The Autism Mom Coach

In this episode, Lisa talks with filmmaker Tyler Sansom and actor John Wells about the film Learning You. The movie follows a single father and his autistic son after the father removes him from an institution and takes him on an unplanned Christmas road trip.
The conversation explores why this story felt different to tell and to watch. Tyler shares how the film came to him through a producer parenting a profoundly autistic daughter and how interviews with families shaped the script. John talks about stepping into the role as a father raising an autistic son himself, and how closely the character’s experiences mirrored his own.
They discuss institutions, marriage breakdowns, system failures, meltdowns, and the way autism parenting requires constant recalibration. The focus stays on learning your child over time, reading early cues, and understanding behavior as information rather than something to correct.
In This Episode, You’ll Hear and Learn
What Learning You is about and how the story came to be made
Why the film centers on institutional decisions and their impact on families
How John’s experience parenting an autistic son informed his performance
How parents learn to recognize early signs before a meltdown escalates
Why behavior often reflects nervous system overload
How autism parenting evolves as children grow and change

To watch Learning You, visit https://www.learningyoumovie.com to find a theater near you or learn more about the film’s release.

In this episode, Lisa reflects on what parenting her son through years of severe anxiety, OCD, aggression, and hospitalizations taught her as he transitioned into adulthood. She shares three principles that carried her through the darkest seasons—and continue to guide her as an autism mom today.
In This Episode, You’ll Learn:
How acceptance evolved from a one-time idea into a moment-by-moment practice
Why resistance to reality can interfere with decision-making during crisis
What unconditional love looks like when your child feels unfamiliar
How holding hope differs from denial—and why it requires courage
Why clearer advocacy came only after facing what was actually happening

Lisa’s Takeaway:
The teen years forced me to accept what was happening in real time, love my child without conditions tied to outcomes, and hold hope even when there was no evidence yet. Those three principles changed how I showed up as a parent—and as an advocate.
Links Mentioned:
Schedule a consultation: https://talkwiththeautismmomcoach.as.me/
Email Lisa: [email protected]

If this episode resonated and you’re carrying a lot right now—whether you’re in crisis or simply worn down—you don’t have to navigate it alone.
Schedule a one-on-one consultation at talkwiththeautismmomcoach.as.me and let’s talk through what support could look like for you.

In this episode, Lisa Candera sits down with autistic actress, writer, and filmmaker Bella Zoe Martinez, star of the short film Once More, Like Rain Man. Bella offers a candid look at what it’s like to navigate Hollywood—and the world—when autism is reduced to a single stereotype. Through humor and honesty, she shares the lived experience behind masking, exhaustion, and being misunderstood before you ever speak.
In This Episode, You’ll Learn:
Why Rain Man has become shorthand for autism—and why that’s a problem
What it’s like to live under constant comparison to a stereotype
How autistic characters are often written as flat or robotic
What masking actually feels like from the inside
Why kids come home exhausted after holding it together all day
Why autistic people deserve to tell stories beyond autism

Lisa’s Takeaway:
Hearing Bella describe masking as acting shifted how I understand what so many kids carry every day. When we see behavior as effort instead of defiance, the picture changes—and so does our response.
Links Mentioned:
Once More, Like Rain Man
If this episode resonated with you, share it with another autism mom who’s tired of stereotypes and surface-level understanding. And if you want deeper support, schedule a consult at talkwiththeautismmomcoach.as.me.

Last week we uncovered the Expectation Trap — the moment you realize you’re holding someone to your internal rulebook and feeling irritated, disappointed, or flat-out furious when they don’t follow it. This week, we take it further. Because once you see the trap clearly, the real question becomes: now what?
This episode breaks down your three actual moves when someone’s behavior clashes with your values, standards, or instincts: let it go, make an adjustment, or enforce a boundary. These choices help you reclaim your steadiness, drop unnecessary resentment, and lead your home with more intention, especially during the holiday pressure cooker.
In This Episode, You’ll Learn:
How your expectations get built — and why the internal ones hit the hardest

The power of choosing your battles instead of reacting from urgency or indignation

Why “letting it go” is sometimes the most strategic move in an autism household

What adjusting looks like when someone simply operates differently than you

How to enforce a boundary without drama, panic, or self-judgment

When you stop holding people to your personal rulebook, you stop burning energy on the wrong things and free up bandwidth for what actually matters to you.

Ready to take this work deeper?

Work with Me: This is where we clean up the mental load, the resentment, and the overfunctioning so you have capacity again: https://talkwiththeautismmomcoach.as.me

Holiday season has a way of dragging every unspoken rule you live by straight into the spotlight. In this episode, I’m calling out the Expectation Trap — the moment where your values, routines, and instincts collide with people who make choices that feel completely upside down to you.
Here’s the truth: you are never the baseline for anyone else’s behavior.
The minute you stop measuring other people’s choices against your internal rulebook, everything from holiday plans to everyday interactions feels lighter and easier to lead through.
In This Episode, You’ll Learn:
How expectations form through structure, routine, and the rules you carry in your head
Why holiday shifts land harder in autism households and spike nervous system stress
The emotional weight that settles on you when you assume others think like you
How releasing yourself as the “standard” creates breathing room in your body and your mind

This shift frees up the mental space you need to guide your home with steadier energy, clearer decisions, and far less resentment.
If this work speaks to what you’re living, here are a few ways to go deeper:
Schedule a consultation for private coaching and get tailored support for your family: https://talkwiththeautismmomcoach.as.me