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A
Welcome. It is our hundredth episode of the Autism Little Learners podcast. And if you're listening, you might want to hop over to YouTube after you're done because I have a confetti moment there. I can't believe that we've made it to 100 episodes. To celebrate, I'm bringing back someone special, my husband, Jason. Many of you have messaged me saying you miss him on the podcast. So we thought what a better way to mark this milestone than with a fun Q and A session. Jason will be asking questions about how Autism Little Learners started, how the podcast has evolved, and what's coming next. And of course, we've got a special free gift at the end to celebrate this fun milestone. Let's dive in and celebrate 100 episodes together. Hi, I'm Tara and this is the Autism Little Learners Podcast. I am a speech language pathologist with a twist. I've run my own communication based classroom for over two decades and I'm so excited to share actionable tips and strategies for supporting young autistic children. My goal is to help you feel more confident and successful when teaching your autistic child or students at the early childhood level. If you are ready to learn some tried and true strategies that really work, this is the podcast for you. So let's get started. Welcome. Welcome. It is our hundredth episode for the Autism Little Learners podcast. And if you are just listening to this, you're gonna want to watch on YouTube because I just threw a little bit of confetti in the air. Let's do it again. Hundredth episode. I can't believe it. When I started this podcast In January of 2023, I had just had neck surger. I needed something to keep my mind busy and I had no idea how to podcast or what I was doing. And so it has been a learning process along the way. 100 weeks in a row, which is just absolutely mind blowing. And to celebrate, I have a couple of fun things for you today. First of all, my husband Jason is going to be joining us and many of you who are loyal listeners to the podcast, you have messaged me, you miss him, you want him back. Our goal was to do monthly Q and A episodes with Jason and we have fallen off track with that. And so maybe in 2025 we can bring that back to you. But Jason is joining us today because he is doing his own Q and A, asking about Autism Little Learners, asking about the podcast and kind of how that got going, and I don't know it. It should be a fun and interesting, like I'm winging it. I don't have answers. I don't remember all the questions he's gonna ask. So it'll be interesting. So I am gonna bring Jason on the screen and welcome him to the podcast. Hey there, Jason. Hey. How are you?
B
I'm good. I'm good. Fun. I can't believe it's 100 episodes already.
A
I know. And we've never done this on camera before. And right now, as we're recording, it's a Friday night, and it's our Friday night fun.
B
And I just learned 10 minutes ago it was on camera.
A
So here we go. We don't know what we're doing, being on camera together, but it's okay. We're just gonna go with it. And anyway, Jason probably heard me announce that it's the hundredth episode, and we have some exciting things, and near the end, Jason, do not let me forget to announce the free gift that they're gonna get for listening to.
B
Put that on me. Put it on me.
A
Okay. So Jason usually starts us out with telling us what national day it is on the day that the episode airs. So will you get us started for December 10th?
B
I will. It's, like, the greatest national day for me personally. It couldn't be. I about fell over when I saw it. It's National Lager Day, so taste a variety of cool, fermented beverages like Pilsner Doppelbock, or try brewing your own delicious beer at home and with the help of a kit. I was super shocked when I saw that. I was like, that's the best day.
A
And, you know, for me, that is, like, probably the least likely thing I would ever drink. I'm not a beer fan.
B
No.
A
Yeah. I don't know why, but I always. When people are, like, tipping back a cold beer in the summer, I always wish that I liked it, but, oh, well, you're stuck with me.
B
That's all right. I'll take it. So the other thing is the random fact, right? So here you are. What is the national animal of Scotland?
A
Scotland. I have no idea. I'm gonna guess probably something really dumb, but, like, sheep.
B
No, you pro. I have to read it here. You probably wouldn't think of a magical horned creature typically seen in a children's lunchbox, but it's true. The unicorn is the official national animal of Scotland, and our love for this famous mythological creature dates back many centuries.
A
I love that.
B
Isn't that neat?
A
Yeah. You're so Scotland. If you're listening from Scotland, let us know. That's so cool.
B
Yeah, Let us know if our Internet's wrong.
A
Over here is your official animal. A unicorn. Awesome. I love it.
B
So we're gonna start with some questions here, like the beginnings. Very beginning. So what inspired you to start Autism Little Learners? And what was your initial vision for it?
