TPP 340: Meghan Ashburn and Jules Edwards on Autistic Adults, Autism Parents, and the Children Who Deserve a Better World

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What is the overall mission of Meghan Ashburn and Jules Edwards in supporting autistic families?

Jules Edwards 0:00
And sometimes we tend to, as parents, have this view that we know what's best. And instead of providing children information and allowing them to make decisions for themselves, sometimes we make those decisions for them, like a simple thing like adding an IEP goal that a student will learn how to tie their own shoe. What if that person doesn't want to tie their own shoe? What if they would rather focus their energy on learning communication skills? Let's let them decide what they want to do because there are plenty of adults who cannot tie their own shoes and there are adaptive shoes out there who are successful in other areas of their life. So sometimes just let them have that choice.
Debbie Reber 0:49
Welcome to Tilt Parenting, a podcast featuring interviews and conversations aimed at inspiring, informing, and supporting parents raising differently wired kids. I'm your host, Debbie Reber, and if you're listening to this podcast, my hunch is you are working hard to learn as much as you can about your child and the neurodivergent community, but The truth is we're bound to not know some things and to make mistakes. And I want to be the first one to tell you that that is okay. There is no shame in making mistakes as long as we keep on learning and try to do better the next time. My guests today are on a mission to show parents that there are different ways of approaching autism beyond what they're often told in doctors and therapist offices.
Debbie Reber 1:31
Megan Ashburn and Jules Edwards, co-author of the new book, I Will Die on This Hill, autistic adults, autism parents, and the children who deserve a better world are making it very clear that there is no one size fits all for any family and that there is so much to learn from just listening more. During our conversation, Megan and Jules share their story of how they came together as an allistic parent of an autistic child and an autistic parent of an autistic child who had similar goals but had a bit of a rough start because they were going about it in different ways and approaching it through different lenses. After they share their story, we dive into some of the concepts they write about in their new book, including disability justice, internalized ableism, self determination over independence, the power of an autism moon, and things parents who are earlier on in their journey of navigating a diagnosis for their child should keep in mind.
Debbie Reber 2:28
Let me quickly tell you a little bit about Megan and Jules. Megan Ashburn is a continuous learner, educational consultant and parent mentor. She is passionate about helping schools create more inclusive, accessible environments. Her online book club has over 10,000 members and releases book recommendation lists on autism and neurodiversity. Megan advocates for communication rights and inclusion at the local, state and national level. And Jules Edwards is a neurodivergent Anishinaabe writer, gardener, accountant, and disability justice advocate. She's the parent of neurodivergent Afro-Indigenous people and care provider to many neurodivergent children throughout the years. Jules is passionate about building community and works to improve child safety and disability policy.
Debbie Reber 3:14
This is such a special conversation. I can't wait for you to hear it. Before I get to that, if what I'm doing at Tilt Parenting and the guests I bring on the show are providing support and encouragement and hope for your family, and you are ready to dive deeper with me and up-level your parenting progress, I invite you to join us in the Differently Wired Club. The club is my most favorite thing I do here at Tilt, and it's really just an incredible community of parents raising complex kids like ours. We get together for virtual office hour calls, coaching calls, live calls with expert guests and authors, and we also dive deep into a different theme every month, like noticing and observing, scaffolding, co-regulation, and advocacy.
Debbie Reber 3:59
You can learn all about the club at TiltParenting.com slash club. So if you are feeling alone or overwhelmed in your parenting life, please join us.

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