Dr. Louise Kirz Episode  #72 : Part 1 in our Series on Anesthesia and Autism. In this podcast, I was lucky enough to sit down with both a fabulous anesthesiologist who happens to have two autistic children as well as a wonderful autistic man who is trying to understand an upcoming procedure requiring anesthesia. I learned so much about anesthesia through this discussion and I hope you do, too. Correction: "MAC stands for minimal alveolar concentration not minimal anesthetic concentration. It’s the concentration of the gas in the lungs." Special Guests: Dr. Louise Kirz and Samuel WAy Synergy Autism Podcast · Anesthesia and Autism

Synergy Autism Podcast · Episode #71: Masking and Camouflaging with Blake Baxter Listen in as I have a conversation with Blake Baxter about the experiences of masking and camouflaging.  We define masking, camouflaging, assimilating, scripting and more while discussing how they manifest in the autistic experience. Blake mentions a couple of things during this conversation:  Embrace Autism:  https://embrace-autism.com/ Iggy Pop's "Mask" https://youtu.be/shdCc9hkLsE?si=huQJeHBHZJok61dx 

Synergy Autism Podcast · Episode #70: Asperger Controversy Podcast with Blake Baxter Episode #70: Aspergers Controversy with Blake Baxter Blake has done an incredible amount of reading and consideration of research on the topic of Asperger having potentially been a Nazi sympathizer. Here, he generously shares some of those articles: The original  Herwig Czech article that started the debate: https://molecularautism.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13229-018-0208-6 Commentary by Baron-Cohen & Silberman,  published the same month in the same journal: https://molecularautism.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13229-018-0209-5 This podcast was recorded prior to the untimely death of a man who wrote on this topic and was very influential. Here, Steve Silberman responds in depth: https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/01/20/463603652/was-dr-asperger-a-nazi-the-question-still-haunts-autism#:~:text=Asperger%20noted%20the%20prevalence%20of,practical%2C%20an%20ability%2...

Welcome to another episode of the Synergy Autism Podcast! Let's dive in to the profile of Autism called Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA), also known as Persistent or Pervasive Demand for Autonomy. Lots of people are talking about it. It is a profile of a subset of the Autism population that has a specific threat response to demands... even those placed on themselves. Blake and I explore what PDA is, how to address it, and lots of other related topics you will probably hear in future episodes! For more information about PDA: https://www.pdasociety.org.uk/ And in reference to using the acronym PANDA for how to support those with this profile (see photo/graphic). MUSIC BY  GRAHAM LAMPE MUSIC And without further ado... here is the podcast! Synergy Autism Podcast · Episode #69: Pathological Demand Avoidance Discussion with Blake Baxter

Episode #68: Autism and Empathy  Against Empathy (book) by Paul Bloom Blake Baxter and I dive into the book titled Against Empathy by Paul Bloom. As Blake puts it, "empathy has been weaponized against autism." Listen in to hear more about both autism and the concept of empathy. MUSIC BY  GRAHAM LAMPE MUSIC Synergy Autism Podcast · Episode #68: Autism & Empathy (Against Empathy)

  Listen in to Blake's story of his diagnosis in his 50's and how his life began to make more sense because of it. MUSIC BY  GRAHAM LAMPE MUSIC Synergy Autism Podcast · Episode #67: Blake's late diagnosis story

My friend, Blake Baxter, shares the beginning of his diagnosis story (more in the next episode) and we are collaborating on a podcast series regarding the ambiguous concept of empathy.  This is part 1 of our series together as we venture together to figure out what is the definition of empathy and why it is assumed to be missing in those with autism when we have seriously different experiences. This is truly just part I.  We will be reviewing books on Empathy, going deeper into his diagnosis, and more.  Follow this podcasts to be alerted of upcoming episodes! MUSIC BY GRAHAM LAMPE MUSIC Synergy Autism Podcast · Episode #66: The beginning of the Blake & Barb Podcasts

Listen in to this amazing Inclusion Interview with Dr. Pretti-Fronczak & Dr. Julie Causton. I feel blessed to have these two on my podcast to talk about the importance and criticalness of inclusion for all students now rather than later. Research is telling us it is the right way to be ensuring education for our children. Let's get our schools, classrooms, and students feeling successful together! Synergy Autism Podcast · Episode #65: Let's Talk Inclusion For ALL We talked about a video to play at IEPs by Dr. Julie Causton. Here it is! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_8EwDZDfV0  Sample book chapters of their new book, The Way To Inclusion by Dr. Kristie Pretti-Frontczak and Dr. Julie Causton:  https://files.ascd.org/pdfs/publications/books/The-Way-to-Inclusion-sample-chapters.pdf  To learn more, go to: https://www.inclusiveschooling.com And to learn more specifically about the upcoming professional development opportunity for school personnel: https://www.inclu...

