Peach pits and fairy dust have been key ingredients for Sue Jewel, who is raising two daughters with autism. A peach pit almost killed one of her daughters and she sprinkles fairy dust over her family as tensions inevitably run high. Hear how Sue deals with losses and finds growth in s1. E9. N9. of the Otherness Podcast titled Darkness Finds You In Autism. A Mother’s Losses and Gains.

Todd sits down with Sue Jewel, who has two daughters with autism, to share feelings of fear and endurance as she deals with nearly losing one of her daughters and keeping her family together through it all.

When Todd lived and worked in Rhode Island, he was introduced to the moms of the Autism Project. Sue Jewel, a member of the organization who reminds everyone it is not simply a “mom’s group”, came to Todd with two daughters with autism who were both struggling with different repetitive styles. Julia, a prolific artist, would hyper-focus on finding one of her thousands of drawings that she kept in a bag, but not be able to say exactly what she was looking for. While Sue frantically looked for one of the drawings to prevent a meltdown, Emily (her younger daughter) would then grab Sue with terror and try to flee the house, sometimes naked. Emily would get aggressive whenever she heard someone cough or clear their throat, following an episode where Emily almost choked to death on a peach pit. Sue started off life married without children for 8 years, hustling to build a business she could sustain before having children.

After having 2 daughters with autism, the business was sold and her marriage ended. Holding the household together as a single mom was fortified by her new professional identity as an educator at the Autism Project, as well as life-long friendships that were forged with other mothers affected by autism. Sue has defined family in a new and different way, with her ex-husband and her new husband, as she learned endurance, flexibility, and a gentler way of understanding anger as fear.

Darkness Finds You In Autism. A Mother’s Losses and Gains is the title of s1. E9. N9. of the Otherness Podcast.

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The Otherness Podcast is exploring and engaging autism through experienced stories with Dr. Todd Peter Levine and is available on most places and sites where you like to listen to podcasts.
More available at https://othernesspodcast.com.
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Opening Theme Song Music Credits
“Otherness Podcast Intro Theme Song and Music” by Nicholas Burling
Copyright 2021 Late Leopard Publishing/Nick Burling (ASCAP)
Administered by Late Leopard Publishing (ASCAP)
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Closing Theme Song Music Credits
“Otherness Podcast Outro Theme Song and Music” by Nicholas Burling
Copyright 2021 Late Leopard Publishing (ASCAP)
Administered by late Leopard Publishing (ASCAP)
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Darkness Finds You In Autism. A Mother’s Losses and Gains.