The Hard Truth About Raising a Severely Autistic Child

What if your child’s autism diagnosis wasn’t the end of the story, but the beginning of a completely different journey?In this episode of Autism Life Today, host Ryker Martin sits down with Kari Baker, author of Finding Kind: Discovering Hope and Purpose While Loving Kids With Invisible Neurological Differences, to discuss the realities of raising a child with autism, navigating the uncertainty of a diagnosis, and learning to see your child’s unique gifts beyond their challenges.Kari shares her family’s journey with her son, Brady, from the early signs of developmental differences and the overwhelming emotions surrounding his diagnosis to the lessons that transformed her perspective on parenting, faith, and purpose.After spending 30 years in financial services, Kari felt called to a new mission: helping families feel less alone as they navigate life with children who have autism and other neurological differences. That journey inspired her book, Finding Kind, and her work building supportive communities for families.In this conversation, we discuss: ❤️ Life After an Autism Diagnosis: Navigating fear, uncertainty, and the expectations parents have for their children’s futures. 🌱 Seeing Your Child’s Strengths: Why recognizing your child’s interests, talents, and unique abilities matters just as much as addressing their challenges. 🙏 Faith, Purpose, and Letting Go: How Kari’s journey with Brady transformed her relationship with God and taught her to trust a path she couldn’t have planned. 👨‍👩‍👦 The Importance of Community: Why isolation can make the autism journey harder and how connecting with other families can provide encouragement and understanding. 🏫 Creating More Inclusive Communities: Kari’s passion for helping churches and Christian schools better support neurodivergent children and their families. 💙 A Message Every Autism Parent Needs to Hear: Why your child’s diagnosis is a roadmap to support—not their identity or their destiny. 📚 The Story Behind Finding Kind: How Kari’s experiences as a mother inspired her to write a book designed to help families find hope, connection, and purpose. One of the most powerful lessons Kari shares is advice she wishes she had received earlier in her journey: Don’t get so caught up in helping your child overcome challenges that you forget to enjoy who they are.Whether you’re a parent navigating a recent diagnosis, a family member seeking to better understand autism, or someone who wants to help create a more inclusive world, this conversation is a reminder that every child has unique gifts, every family deserves support, and no one should have to walk this journey alone.🎧 ABOUT AUTISM LIFE TODAYAutism Life Today brings together families, medical professionals, researchers, advocates, and community leaders to share real stories, valuable insights, and meaningful conversations about the world of autism and special needs.Our mission is to help families find connection, discover resources, and feel less alone on their journey.👍 Enjoyed this episode? Like the video, subscribe to Autism Life Today, and share this conversation with a family who might need to hear this message.💬 JOIN THE CONVERSATION: What is one thing you wish you had known when your family’s autism journey began? Share your thoughts in the comments below.📖 Learn more about Kari Baker and her book, Finding Kind, using the links provided below.#Autism #AutismParenting #AutismLifeToday #FindingKind #AutismAwareness #Neurodiversity #SpecialNeedsParenting

In this powerful episode of Autism Life Today, Ryker sits down with Ashley and her son Messiah for an incredibly honest conversation about autism, motherhood, mental health, faith, and finding purpose in the hardest seasons of life.Ashley shares the deeply personal story of raising Messiah—from his difficult early years and autism diagnosis to the struggles, fear, isolation, and uncertainty she experienced as a mother. She opens up about moments she never imagined sharing publicly, including the shame and stigma she once felt, the challenges of severe behaviors and meltdowns, and the mental health battles that came with trying to navigate life as a special needs parent.But Ashley’s story is also one of transformation.She talks about how changing the way she viewed Messiah—and learning to see his potential rather than focusing only on what she could see in front of her—completely changed the way she parented him. She also explains how consistency, expectations, presumed competence, and focusing on his future became central to their journey.Ashley and Ryker also discuss the realities many autism families experience but don’t always feel comfortable talking about, including public meltdowns, aggression, fear of emergency responders, parenting other children alongside a child with significant support needs, and the emotional toll that caregiving can take.Through it all, Ashley’s faith became a major part of her healing and her purpose. What began as a personal journey eventually became a platform reaching hundreds of thousands of people, allowing Ashley to openly share the realities of autism and mental health while encouraging other families that they are not alone.This conversation is raw, emotional, honest, and ultimately hopeful.If you’re a parent, caregiver, sibling, educator, therapist, advocate, or part of the autism community, we hope this conversation reminds you that even in the darkest moments, there can still be hope, purpose, growth, and a path forward.In this episode, we discuss:• Ashley and Messiah’s autism journey• Receiving an autism diagnosis• The stigma surrounding autism• Parenting a child with significant support needs• Mental health and the emotional toll of caregiving• Severe behaviors, meltdowns, and aggression• Changing your mindset as a parent• Presumed competence and seeing potential• Consistency and setting expectations• Advocating for your child’s future• The importance of supporting the entire family• Faith, purpose, and finding hope• Using social media to advocate for the autism community• Why sharing the hard parts of autism mattersThank you to Ashley and Messiah for being so open and vulnerable with the Autism Life Today community.If this conversation connected with you, like, subscribe, and share this episode with someone who may need to hear it.Welcome to Autism Life Today — a place for real conversations, real stories, and real people from across the special needs community.#AutismLifeToday #Autism #AutismAwareness #AutismParenting #SpecialNeeds #AutismMom #AutismAdvocacy #MentalHealth #Parenting #Faith

