Tony Mantor: Why Not Me ? - Anna Kennedy's Lifeline of Hope in the Autism Community

Episode Date: January 17, 2024

Send us a text When Anna Kennedy OBE speaks, you can't help but be moved by the power of a mother's love and the strength it takes to move mountains for her children. Join us as Anna Kennedy shares her deeply emotional and empowering journey of raising two autistic sons, Patrick and Angelo. Her candid recollections—from confronting a world that lacked autism awareness to the life-affirming accomplishments of her children—offer a beacon of hope to any parent walking a similar path. In a conversation that is both eye-opening and heartwarming, we navigate the challenges and triumphs within the autism community. We discuss the indispensable role of smaller charities that offer a lifeline to families, the critical importance of early intervention, and the nuances that make each autistic individual beautifully unique. Anna's story embodies the tenacity and advocacy that it takes to find the right support and to stand firm against those who might dismiss or misunderstand the needs of those with autism. The episode wraps up with a celebration of achievements and the supportive network that exists within the autism community. We indulge in the success of heartening events such as Autism's Got Talent and the Autism Hero Awards, while also emphasizing the value of shared experiences. The warmth and encouragement found in these stories shine a light on the significance of understanding, connection, and acceptance, reminding us all that within the intricate tapestry of autism, no one is ever alone. https://tonymantor.com https://Facebook.com/tonymantor https://instagram.com/tonymantor https://twitter.com/tonymantor https://youtube.com/tonymantormusic intro/outro music bed written by T. Wild Why Not Me the World music published by Mantor Music (BMI) The content on Why Not Me: Embracing Autism amd Mental Health Worldwide, including discussions on mental health, autism, and related topics, is provided for informational and entertainment purposes only. The views and opinions expressed by guests are their own and do not reflect those of the podcast, its hosts, or affiliates.Why Not Me is not a medical or mental health professional and does not endorse or verify the accuracy, efficacy, safety of any treatments, programs, or advice discussed.Listeners should consult qualified healthcare professionals, such as licensed therapists, psychologists, or physicians, before making decisions about mental health or autism- related care.Reliance on this podcast's contents is at the listener's own risk. Why Not Me is not liable for any outcomes, financial or otherwise, resulting from actions taken based on the information provided. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Welcome to Why Not Me The World Podcast, hosted by Tony Mantor. Broadcasting from Music City, USA, Nashville, Tennessee. Join us as our guests tell us their stories. Some will make your laugh, some will make you cry. Real life people who will inspire and show that you are not alone in this world. hopefully you gain more awareness, acceptance, and a better understanding for autism around the world. Welcome to Why Not Me the World. Today's guest, Anna Kennedy, OBE, is from England.

She has such a great story to tell. She has two autistic children. She's involved in local charities. She's on the radio. There's just so many things that she does. And I'm just so happy to have her on. So welcome to the show. Well, thank you, Tony.

It's my pleasure. I understand you have two autistic children. If you could tell us a little bit about them. Yes, I have two sons, Patrick and Angelo. They're now aged 33 and 30. At that age when they were born, autism wasn't as prevalent. What led you to believe that they needed to be diagnosed for autism? Okay, so as I say, I've got two sons.

First son, Patrick, I had a difficult pregnancy with Patrick. I had preeclampsia and toxemia, and I had him very early, 11 weeks premature. Obviously, it was quite stressful at the time because it's your first. child and he was in hospital for 10 weeks. Wow, that's very tough. We didn't think he was going to make it. We had the last rites. Then he had a blood transfusion, which was the making of him. I always remember he was two pounds when he was born, almost like a small bag of sugar. He was in an incubator. He just, he was making strides forward and then he would make strides back and he was picking up infections. And then he had the blood transfusion. So thank you to

whoever gave the blood. That's great. Did that make a big change for him? It really, really boosted his immune system, and that's when he started to make progress. So I brought him home actually the week he should have been born in March, which was named my birthday, so a lovely birthday present. Absolutely. That's just so good. So what led you to believe that he might be autistic? First three years of his life, he had a, it was quite difficult. So he seemed to be picking up everything.

