Ep. 101 The Power of Strengths and Advocacy Ft. Autistic Adult Kyle Manske
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What early challenges did Kyle face as an autistic child in the 1990s?
Hello world! We are here for Making the Shift. Very fun, exciting episode that we have for you today. And that's because we have Kyle here, a friend of ours. And I will tell you I first met Kyle because his sister works at our clinic. So his sister is an SLP and Kyle is autistic and we really connected on that. And we're excited to have him here as part of our show because it's something we've been talking about for a long time.
Yes.
And I just want to kind of preface this by saying that I think you'll find a lot of inspiration from this show. I know that I have, I've met your entire family now because they've all been out here. And something that is so wild to think about is I know doctors told your mom when you were young, like nothing will ever come of him, basically that kind of mentality. Like, yep, he'll never do anything. Here's his diagnosis. And your mom was just persistent. She was like, That's not gonna be the case for my kid and she just went hard into supporting you your entire life. So um you ended up moving to New York independently, been an accountant for 10 years. And so yeah, I'm really excited. But maybe you can kind of just kick us off by sharing
Maybe a little bit of the what happened, you know, back then, like what were some of the big challenges or struggles that you faced as a child. And I know some of them might be the same today, but
of course. Yeah. So first of all, uh Jesse and Chris, thank you for the opportunity. Really excited to talk to both of you. I know we've been trying to plan this for so long and really happy today is the day. So that is the first thing.
We're excited to have you, man. This is awesome that we're that we're here together in person.
Yes, yes, yes. There's so many times I've seen Chris on social media. I'm like, when am I gonna meet speech dude? I would text like one day, one day. Here we are. She texted me, Chris is coming today. I was so happy. I love it. I was so happy that you were gonna be here today. Yeah,
this is the best. Doing something like this in person is nothing better than
that. Yeah. Completely agree. A lot. Um, so so if you do want to go back, you are correct. So when I was three years old, so this is way back when, uh nineteen ninety-four, uh I was three and I was diagnosed with hearing loss, learning disability, and autism. And the school district told my parents I had a five percent chance of finishing high school. And what they said was, you know, Mrs. Manske, a child that starts in special ed, stays in special ed. We're sorry, but we don't expect much for from Kyle. And at the first time, like when heard that, my mom was very upset. And I understand that. But I can also As you get older and wiser y you understand why people would have that perception. I understand because at that time.
You know, in the nineties thirty years ago. expectations on the spectrum and honestly acceptance was not as common. Like at that time that what film came out was what's Eden Gilbert great. And what most people thought of autism special needs was um Leonardo DiCaprio's character and performance. And that's like what kind of people thought and expected and not understanding now like 2025. Like how like now there's whatever love on the spectrum and how much acceptance that there is. So I understand why the doctor said that back in nineteen ninety four. I get that. But the best thing is, is that when my mom heard that She said, no, this kid's gonna have a happy life. He's gonna have an amazing life. Even if he's bag if he's bagging groceries at the grocery store and he's happy and he does what he loves, that's what really matters.
That's awesome. And I know based on some of your social media posts, Chris, you've said as well that like you have kids that might have an interest in childish like things like Bluey or Sesame Street. And you probably tell the parents, like, hey. If that child or young adult is happy based on Sesame Street or whatever that interest, and interest is an interest. And if they're happy and not hurting anyone, then how am I supposed to judge?
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What early challenges did Kyle face as an autistic child in the 1990s?
0:09–4:29
2
How did Kyle’s mother’s advocacy change his educational outlook?
4:29–8:46
3
What role did baseball and special interests play in Kyle’s communication skills?
8:46–12:23
4
How did Kyle discover his strengths in accounting and finance?
12:23–17:39
5
What strategies did Kyle use to handle negative feedback and build confidence?
17:39–22:55
6
How did Kyle transition to independent adult life in New York?
22:55–26:19
7
What advice does Kyle give to neurodivergent individuals and their families?
26:19–30:17
8
How can professionals apply strengths‑based assessments for neurodiverse clients?
30:17–34:05
Speakers
1 identifiedMore from The NeuroAffirm Podcast
Ep. 125 How to Run Successful Social Groups
Ep. 124 Building Rapport Isn’t Enough...How Therapists Become Part of the Intervention
Ep. 123 Not Seeing Progress in Speech Therapy? Start Here.
Ep. 122 Screen Time Considerations for Autistic Kids
Ep. 121 The Biggest Sensory Mistakes SLPs Make
Ep. 120 Why Anxiety is So Common in Autism (And What Actually Helps)