Finding Hope on the Spectrum
Finding Hope on the Spectrum
Podcast Description
Are you worried about your autistic son's or daughter's future and quality of life? Do you want to feel empowered to be the intuitive parent you know you are? Or are you a curious professional, seeking to learn and discover how to best reach your autistic clients? I invite you to join our community of growth seeking individuals as we connect, share and support each other.
This show will feature heart to heart conversations with parents, professionals, and autistic individuals sharing personal insight and life experiences. We will dive deep into supports, programs, and stories that inspire us.
Podcast Insights
Content Themes
The podcast focuses on the themes of parenting autistic children, professional insights into neurodiversity, and personal growth stories, with episodes exploring therapeutic approaches like ABA and RDI, and listener-driven discussions on overcoming challenges in supporting autistic individuals.
Are you worried about your autistic son’s or daughter’s future and quality of life? Do you want to feel empowered to be the intuitive parent you know you are? Or are you a curious professional, seeking to learn and discover how to best reach your autistic clients? I invite you to join our community of growth seeking individuals as we connect, share and support each other.
This show will feature heart to heart conversations with parents, professionals, and autistic individuals sharing personal insight and life experiences. We will dive deep into supports, programs, and stories that inspire us.
Host Brooke Wagner welcomes Monica Packer, identity coach, About Progress podcast host, and author of Sticky Habits: A Woman’s Guide to Reclaim Happiness, Ditch Perfectionism, and Create Habits That Lastto discuss burnout, perfectionism, and self-care for mothers—especially those raising autistic children. Monica shares how years of self-sacrificial motherhood and special needs in her children led her to lose her identity, and how therapy revealed perfectionism as an all-or-nothing, identity-based trap. She explains why women struggle to care for themselves due to invisible labor and cultural expectations, and reframes self-care as “putting yourself on the list,” not necessarily first. Monica emphasizes nervous system regulation, flexible habits with baseline options (e.g., 10 minutes counts), and viewing habits as helpers rather than measures of worth. She highlights failure as necessary for progress, including in parenting regulation skills, and describes her book as a practical, research-based guide designed for women.
00:00 Self Care Tradeoffs
00:50 Show Intro and Guest
02:35 Burnout and Lost Identity
05:07 Perfectionism Patterns
08:45 Why Moms Neglect Themselves
12:48 Do Something List
15:34 Values Creativity and Failure
17:59 Nervous System Regulation
21:54 Put Yourself on List
23:42 Simple Habits Starting Point
26:03 Practical Self Care Time
27:42 Self Help Needs Women
28:52 Modeling Care For Kids
30:30 Habits During Intense Seasons
32:32 Flexibility Beats Perfection
34:14 Habits As Support Nets
36:45 Trust Yourself Again
37:48 Failure Fuels Progress
42:38 Parenting Through Setbacks
45:28 Sticky Habits Book
49:15 Where To Find Monica
49:56 You Can Change
Connect with Finding Hope on the Spectrum:
Email: [email protected]
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61574918739411
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brooke-wagner-4819233a/
Instagram: @findinghopeonthespectrum
TikTok: Findinghopeonthespectrum
Guest:
Monica Packer
Habit & Identity Coach
Websites: https://www.aboutprogress.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/Aboutprogress
Podcast: https://www.aboutprogress.com/blog
Disclaimer
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