He had septicid the same year. He had rickets. He had hooping cough, constantly picking up chest infections. and then again sort of into his third year started to become a little bit more robust but very clinging towards me because I was in and out of hospital with him all the time and I was the one that was spending the nights with him

I thought that's why he was so clingy towards me well that makes sense for sure he went to the nursery he found that really difficult he cried every day kicking and screaming seemed to get on better with adults rather than children I've heard that could be a marker he started the school and again he was finding that extremely difficult. We were going as a family, if you like, to the hospital, because to make

sure he's passing his milestones, he's having to have injections because he had rickets. So he's having to have vitamin D injections because he couldn't synthesize vitamin D in his blood. It was just constant going backwards and forwards, backwards and forwards. Then he started school, and I thought the difficulties he's had because he had a bit of a tough start. But then he started getting bullied at school. I had Angela three years after, Patrick was born. So Angela was again passing all the milestones. And then when he got to about three years old, that's when he lost everything. So he lost his speech, had no eye contact whatsoever. I was fixated on wallpaper patterns that we had. I used to be into like flowery wallpaper.

So he used to be quite fixated on the patterns. All of a sudden he didn't want me to touch him at all. Okay. It was just, as you can imagine, heartbreaking because you had a child. And then, and obviously being Italian, I'm a very touchy-feely person and he didn't want to be touched. So I was finding that quite difficult. So then trying to get Patrick to school, all these changes with Angelo, then after really persevering two and a half, three years, going as a family to the therapist as well with everything going on. Because we'd moved from the northeast where I used to live to London, I didn't know anyone. So I felt very, very isolated. Did you have anyone that you could talk to at all?

Sometimes I remember bringing my mom just sort of crying down the phone really, not saying very much. Sure. But it was just I felt I had to release it somewhere. So then after that, the school said that they couldn't meet Patrick or Angelo's needs when he was ready to start nursery. We were going as a family to see a therapist. She couldn't come to a meeting that we were having at the school. So she submitted a report. And in the report, after Angelo had been diagnosed at the age of three with autism,

because I've been reading about autism and what it was all about, various different forms that he can take. On the very top of the report, it said Patrick was diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome in 1994. And then I remember the head teacher and the people that were in the room with us, together with my husband, said, Mrs. Kennedy, why didn't you tell us?

And I just said, because I've just found out now the same time as you. Wow, that must have been really tough on you. How did you handle it? I remember, couldn't concentrate on the rest of the meeting. just felt like a rush of blood had gone to my head. And then I was thinking I have two children who are now autistic. I have no support system. What does this actually mean? Because when Angelo was diagnosed, no one actually sat down with me and said, this is what autism is. This is what we can do. When I started to do a bit of research, I remember there was about 17 different

ways that you could work with children who were autistic. And I thought, how do I know, which is the right way forward for both my sons. That's the big question I hear from everyone when they first find out about a child this autistic is, what do I do and how do I help them? So what was your game plan from there? Again, feeling very, very isolated. Then I bumped into a parent when I was shopping and she was having a difficult time with her son.

I think he was about three or four at the time. And I just sort of recognized the behaviors. So I went up to her and I said, can I do anything to help you? I had Patrick and Angela with me at the same. time and then she told me about her son and that's how we became friends. We felt very isolated because at the time as well I was told by the local authority of where I lived that my two sons were the only two boys in Hillingdon where I lived that had autism, which obviously later down the line I found out that that was not true. Right. So I didn't have a school for my boys to go to.

Wow. So what happened from there? I bumped into other parents and then I put an article in the newspaper where I'm still friends with a reporter, all those years down the line. And I said there must be other parents that have children like our children. So then 275 families wrote back to us to say that their children were autistic or their adults were autistic or they were in the mental health unit or whatever it may be. So what happened from there? So we decided to set up a group and we did at the church hall. Okay. It was a Catholic church hall near where we lived.

