they were raising, you know, typical, I mean, not, you know, the typical children.
0:34
[SPEAKER_02]: So it was just completely different for me.
0:37
[SPEAKER_02]: I literally made a post and I was like, right, if you have a special news chat and you want to vent, let's go meet up here.
0:43
[SPEAKER_02]: And that's how it started.
0:44
[SPEAKER_02]: Um, because I didn't have a say space.
0:46
[SPEAKER_02]: I was tired of asking questions and nobody had answers.
1:09
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1:12
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1:51
[SPEAKER_00]: Now let's go ahead and get back into the episode.
1:54
[SPEAKER_00]: What up, Bill Black Friday's family.
1:55
[SPEAKER_00]: Welcome back to another installment of Black Friday's podcast.
1:57
[SPEAKER_00]: Before we get into today's episode, I need you to hit that like button, subscribe, drop a comment, send some videos to family friends and level and say, and we keep this thing going.
2:05
[SPEAKER_00]: Now that we got that business out of the way, I got someone in the building today who is hoping to make not only our young people lives a lot better, but people who are dealing or people who are on-despite from lives, a lot better to miss to hear a motry.
2:19
[SPEAKER_00]: How you doing today?
2:20
[SPEAKER_02]: I am, well, thank you so much for having me in this space.
2:22
[SPEAKER_00]: Absolutely.
2:23
[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you for stopping by the podcast and in order to ground the conversation.
2:27
[SPEAKER_00]: I first have to ask you what exactly is for people who may not have a full understanding, especially like folks in our community sometimes don't.
2:36
[SPEAKER_00]: Can you ground this as to how do you define autism and what does that look like?
2:40
[SPEAKER_02]: Um, I love it.
2:42
[SPEAKER_02]: Um, I love being able to define autism for people because when they don't know, it's just ignorance and it all just needs redirection.
2:48
[SPEAKER_02]: Um, autism to me is a social disorder.
2:50
[SPEAKER_02]: It comes with a varies of different.
2:56
[SPEAKER_02]: Not side effects, but if you've seen one case of autism, you've seen one case of autism.
3:00
[SPEAKER_02]: It all looks so different.
3:01
[SPEAKER_02]: But to me, it's all social.
3:03
[SPEAKER_02]: It's not people think, oh, they don't look all too sick.
3:06
[SPEAKER_02]: Oh, what their style smart.
3:07
[SPEAKER_02]: Now, usually smarter than you in the room, um, they just have different things that they need help with.
3:14
[SPEAKER_02]: Like, my oldest son, he is considered level 3 where he requires more support, um, where my middle son, he is considered level 1 and he is more verbal and more conversational.
3:24
[UNKNOWN]: So,
3:24
[SPEAKER_02]: It's a wide spectrum indeed, but to me it's all the social disorder, I mean a social order that we just flow through and range through and the work that I do work in an ABA and working with kids that helps them create better lifestyles.
3:39
[SPEAKER_00]: got you.
3:40
[SPEAKER_00]: And so your work started or your experience with having children on the spectrum started with your first child, you have three and then two on the spectrum.
3:50
[SPEAKER_00]: So could you talk about what was that day like when you started to notice what those signs were and it actually learned as to what was going on with your child.
3:58
[SPEAKER_02]: For my odis, his name is Mike Hale, and I think that I kind of already kind of had a feeling that something was just different.
4:07
[SPEAKER_02]: And it's not like, it'd be in the first time on you don't know.
4:11
[SPEAKER_02]: Like you don't know what's no quote on quote normal or what's not normal.
4:15
[SPEAKER_02]: So it was me noticing the lack of speech really was that first thing and then there was some Regression with his speech he had words and then they kind of regressed and went away as he grew outer and From there I wanted to go ask some questions Doctors wrote American making the recommendations from me.
4:34
[SPEAKER_02]: I was going to ask the questions like okay, let's put them in the speech
4:37
[SPEAKER_02]: Um, let's get a hearing test to see ignoring me on purpose or can he not hear, you know, what test needs to be done?
4:44
[SPEAKER_02]: And I'm still in that process with my eldest son.
4:46
[SPEAKER_02]: Um, the more I know and work in the field and grow as a mother, I'm learning different things.
4:51
[SPEAKER_02]: Um, like we're currently knocking on.
4:53
[SPEAKER_02]: You have him and Arbys, they're trying to get some help because my job as their mother is to make sure I'm doing everything I can for them.
5:00
[SPEAKER_02]: Um, so I'm constantly advocating for them.
5:03
[SPEAKER_00]: Absolutely.
5:04
[SPEAKER_00]: And then as far as.
5:06
[SPEAKER_00]: Once you had your second child, were you able to notice the signs sooner or did you do you know immediately or to know?
5:12
[SPEAKER_02]: No, it's so crazy because with my second because he is so much considered high functioning.
5:19
[SPEAKER_02]: I didn't know if it was a lot of learn behavior because it was also at the head of COVID, you know, you were in the house, you're with your brother all day.
5:27
[SPEAKER_02]: Are you picking up these things?
5:28
[SPEAKER_02]: So his diagnosis was kind of delayed because I wasn't sure.
5:32
[SPEAKER_02]: And that's a little point where I was in denial.
5:34
[SPEAKER_02]: I just didn't want to go ahead and put a label on him if that wasn't necessary.
5:37
[SPEAKER_02]: But there were things that came out that, like, all right, you can go ahead and get your evaluation too, buddy.
5:44
[SPEAKER_02]: Because of going in and getting the resources, so we could get the preventative care that's needed.
5:49
[SPEAKER_00]: And once you understood that you had two kids that were on the spectrum, when did you decide to start to dive into the work and develop autism in the day?
5:59
[SPEAKER_02]: Also, I'm going to do started with my first, um, it was really during that height of COVID.
6:04
[SPEAKER_02]: It was, my kid was diagnosed right before his third birthday, um, it was right after height of COVID, um, my mom couldn't help me be a mom and not like shade to her, but you can't help parent a near the diversion child from a near typical perspective.
6:21
[SPEAKER_02]: Um, so I was lost, um, you and the house I did during COVID, you know, and like talk to my friends, we're not able to relate to me because they were writing
6:30
[SPEAKER_02]: You know, a typical, I mean, no, a typical children.
6:34
[SPEAKER_02]: So it was just completely different for me.
6:36
[SPEAKER_02]: I literally made a post and I was like, right, if you have a special news chat and you want to vent, let's go meet up here.
6:42
[SPEAKER_02]: And that's how it started.
6:44
[SPEAKER_02]: Um, because I didn't have a say space.
6:46
[SPEAKER_02]: I was tired of asking questions and nobody answers.
6:49
[SPEAKER_02]: There was no advice.
6:50
[SPEAKER_02]: The resources were scarce.
6:52
[SPEAKER_02]: And I love this and the growth that the world has shifted in April starts tomorrow and I'm already seeing posts left and right about all these coming events and it wasn't like that several years ago.
7:05
[SPEAKER_00]: And it's been sick years.
7:07
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, yep, yep.
7:09
[SPEAKER_02]: And my kelis nine, it's been six years.
7:12
[SPEAKER_02]: And so what happened was that first year, or maybe like the year after COVID, we were still on lockdown, they canceled the autism walk.
7:20
[SPEAKER_02]: And that's kind of where we got started with the walk purpose, because we were still on walk from my boy.
7:26
[SPEAKER_02]: We literally met at his grandma's house.
7:28
[SPEAKER_02]: We called a few family members over.
7:29
[SPEAKER_02]: We walked up the street and walked back.
7:31
[SPEAKER_02]: And then the next year, we just continued to grow because I realized that we had to continue to grow this awareness
7:37
[SPEAKER_02]: And we started with just those few family and friends and have grown to reach over 1,200 attendees.
7:42
[SPEAKER_02]: So, just trying to advocate.
7:45
[SPEAKER_00]: Of course, I'm like, you're doing it.
7:48
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm walking in favor of faith.
7:51
[SPEAKER_00]: Absolutely.
7:52
[SPEAKER_00]: And when you started this journey, you have put out that post to basically tell people, if you want to vent, I'm here.
7:59
[SPEAKER_00]: Let's connect, let's build community.
8:01
[SPEAKER_00]: What was the reception like and how did that community start to come together?
