Autism Changemakers Podcast

Autism Changemakers is the podcast for parents of nonspeaking autistic kids who are done feeling isolated and dismissed. Hosted by Sara Intonato—parent coach, consultant, and mom to a nonspeaking child—you’ll find real tools, real connection, and real hope. We presume competence, honor brilliance, and create a community where parents lead the quiet revolution for change. https://www.autismchangemakers.com

Autism Changemakers Podcast is a kids podcast hosted by Sara Intonato, with 27 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Sara Intonato hosts Autism Changemakers Podcast, a kids show with 27 episodes published.

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  Episode #27

  Picky Eating and Autism: Real Food, Real Results With Betsy Hicks Russ

  Aug 17, 20261 hourS1

  If food has felt like a battlefield in your home, this episode of the Autism Changemakers Podcast is going to feel like someone finally turned the lights on. I invited my dear friend and fellow autism parent Betsy Hicks Russ to join me for this conversation. Betsy has 30 years of experience working with picky eaters, is a podcaster on the Telepathy Tapes Now What series, and is also the mom of Joe, an open speller you may already know from her social media page. She is someone I deeply respect, not just as a professional but as a parent who has lived this. We did not hold back. In this episode we talk about: Why real food is one of the simplest and most powerful things you can do for a non-speaking autistic child, and why feeding an already agitated nervous system with processed food is making everything harder. The history of how the food industry got us here, and why what your parents ate and what you ate as a child is genuinely not what is on the shelves today. Why you cannot presume your child's intelligence in the spelling room and then eat junk in front of them and expect them not to notice. They are watching everything. What ARFID actually is, why no one is talking about root causes, and why putting band-aids over bullet holes will never get you the progress you are looking for. Why mixed messages, whether about food, sleep, or screen time, are quietly making your child's nervous system harder to regulate, and what it looks like to finally get consistent. Why some children, like Rocco, are Ferraris. They require the best possible fuel, but when you give it to them, they outperform everything. And why that level of care is not a burden. It is a privilege. Stop overthinking it. Keep it simple. Real food, consistent habits, and the courage to take your power back today, not when everything is perfect. Connect with Betsy at betsyonthego.com for her food subscription and resources, and find her on Instagram at @betsyonthego . If this resonated, come find me, Sara Intonato, on Instagram @sara.intonato or learn more about Autism Changemakers at autismchangemakers.com. Support the show

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  Episode #25

  Interoception and Non-Speaking Autism: What Parents Need to Know | Daria Kotenko, Spelling the T on Autism

  Jul 20, 202657 minS1

  If you're parenting a non-speaking autistic child and you've never heard the word interoception before, this episode of the Autism Changemakers Podcast is where to start. I sat down with Daria Kotenko, mom to nine-year-old open speller Raphael and creator of Spelling the Tea on Autism, to talk about something that doesn't get nearly enough attention in our world: the inner body experience of non-speakers, and why parent regulation is not optional if you want to support it. Interoception is the ability to feel what's happening inside your own body. Hunger. Thirst. Digestion. Tension. It is something many non-speaking autistic children struggle with deeply, and it affects everything from motor planning to sensory regulation to their ability to spell. What Daria and I explored together is how much of this work starts with us as parents, not with our children. In this episode we talk about: What interoception is and why it is one of the most important things parents of non-speaking autistic children need to understand right now. Why your child's ability to connect to their body and develop better motor planning and regulation is directly tied to how regulated you are as their parent. Why you cannot fake calm around a non-speaking child, because they are perceptive enough to feel your state of stress or steadiness whether you say a word about it or not. What it actually means to presume competence when it comes to the body, and why believing this work is possible is where it all begins. What Daria and Raphael have built together as true partners in sharing their story, and what open spellers are telling us about what they need from the people around them. You cannot pour from an empty nervous system. And your child is already feeling everything you carry. Connect with Daria and Raphael at spellingtheteaonautism.com , on Instagram @spelling_the_tea_on_autism , or on Substack at spellingthetea.substack.com . If this resonated, come find me, Sara Intonato, on Instagram @sara.intonato or learn more about Autism Changemakers at autismchangemakers.com . Support the show

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  Episode #22

  Autism Dad Support: Why Fathers of Non-Speaking Kids Need Community Too | Dr. Jonathan Chism, Autism Dads Social Club

  Jun 8, 202639 minS1

  <p> If you're a dad of a non-speaking autistic child who's been quietly carrying this alone — or a mom who wishes the dad in your child's life had more support — this episode is for you. </p><p>I invited Dr. Jonathan Chism, co-founder and president of the Autism Dads Social Club, to come on the Autism Changemakers Podcast and talk about something deeply underserved in our world: the experience of fathers. Jonathan is a professor of history at the University of Houston, an ordained minister, and a dad to a non-speaking son. He built the Autism Dads Social Club from scratc...

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  Episode #21

  The Magic Bullet for Non-Speaking Autism Progress? It's Consistency

  May 25, 202617 minS1

  <p> If you've ever asked another autism parent — what's the one thing that made the biggest difference for your child? — this episode is my honest answer. </p><p>People ask me all the time: Sara, what's the thing that transformed Rocco's journey? What's the magic bullet? </p><p>And I tell them: consistency. </p><p>Sometimes they're relieved. Sometimes they're disappointed. Because we live in a world of Amazon Prime mentality — where we expect results fast, and when they don't come, we quietly start to wonder if we should just stop. </p><p>But consistency looks like nothing is changing — until suddenl...

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  Episode #20

  Non-Speaking Autism Parents: Stuck Between the System and Self-Trust

  May 11, 202615 minS1

  <p> If you're parenting a non-speaking autistic child, there's a space you might be in right now that almost nobody is talking about. </p><p>You don't trust the system anymore. You've seen the gaps. You've watched experts underestimate your child and hand you a piece of paper that looks nothing like the child you know. </p><p>But you haven't fully stepped into trusting yourself yet either. </p><p>So you get stuck in a loop. You feel a deep knowing — and then you hesitate. You look for someone to confirm it. You get mixed answers. And you come back t...

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