The Autism Dad

Liz Covington's son Bennett was diagnosed with ADHD and ODD at age four. The autism diagnosis didn't come until he was ten. Now he's 18, in college, and just spent two hours shoveling the driveway in a snowstorm without being asked twice. That's the kind of win that doesn't make the highlight reels but means everything to families like hers.

In this Seen and Heard episode, Rob sits down with Liz, a Utah mom of four, for a 15-minute glimpse into what level 1 autism parenting can actually look like. They cover late diagnosis, the daughter who has friends at school but can't handle anything else after, and why some autism families feel like they don't belong inside their own community.

What you'll hear in this episode:

Why ADHD and ODD diagnoses came years before autism for Bennett

What the win looks like at 18: independence, problem-solving, and no resistance

The ten-year-old daughter who masks at school and crashes at home

Why "high functioning" families can feel invisible inside the autism community

The school principal who misread Bennett's nervous laugh as disrespect

The phrase Liz heard too many times: "autistic kids don't do that"

Why every kid wants to be connected, appreciated, and seen

"Every kid is good. They all want to be connected. They all want to be appreciated. And they're all trying their best." — Liz Covington

ABOUT THE GUEST

Liz Covington is a mom of four based in Utah. Her oldest son Bennett, 18, was diagnosed with ADHD and ODD at age four and with autism at age ten. He is now in college. Liz's ten-year-old daughter is believed to be on the spectrum and is awaiting formal evaluation. Liz advocates for autism families whose kids' challenges aren't visible on the surface.

ABOUT YOUR HOST

Rob Gorski is the founder of The Autism Dad, a blog and podcast dedicated to supporting parents raising kids on the autism spectrum. As a dad of three autistic sons with over 25 years of experience, Rob brings lived experience, honesty, and heart to every conversation.

Rob's first book lands early 2027 from Quarto. Updates and preorder: theautismdad.com/book

THIS EPISODE IS PRESENTED BY ALGONOT

This episode is presented by Algonot. Algonot makes science-backed supplements developed by Dr. Theoharis Theoharides, a Yale-trained researcher who has spent decades studying neuroinflammation, mast cells, and the brain. Every product is third-party tested for purity and free of common irritants. Visit algonot.com and use code ROB5 to save on your order.

RESOURCES MENTIONED

More Seen and Heard episodes: listen.theautismdad.com

Algonot supplements (use code ROB5): algonot.com

Preorder Rob's book: theautismdad.com/book

If you found this episode helpful, please follow The Autism Dad Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen. Visit listen.theautismdad.com for past episodes, resources, and ways to support the show.

You can find Rob at theautismdad.com, on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok at The Autism Dad, and on YouTube at The Autism Dad. New episodes drop every week at listen.theautismdad.com.

She got kicked out of five indoor playgrounds with her autistic son. Then she built her own. Today, We Rock the Spectrum has over 200 sensory-friendly, inclusive gyms in eight countries, and her son Gabriel just earned an academic scholarship to Loyola Marymount University.

In this episode, Rob sits down with Dina Kimmel, founder and CEO of We Rock the Spectrum Kids Gym, and Christopher Reyes, autism dad and owner of the Clovis, California location, to talk about what an autism family can build when the world tells them no.

What you'll hear:

• How one mom turned daily occupational therapy at home into a global sensory gym franchise

• Why Gabriel's scholarship proves a diagnosis is a baseline, not a prophecy

• Inside the gym: zip lines, crash pits, sensory tunnels, trampolines, and 12 pieces of OT equipment

• The "play with a purpose" philosophy behind every piece of equipment

• Christopher's path from nurse to owner of Central Valley's only sensory gym

• Parents Night Out drop-off addressing California's childcare shortage

• Big news: We Rock the Spectrum is now Medicaid waiver and Medi-Cal approved

• The My Brother Rocks the Spectrum Foundation grants for open play and respite

"This was all inspired from these two children that I have. I had no idea the need. I had no idea there were so many of us." — Dina Kimmel

About Dina:

Dina Kimmel is the CEO and founder of We Rock the Spectrum Kids Gym, a sensory friendly inclusive franchise with over 200 locations in eight countries. An autism mom first, Dina launched the first location in 2009 after seeing her son Gabriel thrive on OT equipment.

About Christopher:

Christopher Reyes is an autism dad and owner of We Rock the Spectrum Clovis. He's father to Jacob, six, level two, and Roxanne, four, level one. He opened his location to serve the Central Valley community.

Resources:

Find a location: https://wrtsfranchise.com/locations

Clovis: https://werockthespectrumclovis.com

This episode is brought to you by Mightier, a clinically proven app that helps kids build emotional regulation skills through biofeedback-based video games. Visit mightier.com and use code theautismdad22 for 10% off.