8:05
[SPEAKER_02]: um we had about cyber parents come up show up with that we met at jungle java we met at jungle java and it was still cold but so some kids had our masks I'm didn't and we were able to talk talk about different resources and we still continue those monthly parent and play meetups and everyone who sits on our nonprofit board is a member from our parent and play meetups
8:26
[SPEAKER_02]: There are autism moms, um, we, they have formed their own connections within the group.
8:31
[SPEAKER_02]: I love our regulars who come because they become family.
8:34
[SPEAKER_02]: We got to each other's birthday parties.
8:36
[SPEAKER_02]: You know, we have grown that village that we were looking for and lacking.
8:40
[SPEAKER_00]: Absolutely.
8:41
[SPEAKER_00]: And I got a ton more questions about you and autism in the deep, but before we get into that, when the introduction of my favorite part of Black Friday is with the Freestyle Friday.
8:54
[SPEAKER_00]: So, whenever you ready, you can start rapping.
8:58
[SPEAKER_02]: Oh, okay, hold on, give me a beat.
9:01
[SPEAKER_02]: Give me a beat, okay.
9:03
[SPEAKER_02]: Hey.
9:05
[SPEAKER_02]: They call me to you, laugh this with you, let me buy.
9:08
[SPEAKER_02]: I stay in my defy, and I like to get high.
9:13
[SPEAKER_02]: Cause I gotta stay staying, running the world, cause I'll learn my shoulders.
9:19
[SPEAKER_02]: I can't rhyme them work.
9:21
[SPEAKER_00]: Shout out to you.
9:23
[SPEAKER_02]: That was fun.
9:25
[SPEAKER_00]: That was fun.
9:25
[SPEAKER_00]: But I got to give you some.
9:27
[SPEAKER_00]: That was three minutes.
9:28
[SPEAKER_00]: First of all, we appreciate you for actually wrapping.
9:30
[SPEAKER_00]: But of course, I want to ask you some wrap-up for our questions, too, if that's cool.
9:33
[SPEAKER_00]: OK. All right.
9:34
[SPEAKER_00]: So autism in the D, so from Detroit, tell me who are your five favorite Detroiters that can not be related to you.
9:42
[SPEAKER_02]: It's funny cuz I was born in time for sister.
9:43
[SPEAKER_02]: So that's not Nobody's related to me here by my mommy Dang I can't shout her out cuz she'd a goat.
9:50
[SPEAKER_02]: Um five Detroiters.
9:52
[SPEAKER_02]: Aggian Cheers from Brooklyn body butter Mary sheffield Big shot One more I'm trying who was going to get it to?
10:11
[SPEAKER_02]: well says a change maker then.
10:13
[SPEAKER_02]: I can't.
10:13
[SPEAKER_02]: Oh, five is hard.
10:16
[SPEAKER_02]: What if I can't get four?
10:17
[SPEAKER_02]: I could definitely give it to him.
10:18
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm about to give it to him.
10:20
[SPEAKER_02]: My P.R.
10:21
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm who has helped me down.
10:22
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm public relations.
10:23
[SPEAKER_02]: She has held us down for the past three years.
10:26
[SPEAKER_02]: Um, and she stays rocking with us.
10:28
[SPEAKER_02]: And she makes things she, I just show it.
10:31
[SPEAKER_02]: She's making us try what he's doing.
10:32
[SPEAKER_00]: For sure.
10:33
[SPEAKER_00]: Shout out to Aisha and also three to five people that you name.
10:36
[SPEAKER_00]: have been on the podcast or are affiliated with the podcast.
10:40
[SPEAKER_00]: So, and then we go and work on Big Sean too.
10:42
[SPEAKER_02]: Okay, to think on beer.
10:43
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, for sure.
10:44
[SPEAKER_02]: I have given him, they were doing a gas giveaway earlier this year.
10:47
[SPEAKER_02]: Him and that guy who's always given away money.
10:50
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
10:50
[SPEAKER_02]: Him and that guy.
10:51
[SPEAKER_02]: And I surely handed my information to him and his mama like here.
10:55
[SPEAKER_02]: We're trying to open this up because they've shot of this out.
10:57
[SPEAKER_02]: They're, I'm not profit has shot of this out a couple years ago.
11:00
[SPEAKER_02]: So I'm like, let's keep that connect this out.
11:02
[SPEAKER_00]: If you're listening, hey, Big Sean, tap in and
11:06
[SPEAKER_02]: And you say you're born in San Francisco, so when it's your Detroit journey start, my mom moved us here when I was three.
11:14
[SPEAKER_02]: Okay, all of my relatives aren't in San Francisco, mainly in Focile, I do have a grandma she is in Northern Cal.
11:22
[SPEAKER_02]: But my mom was for sure a Compton baby, and we're here, um, she wanted to be around the people.
11:27
[SPEAKER_02]: Honestly, she says she came to visit Detroit, and she fell in love with all the black people, you know, coming from California.
11:33
[SPEAKER_04]: Yeah.
11:33
[SPEAKER_02]: Where there's so many, it's mixed, and there's a lot of Spanish, um, she came for the culture and the people, and she never looked back.
11:41
[SPEAKER_00]: That's dope.
11:42
[SPEAKER_00]: Do you go back and visit what?
11:43
[SPEAKER_02]: Not as much as I used to, it's hard with kids, a flight to California for all of us.
11:50
[SPEAKER_02]: The last time we went as the family, I think, was 20, 22, or 21, and I haven't been back in a while either with the world, the way it is right now, my family note, they left me, and they love me from afar, and I love them back.
12:05
[SPEAKER_00]: That's what I got to ask you in terms of your boys, what's one thing that comes to mind that they have taught you throughout this journey?
12:13
[SPEAKER_00]: Patience.
12:15
[SPEAKER_02]: Patience.
12:16
[SPEAKER_02]: I have so much patience.
12:18
[SPEAKER_02]: I look at adults crazy for lacking patience, especially with children.
12:22
[SPEAKER_02]: I just get so confused because why do you expect a child?
12:26
[SPEAKER_02]: Too bad patience.
12:28
[SPEAKER_02]: You're in an adult.
12:29
[SPEAKER_02]: You're in the one who's supposed to figure out you have to figure out a calm years up down.
12:32
[SPEAKER_02]: and give them that space and grace.
12:34
[SPEAKER_02]: So don't talk to me how to give grace to myself as well as to others and patience.
12:40
[SPEAKER_00]: And if you had to explain, so you're explaining all the autism to us earlier, your definition, but if you had to explain to somebody who never heard of it before, or someone who doesn't fully understand it, how would you give it a superpower?
12:54
[SPEAKER_02]: Hmm.
12:55
[SPEAKER_02]: They say things we don't see.
12:57
[SPEAKER_02]: I once saw a video of somebody demonstrating what a visual stammer would look like.
13:03
[SPEAKER_02]: And it's like for us, oh, we're just playing with our hands with no from their perspective.
13:07
[SPEAKER_02]: They were tracing the outlines of the shadows on the ceiling.
13:10
[SPEAKER_02]: So they just say things from a different perspective.
13:12
[SPEAKER_02]: There are so many like pieces of with spiritual people think when it comes to autism and how they're these gifted children and they've been here before and they're being reborn.
13:22
[SPEAKER_02]: I believe a lot of that on my odis may be non-conversational, but he's very much empath.
13:27
[SPEAKER_02]: He's very much big on energy.
13:31
[SPEAKER_02]: I trust him.
13:33
[SPEAKER_02]: He does not communicate always verbally, but he definitely gets his point across.
13:38
[SPEAKER_00]: For sure, is he like the ultimate big brother to his other similar?
13:42
[SPEAKER_02]: You know what, it's funny, my middle son is the big brother.
13:44
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay.
13:45
[SPEAKER_02]: He is very much like, come on, my cow.
13:48
[SPEAKER_02]: Come on, my aura.
13:49
[SPEAKER_02]: Um, he is growing into this big brother role.
13:53
[SPEAKER_02]: And I love it.
13:54
[SPEAKER_02]: It's the same time I have to be very mindful that he's not the big brother.
13:58
[SPEAKER_02]: You know, I hear from a lot of autism siblings like they had a lot to do responsibly while I was on everyone in the field that way, but he naturally does it.
14:06
[SPEAKER_02]: He's just a little leader.
14:07
[SPEAKER_02]: He's a tourist, though.
14:09
[SPEAKER_02]: He's bossy.
14:10
[SPEAKER_02]: Yep.
