- Todd speaks with Sue Jewel, the mother of two young women on the spectrum and an autism educator, who shares how meaningful communication with her daughters came after almost losing one of them.
- While getting things organized in her basement, Sue Jewel came upstairs to get a drink of water and found one of her daughters, Emily, turning blue as she choked on a peach pit. Sue was able to rescue her, but remained haunted that Emily's autism and communication struggles kept her from seeking her mother, even when her life was in danger. This realization, along with the life experiences that come from raising two women with autism, put her in a mindset of finding connection with her daughters. The connections are profound, but not obvious to many. Julia, her older daughter, is an artist with an obsessive streak that can make Emily run out of the house naked and terrified to avoid potential conflict. Sue also hustled to breathe life into her own business which she chose to sell so she could attend to her young autistic daughters. She then found a new personal and professional identity at the Autism Project of Rhode Island, where she teamed up with other strong mothers and clinicians mobilized around appropriate autism care for their community and strong support for families. Sue readily admits the concept of being selfless for her family came only with the absolute necessity of giving up many things she considered valuable to be with her children profound needs. Along with many other attributes, Todd has admired Sue's ability to navigate and negotiate life with her ex-husband, and his wife, as they work to keep Emily and Julia afloat.—Todd Peter Levine
- Peach pits and fairy dust have been key ingredients for Sue Jewel, who is raising two daughters with autism. A peach pit almost killed one of her daughters and she sprinkles fairy dust over her family as tensions inevitably run high. Hear how Sue deals with losses and finds growth in s1. E9. N9. of the Otherness Podcast titled Darkness Finds You In Autism. A Mother's Losses and Gains.
Todd sits down with Sue Jewel, who has two daughters with autism, to share feelings of fear and endurance as she deals with nearly losing one of her daughters and keeping her family together through it all.
When Todd lived and worked in Rhode Island, he was introduced to the moms of the Autism Project. Sue Jewel, a member of the organization who reminds everyone it is not simply a "mom's group", came to Todd with two daughters with autism who were both struggling with different repetitive styles. Julia, a prolific artist, would hyper-focus on finding one of her thousands of drawings that she kept in a bag, but not be able to say exactly what she was looking for. While Sue frantically looked for one of the drawings to prevent a meltdown, Emily (her younger daughter) would then grab Sue with terror and try to flee the house, sometimes naked. Emily would get aggressive whenever she heard someone cough or clear their throat, following an episode where Emily almost choked to death on a peach pit. Sue started off life married without children for 8 years, hustling to build a business she could sustain before having children.
After having 2 daughters with autism, the business was sold and her marriage ended. Holding the household together as a single mom was fortified by her new professional identity as an educator at the Autism Project, as well as life-long friendships that were forged with other mothers affected by autism. Sue has defined family in a new and different way, with her ex-husband and her new husband, as she learned endurance, flexibility, and a gentler way of understanding anger as fear.
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What is the Spanish language plot outline for Darkness finds you in autism. A mothers losses and gains. (2021)?
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