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Laugh Lines with Kim & Penn Holderness

Life On The Spectrum with Tanner Smith

14 Apr 2026

Transcription

Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.

Chapter 1: What insights does Tanner Smith share about living on the autism spectrum?

0.031 - 10.884 Tanner Smith

What would you want a parent raising a child with autism to know? It might take time for their children to learn, but they'll learn. I want to tell you both, I'm thankful for all the things I have.

0

11.184 - 13.007 Kim Holderness

Everybody needs a little touch of Tanner.

0

13.147 - 22.898 Penn Holderness

There is a new season coming out. Yes, sir. There is a new season coming out. And will you be part of that season? You'll have to wait and see. Oh, gosh. Yeah, we get older every day.

0

22.918 - 33.193 Unknown

Got more wrinkles, that's okay. Yeah, we're laughing when we age. Life is like a comedy stage. And that's what we got land.

0

36.802 - 37.964 Kim Holderness

Hey everybody, I'm Kim Holderness.

38.024 - 41.628 Penn Holderness

And I'm Ben Holderness. We're so excited about this episode of Laugh Lines.

42.089 - 49.458 Kim Holderness

Yes. If you are old enough to start commenting about how it smells after the rain, then you're a home.

49.899 - 54.225 Penn Holderness

Or if your knee gets a little bit swollen right before it starts raining, you're like, hop, here it comes.

54.585 - 55.346 Kim Holderness

Has that happened to you?

Chapter 2: How can parents support children with autism effectively?

109.904 - 121.684 Kim Holderness

Today, the theme of the show is joy and how to find joy because that is what Tanner Smith brings to the world. But first, we're going to go to the laugh lines because you keep sending us these misheard song lyrics.

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122.104 - 144.184 Penn Holderness

Are we the people who you send that to now? I love it. Natalie from Texas in our inbox saying, since I know you love Taylor Swift, I thought y'all might get a laugh from this. The first time I heard the fate of Ophelia on the radio, I thought these were the words. You dug me out of my grave and saved my heart from Darth Vader, Ophelia. Now I can't unhear it. I hope you'll listen and agree.

0

144.585 - 160.123 Penn Holderness

Whenever I hear the song now, I try to come up with scenarios in which Ophelia saves someone from Darth Vader. That's exactly what it sounds like.

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160.143 - 162.129 Kim Holderness

That is exactly what it sounds like.

0

162.189 - 164.214 Penn Holderness

To be fair, I didn't know what Taylor was saying anyway.

164.295 - 165.498 Kim Holderness

What is she actually saying?

165.718 - 167.203 Midge Smith

Saved my heart from the fate of Ophelia.

168.005 - 169.509 Kim Holderness

Oh, the name of this song.

169.97 - 173.56 Penn Holderness

So we should have known it because it's the name of the song.

Chapter 3: What role does gratitude play in Tanner's outlook on life?

306.549 - 307.911 Kim Holderness

Where does your joy come from?

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307.971 - 316.744 Tanner Smith

My friends and family and God. And I'm so thankful for myself. And I'm thankful for everything I have.

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316.724 - 318.988 Kim Holderness

Oh my gosh. That is so perfect.

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319.028 - 319.669 Tanner Smith

Yeah. Yeah.

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319.769 - 324.336 Penn Holderness

Is that perfect? So you think that joy comes not from you, but from the people around you?

324.516 - 329.243 Tanner Smith

Yes. I think joy comes from that, not just from me, but, but, but from the people around me.

329.464 - 340.521 Penn Holderness

All right. So you've talked a lot about autism. You've become a spokesperson for, for, for all of the wonders of autism. Yes. How, how would you describe autism?

340.501 - 355.708 Tanner Smith

My autism, it makes my brain work a little differently. It makes me learn differently. And I have strong interest in things. I'm obsessed about them. But not in a bad way. I just love them.

355.688 - 356.389 Kim Holderness

Yeah.

Chapter 4: What are Tanner's daily routines and how do they contribute to his joy?

417.341 - 425.073 Penn Holderness

That's so cool, Mr. Penn. I have very long arms. You do have long arms. I do. Except pterodactyls don't have arms.