14:11
[SPEAKER_02]: That's how I go.
14:12
[SPEAKER_02]: Mm-hmm.
14:12
[SPEAKER_02]: Exactly, but he does as well.
14:14
[SPEAKER_02]: He means so well.
14:15
[SPEAKER_02]: He's such a sweet little boy.
14:17
[SPEAKER_02]: That's the stuff.
14:17
[SPEAKER_02]: He has ADHD too, so he's always bouncing off the door.
14:22
[SPEAKER_00]: So help enlighten me in terms of that.
14:24
[SPEAKER_00]: So it's ADHD, a part of the spectrum of autism or is it completely served.
14:28
[SPEAKER_02]: So it is on the spectrum of neurodiversity.
14:31
[SPEAKER_02]: Okay.
14:32
[SPEAKER_02]: Um, ADHD is an additional.
14:34
[SPEAKER_02]: It would be a co-diagnosis.
14:36
[SPEAKER_02]: And particularly when I realize that autism usually does with.
14:38
[SPEAKER_02]: come with co-diagnosis, whether it's ADHD, there's so many, there's pandas, there's so many different things besides what the underlying issue is.
14:47
[SPEAKER_02]: And doctors don't do enough.
14:49
[SPEAKER_02]: I think of educating parents to say let's go and get these tests to see if there's anything done.
14:53
[SPEAKER_02]: I currently, we just had our Zoom last week with the OVM to get genome tests because
14:59
[SPEAKER_02]: Let's figure out.
15:00
[SPEAKER_02]: Let's do a sculpt, let's figure out to see what we can do because they're never going to come on to say, hey, X-Lion's E-Class is autism because it's making too much money now.
15:08
[SPEAKER_04]: Yeah.
15:08
[SPEAKER_02]: It's making too much money so they're not going to give us a cure.
15:11
[SPEAKER_02]: And I believe it all ties into the gut health, but the environment to where they we live in affects our good too.
15:19
[SPEAKER_02]: Like we have plastic in our brains.
15:21
[SPEAKER_02]: We have plastic in our skin from clothing from the things we
15:26
[SPEAKER_02]: Um, it all authors are DNA, so I can, I can spend a tangent on that.
15:32
[SPEAKER_00]: It's for sure.
15:32
[SPEAKER_00]: And I'm, I'm gonna see if I can tap into that tangent a little bit real quick, but before I forget, I'm a rapper free stop Friday.
15:38
[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you for actually giving us a free stop and then answering the right profile questions as well.
15:43
[SPEAKER_00]: All right.
15:43
[SPEAKER_00]: So now back to business from your studies and your education on it.
15:46
[SPEAKER_00]: And then you also, I know you're working on it on the day to day.
15:49
[SPEAKER_00]: What are the, the, I guess is there a,
15:53
[SPEAKER_00]: clear-cut way that autism develops or is there a something that is, what, losing my words, but I'm trying to figure out, is there a strong correlation with something that causes autism, whether it be genetics or anything new?
16:08
[SPEAKER_02]: Not technically, you know, that man sent that other man on a TV, one point last year to tell everybody, X, Y, Z causes autism.
16:17
[SPEAKER_00]: didn't they tell us to drink bleach too?
16:19
[SPEAKER_02]: You know, you know, they just go on the TV saying anything, anything, um, but to me, and it's regardless of autism, gut help is mental health.
16:27
[SPEAKER_04]: Yeah.
16:28
[SPEAKER_02]: So if your gut health is not regulated or not where it needs to be, then that's affecting your mental, um, and the food is poison in us.
16:38
[SPEAKER_02]: The organic food is poison in us.
16:39
[SPEAKER_02]: It doesn't matter unless we're going our own food, and then we put, we use the water.
16:44
[SPEAKER_02]: The water is poison in us, none of it matters when it's odd.
16:48
[SPEAKER_02]: FDA controls everything and they get to say yes or no to things they just did give rid of red dye.
16:57
[SPEAKER_02]: Good job because that's linked to a lot but there's so many other things why are certain ingredients approved here but not any other country.
17:06
[SPEAKER_02]: You know because FDA runs the world they are the top people think it's the government I think is the FDA because it all tricks down from movie eat everybody has to eat daily but there's people starving.
17:17
[SPEAKER_02]: I don't want to get on the tangent.
17:18
[SPEAKER_00]: No, I'm with you.
17:20
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm following you.
17:21
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm following you.
17:22
[SPEAKER_00]: When you say they got rid of red down, I'm like, well, fake on go do they might go out of business?
17:25
[SPEAKER_02]: I just can't change it to something else.
17:27
[SPEAKER_02]: And it's like, they have alternatives.
17:29
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
17:29
[SPEAKER_02]: They have alternatives.
17:30
[SPEAKER_02]: Everything doesn't have to be poisonous.
17:32
[SPEAKER_02]: But they choose the poisonous because they make money when they poison us.
17:35
[SPEAKER_00]: So speaking of and in terms of I would love to get your perspective on the stigma around autism and neurodiversity in the black community because always think about family members growing up that were older than me and I want a particular family member that comes to mind and like I always knew that they were different never knew like what it wouldn't and nobody talked about
17:58
[SPEAKER_00]: what the what their circumstance was or like kind of how they operated whatever they just like oh that's someone so and that's that they just do them and like it was almost kind of I don't want to say ignore it because clearly they figured out a way to care for that person and navigate that person but it wasn't something that was like brought up often um even the fact that because I'm like I know at the kid I know some people health and the black community
18:21
[SPEAKER_02]: It's mental health in the black community.
18:23
[SPEAKER_02]: We're just starting to have these conversations.
18:25
[SPEAKER_02]: I look back and God, thank you for the growth because you know, I'll call myself being suicide when high school, take some title novels.
18:33
[SPEAKER_02]: But back then, my mama could only call one to two people to be like, hey, what are I doing this situation?
18:38
[SPEAKER_02]: Because the embarrassment, because it's not talked about, and I was never sent to therapy.
18:44
[SPEAKER_02]: But my sister, who was 10 years younger than me, didn't go through a similar surgery, but went through a situation where she needed therapy and my mom put her into therapy.
18:52
[SPEAKER_02]: So you know, it takes the learning and the education and the difficulties having these conversations to make awareness and acceptance and when it comes to autism, a lot of parents I find are in denial,
19:08
[SPEAKER_02]: and embarrass me and don't want to find the answers because I feel like it's a blame thing.
19:12
[SPEAKER_02]: And I hate that because it's nobody's fault.
19:15
[SPEAKER_02]: Nobody's fault.
19:17
[SPEAKER_02]: Your assignment is yours.
19:18
[SPEAKER_02]: It's nobody else's fault.
19:20
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm a foreign believer in with sport years for you.
19:22
[SPEAKER_02]: It's never going to miss you.
19:23
[SPEAKER_02]: And okay.
19:25
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm sorry, we can't sign our kids up for the regular sports stuff, it's all right, we can sign them up for other things like flip the gas, flip the perspective and find the glass have for I always try to tell my parents that because you know autism parents carry high cortisol levels compared to combat soldiers.
19:43
[SPEAKER_02]: Super stress super in fight or flight all the time when I refuse to live like this is too much going on in the world Um, if I say that God covers my kids They cover I can't worry.
19:53
[SPEAKER_02]: I can't worry.
19:53
[SPEAKER_02]: I can't worry about my bills.
19:54
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm like, all right, God No, I'm not gonna worry about my kids ever because one of them can't tell me was going on So I'm not gonna worry about it.
20:02
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm a trust that my God is covering him
20:05
[SPEAKER_02]: I don't even remember the original question.
20:07
[SPEAKER_02]: That's not.
20:08
[SPEAKER_02]: See, my letters get to show it.
20:10
[SPEAKER_02]: And it's like, I feel like I have underdiagnosed ADHD because the black women go underdiagnosed way more statistically compared to boys.
20:19
[SPEAKER_02]: And we look at things that look at aggression versus anxiety.
20:24
[SPEAKER_02]: and my sister growing up knowing what I know now, I was looking, I looked back recently and I had to tell her, dealing with my friend who has ADHD, and me not knowing her ADHD.
20:34
[SPEAKER_02]: The look back and say, hey, I am sorry for the way I treated you because you had a lot of big emotions, and I just thought you were just dramatic.
20:41
[SPEAKER_02]: And you weren't, you really couldn't control it.