Also brought to you by VizyPlan. Built by a dad who gets it, VizyPlan uses AI to create visual routines with photos of your actual child. Visit vizyplan.com/app and use code theautismdad for your first month free.

About Rob:

Rob Gorski is the founder of The Autism Dad, a blog and podcast dedicated to supporting parents raising kids on the autism spectrum. As a dad of three autistic sons with over 25 years of experience, Rob brings lived experience, honesty, and heart to every conversation.

Rob's first book lands early 2027 from Quarto. Updates and preorder: theautismdad.com/book

You can find me at theautismdad.com, on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok at The Autism Dad, and on YouTube at The Autism Dad. New episodes drop every week at listen.theautismdad.com.

If you have a neurodivergent kid who will only eat five foods, you already know that picky eater does not begin to cover it. The sensory processing, the oral motor challenges, the gut issues, the trust that gets lost every time a safe food changes slightly. And somewhere underneath all of that is a parent who is genuinely worried about whether their child is getting what they need to grow, think, and feel good.

That is exactly what Brittyn Coleman, the Autism Dietitian, has spent the last decade working on. And in this episode she shares something she has been working toward for ten years: Best Part Kids, the first sensory-friendly multivitamin built specifically for neurodivergent children and selective eaters. We cover what is actually in it and why, how to evaluate any supplement your kid is currently taking, why sneaking vitamins into food is often doing more harm than good, and what to do instead.

What you will hear in this episode:

Why selective eating causes nutrient deficiencies and which nutrients are most at risk

What to look for in any multivitamin for a neurodivergent child

Why most supplements on the market are not designed for kids with sensory sensitivities

Why sneaking supplements into food can backfire and how to introduce them the right way

What makes Best Part Kids different and why it took ten years to build

Why iron is intentionally left out of the multivitamin and how to address iron separately

The importance of bioavailability and chelated minerals for selective eaters

How to find Best Part Kids and get 10% off your first order

ABOUT THE GUEST

Brittyn Coleman, MS, RDN/LD is a registered dietitian specializing in children on the autism spectrum and neurodivergent kids. Known as the Autism Dietitian, Brittyn helps families expand their child's limited diet in a sensory-friendly way so kids can get the nutrients they need to feel their best and thrive. With over a decade of experience working with selective eaters and a deeply personal connection to the autism community through her brother, Brittyn brings both clinical expertise and lived understanding to every family she works with. She is the founder of Best Part Kids, a sensory-friendly multivitamin line created in partnership with Harkla, built specifically for neurodivergent children and designed to fill nutritional gaps without compromising on taste, texture, or trust.

ABOUT YOUR HOST

Rob Gorski is the founder of The Autism Dad, a blog and podcast dedicated to supporting parents raising kids on the autism spectrum. As a dad of three autistic sons with over 25 years of experience, Rob brings lived experience, honesty, and heart to every conversation.

THIS EPISODE IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY

VizyPlan — If your mornings feel like a battle before the day even starts, VizyPlan was built by a dad who gets it. The app uses AI to create visual routines with images of your actual child doing each step. Not stock photos. Not generic pictures. Your kid. Your home. Your routine. Calming tools, social stories, advocacy support, all in one place. Visit VizyPlan.com/app and use code theautismdad for your first month free.

Mightier — Mightier is a clinically proven app that helps kids build emotional regulation skills through biofeedback-based video games. It meets kids where they are and gives parents real tools to support them at home. Visit mightier.com and use code theautismdad22 for 10% off.

RESOURCES MENTIONED


Best Part Kids — bestpartkids.com | Instagram: @bestpartkids | Use code THEAUTISMDAD for 10% off your first order


Harkla — sensory tools company and Best Part Kids co-creator | harkla.co


Past Brittyn Coleman episodes — listen.theautismdad.com

If you found this episode helpful, please follow The Autism Dad Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen. Visit listen.theautismdad.com for past episodes, resources, and ways to support the show.

What if you could get access to a Masters or PhD level BCBA
for free, within 24 hours, from your phone?

That is exactly what Amol Deshpande built after spending years fighting a broken system just to get his own son diagnosed and into care. Amol is the founder and CEO of Frontera, a Silicon Valley tech entrepreneur who previously founded Farmers Business Network, growing it into a nearly four billion dollar company, and served as a general partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers.

He pivoted his entire career after his son was diagnosed with autism at age two. In this episode, he shares what the journey has looked like over the past 12 years, why he believes the clinical community is failing parents at the moment of diagnosis, and why his son is now 14, badgering him to watch South Park, spending too much money at Shake Shack, and heading to a Knicks game.

This is a conversation about hope, access, and what happens when a parent decides to do something about the system instead of just surviving it.

