Show Notes

Episode #9
Carlos Joseph Hernandez
Carlos Joseph Hernandez is a 32-year-old autistic barber living and working in Avondale, Arizona.

Carlos discusses his childhood, being bullied, his fear of haircuts, how he turned his fear into a career and more.

You can follow Carlos on Instagram at @cjtheautisticbarber

Carlos is on Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/CJTheAutsiticBarber

Please visit www.autismjourney.org/podcast for the show notes

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Episode #8
Jan Stewart

Jan Stewart is a highly regarded mental health and neurodiversity advocate. Her brutally honest memoir Hold on Tight: A Parent’s Journey Raising Children with Mental Illness describes her emotional roller coaster story parenting two children with multiple mental health and neurodevelopmental disorders.

Her mission is to inspire and empower parents to persevere through the most difficult of times and have hope, as well as to better educate their families, friends, health care professionals, educators and employers. Jan chairs the Board of Directors at Kerry’s Place Autism Services, Canada’s largest autism services provider, and was previously Vice Chair at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.

She spent most of her career as a senior Partner with the global executive search firm Egon Zehnder. Jan is a Diamond Life Master in bridge and enjoys fitness, genealogy and dance.

You can purchase Hold On Tight on Amazon, or anywhere books are sold

www.janstewartauthor.com

To read Jan’s column’s on Today’s Parent, Click Here

You can follow Jan on Instagram @janstewartauthor

Jan is on Facebook

Episode #7
Cameron Mitchell

Cameron Mitchell resides in the UK and he discusses his autism, his family, friendships, his fiancee and more.

Individuals with Asperger’s syndrome, which is now typically referred to as part of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), can often experience feelings of estrangement and being perceived as outcasts due to the unique challenges they face in social interactions and communication. These feelings can arise from various factors related to their condition such as social difficulties, sensory sensitivities and family dynamics to name a few.

To contact Cameron, you can find him on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cameron-mitchell-3296a0198

Episode #6
Shalita Thomison


Shalita Thomison is a single mother raising two boys, Jaylan and Kenden. Kenden, her youngest, is autistic.  Shalita started a blog called Exploring the Life of Kenden Carter, along with an Instagram account with the same name. There she chronicles life with Kenden, her continuous battle with the school system, Kenden’s new milestones and so much more.

You can visit Exploring the Life of Kenden Carter at:  https://mrkcom6.wordpress.com/

Instagram @exploringthelifeofkendencarter

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/shalita.thomison

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Episode #5
RJ Salso

RJ Salso joins Autism Journey to discuss his autism, his motivational speaking, his love for weather and his hobby: playing the ukulele.

To contact or follow RJ, please visit:

Instagram: @salso_rj
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@RJSalso
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/robert.j.salso

Episode #4
Mishka and Samko

Mishka Sibert is the Founder of Happy Autism, an advocate for autism and autism siblings, an international speaker, and a Certified Life Coach registered in the American Union of NLP.  Mishka created Happy Autism with her autistic non-verbal brother Samko, who is nine years younger than her. Samko’s art was recognized by the Hollywood actors Ben Affleck & Anna Kendrick and featured in American Forbes and in the national Slovak media. Mishka has been a speaker at autism events for global companies like ADP and Adobe.

Mishka was born in Slovakia and studied at the University of Westminster in London, UK. She wrote and published an internationally praised book Mother’s Guide to Sibling Relationship’s about navigating the sibling relationship on a journey with autism.

Connect with Mishka:

Websitehttps://happyautism.co/
Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/happyautism
Youtube:  https://www.youtube.com/@happyautism6236
Road to Independence documentary:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4VZ0nrAy90
Click here to purchase her book The Mother’s Guide to Navigating Sibling Relationships: Navigating the Sibling Relationship on the Journey with Autism

Episode #3
Olivia

In this episode, she discusses her autism diagnosis, childhood experiences, her current struggles, and her support system. Olivia experiences severe anxiety, depression, and meltdowns due to her autism. She has a lot of support from her family and friends, but still struggles with feeling like a burden.

You can follow Olivia on Instagram @livdream1234

To learn more about STARability, please visit https://starability.org/

Episode #2
Trevor Bumbarger

Trevor is an autistic singer, songwriter and producer. He has written and produced over 15 songs and isn’t slowing down. In this episode, Trevor shares his thoughts and insights into being autistic, he discusses his music and more.

Trevor recently released his new single “Journey” which is now available.

If you’d like to follow Trevor and his music, here’s where to find him:

You can follow Trevor on Instagram @Trevor_Bumbarger
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/trevor.bumbarger.10
You can find his music on YouTube Music: https://music.youtube.com/search?q=trevor+bumbarger
YouTube: www.youtube.com/trevorb3492
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5EDNK4GGg0WtY7UpEfJbBG
Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/artists/B08HM8J7P9/trevor-bumbarger
Sound Cloud: https://soundcloud.com/trevor-bumbarger

For a full list, please visit: https://hyperfollow.com/trevorbumbargermusiclink

Episode #1
Ryan Lee

On this episode, Ryan Lee discusses his experiences growing up with autism, including being bullied, feeling ashamed, and having difficulty making friends. He found solace in a support group called Spectrum, which helped him find friends he could relate to and advocate for the autism community. He also discusses the difficulty of masking his true self in order to fit in with certain social groups.

Contact information:
Website:  https://ryansheart.wordpress.com/
Email: ryanalee@bellsouth.net
Instagram: @Rymar101
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Rymarlee
X (formerly known as Twitter): @Rymar101
Youtube: Click Here

If you’d like to be featured on the Autism Journey podcast, please write to: autismjourneypodcast@autismjourney.org