Tag: autistic

Episode 48. A journey to transform special education: Catching up with Guy Stephens at Alliance Against Seclusion & Restraint

~ a4aontario
Image courtesy of the Alliance Against Seclusion & Restraint

I was honoured to speak with the amazing Guy Stephens, founder of the Alliance Against Seclusion & Restraint about what’s new in human rights advocacy for autistic &  developmentally disabled students.

AASR has a groundbreaking new program, Reframing Behaviour, in partnership with the Crisis Prevention Institute, rolling out across America–neuroscience-based training for educators to eliminate seclusion & stop the traumatization of our special ed students. 

Listen to the podcast by playing the audio file below, or on streaming sites like  Spotify,   ApplePodcasts,  Pandora, etc

Read the podcast transcript below the audio file.


Transcript: NCP_Transcript_Guy Stephens

Bio
Guy Stephens is one of the best-known parent advocates in our community. Through his work at AASR, he has been helping to inform changes in policy and practice to reduce and eliminate the use of restraint and seclusion in schools and other settings. Guy promotes trauma-informed, neuroscience-aligned, collaborative approaches to working with kids–and in just a few years he’s led AASR to become a leader in the field, presenting their work across North America with groundbreaking education for educators, as well as toolkits for parents. Guy also currently serves on the board of directors for The Arc of Maryland and PDA North America.

Links
Reframing Behaviour: Neuroscience-based Training for Educators

More about the Reframing Behaviour program 

Alliance Against Seclusion & Restraint: Parent Guide

 

 

Episode 46. Dr. Jackie Ryan on inclusive research & service models for intellectually disabled Canadians

~ a4aontario

I was so excited to speak with Dr. Ryan, a trailblazer in Canadian autism research! Her work was the first participatory autism research in Canada and it has inspired more. We talk about inclusion, autonomy, research methods, our collaborative work and how to improve services for intellectually disabled people in Canada’s west and throughout the world.

Listen to the audio below or on streaming services like Spotify,  ApplePodcasts & Pandora.
Read the transcript below the audio file.

Transcript coming soon!

Bio
Jackie Ryan is an autistic autism researcher with a PhD in Rehabilitation Science from the University of Alberta. Her recent doctoral research was about understanding self-determination and autonomy from the perspective of autistic adults with intellectual disabilities, using a community-based participatory research approach. Included in her research was the preparation of the Research 101 open-access training to build capacity for autistic people to collaborate more in autism research.

Sources
Being able to be myself: Understanding autonomy and autonomy-support from the perspectives of autistic adults with intellectual disabilities. Ryan, et al. Autism. 2024.

 

 

Episode 44. Filmmakers Tony Spiridakis & Alex Plank on the new film “Ezra”, autism and representation

~ a4aontario
Tony Spiridakis, Bobby Cannavale & Alex Plank

I was thrilled to talk with Tony Spiridakis and Alex Plank about the new film Ezra, which Tony wrote and produced alongside director Tony Goldwyn, and which Alex associate produced, acted and consulted on. (Read my review of Ezra here.) We take a look behind the scenes at how the film was developed and produced on set, and how the film is aspirational for new films with autistic characters.

Listen to the podcast by playing the audio file below, or on streaming sites like Spotify,  ApplePodcasts, Pandora, etc 

Read the transcript, below the audio.


Transcript: Transcript_NCPodcast_Tony Spiridakis & Alex Plank

Bios

Tony Spiridakis is an award-winning screenwriter, director, producer, and actor with nearly four decades in the film and television industry. He is a father of two and a strong advocate for autism awareness. He supports a variety of autism-related schools and organizations, including The Help Group, The Center School, Birch Family Services, Exceptional Minds, and We’ve Got Friends.

Alex Plank is a producer and actor, known for Ezra, The Good Doctor, The Bridge and other works. He is also well known in our community as the founder of Wrong Planet, an online community for autistic people and a place where a lot of autistic people found each other and found out more about themselves. Alex is an associate producer of Ezra and consulted on the film from a neurodiversity perspective.

 

Episode 39. “What outcomes are we looking at?” Talking with Dr. Andrew Whitehouse about the shifting course of autism research & services

~ a4aontario

Portrait photo of a man, light-skinned with short brown hair and rectangular black eyeglasses, in a white dress shirt, smiling, standing in front of bright green bushes dotted with flowers of pink and muted orange. I spoke with Dr. Andrew Whitehouse from the University of Western Australia about autistic life, gut hype, same-foods, the problem of pseudoscience and the shifting nature of autism research.

Listen to the podcast by playing the audio file below, or on streaming sites like Spotify, Stitcher or ApplePodcasts.


Transcript: NoncompliantPodcast_trscrt_Whitehouse

Bio
Dr. Whitehouse is the Angela Wright Bennett Professor of Autism Research and the Director of Clini-Kids at the Telethon Kids Institute. He is Professor of Autism Research at the University of Western Australia and Research Strategy Director of the Cooperative Research Centre for Living with Autism (Autism CRC). He has published over 300 peer-reviewed journal articles and is an advisor to State and Commonwealth Governments on policies relating to autistic children. He was awarded a Eureka Prize for his research and in 2023, he was a Western Australian of the Year award winner.

Links
Will Mozart Make My Baby Smart?

Autism-related dietary preferences mediate autism-gut microbiome associations

Cooperative Research Centre for Living with Autism (Autism CRC)

Episode 2: “People have the right to communicate in the method that is best for them, period.” An Interview with D. Burrow

~ a4aontario

For this episode, I interviewed D. Burrow, an Ottawa-based librarian, writer and tabletop RPG player who is part of a movement to normalize AAC and increase accessibility to it.

Listen at the audio link below, or on Stitcher here or on iTunes here

Read the transcript (link below audio file).

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Transcribed by Julie Ann Lee: Transcript_Noncompliant_Burrow
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Bio
D. Burrow is an Ottawa-based librarian and freelance writer who is also deeply passionate about tabletop roleplaying games, with 25 years in the hobby. D. uses augmentative communication, also known as AAC (specifically Proloquo4Text and Proloquo2Go) to communicate, and is  exploring how augmentative communication can be normalized within society and also incorporated into tabletop gaming. D. wrote the latest support documentation for Proloquo2Go and Proloquo4Text. D. is also involved in Autistics for Autistics, the Canadian autistic self-advocacy organization and as a consultant on accessible materials and services in Ontario.

About AAC
Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) is any tool, system or strategy for communicating rather than verbal speech. AAC can include pictures; gestures; sign language; visual aids; speech-output devices like phones or iPads; and more. Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) is an essential aspect of life for non-verbal and semi-verbal autistic people and communication access is a right. Unfortunately, many are still denied access to AAC, a topic we discuss in the podcast.

The episode
This interview is so informative, broad-reaching and thought-provoking. D. and I talked about various aspects of AAC and his experiences before and after getting access to AAC, as well as AAC in tabletop roleplaying (RPGs).

We also talked about the social applications of the RPG model. As D. said: “Everyone has strengths and weaknesses and in any group of people, someone is going to have a skill that no one else possesses. In gaming, we design characters around their strengths and the world is set forth in such a way as to let them succeed through them. That’s a far better model than real life where we are often put in places that attack our weaknesses and are expected to excel.” The best aspects of the RPG community are a model for our broader culture in creatively cultivating co-operation, valuing diversity and ensuring accessibility.

Because this was one of my first interviews, I was a bit nervous on the mic! But it was a great way to start off the podcast. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Links from the conversation:
Deej, the movie

AAC right-to-access, legal cases

More about AAC