20:44
[SPEAKER_02]: So just learning to do better.
20:46
[SPEAKER_02]: I think the more we have these conversations, the more people we're going to know about it.
20:50
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
20:50
[SPEAKER_00]: And speaking of the undiagnosed piece, I was wondering if I feel like maybe around like the pandemic, maybe a little bit before you started to see a trend in people.
21:01
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, some people self-diagnosen themselves, but in terms of it being less of a stigma people talking about it more.
21:06
[SPEAKER_00]: And I'm wondering if from the research that you've done or have heard come across has that been an issue in terms of people going undiagnosed in our community in particular and has there been
21:19
[SPEAKER_00]: getting diagnosed because it's being done properly, no?
21:22
[SPEAKER_02]: Yes, people always ask, why do you think the autism rates are rising?
21:27
[SPEAKER_02]: The diagnosis are easier to access.
21:31
[SPEAKER_02]: We have more diagnosis, naeak, nastitions.
21:34
[SPEAKER_02]: That one always trips me up.
21:36
[SPEAKER_02]: And the resources are more ready available.
21:39
[SPEAKER_02]: When my autism with diagnosed, I believe this is one in 59.
21:43
[SPEAKER_02]: They're one in 31 today.
21:45
[SPEAKER_02]: There are one and thirty one and that's because advances have happened People thought it was like a COVID outbreak like oh all the kids are COVID kids and I have autism Many things to me try at the same time type of thing and maybe not just this case of kids Maybe the previous generation was just ignored like you said and scooped under the rug and we always had this bad stigma of The special needs classroom and now we're filling them up and now we have to talk about it
22:12
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
22:14
[SPEAKER_00]: And so, all right, let me ask this because I need to ask you some, like business questions as well, but I'm loving this conversation so far.
22:22
[SPEAKER_00]: So, how do you feel the educational systems are fair and in terms of being able to support students who may be neurodivered.
22:32
[SPEAKER_02]: Ah, listen, listen, DPS, um, um, you few years ago on the land bank house, on the land bank, um, free and clear, so that house to get my baby out of DPS.
22:49
[SPEAKER_02]: left my home that I own free and clear to get out of these right-budget school systems because they are doing a under this service to these children in its ridiculous um they have put new implement things in place they've moved people around but at the end of the day they do not have the proper staff in training to start these children and
23:10
[SPEAKER_02]: You know, somebody told me I need to start knock it on when, rest is door because they're the ones who control the state, allows and funds.
23:17
[SPEAKER_02]: So that's what doors I'm about to start knock it on next because these these schools are doing the disservice.
23:22
[SPEAKER_02]: The IEP language is disrespectful.
23:24
[SPEAKER_02]: It's lazy.
23:25
[SPEAKER_02]: It's copying and pasting.
23:26
[SPEAKER_02]: It's distasteful.
23:28
[SPEAKER_02]: It literally breaks my heartring.
23:29
[SPEAKER_02]: IEP is from Detroit.
23:30
[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you, uh, breakdown with IEPs are sure.
23:33
[SPEAKER_02]: Um, IEP is an individual education plan.
23:35
[SPEAKER_02]: Ooh, and let me tell you what I've learned about IEPs at work.
23:39
[SPEAKER_02]: Talk to it.
23:40
[SPEAKER_02]: Um, so IEP state funded legal document that says, hey, we're going to provide OT, speech, whatever they need assistance and classroom.
23:49
[SPEAKER_02]: That's what the IEP is for.
23:50
[SPEAKER_02]: It's an individual learning plan.
23:51
[SPEAKER_02]: And that could go for any show.
23:53
[SPEAKER_02]: Um, my god, daughter has an IEP because she has an autoimmune disease.
23:56
[SPEAKER_02]: So like nothing intellectual is not always educational purposes, whatever.
24:00
[SPEAKER_00]: Like certain situations, whatever is needed.
24:02
[SPEAKER_02]: It's just case by case and that is the outline that is the state's legal binding document that says I'm going to do x y and z for the student.
24:12
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm going to provide these things, then they don't.
24:15
[SPEAKER_02]: Then they don't and so then they don't provide these things with that school now has the funding because they have the IEP So now that I have this additional funding for the show you already get funding when the child comes at the state school Yeah, now you get additional funding on this IEP Don't have the IEP with the state funding and have state funded insurance
24:34
[SPEAKER_02]: You can't do two things at one time.
24:36
[SPEAKER_02]: Because if you have state funding insurance, and God forbid you want to send your child to school in an ABA, because that's what the doctors tell you to do, that's recommended.
24:44
[SPEAKER_02]: The schools telling you hey, send your child to ABA, because we can't handle their behaviors.
24:48
[SPEAKER_02]: Then you get to the ABA provider, and you say, oh, I have state come to insurance, and I have IEP, and then the school's not going to release the IEP, so you can get your ABA services.
24:56
[SPEAKER_02]: And it's a cycle.
24:57
[SPEAKER_02]: And it's not fair that people are not fully explaining these things to parents.
25:01
[SPEAKER_02]: It's not fair they're doing a disturbance to these parents at a cell daunting when I get calls from parents.
25:07
[SPEAKER_02]: And they're like, I'll just get the IP, I'll just get the hours reduced.
25:11
[SPEAKER_02]: And I'll just do that, but the school's like, no, we're not.
25:14
[SPEAKER_02]: We're not going to release that.
25:15
[SPEAKER_02]: It took me.
25:17
[SPEAKER_02]: I don't know how many emails to get my son's IP revoked out of DPS because I was not playing with them, but it shouldn't have to.
25:24
[SPEAKER_02]: I shouldn't have to work a chain to come in.
25:26
[SPEAKER_02]: If I need something adjusted to better suit the life of my child, I should be able to do that.
25:33
[SPEAKER_02]: But they made people jump through hoops to get this funding and it's ridiculous.
25:37
[SPEAKER_02]: The schools, the schools are the service.
25:41
[SPEAKER_02]: insurance is insurance.
25:43
[SPEAKER_02]: So insurance is what it is, but the schools need to do better.
25:46
[SPEAKER_02]: I don't know back to the drawing board figure it out because it's not enough and the race are rising and what are you're doing.
25:54
[SPEAKER_04]: Yeah.
25:54
[SPEAKER_02]: What are you're doing?
25:55
[SPEAKER_02]: Pay people better so they can come when to work.
25:59
[SPEAKER_02]: Figure out a program with Michigan State, figure out a program with few of them.
26:01
[SPEAKER_02]: Figure out one of our Wayne State where they have these BCABA programs.
26:05
[SPEAKER_02]: Get these people to try and do something because you need help.
26:08
[SPEAKER_02]: The school district, then my kids are in top tier.
26:11
[SPEAKER_02]: They have SLP, OT, social work, BCBA.
26:16
[SPEAKER_02]: I shouldn't everybody can't stay out their house and move to another district and do that.
26:20
[SPEAKER_02]: And that's what the disservice is.
26:22
[SPEAKER_00]: facts, very, very enlightening and appreciate you for being able to expose us to that piece of it because I don't, I don't know the intricacies of how it works in terms of IEPs and being able to provide those specialized service for students, but already know how the government and school systems work.
26:39
[SPEAKER_00]: especially in tandem, and it ain't conducive to progress and productivity all the time.
26:46
[SPEAKER_00]: So I could only imagine and so I feel like what you've been able to develop with Autism in the D is becoming a solution for to be able to supplement those short comments of our educational system.
26:59
[SPEAKER_00]: So because I got so excited and we jump right into the combo.
27:02
[SPEAKER_00]: Can you tell us a little bit more about what it is that you provide through autism and indeed the different if there are services, but I know particularly you hold very intentional curated events for people and young people of this community.
27:17
[SPEAKER_02]: Yes, so definitely we do event says where we started off as We do our parent and play me does.
27:24
[SPEAKER_02]: We try to do those monthly.
27:25
[SPEAKER_02]: We do do a moms on your event every May because Moments are usually taking the charge and are usually primary parents.
27:32
[SPEAKER_02]: So we try to dedicatemates strictly to the moms.
27:35
[SPEAKER_02]: But throughout the year, we do our events and we have our annual six annual autism awareness walk.
27:40
[SPEAKER_02]: I can't wait.
27:41
[SPEAKER_02]: It's going to be April 12.
27:42
[SPEAKER_02]: It's going to be bigger and better.