Synergy Autism Podcast · Episode #64: Sam Way's Discovery About Pacing Thanks to the Covid Vaccine Episode #64: Sam Way's Discovery About Pacing Thanks to the Covid Vaccine This young man is wise beyond words but struggled significantly with the idea of getting the Covid19 vaccines. He has had a long standing fear of needles, as many people, especially autistic people experience. He is hoping that his experience with finding some control over the procedure can help others who may be in a similar situation. Listen in to hear this young man's discovery about how controlling the pacing brought down his anxiety about his covid vaccine.

Episode #63: Kit Falbo Interview Synergy Autism Podcast · Episode #63: Kit Falbo Interview Kit Falbo is so interesting! He shares how he took his love of stories, science fiction and daydreaming into writing novels. He describes how he develops characters and integrates video games into his plots. He even shares about how his neurodiversity affects him as a novelist and parent. Find him on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Kit-Falbo/e/B07P58L8Y6%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share Kit's website: http://www.kitfalbo.com/

Episode #62: Interview with Pro-golfer, Billy Mayfair Synergy Autism Podcast · Episode #62: Interview with Billy Mayfair Listen in to my interview with one of the top golfers in the United States discussing his diagnosis of autism as an adult.  He shares his story and is vision to support those surrounding people with autism, as well. It was my pleasure to have Billy Mayfair on the Synergy Autism Podcast. Please enjoy! _________ Billy Mayfair is one of the top professional golfers in theUnited States and has been a regular on the PGA Tour since1989.He boasts five PGA Tour victories and is the only player to ever beat Tigers Woods in a PGA Tour playoff. He is currently playing on the PGA Tour Champions. Mayfair’s five PGA Tour victories include the Nissan Open(1998), Buick Open (1998), Motorola Western Open (1995),TourChampionship (1995) and Greater Milwaukee Open (1993). His two amateur victories include theU.S. Amateur(1987) and U.S. Public Links (1986). In the PGA Tour Champions...

 Episode #61: MP - Challenging Behaviors Deconstructed In this podcast, I share with you what to do when your child has challenging behaviors so that everyone on your team is consistent, your child learns positive behaviors, and you have more peaceful days together. Hello Synergy Autism Podcast listeners. My. apologies for not posting a podcast in a couple-few weeks. My book came out, I have family in town, and I'm enjoying the last days of summer weather.  A special thank you to my son who does the music for my podcast, by the way.  I think you will find today's podcast helpful if it is new to you and as a refresher if it is not new. Today, I am going to talk to you about what to do when. your child has challenging behaviors. These might be meltdowns, shutdowns, refusals, dropping to the floor, hitting, kicking, biting, destroying property, or some combination of these. I've had a few children's parents already report these behaviors happening at school so I'll cov...

 Episode #60: MP - On the Wrong Side of the Law Synergy Autism Podcast · Episode #60: MP - On the wrong side of the law I feel the need to do a podcast on a very important and tough topic today. I'm going to talk about autistic individuals committing crimes. "WHAT!?" you may ask.. People with autism commit crimes? Or, you may be terrified knowing your child, client, or yourself. could end up committing a crime. There are some great websites, trainings, and supports available and I will be sure to share those. This podcast is not meant to replace those excellent resources. I am just an autism specialist who has sadly now seen the inside of jails, juvenile corrections facilities, courtrooms, and the Oregon State Hospital.  It seems there are a few things at play that are landing autistic people on the wrong side of the law. I have now been involve din two sexual assault cases, numerous aggravated assault cases, and two theft cases.  Families experiencing challenges with th...

 Episode #59: MP - Perception Chaos Synergy Autism Podcast · Episode #59: MP - Perception Chaos Hello Synergy Autism Podcast Listeners. My name is Barb Avila and this is one of my mini-podcasts for you for 2021.  Today, I want to share a bit about what I have learned happens for many autistic individuals and some ideas for alleviating it. This is the experience of what I am calling "perception - chaos."  You've heard me share and discuss that autistic people often feel flooded and are riding high or are hyper-vigilant much of the time. This is along those lines. Imagine for a moment (or if you are autistic, this may describe your experience) that you are sitting in a crowded room with little to no ability to distinguish between or prioritize sensations coming from both outside and inside your body. You are experiencing a rumbling stomach perhaps while someone is talking next to you. Your emotions are all over the place from sad to hopeful to nervous or anxious. The light...

