What is Functional Neurology and how does it apply to autism and other neurodivergence?

On this week’s episode, Dr. Brandon Crawford discusses his journey into functional neurology, emphasizing the importance of understanding neurodivergence, particularly in children with autism. He explains how sensory processing affects motor skills and cognition, and how neuroplasticity can be harnessed to create positive changes in the brain. We all agree that tailored treatment plans for our kids is so important, along with our role as caregivers in supporting our neurodivergent children.

Website: https://www.drbrandoncrawford.com/

Social Media: https://www.instagram.com/bcrawforddc/

Dr. Crawford’s podcast: https://www.drbrandoncrawford.com/podcast/the-longevity-formula

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Functional Neurology and Dr. Crawford

10:41 Understanding Neurodivergence and Autism

20:53 The Role of Sensory Processing in Neurodivergent Children

29:11 Neuroplasticity and Treatment Plans for Autism

31:10 Understanding Brain Function and Neuroplasticity

34:14 The Role of Care Plans in Autism Treatment

37:30 The Importance of Caregiver Well-being

40:36 Self-Care Strategies for Caregivers

44:46 The Impact of Light on Neurochemistry

51:01 Grounding and Its Benefits

55:39 Grounding Techniques and Cold Plunge Benefits

58:44 Managing Stress and Cold Exposure

01:01:05 Post-Cold Plunge Recovery Strategies

01:05:06 Starting Small: The Importance of Gradual Change

01:11:58 Never Accept Never: A Call to Action for Caregivers

It’s a new year and exciting new content for Moms Talk Autism! This is going to be a big year for our families as some of our kids transition from elementary to middle school. Scary, exciting, and most likely a few bumps along the way.

Big changes for the podcast as well: a brand new merch collection is almost ready. We are NOW also offering ad-free VIDEO recordings of every episode via Patreon! We can’t wait to connect with you on this platform! We can comment along with you and create chats.. Come and join the fun!!! You can find us HERE on Patreon!

Exciting collaborations, professionals, guests, community member interviews, guest hosts, and new topics coming our way this year. As always, we’ll have honest, real conversations about caregiving and disability. Connecting, commiserating, crying, and laughing at ourselves are all included, we wouldn’t have it any other way. Thanks for being here.

You don’t want to miss our last segment on this episode. We read some of your funniest “I’m That Mom” story submissions. Send us more, they are our favorite emails!

An autism diagnosis can be life-changing for your child. It can also greatly impact your family and what the future holds for family planning. In this episode, we tell our personal stories of when we decided to have or not have more children after diagnosis. It's a very personal decision and we hope hearing our stories will help you along your family's autism journey.

Instagram: @momstalkautism

Email: hello@momstalkautism.com

Today we had the opportunity to sit down with Katja Piscitelli and chat all things gestalt language processing! Katja, also known as @BohoSpeechie on Instagram, is a pediatric speech-language pathologist. She owns her own practice called Total Spectrum Speech. We talked about what gestalt language processing even MEANS, how it applies to our kiddos, and ways that we as parents, teachers, and providers can help our exceptional children. This was such a great episode and we are so excited to share it with you! If you don't already follow Katja on IG, be sure you go find her! Her content is so helpful!

In addition, we mentioned a few apps: TD Snap, Proloquo2go, Touch Chat, and Nova Chat.

We also mentioned a few other notable items/people/websites:

Katja Piscitelli - www.totalspectrumtherapy.org - @bohospeechie

Marg Blanc - www.communicationdevelopmentcenter.com

Lisa Baskin Wright (@lisabaskinwright)

Meaningful Speech (@meaningfulspeech) - Meaningful Speech Course

You have a limited offer you can use now for Magic Mind, that gets you up to 48% off your first subscription or 20% off one-time purchases with code MOMSTALKK20 at checkout!

You can claim it at: https://www.magicmind.com/MOMSTALKK20

Take a walk with us back through our 2024 year, what a ride! We talk about our favorite kid/family moments, along with some funny stories that have happened to us lately. We just all hope the giant fish at Bass Pro Shop are okay. If you’re looking to listen to some of our older episodes, we each give our recommendations from this past year, highlighting some of our favorite guests of 2024.

Happy holidays and onto a new year! We’ve got some fun guests, topics, and more ways to connect with us in 2025. Let’s go!

It’s so easy to spiral down in the “what if” game and second-guess ourselves. When it comes to our exceptional children and their care, it can feel even more stressful, like if you screw up this one therapy, medication, opportunity, etc then I’ve failed as a parent.

We are here to tell you that’s NOT TRUE!

Today we look back and discuss what we wish we would have known. If you don’t remember anything else from this episode, remember Shannon’s advice: NEVER SAY NEVER. Because, if you do, you will definitely “never” sooner than you think. 😉

Instagram: @momstalkautism
Email: hello@momstalkautism.com
brittney@momstalkautism.com
jean@momstalkautism.com
shannon@momstalkautism.com
tash@momstalkautism.com

Today Brittney shares her personal journey through the legal process of establishing conservatorship for Austin. We also discuss parents' emotional and logistical challenges, the necessary legal documentation, and the court proceedings involved. Brit also shares insights about the courtroom experience, the emotional weight of legal decisions, and the responsibilities of being a conservator.

Tash, Britt, and Shannon ask each other the tough questions today. Actually, we all came up with some funny scenarios, laughed, and got to know each other a little better. We all need a break sometimes and we hope this episode can be that for you too. What would you do if you got stuck in an elevator with your besties? Hopefully not what Tash does!