First of all, there was a small group in the lounge where I lived at home. How did that go? just people meeting up having a cup of tea and a chat type of thing and then we had the floor where we used to meet once in the afternoon, once a month, and then once in the evening for people who couldn't get there in the afternoon. So the group quickly grew. Parents like me, kids out of school, no schools for them to go to,

or again, adult that were in mental health unit or they were at home. So then we found out of our school that they were going to knock down until 37 apartments. And when I went to visit it, I didn't actually realize how close it was to where I live. was very overgrown because they were going to knock everything down and build housing. Right. So I went to have a look. Basically, found out it was a school that was for children that had physical disabilities. The doors were not wide enough for the wheelchairs to get through.

So they decided to knock the building down. And then I thought this would be ideal school for children who were autistic. There's nowhere else for them to go. Wow. So to cut a long story short, we campaigned. They've got parents together and they leased the school to us. for 30 years. That is just so great.

My boys went there and the school's still going. I don't work with the school now, but I was a director for about 13 years there. Then I decided I wanted to set up the charity because parents are still right to me as I was all those years ago trying to get a diagnosis. Okay. Trying to find the right school. What happens when they get to 18? Right.

You know, there's nothing out there. So decided that I wanted to set up a charity to support parents. That's great. Yeah, so that's a little snapshot really. There's so much more to it than that. That's just so great how this all fell together for you. So how old are your sons now? Yeah, my eldest son Patrick's 33. He has a full-time job. He works at Pinewood Studios. He's enjoying his job. He's been there for five years. He's just moved into his own lap just over a year ago. Nice. Then my youngest son, Angelo, is always going to need one-to-one support the rest of his life.

Okay. He has minimal verbal skills. It has no sense of danger. He's still at home with me, but he goes to the college that we set up all those years ago. It's a vocational college where he's constantly working on his independent living skills, receiving speech and language therapy and occupational therapy. I'm 63 now, and I know that I'm not going to be able to keep doing what I'm doing. I'm sort of thinking about the future. Right.

Yeah, so I speak to many, many parents, whether they've got children or adults, who always think who's going to look after my loved one when I'm no longer around. and I've got a petition at the minute where I'm hoping to take it to 10 Downing Street where I've got nearly 16,000 signatures. That's outstanding. A lot of the local authorities where I live actually don't know how many parents are actually looking after their sons or daughters at home. So if they don't know, how can we put the right provision in place? Right. What you just brought up is something that comes up in just about every podcast episode I do.

parents are scared to death on what happens to their kids after they're gone. So this program you're working on now, what does that entail? So it's a petition that I have on at the moment. So basically parents are signing it or even autistic adults, you know, because they're worried also when their parents are no longer around. I've spoken to a couple of adults where, say, for example, I'll give you two examples. There's one gentleman. and both his mom and dad died, sadly.

He could not live in the home where they were living. So he ended up in a tent with his dog and it was freezing cold. And he sent me a message saying that he'd read about me helping this other gentleman in Cornwall who was a similar situation sleeping on a bench. And he just said, I'm freezing cold, I'm in a tent, I'm with a dog, I'm trying to access somewhere for me to live and what have you so. And I'm not saying that I paid for him to stay in a bed and breakfast, I just couldn't bear the thought of him because it was so cold when he messaged me,

icy cold. I paid for him to stay in a bed and breakfast. Something where he'd be warm with the dog and for a couple of weeks. And then I did a crowd funder where I asked people, would they like to help? So we managed to raise some funding for him for a few weeks. I spoke to the crisis center and various other people. And now he's living in his own place with his dog. Great story. Do you stay in contact with him?

He messages me now and again to let me know how he's getting on. And he says, if it wasn't for you, Anna. I wouldn't be around now. That's really great that he was able to help him. And there's another gentleman that messaged me. Again, his parents died, and then they moved him out of the house, but they moved him 50 miles away from where he lives. Wow.