A
All right, well, I was a little nervous for these questions, but this one is easy. For several years prior to 2019, I was really thinking, oh, man, in my classroom, I was with 3 to 5 year olds, autistic kids, and I just could not find anything that was at the right level. I'd go to teachers, pay teachers, download some really cute resources, but it was not at the right level for my students, and so I had to modify everything. And everyone I talked to at that level felt the same. Like, man, if there was just something made for us. And so, like a lot of us do, I created my own materials for my classroom and for you were there even Jason, when I was like, oh, I kind of want to put some resources on teachers, pay teachers, but I don't know how to do it. And so I just waited and put it off. And then In January of 2019, my dad died. And he died from leukemia, acute myeloid leukemia. And it was caused by Agent Orange from his service in the Vietnam War. And during that time, as Jason knows, I was really, really, really struggling with grief. And I just needed something to distract me and to, like, take myself outside of that grief and focus on something else. Something, you know, not only that would help others, but help me in the classroom and just get me, my brain, thinking about something else for some portion of each day. And so I started creating those materials. I'd use them in the classroom, take some pictures, and then I figured out through Google how to upload them onto teachers pay teachers. Eventually, I found a really great mentor for that. Her name is Kasey Morris. K A Y S E Morris. I want to plug her. She's amazing. She has the CEO teacher membership, and she has an awesome podcast herself. So if you're ever looking like, hey, I want to create some things, she's the one to go to. But anyway, I started creating resources and slowly started selling them over the next year. I think I sold one product the first month, and it was $4.10 that I earned. And I was like, oh my gosh, okay, if I can, instead of going outside the home and doing a side gig like many of us teachers have to do to supplement our income, what if I could stay home? And it's kind of win win, like make stuff for my classroom, help other teachers with stuff for their classroom, and it slowly buil there. And this all started just six weeks after my dad died. And so this entire business came from my dad. I think it was handed to me and I think he has a part in it 100%.
B
And you've inherited your father's work ethic. And I mean, I've never seen anybody work harder than you.
A
Sometimes to a fault, though. I'm trying to get that under control.
B
That's why I have to go find new hobbies. You're always busy trying to help people. And that's the amazing thing, watching you do this is that you've. I've watched you help so many people at the drop of a hat. You know, you're like, oh, I gotta write a book for this. And, oh, I gotta write a book for that. And I'm like, what? What's going on? You're like, I need help. And you know, you can't always do that kind of stuff, but when you're able to, you, you know, you do what you can. And it's just, it's pretty awesome to watch that happen.
A
Oh, thank you, honey.
B
So should we move on to the. About the journey of the podcast?
A
Yeah.
B
So why did you decide to start the Autism Little Learners podcast and how has it evolved over time?
A
I think that also started with my mentor, Casey Morris. She had a great podcast and I love tuning in every week to learn things about my business. And I thought. And in addition, I was trying to listen to podcasts about autism and again, there was nothing at this three to five year old level and I didn't know anything about podcasting, but I was like, okay, somebody needs to show me the way. And I have to mention also Jenna Kutcher, she has a super wonderful course. It's short and sweet spot, step by step and to the point. She is a Minnesota girl and I took her course and it set me up exactly. You know, like I said, step by step on how to set up my own podcast. And you guys, it was really trial by fire, like, set this up and just go. And I think a lot of times when I'm worried, like, oh, I need to be perfect. I don't know how to do this. Sometimes you just have to do it messy with whatever you're doing and you figure it out along the way and you make it better along the way. And that was the podcast. But the idea was to bring information to teachers, educators, speech language pathologists, paraprofessionals at this Level of early childhood who really, really wanted and were thirsty for more information.
B
So what were your hopes when you launched the first podcast? The first episode.
A
And.
B
And how do you feel about getting 100?
A
Well, I. The first episode, I was just excited to look and see if anybody listened.
B
Yeah, I remember. I remember going to write a review right away, too.
A
Did anyone find it? Did anybody listen? And like, with everything, like with my teachers pay, teacher store, over time it grew. And, you know, podcasting, you're sitting in a room like this talking to yourself mostly, or in the last year, I've been doing a lot of interviews. But you're talking to yourself and you're hoping that it resonates with people and that it's valuable. And so that was kind of the biggest thing. I hope I'm bringing value to people and I hope that they enjoy the podcast.
B
So what moments so far, I mean, stand out to you as, like, the biggest milestones for autism little learners in the podcast? Like, what big things?
