Episode #021: Learning and Living an Adventure Filled Life with Her 2 Sons with Autism- A Talk with Kelsey General

After Kelsey’s son started seeing a speech regression at 15 months old, she started on the journey to have him diagnosed. Pretty soon she realized that her second son was also exhibiting many of the same signs. Kelsey moved from Alaska to Canada because she hoped that universal healthcare would help her, but the waitlists in Canada were so long that she soon saw that without taking a more active role in therapy, she wouldn’t have good services for her sons.

When the local therapy center told Kelsey, “Brentley cannot come if he doesn’t wear a helmet”, that was the last straw for her. Because there was no plan for how a helmet was going to help him or what the plan was to eventually remove the helmet. It was just their quick solution to an immediate problem. That’s when Kelsey decided that she could use Mary Barbera’s courses and her own strategies to help Brentley.

I’m really into teaching my students lifelong leisure skills for maximum life enjoyment. For families, there can be a lot of barriers to enjoying activities together. I love following Kelsey on Instagram because she’s made it her goal to teach her sons to enjoy the outdoors safely. There are a lot less social rules outside and it’s a low-barrier activity.

There are parents like Kelsey all over the world. Parents who want the best for their children with autism, but they don’t have access to resources or services. Whether it’s a waitlist that’s holding you back, a rural area, or any other of the dozens of reasons that parents can’t get the help they need, I want you to know that I see you. We’re going to be offering more teletherapy services very soon. I’m putting together a dream team so we can expand and help even more people. Check out my website for more information!

What’s Inside:

• One of Kelsey’s main goals in therapy is to make sure that her sons aren’t isolated, and that’s really driven her to get outside
  of her comfort zone.
• Living in a rural area with limited resources helped Kelsey realize that she can be a primary resource for her children’s services and therapies.
• Performing what she calls “low-key assessments” lets Kelsey constantly keep tabs on where her sons are at developmentally.

Today’s Guest:

Kelsey General lives in British Columbia, Canada. She is a single mom to Brentley (6) and Lincoln (5), both of who were diagnosed with autism at a young age. Since their diagnoses, she has hit many roadblocks to accessing services, so she has taken step to educate herself so that she can support them. She is passionate about empowering parents to learn how to support their kids so the whole family can live a full life. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, snowboarding, camping and traveling with her sons. Follow her on Instagram to see how they incorporate learning into all activities and be inspired to get out and try new things!

Mentioned In This Episode

— @ABASpeechByRose
— @littleadventurefamily
— Teletherapy Services at ABA Speech

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