So nowhere near where his friends are, wherever. So obviously this caused him a lot of anxiety. And these are the sort of stories that I'm hearing at the moment. And also now, because of these uncertain times, the cost cuts, everything that's going on, it seems like people with disabilities are the first to be targeted. You see where I'm coming from. Oh, absolutely. That's something I hear from so many people from all around the world.

One of the biggest things I hear from people all around the world is that people tend to, unfortunately, fall through the cracks, and because of that, they tend to be forgotten. Yes. That's where we have to get people around the world like yourself and others involved, because the biggest thing, I think, is the issue, is the understanding of autism. Most definitely. You know, there's a lot of good stuff that's going on out there. The sad thing is that a lot of the smaller charities are the ones that are closing, you know, the person that I speak to who looks after our accounts, we're a small charity. Everyone thinks we're a big charity. He said he normally looks after 40 more charities. A quarter of them now have cut to close down because they just can't keep up. So that's sad because I think that smaller charities are the backbone of the society. They're the ones that help the grassroots level and family. I agree 100%. Smaller charities are more local community charities. They know the people, they understand the cultures and everything that

goes on within their society and their community. And I think that it's just a huge, huge thing that they get supported because ultimately they're the ones that's going to do the most to help people that need the help. Yeah, if your child or your adults just been diagnosed, try and find a local support group where there's families that live close to you where you don't feel so isolated. They can speak to, share information and they know what you're going through. I always say, There's obviously a lot of positives as well, but there's also a lot of negatives. And the negatives are it's how you've got to navigate the system because it's just really hard. It can be quite complicated as well.

It's definitely not an easy journey. No, it's not. I've always been told with just about everyone that I've talked with, when they first find out that their child is autistic, they just don't know what to do. Yeah. They don't know who to see. They don't know anything really because they've never had to go through that before. Yes. It can be so overwhelming to them because they've got a young child

and they want to make sure they do everything to give that child the best possible chance that they can. Yeah, and the earlier you start working with children who are autistic, the better the outcomes. I've seen that firsthand. The early you start working with the children and the right way that's going to work for that child. Obviously, what works for one child doesn't work for another child. Then as they always say, and this is a well-known saying, if you've met one autistic person, you've met one autistic.

person. Yes, I've heard that several times. So your charity is located in London, correct? That's right. My voice, my accent is from the northeast of England because both my husband and I from the northeast, but my husband came to study at Brunel University in London. Okay. I followed him. Then we decided to stay here. So we've been here for quite some time now. So we're just on the outskirts of central London. We're sort of in greater London. It's called. So I see where you do a lot of things with your charity. Yeah. I really like what you're doing. with your charity. So I have a lot of people that listen to my podcast that are actually from the UK. So if someone needs some help, what's the first thing that you would tell them?

So first of all, I get either a contact via the telephone, so I heard it ringing just now, or they'll contact me via the charity website. Or they may, like for example, just recently, I was shortlisted for Woman of the Year on television, and I've received so many messages now from parents that saw me, identified with what I was saying, you know, how it was for me. So they contact me and I always say to them, whatever you do, never give up. As hard as it is, it's just like usually, which it shouldn't be, the parents that shout the loudest get what they want in the end. Arm yourself with information. And if somebody tells you know, find someone who's going to say yes.

Yeah, yeah, that's a great, great thing to say because people feel overwhelmed and they feel like it's them against the world and it shouldn't feel that way. it should be a situation of where they look at them and say, okay, we need to do this, this, this, this. And then they help them and guide them. Yeah. And also make sure that where you do go for help that, you know, they are known for supporting families because I'm sad to say that there are a lot of, how can I say, with everything going on in the world at the minute, social media, if you contact someone via social

media, social media, social media can be a really positive thing, but it also can be a really negative thing. Yes. And there are people out there that want to make money out of families. Yes. You know, that are autistic, but how can I say it, not in a good way, or there's a lot of toxic people out there. I'm coming across some now at the moment. For me, I always say there's enough autism to go around for everybody.

