Finding Common Ground

Many families feel like they're treading water, especially those living with autism and other developmental differences. As your hosts, we get it, and we know this frustration all too well. In response, we've created tried-and-true strategies that help everyday people achieve extraordinary things. Even those who might have doubted themselves can borrow our confidence, follow one of our "blueprints," and with a supportive community cheering them on, make the impossible happen. Each success inspires those coming up behind us, creating a ripple effect of positive change—Which is why we'll never run out of content!Our podcast tackles tough issues head-on with unfiltered conversations focused on solutions. We won't avoid "the elephant in the room"—in fact, we'll invite it to dinner! Our unique format appeals to people from across the globe, offering strategies that turn efforts for one into advocacy for the greater good. We breakdown topics like innovative h

Finding Common Ground is a health podcast hosted by Unknown Host, with 61 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.

Unknown Host hosts Finding Common Ground, a health show with 61 episodes published.

Our AI reads these to draft pitches. Use them as grounding for a pitch that cites a real guest and a specific topic.

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  Episode #160

  Beyond the Spectrum: Profound Autism and Advocacy with Tyler Hudson and Jillian Eisloeffel

  Jul 10, 202655 minS4

  What happens when the autism your family lives with doesn't look anything like what society imagines? In this episode of Finding Common Ground: Dadability, Steve sits down with Tyler Hudson and Jillian Eisloeffel, two parents raising sons with profound autism, to talk honestly about the reality behind the headlines. Tyler, dad to 18-year-old Lyric in Tasmania, Australia, and Jillian, mom to 11-year-old Bob in New York's Hudson Valley and vice chair of the National Council on Severe Autism for New York, share what daily life actually looks like: self-injurious behavior, services that fall through the cracks, and a school and disability system that too often has no place for the kids who need it most. Together with Steve, whose own family includes children on the spectrum, they open up about the unspoken pressures dads face, why so many fathers walk away, and why they chose to stay. It's a conversation about grief, hope, advocacy, and love, and about what it really takes to build a life for a child the world doesn't quite know how to see. Tyler also previews his upcoming book, The Missing Lyrics, out July 15th. This is a raw, unfiltered look at profound autism, autism advocacy, and special needs parenting from two voices who refuse to stay quiet. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/finding-common-ground--6199849/support . Recorded at ROC Vox Recording & Production Studios in Rochester, NY. Learn more at rocvox.com .

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  Episode #159

  Representation, Inclusion, and Belonging: with Autistic Youth International Founder Rebecca Tarrant

  Jun 22, 202637 minS5

  Steve sits down with Rebecca Tarrant, founder of Autistic Youth International and the US coordinator for Neurodiversity Pride Day. Based in Charlotte, North Carolina, Rebecca is a law-school graduate, an autistic advocate, and a mom to Jackson, a level-three non-speaking autistic child whose diagnosis set her on an entirely new path. In this conversation, Rebecca and Steve explore what true inclusion looks like for neurodivergent and disabled children and young adults. They talk about inclusive book drives, sensory-friendly festivals designed from the ground up, the dangers of deficit-based thinking, and why over-medication of misdiagnosed autistic kids is a crisis hiding in plain sight. Rebecca shares why strengths-based approaches and lived autistic experience in leadership make all the difference, and why every child deserves more than just an hour at the party. From Charlotte to Uganda, Autistic Youth International is building a more neuro-affirming world, one book, one festival, and one community at a time. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/finding-common-ground--6199849/support . Recorded at ROC Vox Recording & Production Studios in Rochester, NY. Learn more at rocvox.com .