0

425.093 - 425.774 Tanner Smith

They have wings.

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425.794 - 430.42 Penn Holderness

Oh, you got me there. Oh, busted. But technically they're like little hands inside their wings.

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430.44 - 432.183 Tanner Smith

Exactly. They have little hands inside their wings.

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432.203 - 446.073 Penn Holderness

Yeah. Would you want to be around when the dinosaurs were around? Yes, some of them. Yeah. So like the nice ones. The nice ones. Like a brontosaurus or a brachiosaurus. Yeah, a polysaurus, an ultrasaurus. Yeah. You are an expert on dinosaurs.

446.233 - 453.569 Tanner Smith

Hey, hey, you know, I'm glad I'm a dinosaur expert because I teach my friends dinosaur facts. Yeah. That is so cool. Yes. Is that cool?

454.09 - 459.317 Kim Holderness

What is something about autism that you wish more people understood?

459.678 - 470.212 Tanner Smith

I wish people understood that people thought them need to need some time and they need, they need purpose. It might take, take time for them to learn, but, but they'll learn.

470.933 - 476.28 Penn Holderness

So purpose, that's such a, like a key word there, right? Right. Do you feel like you're finding your purpose?

Chapter 5: How does Tanner define his purpose and aspirations for the future?

526.868 - 533.899 Penn Holderness

Tanner, you live on your own? Yes, sir. I live on my own. You've got a job. Can you tell us just what your normal day looks like?

0

533.979 - 546.278 Tanner Smith

Yes, sir. I wake up at six o'clock and I'll eat breakfast and I'll make my bed and I'll get dressed and I'll brush my teeth and I'll go straight to work and I'll get done at one o'clock and I'll eat lunch and

0

546.258 - 567.232 Tanner Smith

And I'll go on a walk and listen to my music and I'll come back in and watch movies and read my books and I'll eat dinner and I'll watch some other movies and go take a shower and watch some other movies and I'll go to bed at 10 o'clock on that Monday. Me and my friend Zach will have our workout on Tuesday. Me and Zach will have our other workout and our check-in.

0

567.653 - 593.48 Tanner Smith

Do you want me to tell you who Zach is? Yes, absolutely. So Zach is our friend in Clemson who we do our workouts with and check-ins in. So check-in means we go over what more foods I need and what more bathroom things I need. And we order them on Instacart. And then we set the time, my foods and my bathroom things. And then the people bring my groceries to me.

0

594.121 - 612.428 Tanner Smith

And on Tuesdays, me and my friend Zach, our friends, we'll go out and do our activities. I want to know more about your workout. Yes, sir. Want me to tell you what I do in my workout? Yeah. So Zach has me do pull downs. And he has me do face pulls and calf raises. And Zach has me do lunges. And he has me do this.

612.408 - 639.124 Tanner Smith

uh-huh yeah uh-huh and that has me do curls oh yeah curls for the girls uh yeah oh and do you want me to tell you what we do in our activities absolutely yes sir i'll tell you both what we do in our activities we go celebrate our friends birthdays and we go pool parties and we have pizza and we go axe throwing and we go on bowman field just gonna gloss over that and we play and we play and we play football and kickball and and we go walk it in the botanical garden yep

639.104 - 641.727 Kim Holderness

no wonder you have so much joy.

641.807 - 652.041 Penn Holderness

I mean, look, listen, there was a lot of interesting things you said, but yeah, you were like, we go to breakfast, we work out, we throw axes and we go get some coffee.

652.481 - 667.761 Tanner Smith

Axe throwing. Okay. Tell me more, please. Okay. So when you ask throw, um, they teach us, um, like the way you throw that ax, like I told you, hold it in your right hand. And you, I think you throw it like this.

Chapter 6: What advice does Tanner give for having a bad day?

740.999 - 741.76 Kim Holderness

It's not bad at all.

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741.78 - 759.815 Tanner Smith

That's right. It's just later. It's just later. Talk about how your mom was to you as a mom. And your sister. And your sister. My mom was a really good mom and Mitch was a good sister too. Yeah. I remember when we were little, I wanted to hug Mitch, but she pushed me off because she didn't like it at first when she was really little. Sure. Yeah, Mitch, it's true, Mitch.

