Uniquely Human: The Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Interoception: The Eighth Sense with Kelly Mahler and Chloe Rothschild Mar 18, 2022

Show notes

Interoception is a relatively new concept as it pertains to the experiences of autistic children and adults. Described as the eighth sense, it has to do with being able to understand and interpret sensations that come from one’s own body. There is increasing evidence that problems related to interoception are common in autism, and are related to capacities in the development of self-regulation. In this episode, Kelly Mahler, an OT and a leader in bringing awareness of interception to autism, and Chloe Rothschild, an autistic woman, discuss the implications of interoception for supporting and understanding the experiences of autistic people.

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Black Fathers, Parenting and Mental Health: A Discussion with Dr. Michael Hannon Mar 04, 2022

Show notes

Dr. Michael Hannon is an Associate Professor of Counseling at Montclair State University. Dr. Hannon earned his doctoral degree in Counselor Education and Supervision from The Pennsylvania State University. As an award-winning counselor educator and scholar, Dr. Hannon is a highly sought after lecturer, consultant, and collaborator. He also is the father of a teen-age son on the autism spectrum, and co-facilitates support meetings for Fathers of autistic children through Drexel University. Dr. Hannon’s research primarily focuses on Black men’s wellness, with a focus on the value they derive from their roles as fathers, community leaders, clients, and counselor educators. He takes great pride in leveraging his lived experiences and his professional counseling experience in K-12, student affairs, and clinical settings to the classroom and to his research He has been a featured contributor to media outlets and organizations such as Autism Speaks, Thrive Global, Fusion, Neurodiversity Experts, and Huffington Post. His forthcoming book, Black Fathering and Mental Health will be published in March, 2022.

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Echolalia and Unconventional Verbal Behavior – A Discussion with Barry Prizant, Dave Finch and Rebecca Rosenzweig Feb 18, 2022

Show notes

Echolalia has a very special place in Barry’s life. It became a topic of fascination and an enthusiasm in his very early work with a group of wonderful young autistic boys. His deep interest resulted in a federally funded dissertation that challenged and overturned misinformed and disrespectful views of echolalia disseminated by Ivar Lovaas, the father of ABA. Rather than seeing echolalia as meaningless parroting and psychotic speech that needed to be “extinguished”, Barry’s research demonstrated that it could serve multiple communicative functions and reflected a “gestalt style” of learning language, a different strategy of language acquisition closely tied to differences in cognitive development. Barry and Dave discuss this history and how echolalia must be considered when understanding language of autistic people. They are joined by Rebecca Rosenzweig, a young autistic woman who shares her experiences with echolalia.

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Autism and the Power of Music with Yasmine White & Jonathan Chase Feb 04, 2022

Show notes

Barry and Dave have a lively discussion with Yasmine White, music therapist, and Jonathan Chase, autistic professional musician and self advocate. Yasmine discusses her approach to music therapy and the VOICSSⓇ together model, and her new book focusing on helping parents connecting with their children through music. Jonathan talks about his journey as a person with autism, career as a professional musician, and his current career focus on providing supports in various ways to autistic individuals and their families.

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Meditation, Zen and Autism: The Journey of Anlor Davin Jan 21, 2022

Show notes

Anlor Davin, an autistic Zen meditation practitioner discusses her journey to finding her authentic self from her upbringing in France, to her immigration, autistic diagnosis and life in the United States. Since she has found her calling, she shares how she now provides the gift of meditation to autistic individuals through online service and weekend retreats.

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Autism Level UP: A Discussion with Dr. Amy Laurent and Dr. Jacquelyn Fede Jan 07, 2022

Show notes

Dr. Amy Laurent, a Development Psychologist and OT, and her autistic colleague, Dr. Jacquelyn Fede, a Developmental Psychologist discuss how their relationship led to the development and evolution of Autism Level Up, a joint venture that provides a variety of services and supports to the autism community nationally and internationally. As a SCERTS Model Collaborator, Amy describes how Dr. Jacquelyn’s perspective as an autistic self-advocate encouraged them to build on the foundation of SCERTS, with extensive input from autistic people, to develop progressive autistic driven initiatives and transactional supports with the goal of improving quality of life for all, autistic people, families and allies.

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Autism at the Holidays (Throwback) Dec 24, 2021

Show notes

The holidays can be such a fun and spiritual time of year for a lot of us, but there are also challenges, especially if you or a family member is autistic. In this special throwback episode, Kristy Forbes joins us from Australia, and Dave’s wife Kristen spills the tea on their own family’s strategies for enjoying the holidays together. And, hear a special performance from our autistic friend, Conner.

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Reflecting on the Journey: A Retreat Weekend for Parents of Autistic Family Members Dec 17, 2021

Show notes

For 25 years, Barry and his colleagues have conducted a unique retreat weekend in a beautiful setting in New England in partnership with Dr. Elaine Meyer of Harvard University, and Barbara Domingue, founder and Executive Director of Community Autism Resources, a parent founded and run family support agency. The retreat welcomes 50-60 parents each year, to share experiences and wisdom, and to refuel in a “non-judgmental zone”. In this podcast, we discuss the philosophy, the goals, and the nuts and bolts of conducting a retreat. Dave shares his experience as an autistic person attending the retreat. For those interested in facilitating their own retreat experiences in their community, we also discuss a unique training experience that is available as part of the weekend.

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Scott Steindorff, Television and Film Producer, on The Gifts and Challenges of Being Neurodivergent Dec 03, 2021

Show notes

Barry and Dave welcome Scott Steindorff, a highly accomplished international television and film producer and writer. In their riveting discussion, Scott shares the many challenges he faced in life resulting from his autism and ADHD, especially in the early years. He describes the torment he experienced as he was misunderstood and misdiagnosed by people who knew him well, as well as professionals. He also credits the many gifts and talents that being neurodivergent has brought to him, and how these gifts have helped him to overcome the very real challenges he has faced. Scott is now a tireless advocate to help increase awareness and understanding of neurodivergent individuals, hoping to help others by prevent the challenges that he has experienced, and to help the world build upon and celebrate the great potential of people who think differently.

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Nonspeakers and Human Rights: A Discussion with Jordyn Zimmerman and Tauna Szymanski Nov 19, 2021

Show notes

Barry and Dave discuss human rights issues with their guests, Jordyn Zimmerman and Tauna Szymanski, from both a personal and policy perspective. Jordyn Zimmerman is a nonspeaking autistic woman who was denied access to an effective AAC system well into her teen years. She experienced misunderstandings, discrimination, and psychological abuse as she was not able to communicate her sense of self, her opinions, and her basic needs. She is now a passionate advocate for non-speaking people, and their right to have access to effective AAC. Tauna Szymanski, a lawyer with disabilities, discusses the mission of CommunicationFirst, an organization she co-founded, as protecting and assuring the rights non-speaking people to have access to effective AAC, and directions that must be taken to recognize communication as a human right for people with developmental and acquired conditions that limit speech development.

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