Have my first academic book finally being released. Co-Edited & authored with Santoshi Halder of the University of Calcutta & Dave Caudel of Vanderbilt University's Frist Center of Autism and Innovation. Been a long process that we started pre-COVID with the pandemic causing multiple delays.

The part of recruiting contributors and editing seemed straight forward but when I learned my chapter needed to be at least 8000 words it became daunting. But when it was all done my chapter came in just over 9000 words if I remember correctly. Thanks to Dr Dave Caudel for his insightful help in his feedback end editing comments for my chapter. And major kudos to Dr Halder for her persistence to see this project through from her initial concept to final publication.

In this episode I took the text of my chapter and put it into Google's NotebookLM This product is amazing at condensing information and giving you different ways to review its variations. Built in is the ability to generate a briefing document, FAQ, test guide, and timeline. But the one I find most amazing is it can create a podcast dialogue audio with the simple push of a button. This episode is the 22 minute podcast NotebookLM created wrapped with my standard intro and outro as well as a brief explanation of the book and NotebookLM.

Sit back and enjoy the amazing technology we have now to make information more approachable by those with various learning styles.

Details on the book at:

https://www.routledge.com/Inclusion-and-Autism-Neurodiverse-Autistic-First-Person-Accounts/Halder-Goldstein-Caudel/p/book/9781032906959

No, this is not another podcast that simply ends without getting any new episodes. But I have been dealing with some life complications and as is not unique most of it dealt with ever present drama of being employed. I could go on about the details but will simply say that the company culture I so loved at my job is simply a memory as they have made it clear that employees are just tools to get to the profits that are the only thing that matters. But enough about me for now.

In this special and unique episode I recorded a what was supposed to be a conversation but turned out more like a lecture with my great friend Rhonda Moore PhD The conversation started out with Rhonda mentioning she would soon be giving a presentation on communication and she asked if I could point out any of my podcasts or videos that had some of my insight. Because there are a number of thoughts about communication I hadn't taken the time or had the chance to present or record I took this as an opportunity to finally capture them. So I turned on a recording mic I had sitting on my desk and recorded the audio of our Zoom meeting. Listening to it afterwards as I was preparing to send it to my Ai Tim Clone as additional training of the generative Ai clone I decided I liked it so much it would be a great episode to restart my podcast.

So sit back with your favorite beverage and listen in to my ad lib dissertation on communication and a number of the far less obvious but simple reasons it often fails. A great quote I have posted in my office and like to think about when dealing with communication is from George Bernard Shaw "The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion it has taken place."

Ed Thompson from Uptimize.com and I go back to the early days when the few involved were focused on Autism at Work. This episode is a unique twist in that Ed is the host and I am the guest! This came about because Ed had me as a guest on the Uptimize fireside chat webinar series. The content came out so well I asked Ed if I could use the audio as a podcast episode. So here it is.

To reach Uptimize, Ed, and his team head over to Uptimize.com

This episode continues Tim's chat with Danny. After years of hearing about Danny and T.A.C.T., we catch up with Danny Combs. Danny was a successful Nashville Musician and a Music Educator and then an idea struck him that completely changed his life.

Generations of Danny's family built great careers working with their hands in the trades. He recognized that not all autistic individuals are going to be amazing computer programers despite what many organizations have promoted. His idea was to teach hands on trade skills in the belief that a large segment of autistics could build solid, well paying careers doing the jobs much of American education has forgotten.

The result is Colorado based T.A.C.T. (Teaching the Autistic Community Trades). In the 7 years since he began working out of a van he has grown the program to its new home in a beautiful facility teaching a range for trades. His placement rate for graduates is in the high 80% range with high quality career jobs.

If creating a successful career program for autistics isn't enough he is also one of the co-founders of the Colorado Neurodiversity Chamber of Commerce. Believed to be the first chamber of commerce created around neurodiversity, it has attracted the interest of companies large and small.

Join us for a 2 episode chat with Danny Combs.

T.A.C.T.
https://www.buildwithtact.org/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/buildwithtact
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tactkidsorg/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/tact-kids-inc
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRZYpkaoUfVDW5GpD8sg-nA
Colorado Neurodiversity Chamber of Commerce
https://www.cndcc.org/

Contact Danny
danny@buildwithtact.org

In this episode, after years of hearing about Danny and T.A.C.T., we catch up with Danny Combs. Danny was a successful Nashville Musician and a Music Educator and then an idea struck him that completely changed his life.