27:43
[SPEAKER_02]: It grows bigger and better beyond my
27:46
[SPEAKER_02]: thought process every year.
27:48
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm always grateful for the community because I literally down to, I don't do anything.
27:54
[SPEAKER_02]: I post the flyer and the community shows up.
27:56
[SPEAKER_02]: People always ask, like, what's my marketing?
27:58
[SPEAKER_02]: I don't have a marketing.
27:59
[SPEAKER_02]: The community does the work because we need it.
28:02
[SPEAKER_02]: Like, I'm not just finding for my kids.
28:04
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm finding for everybody's kids.
28:06
[SPEAKER_02]: Um, so we do that.
28:08
[SPEAKER_02]: We do our, um, and then online on our website, we have a free resources.
28:12
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm currently updating our resource, guys.
28:13
[SPEAKER_02]: So if anybody have some feel free, drop an email, check us out.
28:16
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm always updating resources, whether it's um, diagnosis place places.
28:21
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm finding out recently in my current row, um, because we don't offer evening hours at where I work.
28:26
[SPEAKER_02]: So I'm building up a list of places that offer evening hours.
28:29
[SPEAKER_02]: So people who can't get the IEP revoked can have an option to send your child to ABA
28:36
[SPEAKER_02]: on beating the system at the game.
28:39
[SPEAKER_02]: Just building up those different resources, though doctors, haircuts, those are hard to come by for children's spectrum.
28:45
[SPEAKER_02]: It's very sensory embrace.
28:46
[SPEAKER_02]: So we're building up that repertoire of different hairstylists who can work with these babies.
28:51
[SPEAKER_02]: And the list is on, but just building up this community guidance resource guys so that the people don't have to search far.
28:57
[SPEAKER_02]: There's list on there for days.
29:01
[SPEAKER_02]: There's a free RBT course and that is a registered behavior technician.
29:04
[SPEAKER_02]: Those are the techs who work with children and apply behavior analysis therapy.
29:09
[SPEAKER_02]: That's what I am on my RBT as well.
29:11
[SPEAKER_02]: And I literally took RBT class to better help my child.
29:14
[SPEAKER_02]: So they have a free one online.
29:15
[SPEAKER_02]: I don't think it's very helpful for parents to get that just that background.
29:18
[SPEAKER_00]: And you're in a process of doing something innovative when it comes to providing a sensory gym or the first sensory gym in the Metro Detroit area.
29:29
[SPEAKER_00]: So please talk to us about that journey and when it that first come into your mind.
29:35
[SPEAKER_02]: A few years ago at this point because time is tough, like wow.
29:38
[SPEAKER_02]: Um, a few years ago, I ran across the opening of a sensory gym.
29:41
[SPEAKER_02]: It was in Ohio.
29:43
[SPEAKER_02]: Hmm.
29:43
[SPEAKER_02]: The number is like, oh, we need that here.
29:45
[SPEAKER_02]: We don't have any place here.
29:46
[SPEAKER_02]: And I'm definitely a frequenter of KitKDF.
29:49
[SPEAKER_02]: That's like a local play place in Dearborn, um, of like the local jump places.
29:54
[SPEAKER_02]: But there wasn't a space for us.
29:56
[SPEAKER_02]: And then when I started the parent and play meetups, I was like, oh, we really don't have a space like we can't meet up with 10 of us and 10 of our artistic kids and be like,
30:04
[SPEAKER_02]: We're here and to me places that offer since three hours are not inclusive because what if I can make it in that time frame like this is not inclusive.
30:12
[SPEAKER_02]: So we need to decide space.
30:14
[SPEAKER_02]: So we literally, um, guys say I'm just being obedient and I'm telling people people asking how I do it.
30:20
[SPEAKER_02]: I just I'm be obedient.
30:21
[SPEAKER_02]: I don't drink coffee.
30:22
[SPEAKER_02]: I be obedient.
30:23
[SPEAKER_02]: Um, but we're opening up Detroit's the city of Detroit because not Metro Detroit.
30:27
[SPEAKER_02]: That's the big difference.
30:29
[SPEAKER_02]: The city of Detroit is we are not Metro Detroit, um, diligently looking for a building in the city of Detroit as we opened up this safe space.
30:36
[SPEAKER_02]: This community center that's going to house this since the region.
30:39
[SPEAKER_02]: Um, we're going to have so many things.
30:41
[SPEAKER_02]: I cannot wait into this space as open like my boys only realize what I'm doing for them.
30:46
[SPEAKER_02]: And what's they realize?
30:46
[SPEAKER_02]: Hey, we could come here every day.
30:48
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, it's right.
30:49
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm going to get all the cool points.
30:51
[SPEAKER_02]: I mean, I love me anyway, but still we're going to have the option for respite care.
30:56
[SPEAKER_02]: We plan to offer these inclusive camps because it's currently not any camps.
30:59
[SPEAKER_02]: I can take my children to and I can play our right your safe, not within the city of Detroit.
31:04
[SPEAKER_02]: There are some in the burbs, but everybody can't get to the burbs.
31:07
[SPEAKER_02]: So we plan to offer things like that.
31:09
[SPEAKER_02]: We also plan to offer once we are open and set up that'll be the home for our walk.
31:15
[SPEAKER_02]: You know, we'll have our annual walk there, but on April 11th, we'll be showcasing what we plan to offer once this space is open and I didn't even name drop because I'm I'm learning the name came to me through years late okay because I said I got I'm starting to realize we don't have a name people were asking me enough was like it's not called autism in the
31:34
[SPEAKER_02]: Um, but we will be opening in escape, which in an exclusive escape, um, and that is going so we're going to showcase that we're going to have like swing area, we plan to do a play area, but we're also playing on the senses, though it's like a full sensory experience.
31:51
[SPEAKER_02]: But we wanted to just do something for the community, because we have been fundraising for three years, and because I would be inpatient like, I've given you my money, where are the doors openings?
31:59
[SPEAKER_02]: So this is just our little gift back to the community.
32:02
[SPEAKER_02]: It's a donation based entry and we plan to play on every since site's male taste.
32:07
[SPEAKER_02]: When we have a styling DJ, we have a blackout tent for the site area.
32:11
[SPEAKER_02]: We have a run with therapy for a scent.
32:13
[SPEAKER_02]: And we have some things clicking up for the taste.
32:15
[SPEAKER_02]: And of course for that touch, we're going to have that full sensory play area that we're going to have set up.
32:20
[SPEAKER_00]: Snivey's super cool and you already have a location like this is for the event.
32:24
[SPEAKER_02]: Yes, not for the in skate once we open The event is going to be a channel apart field house really cool.
32:32
[SPEAKER_02]: Don't I've never been there.
32:33
[SPEAKER_02]: I was driving one day And I was like, oh, we need to vent there.
32:36
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm always thought we need events on the east side.
32:38
[SPEAKER_02]: So
32:38
[SPEAKER_02]: That is our east side event for my east sideers.
32:41
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm in the end of the walk, which is April 12th.
32:43
[SPEAKER_02]: It's going to be a DMC's Children Brush Mall Park.
32:48
[SPEAKER_02]: And that's our second time returning there.
32:49
[SPEAKER_02]: We were there last year and we packed it out.
32:51
[SPEAKER_02]: In this year, we get to go up the street a little further and walk 1.31 miles.
32:55
[SPEAKER_02]: So I'm super excited because we get like, police player cave and everything.
32:59
[SPEAKER_02]: We're having a real walk.
33:00
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, it's for sure and in terms of your entrepreneurship journey with autism in the D, I'm curious as to is this your first stint or try an entrepreneurship or has there been other?
33:15
[SPEAKER_00]: Dintree is what you have for them.
33:17
[SPEAKER_02]: My mother's child.
33:18
[SPEAKER_02]: My mommy is the founder of Seagraphic.
33:21
[SPEAKER_02]: She is a long time OG Graphic Designer in the city.
33:25
[SPEAKER_02]: My, her mama, because that's not my grandma.
33:28
[SPEAKER_02]: Her mom is also an entrepreneur.
33:31
[SPEAKER_02]: And my grandpa was an entrepreneur.
33:33
[SPEAKER_02]: They're really embedded in me.
33:34
[SPEAKER_02]: If people knew me at high school in the school, they know I was saying I was never working for somebody.
33:39
[SPEAKER_02]: Never liked punching a clock.