Very true. It's like, if you don't like what somebody's doing, go to someone who you feel that can support you, that you can identify with. You know, it's just like, just be careful because there's a lot of people are out there not for the right reason. Absolutely. And I'm discovering this more and more, and I discovered it last week. I'm discovering it again today and many families of contact me. I just had a call today from Ireland as well from a lady that was telling me about what's happened to her. It's very, very sad because the world is hard enough as it is without people making it harder.

It's really sad because you're talking with people, you know, in this particular case, you're talking with people that are having a tough time with their children, adapting, bullying, all these different things. And that's where they need the support and their help. and for some charity or so-called charity, go out there and take some money or do this or that, and then ultimately the people that need to help get pushed aside and don't get any help, that's just not right. No, not at all.

And there's a lot of scamming and all sorts going on at the moment. So you just need to be very careful. Don't always trust everybody. Yeah, it's just, it's hard. It's hard. But, hey, I always go with my gut instincts. I find it serves me well. Yeah, me, me too, me too.

So now you've been designated OBE in England. Can you tell everybody what that is? And that was in 2012. It's Order of the British Empire. I was recognised by the Majesty, the Queen, and sadly died. And I was given an OBE by the Queen for the work that I've been doing with special educational needs with the charity. It was a very special occasion. I took my mom and my mother along with me.

It was just quite surreal. At that time as well, there was a couple of people that I recognized sort of. well known that were received in a CBE and OBE, but I also met so many inspiring people there. Again, as I say, it was quite surreal in Buckingham Palace. I met the Queen. She was talking to me about my sons, about what I achieved. And then I always remember I was there in the morning driving into Buckingham Palace. And then in the afternoon, I went home.

And not to be crude, the toilet was blocked and I was unblocking the toilet. And I was just thinking, what minute I'm meeting the Queen? Then the next minute I'm doing stuff at home. You know, it's just like back on the ground. feet on the ground. It's just, this is, you know, this is life. It is. And that's the great thing. I can relate to that so much. I've done so many things here in the States with the music business, things where I've been around stars and celebrities and everything. Very next day, I'm back doing my normal everyday thing. But that's good because the one good part about that is you got

recognized for what you're doing and continue to do. Yes. And then the next day or the next afternoon or the same afternoon, you're back to feet on the ground, doing what you need to do, keeping it real. And that's what it takes. You have to get the recognition for what you're doing, but you also have to take and be able to realize that something that's special. But now, the reason why I got this is helping people. And that's what you do. That's great. That's right.

And it also, it's great. You know, it's lovely to receive these, you know, awards and to have this experience. but it also can maybe open a few doors for you that were not open to you before. Right. So, you know, to be able to go forward to do whatever it is that, you know, you're trying to which in. Absolutely, absolutely. So what are some of the things you're hoping to do here in the future with your charity? Here in America, AGT means America's got talent.

Over in London, it means autism's got talent. So I think that's a great thing you're doing. What are some of the other things that you do locally there? So Odson's Got Talent is the highlight of the charity year. We've been doing it for 13 years now. And if anyone's listening out there, it's open to people in the US as well. We've had people from the US that have performed. So basically just send in your entry, whether you're a singer, a dancer, a musician, a comedian, a poet, whatever it is that you do as young as five and as old as 100 if you want to be.

Sending your auditions and the closing date is May 24th. So check out the charity website and you'll see a lot of the performers on there. We're just about to go into the Autism Hero Awards where we celebrate people that go the extra mile. It could be a parent, a carer, a professional, a reporter that writes particularly well, you know, articles about autism. People that support the autism community. So that's something else I've been doing that for five years. We do the autism export at Brunel University where parents come along. They can listen to speakers or they can have advice at the clinic.

