I have known Suzie and Kelly Carpenter for nearly two decades, and today I have the pleasure of interviewing the mother-daughter duo! Suzie is an empowerment coach and an author; she published her book, On the Bright Side : A Mother’s Story of Love and Healing Through Her Daughter’s Autism, in 2016. My other interviewee, Kelly, has ‘high functioning’ autism. She is fully conversational although she still faced many challenges growing up, and is able to articulate and share those experiences with us today, and is able to give us a very important perspective. Some of the issues she discusses includes autism bullying, dating, and driving.
Kelly was diagnosed with autism when she was four years-old. However she was so high-functioning that she was placed in classrooms with other typical children and faced a lot of hardships for it; for example, her behavior was misunderstood and her teachers and peers did not understand how to interact with her. This led to Kelly feeling very isolated and eventually, being bullied.
Once it became clear that Kelly needed a different environment, her parents made the decision to fight to place Kelly in an autism-friendly school. The change in Kelly was drastic, and for the first time in her life, she was able to make lasting friendships and grasp the curriculum presented to her.
Now 23 years old, Kelly has experience working a regular job; dating; and driving. She discusses the challenges she had to overcome in each of these areas, and how they helped form her into the lady that she is now.
Suzie has been Kelly’s biggest supporter all along, and she shares her story and her perspective as well.
Did today’s episode give you something to think about? Do you have a question for me, or a topic you would like to see covered in the future? Email me at [email protected]!
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