A
Well, I think hitting 100 episodes, because that really takes consistency and kind of grit to make that happen, to be consistent. And posting a new podcast episode every week, because I hear from people like, okay, on Tuesdays, I always listen on the way to school and on the way home. And to be part of someone's day like that, I think that is a really cool milestone. And then to start hearing from people, whether it's small wins or just things they've heard on the podcast, whether it's from me or through people that I've interviewed on the podcast. I've been so fortunate over the last year to interview just amazing parents, speech language pathologists, psychologists, special education teachers, some that I remember, like talking to Jesse Ginsburg. She and I discovered, oh, my gosh, we think so much alike when it comes to building connections with kids. Nicole, Casey. I try to try, try, try to keep the podcasts a half hour. Our interview lasted an hour and 20 minutes because we both are this. We have the same passion. I'm sure, like, her husband probably feels the same way as you. If I hear the term self regulation one more time. Or you just as a byproduct, you know everything there is to know about autism, or at least you're learning a lot because we're passionate. What was that?
B
Yeah, I said I learned something new every day.
A
Yeah, yeah, it's the passion, and we can't help it. And we wish we could maybe get it under control a little bit so that our spouses could hear about other things. So Jesse Ginsberg who is on the podcast. She is engaged to a speech language pathologist and he is Chris and you probably know him online as SpeechDude. And she said the amount that they talk about autism and speech and language and all of that is insane.
B
That's funny. I would wonder, like, do people, two people working in the same area, talk about it together? Like, is it as fun as talking to someone like me? I'm like, what? What's that?
A
Yeah. Yeah, Jason. It's been fun to watch him grow over the years in understanding more about special education. He understands a few acronyms, but mainly meeting former students of mine who are now in their 20s and 30s and watching him develop authentic relationships with them. It's been really cool.
B
It's been fun. You know what's been fun for me with the podcast is I, you know, do my side gig stuff outside of my regular job and I always promote you, I always promote your product. I, you know, if somebody mentions they have a toddler with autism, I always bring it up. And when I'm like, oh yeah, Autism Little Learners podcast, they're like, what? I've downloaded her stuff. I've, I've listened to that podcast. It's awesome. Like, yeah, that's my wife. That's my wife. I'm a celebrity's husband.
A
That's so funny. I love it though. I love hearing from people that, you know, maybe I meet somewhere and they know about Autism Little Learners. It blows my mind every time. But it's also really humbling and really just awesome that the word is spreading because that means more information is getting into people's hands. And that's a good thing.
B
Well, for every, we've talked about this. For every person you can reach with something that they can use as a tool. You mean, think of how many, like a para, like how many students they work with.
A
What is it?
B
I don't know, five to 10 kids per para. So one person reach can help five or 10 kids? I mean, it's, it's awesome. Just, it's, it's just awesome.
A
It's, it's really neat that you said that because I've been thinking about it a lot lately. One of my kind of business mentor, Stu McLaren, he often talks about impact and it's something I hadn't thought about, especially when I started my business. And as it grew, about a year and a half ago, I left the classroom to pursue this business full time because I was working two full time jobs and then some between school and the business and I had to make a decision. And Stu is one of the people that said, just think of how many more kids you could impact, how many more teachers you could impact with information online, doing what I'm doing versus the four walls of my classroom. And that just really kind of opened things up for me with kind of the infinite possibilities of what this business, the reach it can have, the impact things like the Preschool Autism Summit. It's not me that knows everything, but if I can be kind of a vessel through which people can hear from other professionals, parents, other perspectives in the world of early childhood preschool autism, then that is a really exciting and I'm very honored to be able to be that. That vessel, that person that can bring that together.
B
That's awesome. I mean, just watching all of that happen from the outside was so cool because it's like if I think of taking, you know, this area and moving it into something that I work in with a hobby and business stuff, it's like to think of that kind of knowledge being able to be passed out and how many people would help, it just. It's awesome. So I'm proud of you for doing that. And I think it's awesome that you had so many amazing people in that summit that really, really people loved.
A
Yeah, it was mind boggling, the number of people, and I can't wait to share with them what's in store for 2025 for the second annual summit.
B
So speaking of impact, like, what role has your audience played in shaping Autism little Learners in the podcast? Over. Let's just say the last year, the.