So my husband can give legal, free legal advice, or you can ask advice about behavior management or occupational therapy or it may be speech and language therapy. And then also we have stands there where parents are. A lot of them are parents who've had to give up their job because of what's been going on with their child. So they've set a stand where they sell resources. It could be books. It could be fidget toys. It could be whatever sensory blankets. It's just something they've had to do to set up their business so that they can obviously live.

But even though, and then look after that's another dot. We do free workshops online. We have an awesome consultant, Paul, that does workshops. My husband does legal workshops. We do benefit workshops. So that's something else we do. A Christmas patron and ambassador to quite a few charities. So we're having a Christmas fun day where we donate selection chocolates.

We have selection boxes in America, like lots of different chocolates in a box. Oh, yes, we certainly do. We love them. Yeah. So we give those out for free. And so that's a lovely event that we do. I get involved in with me being patron and ambassador to other charities. They ask me to do events for them.

ambassadors to a lovely charity called Camp Movox where they've got this piece of land. It's amazing. It's like an amazing forest trail and they've got all these different activities and families go together with siblings so that they can enjoy something together. Sometimes it's difficult to go out as a family

when you've got an autistic child or adult and the siblings because it doesn't always accommodate everybody. But Camp Movork is amazing place. I've been there quite a few times now and you can see families and they're expanding all the time. Daisy Chain is another charity I'm ambassador to war in the Northeast. That was set up by a parent and mom. Sadly, you didn't see it come to fruition because she died of cancer,

but that is just growing and growing and growing. They do so much and I love going to visit there. Various of the charities. And so I get invited to do lots of different things. So could you come and speak or recently did a talk for her parents or could you officially open something or whatever it may be? And I always like to see what's going on as well within the autism community. Well, it keeps you in touch with everything and keeps you abreast of everything that's happening

and with so many people that need help and do contact you, like you said, everybody's different, everybody has different needs. So if somebody calls you and then you met someone or you know someone that's good that can help them, you can direct them in a place that's going to make their life a little easier, which is a whole part of making this happen. And sometimes just listening to someone where they've tried to speak to other people that, you know, haven't had children or adults or autistic. and then they talk to you and then they share something with you.

And I said, oh, that's happened to me. And they go, really? And I go, yes. And then they think, because they think it's only them or they're doing something wrong. But when you, you know, say, yeah, that's happened to me. Or I've tried this. How about trying this? And it's just about, and sometimes, for example, I have a young man who rings me,

and I'm sort of every couple of weeks. He's autistic. And he just wants to talk to me about trains, like steam trains. That's his passion. So I just listen to him. I don't really say that much, can he always ask me, is that you, Anna? I go, yes, it is. So then he tells me what he's been up to.

And they'll go, okay, then, thank you. Well, goodbye. When I first started my podcast, I basically told everybody, just what you said, this is a platform where people can talk about what they've been through, how they adapted to it, how they change things to make life better for the kids or for themselves, if they're autistic. My goal was if listeners could hear this and realize that I've gone through that and then they all of a sudden hear something that can make a difference that they haven't thought of

that can help them, then that's a win. Definitely. It's just, it's about listening to people, giving them time, and sometimes just to get it off your chest, because sometimes they can speak to their family members and they don't really get it. And I haven't done so many families as well where they've been friends. And then once their kids have been diagnosed, they're no longer friends. Yeah, and that's sad. And I find that really sad. But hey, there's plenty of people out there that will listen to you. Absolutely. I think Facebook is quite a good, four families who are autistic, because they can share experiences with other parents. For example, it might be just a really small step for that family, but it's huge. If they say it to somebody else, they won't really get it. But if you

share it with someone and just say, oh, Johnny went to the toilet today for the first time, you know, he's never done that before. He's 10 years old or whatever it is. But that's like a big milestone in that family's legal life. And to somebody else, it's just like, so what, you went to the toilet? I agree 100%. I've talked with so many different people and learned so much and hopefully people are getting a better understanding about what autism is and how to handle it. The one thing that I feel that was lacking in autism awareness and acceptance is they left out the word understanding, which is the biggest thing I think that needs to be done. Definitely, most definitely. And it's also like, don't criticize people if they try various different ways or therapies or whatever it may be, as long as it's not going to harm the child. Right. But sometimes some people say, no, you can't do that. And it's just like, you do whatever it is that you want to try with your child as long as it's not invasive. But let people try.