Generations of Danny's family built great careers working with their hands in the trades. He recognized that not all autistic individuals are going to be amazing computer programers despite what many organizations have promoted. His idea was to teach hands on trade skills in the belief that a large segment of autistics could build solid, well paying careers doing the jobs much of American education has forgotten.

The result is Colorado based T.A.C.T. (Teaching the Autistic Community Trades). In the 7 years since he began working out of a van he has grown the program to its new home in a beautiful facility teaching a range for trades. His placement rate for graduates is in the high 80% range with high quality career jobs.

If creating a successful career program for autistics isn't enough he is also one of the co-founders of the Colorado Neurodiversity Chamber of Commerce. Believed to be the first chamber of commerce created around neurodiversity, it has attracted the interest of companies large and small.

Join us for a 2 episode chat with Danny Combs.

T.A.C.T.
https://www.buildwithtact.org/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/buildwithtact
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tactkidsorg/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/tact-kids-inc
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRZYpkaoUfVDW5GpD8sg-nA
Colorado Neurodiversity Chamber of Commerce
https://www.cndcc.org/

Contact Danny
danny@buildwithtact.org

I had a very enjoyable and informative conversation with Genie Love. While Genie's background is in special education where she worked extensively with high school students, it also has some very interesting twists and turns that helped create the unique perspective she brings to her coaching of adults.

One point that came up which I believe in deeply, and so does Genie, is that it doesn't matter what condition label is attached to someone, it is the behaviors we need to be concerned with. If the problem is blurting out in group discussions does it really matter if they are autistic, ADHD, or neurotypical? Regardless of the label the behavior is what the focus needs to be on, not which of all the factors in a human is causing it to happen.

Enjoy a great conversation with one of the few coach focused on helping neurodistinct adults and particularly working neurodistinct adults.

https://www.genielove.coach
https://www.linkedin.com/in/genie-love-beyond-coaching
genie@genielove.coach

This was a super enjoyable episode to record for multiple reasons. Angela Powell has a super upbeat and infectious personality which is a great start. Based on her families experience with her son Charlie and the way the medical culture and schools systems recommended she learned that at least for Charlie the approaches were ineffective at best. One of the statements she made that really struck me was that she and her husband came to realize it wasn't Charlie that needed therapy, but her and her husband. This realization revolutionized their view of autism and the approaches that would best enable Charlie to grow to be the adult able to become all is capable of.

After their extensive efforts to find resource which could help them to support Charlie and allow him to flourish, Angela saw the need to help parents find the information and services they need to support their child from the perspective of the neurodiversity culture instead of the disability culture. Being the motivated and caring person she is Mad Charlie Inc was created to fill this need.

Join Angela and Tim as they talk about what lead to the creation of Mad Charlie Inc, experiences with Charlie and the amazing change when they moved away from the disability/deficit model. Join Tim for a delightful and educational conversation with the amazing Angela Powell.

Contact information:
Website: madcharlieinc.com
Instagram: @madcharlieinc
Facebook: Mad Charlie Inc
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/angela-powell-madcharlieinc

Here is the bio Karen sent me. Having known her for a number of years I can assure you it is very modest compared to the contributions she has made and the people she has helped. In our chat we cover some of the other things Karen has done which are not reflected in the below bio.

In 1998, Karen Simmons a mother of seven, founded Autism Today, the first online global autism resource center, winning the Internet Entrepreneur of the Year in 2001 from Multiple Streams of Income. Featured on PBS, ABC & Woman’s World, she is a “Chicken Soup for the Soul, Children with Special Needs” Co-Author and manifested 14 books including Gold Medal winning “The Official Autism 101 Manual” and hosted 72 conferences across North America.

Prior to her current path, Karen worked as a gemologist where she discovered the magic of gemstones. She joined the US Air Force, where she worked in a base hospital and lived across the United States.

Karen now lives in Edmonton, Alberta Canada, is transitioning Autism Today into a non profit, Autism Today Foundation with her partner Vincent dela Luna. They plan to share information through a Channel, ARTS network and Learning & Education Division. This will easily and affordably provide resources that are needed to the autism world and beyond.

karen@autismtoday.com
karen@autissmtoday.ca
https://autismtoday.com/