Parent Perspectives: Creating a Circle of Support & Prioritizing Self-Care

Parent Perspectives: Creating a Circle of Support & Prioritizing Self-Care

This panel discussion is part of the Exploring Autistic Life and Culture project, funded by HumanitiesTN.

AutismTN invites parents, caregivers, and other allies to the Autistic community to our Parent Perspectives series. These panels create an affirming space for parents (+ others) to share their unique experience as caregivers to Autistic people. We believe bringing these supportive networks together is an act of community care as we all journey through a world designed without neurodivergent families in mind.

Our November panelists will discuss strategies for connecting with other parents, professional, and community resources to cultivate a strong circle of support. Panelists will offer tips and insights for how to harmonize self-care with family caregiving.

Panelists Include:

Dr. Dave Caudel is the associate director of the Frist Center for Autism and Innovation at Vanderbilt University in Nashville Tennessee. Diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome in 2009, Caudel is a neurodivergence advocate, speaking to a variety of organizations, including the U.N. and autism conferences internationally. For much of his life, he struggled to find his place in the world, and has had a number of careers, including videographer, soldier in the U.S. Army, photojournalist, magazine editor, public affairs specialist, truck salesman, and corporate stints from customer service to loss prevention, just to name a few. He received his Ph.D. in Physics at Vanderbilt University in 2017. He is passionate about meaningful employment for adults on the spectrum by finding novel, innovative ways to measure their strengths, talents, and passions, then match those to specialized business needs.

Alecia Talbott is the executive director of DSAMT, after spending several years as an active member and volunteer in our organization and in the disability community. She received her BA & MA from Western Kentucky University, taught at Nashville State and Volunteer State Community Colleges, directed marketing at Passport Health Communications, Inc. and was a freelance marketing professional before joining DSAMT. She has served on the Disability Coalition for Education, Vanderbilt's Disability Pathfinder Advisory Committee, the Tennessee Disability Coalition Board of Directors, Davidson County Mayor's Advisory Committee for People with Disabilities, the Wilson County Family Support Advisory Board and currently is on the Board at the Tennessee Disability Coalition and Down Syndrome Affiliates in Action. She is a strong advocate for inclusion and acceptance for those with Down syndrome and other disabilities in the community and schools. Her passion lies in helping those with Down syndrome show the world that those with “something extra” bring extraordinary gifts to our communities, which should be recognized and valued.

Leisa Hammett has navigated the "known/diagnosed" autism journey for 27 years since her soon-to-be 30 year-old daughter was diagnosed at age three. She did all the recommended therapies and services recommended for her daughter who also has an intellectual disability and limited conversational skills. When her daughter, Grace Goad was four, Leisa branched out into arts therapies and discovered her daughter's visual art ability, which has been featured nationally and internationally in various media, books, and exhibitions. Grace's school years in Metro Nashville were a combination of inclusion and special education classroom supports. Grace continues to paint, works part-time at TJ Maxx with a job coach for seven-plus years, and enjoys her single mother's many hard-earned supports through the ECF CHOICES Medicaid waiver-program.

Dahron Johnson a clinically-trained healthcare chaplain, advocates for equity and flourishing across multiple communities. She is a co-chair of the Davidson County Committee of the Tennessee Equality Project, and serves on the community advisory boards for the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center; is the immediate past Chair of the Program for LGBTQ+ Health at VUMC; is the Chair of the Equity Advisory Council for BrightSpring Health; and, for 16+ years, the IRB for the VA health system serving middle TN. Chaplain Johnson recently joined the Advisory Subcommittee for SACHRP--the federal Department of Health & Human Service’s Secretary’s Advisory Committee on Human Research Protections—and was elected by Nashville & Davidson County’s Metro Council to serve on its Human Relations Commission. Most importantly, Dahron’s a proud parent of Rohan, a lovely, loving, and lovable autistic young man, and the spouse of Kate, a creative, sharp woman who lives with MS.

Moderated by:

Babs Tierno - works for the Tennessee Department of Disability & Aging. In her role, she focuses on TN Strong Families which is a collaboration between DDA and DCS. Ms. Tierno has Bachelor degrees in Psychology, Sociology, Criminal Justice, and Interdisciplinary Legal Studies from The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and her Master's degree in Education from Middle Tennessee State University. Ms. Tierno serves on the Board of Directors. Ms. Tierno has two sons, ages 14 and 9, (both boys are on the autism spectrum).

This program is funded in part by a grant from Humanities Tennessee, an independent affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

If you have specific questions or topics you would like our panelist to address, email outreach@autismtn.org