They have to try various different things to see what works for that child or for that adult or find out what the triggers are for certain things. Or whatever it is that you're trying to achieve. It's just like, for me, it's just like, please don't crystallize them. It's hard enough as it is. They're just trying something that they feel may work for their child. And it's just, there's a lot of people. that are just very righteous. Oh, you shouldn't be doing this,

just shouldn't be doing that. And it's just like, I'm trying. Right, exactly. It's a hit and miss. Some work, I don't. But until you try something, you don't know if it's going to work or not for your child. Definitely.

So, and you know your child because you're living with your child 24-7. Obviously, Angela, it's difficult because he's got renewable verbal skills, so it's a bit of a guessing game sometimes. But if you have a child that's very articulate, listen to what they're saying. And sometimes you can just unpick what it is that's bothering them. And you'll find out what the trend is or what. whatever it is that's, you know, just make little notes and just sit, oh,

it seems that he's upset on a Tuesday at 6 o'clock or a 3 o'clock or whatever it is, and then you'll find what the trigger is that might be upsetting her or him. There's various different ways of doing things. We're always speaking to other parents. They can suggest stuff as well. Yeah. So how do people get in contact with you if they need you in your areas? So we have a charity website and it's open to anyone.

So it's www. Anna Kennedy online.com. If you've got any useful resources that you feel you might like to share with us, we have a resources page. I'm not precious about, you know, I'll have a look at it.

And if I think, yeah, that's some good information. I'll put that on the website. If people want to write articles, I'm quite happy for that. Again, I'll just have a look at it to make sure it's okay.

And then I'm happy to put articles on the charity website, whether you're autistic, whether you're a professional, whether you're a caring, nice to hear from siblings as well, you know, because obviously sometimes they feel they have to step back a bit because of their parents having a lot on their plate, as they say in this country.

So I'm always interested to listen to what people have got to say. I had a lady on my podcast about a month or so ago. She wrote a book about living and growing up with her three autistic brothers. There's a lot more than just the autistic people that people have to think about. Sometimes it's their sisters or brothers that are neurotypical that have to deal with it as well. Yeah, most definitely. And it's like myself, you know, my husband's autistic, my two sons are autistic.

And I feel as a, sometimes I felt like it could be quite lonely sometimes to be in a house with autistic people because they've all got their various different interests. But also I've learned that I had to fight my corner in that house, you know what I mean? Yeah. So to be bettered. But it's given me strength that I didn't know I had.

It's given me drive that I didn't know I had, given me passion and enthusiasm that I didn't know I had. And as they always say, some day's good, some day's not so good. Sure. And it's truly amazing what you've done with your charities and with everything that you're doing. This has been a really great conversation. What would you like to leave people with for your final thoughts?

Final thoughts is it's a tough journey as a parent or a carer. And as I always say, speak up, arm yourself with information. Put your body armor on when you know, if you're fighting for a provision or whatever it may be for your child. Don't let it get to you too much because obviously you're dealing with an awful lot of things. And that's my say, somebody's good, some days not so good and never give up. There's always a solution to something. They just, but you'll find it. Exactly, exactly.

Well, I really appreciate you coming on. This has been tremendous. Well, thank you, Tony. Thank you for your time as well. And thank you for speaking on Women's Radio, too. Oh, yeah, I really enjoyed that. And I got a lot of good feedback from it. Yeah, lovely.

Thank you. And keep doing what you doing. All right, thanks. I appreciate it. Thanks for taking the time out of your busy schedule to listen to our show day. We hope that you enjoyed it as much as we enjoyed bringing it to you. If you know anyone that would like to tell us their story, send them to tonymentor.com. Contact, then they can give us their information so one day they may be a guest on our show.

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