33:41
[SPEAKER_02]: I am actually finally at a job that I like, but that's because it aligns with what I do in my entrepreneurship.
33:46
[SPEAKER_02]: I've never liked to do that.
33:49
[SPEAKER_02]: I am used to be a constant job hopper, but prior to autism in a day, I was T-style's graphics.
33:55
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm still T-style's graphics.
33:57
[SPEAKER_02]: My clients don't have to find me out.
33:58
[SPEAKER_00]: Did you make your merch as you were?
34:00
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, I do all of autism in a day designs, all of our graphics, all of our whip, it's me, it's all me.
34:10
[SPEAKER_02]: Um, and I still do websites.
34:12
[SPEAKER_02]: I still do logo designs, but that was like the bread and butter for me for a few years.
34:16
[SPEAKER_02]: And then I just, everything with alternate D was all organic.
34:20
[SPEAKER_02]: That's why I'll tell people I'm just being obedient.
34:22
[SPEAKER_02]: It has all flowed and for me, it's, um, a great feeling because I thought that I would reach the levels that I'm reaching now with my graphic design business, but that wasn't a line.
34:35
[SPEAKER_02]: I was supposed to be a graphic designer so I could learn how to do our own designs type of thing.
34:39
[SPEAKER_02]: So I worked out and we did try something as we were the Vindbro's prior to autism in the day Because once my kale guy has diagnosed it's I wanted to promote something that promoted routine So I was like we're gonna invest in vending machines then it was a Chinese shortage during COVID And I was like we're not gonna invest in vending machines and we tried to do subscription boxes of different sensory things
35:04
[SPEAKER_02]: And I was like, well, none of this is helping me, helping me.
35:07
[SPEAKER_02]: None of this is helping me, it's not helping my child.
35:10
[SPEAKER_02]: And that's essentially how we transition to those parent and playing me steps that started autism in a day.
35:15
[SPEAKER_00]: Don't.
35:16
[SPEAKER_00]: And how have you been able to leverage your creativity and your previous experience with entrepreneurship to be able to fundraise for autism in a day?
35:24
[SPEAKER_02]: about people to get like that is a so I don't have to pay anybody okay I don't have to pay anybody to do the signs to not have to do with the signs to already know you know people who are not designers think that they are paying good prices on prints and I'd be like you're not not like I paid good prices on my printing and that's something that comes from being a graphic designer that comes from not just being a regular customer so I have those different insights so that helps a lot.
35:51
[SPEAKER_02]: But it is completely different coming from a business that has like zero to no overheat to open in the brick and mortar.
35:58
[SPEAKER_02]: So much overheat over here.
36:01
[SPEAKER_02]: Um, so it has been an adjustment.
36:02
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm grateful for different things.
36:03
[SPEAKER_02]: I MBBA when I was in capital connect.
36:06
[SPEAKER_02]: Um, we've been in a few programs.
36:07
[SPEAKER_02]: We've been in.
36:08
[SPEAKER_02]: Um, the Michigan Women Forward Operations Program that they were together with Rachel Allen.
36:14
[SPEAKER_02]: We've done a lot of programs to help get to where we are today with our, like, background of the business.
36:21
[SPEAKER_02]: Because, you know, being an entrepreneur is one thing.
36:23
[SPEAKER_02]: And I always preach about having your ducks in the wrong, you know, your LLCs, your entities, and all of that.
36:28
[SPEAKER_02]: Yep.
36:28
[SPEAKER_02]: But brick and mortar is a whole, another ball game.
36:31
[SPEAKER_02]: Um, that we have been having to learn as we go.
36:33
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, do you like some sand.
36:34
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, permit a lot of, yeah, I have a friend with us.
36:38
[SPEAKER_02]: I received a neighborhood of Grant from, I said, thank you, thank you.
36:43
[SPEAKER_02]: And so one of our other awardees in our cohort, he was just our last checking was like, you know, it caused money when they told me, I can't get my grants approved from my premise approved and then I recently taught them he finally got approved.
36:54
[SPEAKER_02]: I was like, yes, because
36:56
[SPEAKER_02]: Oh, I'm not ready to, I don't, I don't want to deal with that.
37:00
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm not ready and I have had the experience prior, minorly, for having a land bank house because we literally bought my house and had to buy 14 windows.
37:09
[SPEAKER_02]: So I've seen from scratch to start, so I'm like positive just like still scary because it's new.
37:14
[SPEAKER_00]: um speaking uh more business questions for you so I know that you have, so you have a non-profit arm to autism in D&N autism in the D is a LOC of that correct?
37:24
[SPEAKER_02]: Yes autism in D is the for-profit and autism in Detroit is the non-profit that we just recently in state last year.
37:31
[SPEAKER_00]: And why do both is my question?
37:34
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm still trying to figure it out on my phone.
37:37
[SPEAKER_02]: No, people were telling me they're like, you're fundraising is even people to write off, but we're actually trying to, I'm trying to step away from the non-profits I didn't let my board.
37:47
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm learning a lot of people don't tell you a lot about non-profits.
37:49
[SPEAKER_02]: The founder is not supposed to be the executive director.
37:54
[SPEAKER_02]: Okay, because there's a lot on somebody's plate.
37:58
[SPEAKER_02]: You know, I'm so...
37:59
[SPEAKER_00]: Especially if you've got a board.
38:00
[SPEAKER_02]: Okay, so finding the right members for your board is hard.
38:04
[SPEAKER_02]: So we're still calling through a lot before we can even figure out how to implement programs, but the plan is to implement programs, though that autism news droke covers funding for memberships for in-skate, what sets open and covers different camps that we might offer and covers different programs that we might have dropped in.
38:20
[SPEAKER_02]: That is the plan.
38:22
[SPEAKER_02]: We're still figuring it out.
38:23
[SPEAKER_02]: There is no there's no hand-holding guy to not profits as many non-profit heads as I know nobody gives me clear answers So that means nobody knows what they're doing and we're all just figuring out as we go.
38:34
[SPEAKER_00]: So that's that's the non-profit side What business last in the key business last in have you picked up over the years as you've been?
38:42
[SPEAKER_02]: Continued to growing scale this day To trust myself and don't listen to people
38:50
[SPEAKER_02]: I don't know it all, but I am a big believer.
38:54
[SPEAKER_02]: I hate when people like talk down.
38:55
[SPEAKER_02]: Like I was talking to somebody recently.
38:57
[SPEAKER_02]: Like, you're not going to have that build-in up.
38:58
[SPEAKER_02]: Whoa, whoa, whoa.
39:00
[SPEAKER_02]: That's crazy.
39:00
[SPEAKER_02]: You don't know my guy.
39:02
[SPEAKER_02]: Like, who you do not know my guy anytime.
39:05
[SPEAKER_02]: Even if it's even if it's like a mentor somebody, I will put that in check quick because that'll speak fear over what I got going on.
39:11
[SPEAKER_00]: which one would just say, hey, how can I help you?
39:13
[SPEAKER_00]: Hello, how can I help you?
39:16
[SPEAKER_02]: Like, yeah, and I'm very big.
39:18
[SPEAKER_02]: I've had to learn how to ask for help.
39:20
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm very selective of who, and how I ask for help.
39:24
[SPEAKER_02]: Just people like to say they're helpful on their not.
39:27
[SPEAKER_02]: That's what I learned.
39:30
[SPEAKER_02]: It would be just like to try and eat.
39:31
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
39:32
[SPEAKER_00]: For sure.
39:33
[SPEAKER_00]: Talk it.
39:34
[SPEAKER_00]: Speaking of other parents who have children on the spectrum.
39:37
[SPEAKER_00]: Do you ever feel like or do you all feel like a different voice like you're isolated or like on an island and people might not get it?
39:44
[SPEAKER_00]: Or do you feel differently not that you've connected with more?
39:47
[SPEAKER_02]: Um, there are still those moments, like if I'm in a harris spot where I don't know what I'm doing or what I'm researching or how that better help my child.
39:57
[SPEAKER_02]: Um, there's, there's random moments, but I will go and drop a question in the Facebook group quick.
40:04
[SPEAKER_02]: And they if I can't answer it like somebody else drops it and I can't answer it the community answers it and it's the same they help me find things they've helped me build up the new resource guy.
40:14
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, that's all from the community.
40:16
[SPEAKER_02]: So it's always helpful to always have that group.