A
Audience has had everything to do with it because I come up with ideas and kind of places to go with trainings that I do with the podcast, you know, like material that's free, paid, whatever. It comes from the people who are listening and consuming it because I want to make what is valuable to them. Right. And so I think the podcast has helped me reach more people and then within my business, being able to provide trainings that are valuable, whether it's a webinar or people that are in my membership that get a new monthly training every month, it's from the community where everything kind of comes up, all the ideas, and I just love getting feedback from them and being able to go, okay, I can help you fulfill that need. And if I can't, I'm going to find somebody who can, because I want to give that to you.
B
That's awesome. I've watched your face when people leave a comment or a review. Do you have any kind of like, you know, favorite or just you know, story that was shared from a listener that really touched you.
A
I would say just any kind of comment review, 99.9% have been amazing. Of course you get a negative one once in a while. And I, you know, me, I try my best not to dwell on those kind of things, but, but they're inevitable when you're online. You know, none of us, I think most of us that are on Instagram and have accounts or podcasts, none of us set out to like be, have our face on there and be like the brand person. But you need to know there's a real person behind the company or, you know, the advice you're following. But I did print out one recent podcast feedback that I got from somebody and it's a little bit longer, but I wanted to share it because it came in like last week and I get comments like this or like people message me in the DMS or email me. And every time that I get something like this, it honestly almost brings tears to my eyes. Some of them do. And it makes me just feel so honored to be the position I'm in where I can have that impact or at least help guide people through tougher times or knowing where to start. Because having your child diagnosed with the autism diagnosis can be really hard. It's probably almost always really hard because parents don't know what to expect. Some know maybe what autism is, some don't. And, and I know this from being at early childhood because I was in on so many initial evaluations where we were the ones. The child didn't have a medical diagnosis yet, but we were the ones in the educational realm to give that educational label and explain to parents. And so I know that it is really hard for parents to hear sometimes, but by putting things out there, like the podcast and trainings, just to know if there's a few people that it helped through that diagnosis and like where to start. That is everything. So I'm going to read this this mom said. Tara, I feel compelled to send you a message of gratitude on this week of Thanksgiving. I have bought many of your visual supports and use them at home with my 4 year old son. And he's been learning so much through your work and your podcast. I called for an IEP meeting today and the first thing I asked for was a robust communication device. The SLP and SPED director were very resistant. She stated that he didn't show interest in the one time per week that she introduced it. I was firm in my request and they eventually agreed to get him evaluated for it. We will be on a waiting list, but nonetheless, this is a huge step. Before your podcast, I was reluctant to introduce an iPad because my son was so easily obsessed with screenshots. But you and I'm going to tell you this. This is the highlighted one for me. But you and several of the professionals you've had on the podcast helped me to understand it so much better. I watched my son climb on the kitchen counter one day, make the Alexa screen, play his favorite video, and realized, oh, my gosh, he can navigate this perfectly. Why not AAC on an iPad? I'm optimistic. This will be a huge help to them, to him. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge and experience. And I wanted to share that because, again, it's not just me. It is everyone that has been a guest or done a guest speaking engagement or part of the summit with me. Together, we're planting seeds and helping parents navigate and educators navigate some of the challenges that come along with having autistic students or an autistic child.
B
My favorite message is it's selfish. Is it Kelsey from Canada.
A
Kelsey from Canada.
B
That was my favorite message. Where's Jason?
A
I love that too. Kelsey from Canada says she'll message like, Jason hasn't been on the podcast for a while. We need to have her back on. I love it.
B
So we're gonna do a couple rapid fire questions.
A
Okay.
B
See how you do. What is your favorite episode of the podcast so far?
A
It is so hard. Obviously, I love all of the interviews that I've done because I didn't know that I would be doing so many, and now I enjoy them because there's so many names and faces that I can actually get to know because Maybe we've been DMing and that kind of thing, or commenting on Instagram and then to be able to get to talk to them and. And really get to know them. One of them that really sticks out again is Nicole Casey. She is the child led slp and she's the one that we went an hour and 20 minutes because we, we're so passionate. We're like, I know. Yes, I know. And we were telling stories. I think for me, stories really bring it home. And telling stories is a big part of me. You have heard all my stories about former students. And even when my students, like Willie come by for Halloween, then I tell that story to everybody we know. And my gosh, I just realized this is rapid fire. And here I go telling a big old story. Okay, quickly. It's Nicole Casey that stands out.
B
If you could have any guest on the podcast, who would it be?