0

760.277 - 762.001 Tanner Smith

I think it was probably too tight. It's probably too tight.

0

762.983 - 765.028 Penn Holderness

And she probably learned, hey. Yeah.

0

765.481 - 771.008 Tanner Smith

Yeah, Mitch learned hey. You learned hey, Mitch.

771.269 - 776.616 Kim Holderness

So you told us that maybe dating right now, you don't really want to do that right now.

776.656 - 779.279 Tanner Smith

No, I learned right now. I don't really want to do that right now.

779.64 - 789.092 Kim Holderness

So very valid. What do you want? What sort of dreams do you have for your future? Okay. More on this after these words.

792.127 - 806.483 Tanner Smith

I had my plans moved to Columbia 135. Yes, sir. Yes, ma'am. And we're hoping that I'll be the host of a new kid show called Think Tank. I'll be like the next Eve on Blue's Clues. And I'll teach kids about routines, reading, and go on lots of adventures with them.

Chapter 7: How does the Wable app support the neurodivergent community?

864.128 - 865.47 Kim Holderness

That's so exciting.

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865.53 - 871.238 Penn Holderness

That does track because usually Hallmark Christmas movies are on a farm. I'll be on a peanut farm.

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871.518 - 873.14 Kim Holderness

I am going to pray this happens.

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873.221 - 873.461 Penn Holderness

Yes.

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873.741 - 887.923 Kim Holderness

And I cannot wait to see this. That's going to be so, it's going to be my new favorite Hallmark movie. Yeah. If somebody is listening right now and they're having a bad day, What would you want to say to them if they're having a bad day?

888.424 - 901.716 Tanner Smith

I want to say to them, remember, it's okay to have a bad day. When you're having a bad day, you can go talk to your friends and family about it and you go on walks and listen to music because that's what I do while I'm having a bad day. It will make you feel better.

901.696 - 909.246 Kim Holderness

Yes. Oh, that's such good advice. Now, you're an ambassador for an app called Weibo. Can you tell us anything about that?

909.346 - 913.191 Tanner Smith

Yes. On Weibo, you can find friendship, love and jobs.

913.391 - 914.773 Kim Holderness

Oh, my gosh. Has everything.

Chapter 8: What are the key messages about joy and connection shared in this episode?

1022.808 - 1030.838 Penn Holderness

So I'm wondering, the way that you've learned how to do all these things on your own, have you had to put some of those sorts of systems in place? Yes, sir.

0

1030.878 - 1033.141 Tanner Smith

Yes, sir. Little hacks? I have. Yes, sir.

0

1033.582 - 1036.766 Penn Holderness

Okay. So tell me how it is that you've learned to cook by yourself.

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1037.667 - 1054.309 Tanner Smith

I've learned how to cook chicken nuggets by myself and pizza and spaghetti and noodles. And I've learned how to cook chicken pot pies and and chicken, bacon, cheese, casseroles. Oh my gosh. Yes, sir. And it's big gay pies. Yes, can I tell you both about cooking class?

0

1054.389 - 1055.651 Kim Holderness

I would love to hear about cooking class.

1055.671 - 1076.862 Tanner Smith

When we were in Clips of Life, these people would come up to our apartment and we would go over how to cook foods and we would eat them for dinner. Can I tell you what we've cooked? Yes. Shrimp tacos and pizza rolls. Yep, yep. And we cooked chili and cornbread. And we would cook link sausage and French toast for breakfast.

1077.122 - 1077.182

Oh.

1078.158 - 1090.972 Penn Holderness

I think I heard you say that when you were 35, you wanted to move to Columbia. Did I hear that right? I want to make sure I heard that right. Yes, sir. And that's a very specific time. That's eight years from now. Yes, sir, eight years. What made you come upon that goal eight years from now?

1091.172 - 1106.089 Tanner Smith

Because there's this hotel in Columbia called The Lantern. It's a hotel just like the Sherbert's Hotel. And so I've got my plan to work at The Lantern and live in Columbia 15 years and then move back home to St. Matthews and retire at 50. And my mom gave me that plan.

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