40:20
[SPEAKER_02]: and I didn't realize that our group would grow to what we started at 20 people and others 4,000 people in that Facebook group.
40:27
[SPEAKER_02]: And there's parents of children who are grown.
40:31
[SPEAKER_02]: You know, they're not children anymore.
40:32
[SPEAKER_02]: And so they have a different insight and they have a different perspective.
40:35
[SPEAKER_02]: And it's all helpful overall.
40:38
[SPEAKER_02]: So I love being able to have an outreach.
40:41
[SPEAKER_00]: What are some of those resources for a parent to be able to leverage parents and families to leverage?
40:46
[SPEAKER_00]: in order to be able to get proper support for the founding member who may be on spectrum.
40:51
[SPEAKER_02]: For kiddos who are younger, and what 18 and younger, and then I'm going to go 18 and above, because it's completely different.
40:59
[SPEAKER_02]: 18 and younger, you're covered by insurance.
41:02
[SPEAKER_02]: As long as you have that autism diagnosis, you can go and get ABA.
41:06
[SPEAKER_02]: You can go and get a referral for speech, you can go and get a referral for PT.
41:10
[SPEAKER_02]: You can go and get all these referrals for therapy.
41:13
[SPEAKER_02]: So as soon as you hear 18, think shift, insurance shifts, covered shifts, medication, covered shifts, and there's so much I don't know because I haven't crossed that line yet where there's so many parents who can chime in for me.
41:30
[SPEAKER_02]: There is a place called the Liban and Learning Center in North Village owned by women in Rochelle.
41:33
[SPEAKER_02]: She is a mom, just like me, who started something just to help her child, and they started a lot of adults,
41:42
[SPEAKER_02]: go there because I know her personally, I know she has a great heart and I know the community that they serve because I don't know all the answers.
41:50
[SPEAKER_02]: I really tried to but I do not.
41:55
[SPEAKER_00]: What?
41:56
[SPEAKER_00]: What encouraging words would you have for parents with children on the spectrum that are trying to figure it out, navigate it might not necessarily know about all the insurance stuff and resources and things like that, but they just dig in it out right now.
42:10
[SPEAKER_02]: One day at a time, give yourself some grace, give your child some grace, give yourself some patience, give your child some patience.
42:24
[SPEAKER_02]: because that's them being them.
42:27
[SPEAKER_02]: They can't, I was like, and there's some things that can be authored and shifted.
42:31
[SPEAKER_02]: I don't like stopping stems.
42:33
[SPEAKER_00]: And what's the stem for people?
42:34
[SPEAKER_02]: A stem is like, a stimulation, a regulation, so that might be hand-flap, and it might be an echoic, where they're vocally stemming, but whatever they're doing is bring it them some form of regulation.
42:43
[SPEAKER_02]: I don't like when people try to stop kids from stemming.
42:46
[SPEAKER_02]: There's some stems that can be distracting and they are like for,
42:50
[SPEAKER_02]: Oh, so my favorite form of ABA in regards like all points of autism is that when there's a behavior, there's a function of the behavior, so whatever the behavior is what happened before that's the function of behavior, are they doing it for attention, are they doing it because they want something tangible, are they doing it because they don't feel good, there is a reason in there's some form of communication.
43:11
[SPEAKER_02]: And I wrote a church's book about that because I really do live the functions of can it just makes I'm gonna say you came over for function for core functions.
43:19
[SPEAKER_02]: There's four yep, there's four core functions, and that's what they teach us in the ABA field But those are the like usual things that a child is seeking Or behaving for you know my middle son.
43:31
[SPEAKER_02]: He is an attention seeker.
43:32
[SPEAKER_02]: He's always doing something if his brother hurts is stuff His brother starts crying and seeing now he'll go and purposely hurt himself
43:39
[SPEAKER_02]: start crying because he needs that attention.
43:42
[SPEAKER_02]: So it has to be crazy, but I ignore it because I know that I know that's what you're looking for and I'm not going to feed into it.
43:48
[SPEAKER_02]: And a lot of over-stimulation from parents, I think, is from the lack of knowing why our children, our child is doing why whatever they're doing.
43:58
[SPEAKER_02]: And it's frustrating on us because we don't know.
44:01
[SPEAKER_02]: You know, I went to therapy and learned it's okay to say, I'm a child.
44:03
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm fresh right there.
44:04
[SPEAKER_02]: My child has also to them.
44:05
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm frustrated with his autism.
44:07
[SPEAKER_02]: That's fair because it's frustrating.
44:09
[SPEAKER_02]: There is no guy.
44:11
[SPEAKER_02]: There is no hand holding every case is different.
44:14
[SPEAKER_00]: Is there a way for parents to better tune in to like what those stands may be or those things they'll trigger for their children?
44:21
[SPEAKER_02]: Um watch your child, you know watch your child hone in to them, observe them people I don't think and I think in this busy fast-paced world it's hard.
44:32
[SPEAKER_02]: Um, and working in ABA field, I can't stand when workers in the ABA field talk about parents, because you don't know what it's like to get off of work and go home and do what a high aggressive behavior child.
44:45
[SPEAKER_02]: You know, your child is in smear and poop on the wall.
44:48
[SPEAKER_02]: Their child is smear and poop on the wall.
44:50
[SPEAKER_02]: They are stressed.
44:52
[SPEAKER_02]: Hmm.
44:52
[SPEAKER_02]: Help the parents.
44:55
[SPEAKER_02]: Um, that's what I'm trying to implement on my current employer.
44:57
[SPEAKER_02]: Like, if you don't feel the cup of the parent, we can't help the child.
45:02
[SPEAKER_02]: The parents are burnt out.
45:03
[SPEAKER_02]: The parents are that we drive.
45:06
[SPEAKER_02]: My husband picks up the boys.
45:09
[SPEAKER_02]: My husband gets off at 2 o'clock.
45:10
[SPEAKER_02]: He picks up the boys from school early.
45:12
[SPEAKER_02]: They have to be at therapy at 3 30.
45:15
[SPEAKER_02]: They're there.
45:15
[SPEAKER_02]: Three dirty mistakes.
45:16
[SPEAKER_02]: My oldest goes to therapy.
45:17
[SPEAKER_02]: I drop him off way on the other side of town
45:23
[SPEAKER_02]: When I was there Friday, he's there a 33-33 days, we are burnt out.
45:28
[SPEAKER_02]: The parents are burnt out and it's too obvious.
45:31
[SPEAKER_02]: Imagine those who don't have the extra support, like the burnout is real and if you cannot help the parents, you can't help the kids.
45:38
[SPEAKER_00]: Speaking of which, you'd be the perfect person to ask this.
45:42
[SPEAKER_00]: People who are part of the village who you may know, you may have friends who kids on the spectrum, my God, children, for me are on the spectrum.
45:50
[SPEAKER_00]: How can the village better support and lean in?
45:53
[SPEAKER_00]: Because I noticed you said it when this all started soon.
45:56
[SPEAKER_02]: Step in, step in, step up, don't offer it, show up.
46:00
[SPEAKER_02]: People are like, oh, I come to ask the baby, come up, you know where I live, you got my location.
46:05
[SPEAKER_02]: like pull up and help me with these kids, give me a break and no I don't want you to clean up or do nothing I know how that I do on the regular X me what's helpful to me.
46:17
[SPEAKER_02]: I have learned that a lot of people are getting likes to be helpful but I'm not helpful if I'm asking for a specific piece of help then that's all I need.
46:25
[SPEAKER_02]: I don't need anything else but that help.
46:27
[SPEAKER_02]: It is so annoying because now I'll keep telling you I need two days.
46:30
[SPEAKER_00]: I need two days.
46:31
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm gonna get these kids with two days How can pairs be better and ask them for help because you know how are how we do?
46:38
[SPEAKER_02]: I don't know I started screaming for help
46:44
[SPEAKER_02]: you get to a point when you get tired of drowning and a literally screaming for a big and for help because if you don't come help me I'm gonna get a fuzzy stock thing and that's just what it is and putting that embarrassed meaning in the other negative thoughts and regards to autism you know it's a lot of people don't bring their kids around because they feel like their family doesn't accept them.
47:05
[SPEAKER_02]: your family just not be educated.
47:07
[SPEAKER_02]: Educate them.
47:08
[SPEAKER_02]: Show them, you know, your child isn't foreign.