A
Oof. I would absolutely love to talk to Barry Prizant and Carrie Ebert. They're both speech language pathologists, and they work with autistic kids. Yeah.
B
Okay. And then what? What's one thing you wish you knew before you started autism? Little learners? How many hours you'd be working?
A
Yeah, I think that's it. I think one of the biggest things would be just be open to what's coming your way. Because I had absolutely no dream or thought of leaving the classroom. I had no dream or thought of this turning into a really big business. I just thought, I'll be behind the scenes and I'll create my activities and put them on teachers, pay teachers, and no one will really see me or know me. I'm just behind the scenes. And so if someone would have prepared me for the possibility of kind of the opposite of that, it probably would have helped me move into it with a little more maybe. Grace.
B
What'S the funniest or most unexpected thing that's happened while recording a podcast?
A
Oh, okay. I, right off the bat, can think of two of them. One involves you, and one is, okay, I'll do the other one first. The first interview I did was with Rachel Maidel, and she is an amazing SLP who really focuses on aac. And at the very end, we were. All I needed to do was click, stop. Like, stop the podcast from recording. And then I was gonna say goodbye to her because we're on video, and instead, I just ended the whole thing.
B
So, like, it's not very nice, Tara.
A
No, it wasn't nice. I messaged her right away, like, oh, my gosh, I'm so sorry. I did not mean to hang up on you. I didn't mean to ghost you. I wanted to, like, say goodbye, but she understood. She was very gracious. And then the other one involves my husband, Jason. We were doing one of our podcasts together, the Q and A's, and he asked me a question, but he was not listening to my answer because then I was explaining my answer. And then I turned to him and said, you know, like, when your kids were little, did you experience that? And he goes, I wasn't listening.
B
I wasn't. I zoned out for a minute there.
A
And I have that video clip. Like, we had to cut that out, but I saved it because I was laughing. We were laughing so hard, we couldn't even get back on track for a while.
B
That's happened a couple times where we just started giggling, and it didn't stop. For a while and then we'd start and then start giggling again. One of us would break.
A
Yeah, it's typical of like a spouse not listening to the other spouse.
B
Squirrels are real and I often see them.
A
There's one now phasing off into space.
B
Yep, yep. So what are your hopes for the next 100 episodes? Are you going to get there? You're never going to miss a week again. It's amazing out missing a week. That's the demise of most podcasts is they miss one and then they do two more and then they miss three. So you've been on it every week, so 100 weeks. So what's the hopes for the next hundred?
A
Well, I want people to be able to count on me, so. And I'm also an enneagram3 and I'm type A. And so if my goal is to not miss a week, I'm not going to miss a week. But I would love to just keep interviewing people mixed in with some Q and A episodes with you so that we can answer questions from listeners and keep bringing really, really awesome people your way, whether it's a parent, an slp, a special ed teacher, bringing them onto the show so that you get all these perspectives and ideas. I want to bring more people that are in the classroom that can bring practical ideas too.
B
You're definitely type A. I'm going to share a story. At our wedding, Tara says, you know, we have vows. And I said, yeah, don't worry about it. She's like, okay. And we get up there and we had a friend of ours that married us actually. And he said, okay. Jason and I went to talk and Tara just looked at me and I'm like, I just told her I winged it. That's what I do. And then I finished up and Tara pulled out like two or three sheets of paper stapled together, double sided. And she's like, I'm type A. It was pretty funny. And there's a lot of comments that night from everybody at the wedding going, don't worry, I'm just like you. And then their spouse would be like, yeah, I'm totally type A. I'm a Tara.
A
Very prepared. But I'm jealous of people that can wing it like you.
B
Well, I don't always do it right, but. So what are the big plans or projects that you have or new directions that you have for autism little learners over the next year? You got anything planned? Any, any new things that you're going to do?
A
Well, 2025 is going to be awesome. I am super excited to pull together the 2025 Preschool Autism Summit. So that's going to be the biggest thing and it's going to be even more amazing than last year. And then I have a lot of things coming down the line for my members in the Autism Little Learners membership. So it's a monthly subscription like Netflix, kind of where you pay and you can come in and choose from different resources and activities and trainings and you get new stuff every month. So I have a lot of new fun things coming down the line for that, but that's all I'll say right now. So I think that's. Oh, and I have a brand new course that's going to be coming out sometime before summer of 2025. I don't have the exact title yet, but probably the Autism preschool course. And it's going to help step by step, from setting up the classroom to planning lessons and, you know, just knowing step by step where to go when you are working with autistic kids in a kind of a self contained classroom. But we'll also have some modules for if you're working in an integrated classroom too. And you might not know what those mean, Jason, but the people listening will.