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  Episode #157

  Garbage Bags to Graduate School: From Invisible to Unstoppable

  May 7, 202645 minS5

  If foster care is supposed to make children feel safe, why do so many still feel unseen, unheard, as they’re shuffled from home to home? Beth LaFontaine knows that answer, not from theory, but from lived experience. She moved through 19 foster placements, carried her belongings in garbage bags, and learned early that survival often meant staying quiet, guarded, and unseen. But her story doesn’t stay there. In this conversation, Beth shares what it actually feels like inside the foster care system, the grief that follows you, the moments that shape you, and the people who can change everything simply by choosing to see you. “I wasn’t just a behavior. I was a child who needed to be understood.” “We don’t need better suitcases. We need better systems.” “There is so much grief, and not enough space to name it.” You’ll hear about the quiet power of one teacher who saw beyond the chaos, the long shadow of broken trust, and why so many well-intended systems miss what matters most. But this isn’t just a story about what’s broken. It’s about what’s possible. From high school dropout to licensed clinical social worker, from surviving the system to working to change it, Beth is now helping bring voices together, foster youth, caregivers, and professionals, to build something better. There’s honesty here. There’s hard truth. And there’s hope. Because being seen can change everything. Please visit https://FCGadvocacy.org to learn more about the solutions we are working on! The Foster Care Collective is one of areas of focus and information will be updated on our homepage as we continue this important initiative. Also check out our stories of success and some of the ways we can help you move the needle on what matters most to you. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/finding-common-ground--6199849/support . Recorded at ROC Vox Recording & Production Studios in Rochester, NY. Learn more at rocvox.com .

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  Episode #156

  What does it really look like from inside the foster care system?

  Apr 17, 202639 minS5

  In this episode of Finding Common Ground, we take a deep dive into foster care with Genevieve Rose Traversy, a Foster Care Recruiter with Lutheran Services Carolinas. A third-generation foster child and teen mom, Genevieve could have repeated the cycle. She didn’t. We often celebrate when a child is removed from a dangerous home. But our attention can’t stop there, as if the solution is complete. As Genevieve shared, “We talk a lot about saving kids. We don’t always talk about what happens after.” For Genevieve, this isn’t theory. She lived it. “When you grow up in the system, you see the gaps differently, and you carry them with you.” Now she’s working inside the system that didn’t always meet her needs, using that perspective to create better outcomes for children today. Because “Lived experience doesn’t just give you a voice. It gives you a responsibility.” 📖 Read her story: Focus on the Family – Faces of Foster Care https://www.focusonthefamily.com/pro-life/faces-of-foster-care/ 🔗 Connect with Genevieve: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@genevieverosetraversy Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/genevieverosetraversy LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/genevieve-traversy/ #FindingCommonGround, #PodcastWithPurpose, #ChangingTheWayAdvocacysDone, #EmpowermentAdvocacy, #UnfilteredConversations, #FocusedOnSolutions, #InviteTheElephantToDinner, #FosterCare, #FosterCareAwareness, #FosterCareSystem, #ChildWelfare, #ChildAdvocacy, #TraumaInformed, #TraumaInformedCare, #LivedExperience, #BreakTheCycle, #CycleBreaker, #VoicesThatMatter, #YouthInCare, #FormerFosterYouth, #FosterCareJourney, #SocialImpact, #AdvocateForChildren, #SupportFosterYouth Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/finding-common-ground--6199849/support . Recorded at ROC Vox Recording & Production Studios in Rochester, NY. Learn more at rocvox.com .

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  Episode #155

  When Intense Supports Are So Heavy, How Do You Not Sink?

  Apr 11, 202642 minS4

  What happens when exhaustion turns into something darker than burnout, when a parent begins having thoughts they never imagined they’d think? In this raw, unflinching conversation with Jillian Eisloeffel, the mom behind Bobby’s World, we go beyond surface-level stories of resilience and into the reality most people never say out loud. Jillian shares what it’s like to raise a child with profound needs inside a system that was supposed to help, but instead leaves families isolated, misunderstood, and fighting to stay afloat. This episode strips away the platitudes and faces the truth of parenting in survival mode: The moments you feel yourself disappearing inside your own life The kind of exhaustion no amount of sleep fixes The silence that surrounds families when the system gets it wrong Even when you understand that behavior is information, someone still has to decode it. And more often than not, that someone is the parent, carrying it 24/7 while the system struggles to keep up. Through connection, honesty, and one mother’s refusal to keep pretending, Jillian found a path back, first to herself, then to others walking the same invisible line. Today, she’s helping lead the National Council on Severe Autism in New York State, giving voice to families who have been living this reality in the dark for far too long. This isn’t an episode about hope that glosses over pain. It’s about finding language for what you’ve been feeling, and realizing you are not alone. If you’ve ever sat in the quiet and wondered how much more you can carry, this conversation is where you’ll finally hear someone say it out loud. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/finding-common-ground--6199849/support . Recorded at ROC Vox Recording & Production Studios in Rochester, NY. Learn more at rocvox.com .

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