47:11
[SPEAKER_02]: This is just, they just do things differently.
47:13
[SPEAKER_02]: Um, I once read something about a mom, she went to her aunt's house and her aunt had a basketball official.
47:20
[SPEAKER_02]: It's that simple.
47:21
[SPEAKER_02]: It's fast and bliss consideration.
47:24
[SPEAKER_02]: That's inclusivity.
47:25
[SPEAKER_02]: That's thinking and being thoughtful for a next person because You never know what is overwhelming situation is to a child on a spectrum.
47:32
[SPEAKER_02]: The lights might be too bright The noise might be too loud.
47:34
[SPEAKER_02]: They might not wait to light the way the wind blew on their arm You just never know and we don't know how much these children are masking when they are out in public
47:44
[SPEAKER_00]: for sure.
47:46
[SPEAKER_00]: So as you continue to develop autism in the D and then also now profit are what's in what do you see in the crystal ball what's on the horizon what what happens in the in a perfect world moving forward in a perfect world in a perfect world moving forward.
48:04
[SPEAKER_02]: We will open up this space by quarter three of this year, we will be able to be functioning and running.
48:13
[SPEAKER_02]: We will be able to add things that we want to for phases that we have planned in the next few years.
48:19
[SPEAKER_02]: We want to be able to offer ABA.
48:23
[SPEAKER_02]: We want to be able to offer speech and LTE whether as people come in and are running out different rooms that we offer, whether
48:32
[SPEAKER_02]: Detroit Wayne makes it.
48:35
[SPEAKER_02]: They're alike.
48:36
[SPEAKER_02]: two ABA centers in the city of Detroit, and not even, I don't believe one of them provides and clinic service, I think it's only in home.
48:45
[SPEAKER_02]: They make it so hard for centers to open up, insurance purposes, CMH purposes.
48:51
[SPEAKER_02]: There's so many red lines across this, why there's lacking ABA centers in Detroit.
48:56
[SPEAKER_02]: And when this space opens in the city of Detroit, it's going to bring a conversation that is needed about the lack of resources.
49:03
[SPEAKER_02]: What are you
49:05
[SPEAKER_02]: Because I shouldn't have to jump through hoops if I'm credentialed enough to open up an ABA center.
49:11
[SPEAKER_02]: If I can hire the professionals who I need is to be here, why do I have to jump through so many hoops to start up a community that's clearly undesired?
49:20
[SPEAKER_02]: So it's going to be a start of conversation.
49:21
[SPEAKER_02]: And then the future is going to look like growth.
49:24
[SPEAKER_02]: We're going to have, I want to east-high location once the west-high location is open.
49:29
[SPEAKER_02]: And then from there, I'm probably going to fade out and be a real CEO and retire, because I've been working up really long time.
49:36
[SPEAKER_02]: And I am tired.
49:39
[SPEAKER_00]: Is there a timeline that you got on it, or?
49:41
[SPEAKER_02]: from like me B. S. E. L. Yeah.
49:44
[SPEAKER_02]: No, I'm a textbook Capricorn.
49:47
[SPEAKER_02]: So is really hard for me to step away something.
49:50
[SPEAKER_00]: You ain't going to never step away.
49:52
[SPEAKER_02]: I really am.
49:53
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm doing really good at delegating.
49:54
[SPEAKER_02]: No, I am doing really good at delegating.
49:56
[SPEAKER_02]: This is the second year.
49:58
[SPEAKER_02]: Shout out to my team in KSK event.
50:01
[SPEAKER_02]: Shout out to the team.
50:02
[SPEAKER_02]: My logistics and coordination team for the walk.
50:05
[SPEAKER_02]: Because after like the first year when we had a thousand attendees I was like I can't do this by myself.
50:10
[SPEAKER_02]: Um, so I learned how to delegate has saved me a lot But it's still so much on my plate, but I just cannot wait until you know I just had my meat my vegetable and my other side and that's it.
50:22
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm gonna play I don't need a full plate I show not like you know people got the family union
50:29
[SPEAKER_02]: I don't need the holiday play.
50:32
[SPEAKER_02]: I need the regular money through Friday dinner after work play.
50:36
[SPEAKER_00]: That is it.
50:37
[SPEAKER_00]: For sure.
50:38
[SPEAKER_00]: So working to people tap in, which if they want to be able to attend the walk, they want to learn more about resources, or they want to follow the journey working they find.
50:46
[SPEAKER_02]: All things, autism and AD autism.com, autism and the D on Instagram, autism and the D on Facebook.
50:53
[SPEAKER_02]: And if you've looking for the Facebook group on Facebook, you have to search autism and the D group.
51:00
[SPEAKER_02]: Because we have a Facebook page, and we have a group page in the group.
51:03
[SPEAKER_02]: You see.
51:04
[SPEAKER_02]: I promise because for some of you people can think and I'm denying them as long as you guys answer the questions you get accepted is automatically Accept you.
51:10
[SPEAKER_02]: We do not deny anybody Everybody is welcome in the group and that's how to find me.
51:15
[SPEAKER_02]: I recently found my public figure figures I don't follow my personal pages follow my autism devices because I'm still trying to figure out how to separate the person Little figure from the human
51:27
[SPEAKER_00]: and give the information for the April 11th weekend as well.
51:32
[SPEAKER_00]: So people can chat with us.
51:33
[SPEAKER_02]: We can have inclusivity join us April 11th from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Chandler Park Field Hospital.
51:40
[SPEAKER_02]: We will have a donation based entry of an inclusive event from sensory swings to a room with therapy to a silent DJ and more, we're also going to have a game truck pull-up to it's going to simulate our team lounge that we plan to offer once we have this space open
51:56
[SPEAKER_02]: We're going to be 12 to 3 at DMC Children's Hospital, Brush Ma, um, I just recently, I was staying around recently.
52:05
[SPEAKER_02]: Brush Ma, um, it's going to be, uh, I had a check vendor that we might be overwind.
52:12
[SPEAKER_02]: It was 40 vendors for autism related, um, from ABA, different resources, community health, though, um, autism actually like merchant would not, and then we're going to take our
52:24
[SPEAKER_02]: We have double the fund this year, we have two bounce houses because every year I learned something the people tell me they say we need more.
52:30
[SPEAKER_02]: So we have two bounce houses this year for the people.
52:32
[SPEAKER_02]: Fays, paintings, sensory tent, fun, galore style.
52:36
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, everybody bring the family.
52:38
[SPEAKER_02]: Bring the friends and if you don't know anybody who's autistic, you just want to learn more.
52:43
[SPEAKER_02]: This is also the time to do that.
52:44
[SPEAKER_02]: Come and talk to a family, come and talk to a friend.
52:46
[SPEAKER_02]: Ask how you can be a helpful member of this community.
52:49
[SPEAKER_02]: Love it and for the I know you always fundraise and so tell people where they can get money Yeah, I said we need a car I said we need a D dot com that is a UTI SM IN T H E D dot com on we are always fundraising not just for the walk if you're going our website and click the donate tab You can go ahead and donate and I will be looking for a born and Detroit in a black podcast team to be created from this It's well your walk team you go ahead and create your walk team Okay, you fundraise for us and that's how we continue to do this thing.
53:17
[SPEAKER_02]: It's like
53:17
[SPEAKER_02]: You know, the gross outside on cookies, that's what we find raised in like this year.
53:21
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, but we're gonna we're gonna figure something out So I appreciate you so much for coming on a podcast today.
53:28
[SPEAKER_00]: I really love the The work that you're doing that I mentioned.
53:31
[SPEAKER_00]: I do have family members and then also People who are close to me that are on the spectrum or have children that
53:38
[SPEAKER_00]: on this spectrum.
53:39
[SPEAKER_00]: So of course being able to have any type of resources and our community for those type of people is definitely needed.
53:45
[SPEAKER_00]: And then like I said in the Black community as well, we need to be able to be more open to having those conversations.
53:50
[SPEAKER_00]: And then also more importantly, open to learning even if it's not directly impacting you.
53:54
[SPEAKER_00]: So love the word that you don't appreciate you so much.
53:57
[SPEAKER_02]: Thank you so much for having me.
53:58
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm great to be in this space.
54:00
[SPEAKER_02]: Thank you so much for, again, having me.
54:02
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I'm just grateful for sure.
54:04
[SPEAKER_00]: Everybody watching listening.
54:05
[SPEAKER_00]: We're