B
When abouts is this coming out? I mean, I understand it's probably not exact. It may be it moved. What are you thinking?
A
I'm hoping by June because I want people to have enough time to be able to dive in and help prepare for the following school year.
B
So you'll be sending me out ice fishing for at least a solid two months. So you can work all day and night to work on that? Probably, huh?
A
Maybe. But I do.
B
Okay.
A
So 2025 also, I want to be able to build more of a personal life back into my life, like with my husband, with our friends. And so that is something I'm figuring out how to make that happen too.
B
It'll all work out. The universe will make it all happen.
A
Yeah. Just had to put it out there.
B
That's right. All right, Well, I guess that wraps everything up then, huh?
A
I think it does. We're all staring at each other with crickets like, are we done? Is that it?
B
Is that it? Is that everything?
A
I think it is.
B
This was fun. Thanks for advanced warning that I'd be on video today. I got that Wisconsin red nose and cheeks from being in the cold.
A
You're good. You look very handsome. All right, you guys, thank you so much for being part of this 100 episodes. And I do. Oh, I almost forgot about the gift. Jason, there's a gift.
B
I was supposed to remind you of that, wasn't I?
A
Yes, yes. So what I want you to do, and I'll link this in the show notes too, I'm going to give you. I'm creating a new resource and it's the adapted books. Adapted books have been like hugely, hugely popular and I've gotten so many, so much feedback from people saying, oh my gosh, this has been a game changer in my classroom or at home. And so I'm creating a new set with the Penguin theme and, and everyone listening. If you go to www.autismlittlelearners.com Penguin, you are going to get the visuals and the visual art projects to go with a Penguin book that will be listed in that set. So I want you to go to autismlittlelearners.com penguin I'll link this in the show notes too, but go there and you will be able to sign up to get your free resource. All you'll need to do is buy the board book that goes with the visuals, but I'll have that linked for you.
B
Too easy.
A
All right, well, thank you everyone for being part of this community and listening to this little podcast that could really started out with no idea. I just wanted one listener, you know, to make me feel like I'm not doing it for nothing. And you have all just exceeded my expectations for this podcast and I want to thank you so very much. And thank you, Jason, for being on the 100th episode.
B
You're welcome.
A
Bye Bye. I'm sending a big virtual hug your way because you just finished another episode of the Autism Little Learners podcast. Thank you so much for listening. If you enjoyed this episode and you'd like to help support the podcast, please share it with others, post about it on social media, or leave a rating and review. If you have had success with any of the strategies that you learned about in this podcast, I would love to hear from you. Send me a DM on Instagram or Facebook. TismLittleLearners. Don't forget to grab your free visual support starter set by going to autismlittlelearners.com visuals and always remember to find the good in every day.
The Autism Little Learners Podcast
Episode #100 – Autism Little Learners Journey!
Host: Tara Phillips
Guest: Jason (Tara's husband)
Date: December 10, 2024
This landmark 100th episode of “The Autism Little Learners Podcast” is a celebration of the show’s journey and growth since its start in early 2023. Host Tara Phillips is joined by her husband, Jason, for a relaxed, candid Q&A reflecting on the origins of Autism Little Learners, the evolution of the podcast, listener impact, memorable milestones, and upcoming plans. With warmth and humor, they delve into both personal and professional stories, spotlighting the driving philosophy of compassion, connection, and practical support for those working with young autistic children.
Tara:
Jason:
Relaxed, candid, and upbeat—with plenty of playful banter and laughter. Warmth and vulnerability show through personal anecdotes and heartfelt thanks to the community. The episode remains practical and solution-oriented as always, aiming to empower and inspire listeners.
This celebratory episode is both a look back and a look ahead for Autism Little Learners. Tara Phillips and her husband Jason offer listeners an intimate, entertaining, and motivational journey through the podcast’s origins, the impact of community, and dreams for the future. Core values of compassion, connection, and practical support for young autistic children and their caregivers shine through at every step. The episode closes with gratitude, a free resource, and an invitation to keep building this affirming, inclusive movement together.