Erin is a mother of two including a teenage son, Noa, who has autism and is non-speaking. Erin prioritizes giving him the best quality of life and helping him develop close relationships. Erin began working with Autistically Inclined to learn alternative communication in 2019.

Erin shares, "Imagine you were in your child's body. One that can do so many things, but depending on the environment, does not always cooperate and sometimes does the exact opposite of what you want. A body that can be impulsive. The more you try to control the impulses, the more out of control they become. A body that processes big emotions by self-injuring or being aggressive towards others, even though that's the last thing you want it to do, but you don't know how else to process through those emotions. Most of the people around you think you have the mind of a toddler, but in reality you understand everything, you just don't have a way to show people. All the while you have no reliable way to communicate any of this to others. Every thought and idea is trapped inside you dying to get out, but it has no chance unless someone else helps you find a way. What would it hurt to try to learn to spell on a letterboard? There is nothing to lose except all of the heaviness that comes from experiencing all of this every single day of your life. It will take time and a lot of work, and even if fluent open communication isn't fully achieved, the feeling of knowing that someone cared enough to believe in you, to make such an effort to help you get your voice heard can change how you feel about yourself and impact the way you experience the world."

In this episode Erin shares about

• Navigating the world of autism therapy options
• Personal growth and perspective
• Presuming competence
• Joining the Autistically Inclined Team
• and her families journey utilizing spelling to communicate

Check out the video on https://youtu.be/oFe84I3HoLs

Learn more about Austically Inclinded at https://www.autisticallyinclined.com/

And check out Erin's podcast "Growing through Autism" wherever you get your podcasts.