  Episode # 58: MP - The Trouble with Favorites Synergy Autism Podcast · Episode #58: MP - The Trouble with Favorites Hello and welcome to another episode of the Synergy Autism Podcast. I am Barbara Avila and this is one of my 2021 mini podcasts which I produce almost every weekend based on some of the conversations I have in my work with individuals,  families, and professionals. I do want to mention, of course, that my book is out! You can find it anywhere  you purchase your books. It only  currently out in paperback but soon to be out as an ebook.  Today, I thought I’d return to a common dilemma faced by parents and professionals supporting autistic individuals and that is the concept of favorites. Most of us neuro-typicals have lots of favorites like favorite colors and favorite foods. But many autistic individuals struggle with the concept of favorites and may be unable to answer the question “which one is your favorite?” when presented with 2 or 3 nice ...

Episode #57: Interview with Yasmine White, CEO & Founder of Voices Together Synergy Autism Podcast · Episode #57: Interview with Yasmine White, CEO & Founder of Voices Together I had a very special guest join us, her name is Yasmine White and she is the founder and CEO of Voices Together which is the largest music therapy organization in North Carolina. I was lucky enough to be introduced to Yasmine by my good friend and colleague, Jonathan Chase who some of you may be familiar with from previous podcasts. Yasmine and I had a lovely conversation where she described music therapy and her curriculum specifically. She inspires the audience to understand that music lives within all  of us and calls parents to share music with children of all ages and abilities. Here are two articles that Yasmine mentioned in this podcast and that she has shared with our listeners: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BpLKfmZL52I8FO69rL3VEhDJ3iMdQBVm/view?usp=sharing https://drive.google.com/file/d...

Episode #56: MP - Paralyzed by The Ripple Effect Synergy Autism Podcast · Episode #56: MP - Ripple Effect I have such a deep respect for so many of my adult clients and how they think about things. Over the last couple of weeks, I have spoken to at least 3 different adults about this one concept that just blows my mind. Let me try to explain. As humans, each of us has a different level of awareness of our personal impact on the world. You might have seen sweet memes about how sharing your smile can impact others - as you never know who needs it. Or you might be concerned about using plastic straws due to the photos of affected turtles in the vast ocean. But for some autistic people, this very concept of realizing one's impact - that their actions have ripple effects into the world can actually be paralyzing. What we may observe as inaction (and term incorrectly laziness), we tend to interpret as selfish but it may. actually be paralysis due to extreme selfLESSness. Let me go a lit...

Get Rid of “Wait & See” Synergy Autism Podcast · Episode #55: MP - Get Rid of Wait and Ssee I used to think the “wait and see” approach only affected little ones before the age of 2 or 3. Parents bringing their children in with concerns about social engagement and medical professionals stating that the child is still within normal limits so let’s “wait & see.” The hope being that the child would outgrow the lack of engagement, not yet saying words, or having what seemed like extreme reactions to sensory information.  I did think it was tragic that children were then hitting preschools and kindergarten with pretty significant delays and undue stress that may have been alleviated by being served earlier with appropriate interventions. However, the longer I have now been in the field., the more I see the long term effects of the “wait and see” approach. The hesitancy to diagnose autism affects teens and adults later and we really need to be attending to those downstream issue...

Episode #54: MP - Who's Running The Show? Synergy Autism Podcast · Episode #54: MP - Who's Running The Show? Hello and welcome to another episode of my Synergy Autism Podcast. I am a family and individual autism coach and consultant. I feel incredibly lucky to have listeners now from all over the world who subscribe to this low tech series. Each week I share thoughts and ideas from my work with the autistic community in the hopes that you may benefit from the information with someone you know and love with autism. Today, I’d like to talk about balancing who is running the show. I have many client children of all ages who will either lead or follow but the in between is challenging. Sharing the lead or switching it up is essential for full well rounded development and well being. Say you have a 5 year old who won’t allow you to join them in play or allow you to introduce new additions or silliness to their play or engagements. You may kindly offer “ do you want to do thi...