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.
Brooke hosts Finding Hope on the Spectrum and interviews Dana Kay, an Australia-born, Seattle-based board-certified holistic health and nutrition practitioner and founder of the ADHD Thrive Institute, whose work was inspired by her son’s ADHD diagnosis and a medication cycle that escalated to multiple drugs by age five. Dana explains her view that ADHD symptoms are signals of underlying biological stressors, emphasizing the gut-brain axis, neurotransmitter production (about 90% of serotonin and 50% of dopamine made in the gut), inflammation, and nutrient absorption affecting focus, mood, and sleep. She describes functional lab testing (stool, urine, finger prick) including food sensitivities, leaky gut, organic acids, and cryptopyrrole (linked to zinc and B6 depletion). Practical strategies discussed include reducing common triggers (gluten, dairy, dyes, excess sugar), stabilizing blood sugar with the “no naked carb” rule, improving sleep and screening for sleep apnea, increasing movement and sunlight, limiting screens, and using picky-eating tools like a family food challenge and food chaining. Dana shares her programs, book, and podcast resources.
00:00 Gut Makes Serotonin
00:51 Show Welcome Intro
01:30 Meet Dana Kay
03:22 From Accountant to Advocate
05:08 Medication Spiral Wakeup
08:36 Symptoms Are Signals
10:06 Gut Brain Axis Explained
12:30 Inflammation Nutrients Behavior
15:26 Testing For Root Causes
18:26 Food Triggers To Watch
22:11 Going Gluten Dairy Free
24:03 Organic On A Budget
25:53 Sleep Clues And Apnea
29:44 Sleepwalking and Adenoids
31:41 No Naked Carbs
33:49 Why Kids Are Picky
36:02 Family Food Challenge
38:36 Food Chaining Strategy
41:47 Lifestyle Habits That Help
45:08 ADHD Misconceptions
47:55 Research and Food Policy
50:45 Thrive Institute Program
53:47 Book Podcast and Wrap
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 Contact:
Website: https://adhdthriveinstitute.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/adhdthriveinstitute
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adhdthriveinstitute/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ADHDThriveInstitute
Podcast: https://adhdthriveinstitute.com/the-soaring-child-podcast-thriving-with-adhd/
Disclaimer
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