 

What you will hear in this episode:

•      Why even a Silicon Valley entrepreneur with every
advantage struggled to get his son diagnosed

•      How his son went from a serious autism diagnosis at age
two to thriving as a teenager

•      Why the clinical community gets the moment of diagnosis
completely wrong

•      Why a diagnosis label is a baseline, not a prophecy

•      How Frontera gives parents free access to expert BCBA
support within 24 hours

•      Why community is one of the most underrated tools in
the autism parenting toolkit

•      Rob shares his own sons' outcomes including what they
were told would never happen

 

ABOUT THE GUEST

Amol Deshpande is a seasoned entrepreneur and parent of a child with autism. His personal experience navigating a fragmented and
inefficient care system inspired the creation of Frontera, a suite of tools
that harnesses technology to expand access to high-quality behavioral healthcare for families everywhere.

Amol also invests in mission-oriented ventures through Divergent Investments, his family office. Before Frontera he founded and built Farmers Business Network into a nearly four billion dollar company with 1,000 employees from scratch. Prior to that he was a general partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers, where he was the first investor in companies such as Beyond Meat and Axia Vegetable Seeds.

 

ABOUT YOUR HOST

Rob Gorski is the founder of The Autism Dad, a blog and
podcast dedicated to supporting parents raising kids on the autism spectrum. As a dad of three autistic sons with over 25 years of experience, Rob brings lived experience, honesty, and heart to every conversation.

 

THIS EPISODE IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY

If your mornings feel like a battle before the day even starts, I want to tell you about something that is genuinely changing that for families in our community. It is called VizyPlan, and it was built by a dad who gets it.

The app uses AI to create visual routines with images of your actual
child doing each step. Not stock photos. Not generic pictures. Your kid. Your
home. Your routine. And it goes way beyond mornings. Calming tools, social
stories, and advocacy support, it is all in one place. A real autism playbook for life after diagnosis. Your family's photos and information stay private and
protected. VizyPlan was built with that in mind from day one. When your child can see their day before they live it, everything shifts. Visit
VizyPlan.com/app to learn more and download the app.

Use the code theautismdad to get your first month free. See your day.

Mightier is a clinically proven app that helps kids build emotional regulation skills through biofeedback-based video games. It meets kids where they are and gives parents real tools to support them at home. Visit mightier.com and use code theautismdad22 for 10% off.

 

ONE MORE THING

My first book is coming. It is called Your Child Was Just
Diagnosed with Autism: Real Talk, Support and Next Steps from a Dad Who Has Been There, and it is everything I wish I had when we were in the thick of it. You can get updates, early access information, and preorder details at
theautismdad.com/book. Go check it out.

 

If you found this episode helpful, please follow The Autism
Dad Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen. Visit
listen.theautismdad.com for past episodes, resources, and ways to support the show.

 

Produced in partnership with Frontera.

What does autism level one actually look like inside a real family's home? That is exactly what Justin Bowman, autism dad and founder of VizyPlan, is here to share.

In this episode of Seen and Heard, Justin gives us a 15-minute glimpse into life with his son Sawyer, who is turning six and diagnosed autism level one. Sawyer is the kid they call the mayor at school because he just wants to say hi to everyone. He is also a kid who went from completely nonverbal to holding full conversations in under three years, carries a full alphabet soup of providers, and battles a deep self-awareness that sometimes makes him avoid the very things he wants to do most.

Justin also makes a point in this episode that stopped me cold: being seen and heard in the autism community is not a level playing field. Zip code matters. Access matters. And until we recognize that, we are missing something important.

 

What you will hear in this episode:

• Sawyer's journey from nonverbal to conversational in under three years

• Why his follower mentality is both his biggest strength and his parents' biggest worry

• The full support team keeping Sawyer thriving inside and outside of school

• Why self-awareness in an autistic child can be both remarkable and heartbreaking

• What autism level one really looks like when the diagnosis label does not tell the whole story

• Why comparison is the thief of joy in the autism community

• Why being seen and heard is not equal for every autism family regardless of diagnosis level

 

ABOUT THE GUEST

Justin Bowman is the founder and CEO of VizyPlan, a visual routine and planning app built for the neurodivergent community, and Associate Director of Product Management at Chewy. He is an autism dad based in central Massachusetts with his wife Danielle, a speech-language pathologist, and their two children, Sawyer, who is turning six and diagnosed autism level one, and Peyton, who is four.

 

ABOUT YOUR HOST

Rob Gorski is the founder of The Autism Dad, a blog and podcast dedicated to supporting parents raising kids on the autism spectrum. As a dad of three autistic sons with over 25 years of experience, Rob brings lived experience, honesty, and heart to every conversation.

 

THIS EPISODE IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY

Mightier is a clinically proven app that helps kids build emotional regulation skills through biofeedback-based video games. It meets kids where they are and gives parents real tools to support them at home. Visit mightier.com and use code theautismdad22 for 10% off.

 

If you found this episode helpful, please follow The Autism Dad Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen. Visit listen.theautismdad.com for past episodes, resources, and ways to support the show.