Frank Communications: Autism, Parenting and some Great Recipes
Fifteen years ago I wrote a few articles for Mums and Dads Magazine about my autistic son who was at primary school and about the support we received from friends and professionals. Time has flown by; my son has now graduated from university and is currently writing his second full length novel.
I’d like to help parents with autistic children and answer questions which I wish I had answers to when I was bringing up my son. I’ve been running a workshop for parents for some time, so podcast seemed like the next logical step when I met Hayley, a speech and language therapist and now my co-host. It helps that I love cooking and Hayley loves eating my food!
We released the podcast in November last year and parents tell us they’ve been listening on the school run, whilst doing chores, and preparing dinner. They’ve also been sharing the podcast with extended family to make it easier for them to gain awareness of autism and understand a parent’s difficult role.
We called the company ‘Frank Communications’as many of us have to be really frank in the way we communicate to get what we need for our children. The company also has a gorgeous Jack Russell called Frank as our mascot.
The Frank team consist of people who want to make a difference, and often give their services for free. We were also keen to commission neurodivergent talents – our art designer Hannah and website designer Rachael. We’ve had wonderful guests on our podcast, from eminent psychologists to mum and daughter team.
The first series of the podcast is called the ‘shape of family’ and we have covered a child’s identity, diagnosis, family dynamics, girls’ diagnosis, wellbeing. Then we released a bumper edition on education and what parents need from supportive allies and professionals. We also enjoy a meal during recording, and I tend to add the recipe to our episode transcript which also has signposting to local and national charities. Then we dig a little deeper with an accompanying blog post and some great tips in our food club.
If you want to know more we’d love you to join Frank’s club on our website or email us your questions.