What if someone who couldn’t reliably speak was actually understanding far more than the world realized?On this episode of Autism Life Today, Ryker Martin sits down with longtime autism advocate and mother Betsy Hicks for an incredibly powerful conversation about her 30+ year journey with her son, Joe.Betsy shares the highs, lows, challenges and breakthroughs that shaped her family — including the moment Joe began communicating through spelling at around 30 years old and started revealing just how much he understood all along.Together, Ryker and Betsy explore:• What it means to presume competence• Whole-body apraxia and the connection between the brain and body• Communication through spelling and the importance of the right support• Why behavior may sometimes be a form of communication• The importance of motor coaching• How sensory regulation can impact communication• Rethinking how we evaluate and educate nonspeaking autistic individuals• Why parents should be mindful of what they say around their children• Betsy’s journey through more than 30 years of autism advocacy• The importance of community and connection for autism families• The story behind Betsy’s famous “Be Kind” autism vests• Her vision for bringing autism families back together in communities across the countryBetsy also shares an incredibly moving message for parents who have just received an autism diagnosis: “There’s no wrong path.” Her perspective is a reminder that every family’s journey is different, and that sometimes the path we never expected can lead us somewhere we never imagined.This conversation is filled with personal stories, difficult lessons, hope, communication, advocacy and a powerful reminder to look beyond what someone’s body may be able to show us.🎙️ Welcome to Autism Life Today — conversations that inform, inspire and connect the autism community.👍 Like this episode🔔 Subscribe to Autism Life Today💬 Share this episode with a family who might need to hear it📲 Follow Autism Life Today for more conversations and stories from the autism community#AutismLifeToday #Autism #AutismAwareness #NonSpeakingAutism #PresumingCompetence #AutismAdvocacy #SpecialNeeds #AutismParents #Communication

What if the hardest things happening in your life aren’t happening TO you—but FOR you?On this episode of Autism Life Today, Ryker sits down with Zack Ponder, a former special education teacher, author, podcaster, husband, father, and passionate advocate for special needs families.Zack spent years teaching students with profound autism and discovered firsthand the realities that special education teachers and families face every day—from IEP meetings and classroom challenges to helping students experience life beyond the classroom.But Zack’s journey took an unexpected turn when his wife was diagnosed with cancer while pregnant with their fourth child. Their son was born prematurely at just 29 weeks and spent nine weeks in the NICU, while Zack simultaneously walked alongside his wife through cancer treatment.In the middle of one of the most difficult seasons of his life, Zack began his podcast, Unspecial, and finished writing his book Special Days—using stories from his classroom to explore faith, perspective, hardship, and finding purpose.In this powerful conversation, Zack and Ryker talk about:• The realities of teaching students with profound autism• Why special needs families are some of the most resilient people he knows• Faith during seasons of suffering and uncertainty• His wife’s ongoing cancer journey• Raising children through grief and hardship• Why changing “Why is this happening to me?” to “Why is this happening FOR me?” can change your perspective• His books Special Days and Happy Days• The meaning behind his podcast, Unspecial• How parents can feel more confident during IEP meetings• His Parents Are the Experts IEP course• The importance of finding joy even when life doesn’t look the way you expectedThis is a conversation about autism, faith, family, resilience, grief, hope, and learning to recognize the good—even in the middle of difficult seasons.🙏 If this episode speaks to you, be sure to LIKE, SUBSCRIBE, and SHARE Autism Life Today with another family who could use some encouragement.#AutismLifeToday #Autism #SpecialNeeds #SpecialEducation #IEP #AutismParent #Faith #SpecialNeedsFamily #AutismAwareness #ParentAdvocacy #ZachPonder

What if we stopped focusing only on what isn’t going right—and started celebrating every little win?In this powerful episode of Autism Life Today, Ryker sits down with Setarae, a passionate speech therapist whose personal connection to autism began with her own brother.Setarae shares how watching her mother advocate for her brother shaped the way she approaches speech therapy today—and why she believes families and professionals need to celebrate progress, even when the victories seem small.From communication and feeding therapy to friendships, IEP meetings, and the emotional challenges families face, Setarae offers an honest perspective on what it means to support someone with autism.One of the biggest takeaways from the conversation? Adopt a “winning streak” mindset.Maybe today there was one less meltdown.Maybe a new food stayed on the table.Maybe a child communicated something they couldn’t before.Maybe a difficult session ended with one tiny breakthrough.Those moments matter. ❤️Setarae also talks about the importance of understanding each family’s culture, communicating with caregivers, recognizing individual strengths, and remembering that every person’s journey is different.Most importantly, this episode is a reminder to parents and professionals who may feel overwhelmed or alone: you don’t have to do this by yourself.Watch the full conversation and hear why sometimes the smallest victories can be the biggest reasons to keep going.🎙️ Autism Life TodayReal conversations. Real families. Real experiences.Helping the special needs community feel seen, heard, and supported.👍 Like, subscribe, and share this episode with someone who needs a little reminder to celebrate the wins.#AutismLifeToday #Autism #SpeechTherapy #AutismAwareness #SpecialNeeds #AutismParenting #SpeechTherapist #AutismFamily #IEP #AutismSupport