Monday, September 2, 2013

Autism Answer: Celebrity Status and Autism!

“Hello and thank-you for calling Ghostbusters.” No matter who says those words, I hear them in that awesome voice and picture that little woman with the sassy attitude, Annie Potts. Without question, she has celebrity status. We know her face, recognize her voice and marvel at her range. Ghostbusters, Pretty in Pink, Designing Women, countless TV shows and TV movies, along with stage shows and documentaries… not to mention Bo-Peep in Toy Story… my generation grew up knowing her and feeling comfortable as soon as she was on screen or we heard her voice.

It’s not surprising to me that she is my mom’s guest for the most recent episode of her podcast A NEW SPIN ON AUTISM: ANSWERS! My mom has celebrity status as well. Lynette Louise aka THE BRAIN BROAD (my mom) was the black sheep in her family and in her small Canadian town. Growing-up with undiagnosed autism has a way of making a person stand-out and challenge those around them to know how to act and feel. Later, as the single mother of eight children—six who were adopted; of which four had autism—she stood out still. In schools where she fought for her children’s rights—our rights, and in neighborhoods where neighbors felt intimidated and confused by our challenges, she forever stood out. And now as an international mental health therapist who also writes, speaks and teaches, always with an eye on honest answers and transparency. Even when those answers may be unpopular or controversial, and when transparency leaves her vulnerable and open to judgment, she wears her celebrity status with intention.

And that is one of the topics Annie Potts and Lynette Louise aka THE BRAIN BROAD discuss on the show. The topic of what to do with your celebrity status—whether it’s something you went after purposely or something that was bestowed upon you by the nature of who you are—and how to use it wisely and with intention. How to use it to learn about yourself and the world openly, exampling for others a kind of actionable kindness that on-lookers can feel good emulating and you can feel good implementing.
   
This episode of A NEW SPIN ON AUTISM: ANSWERS will no doubt be fabulous and fun. However, it will not be unique in style to Lynette’s other episodes. Celebrities of all sorts have chatted with Lynette candidly while she played with the topic of the day. Whether the topic was single-mom autism dating (with Patti Stanger) or actors targeting autism with (Johnathon Schaech), or movement for brain health (with Anat Banial), or Phineas and Ferb (with Martin Olsen) or lucky to have an autism diagnosis (with Donna Williams) always Lynette and her guest discover actionable autism and parenting answers. Which, according to Lynette, “Proves that no matter what your interests, work, culture or age, there are always answers you can find in your personal passions, and in the passions of others, that will apply to your life. Answers that you can use to gain skills and go after dreams. This is important because it opens people up to learning from each other and, ultimately, accepting each other as well.”

Tune in now! The show can be found here: ANEW SPIN ON AUTISM: ANSWERS . You can also find it on iTunes and Lynette’s own websites, www.lynettelouise.com and www.brainbody.net.  Lynette Louise and Annie Potts will explore ideas and share insights that are rarely shared elsewhere. And I can pretty much promise that whatever they reveal will be applicable to your life!

And you’ll also enjoy listening to that awesome and familiar voice so many of us have grown-up adoring!

"Welcome to Ghostbusters...."
Annie Potts as Janine!