S4: Episode 131 - A fierce advocate for her adult son, local community and beyond, this mom has found comedy as the best way to share the beautiful, unique & funny aspects of parenting autism

Lori Haynes has been an autism and disability advocate for over 30 years. She is married to her wonderful husband Mike and they care for their 28 year old son Jacob at home. Her son Jake was diagnosed with severe nonverbal autism and intellectual disability at the age of 2 ½ and she has worked tirelessly since then to raise, not only awareness, but acceptance and understanding. She started the first support group of it’s kind in northern Indiana called Families of Autistic Children Together back in 1998. Lori also assisted with organizing the “Hear Their Silence” rally that took place on the National Mall in Washington D.C. in April of 2000. Lori worked with the Indiana Legislature to significantly increase funding for what was then called the “Autism” Waiver program after she discovered only 20 waivers were available in total across the state. She collected 17,000 petition signatures so other family’s would not have to be on a 10 year wait list as her son was. Lori and her husband spent 8 years as parents, volunteer’s and Area 5 management team members for Special Olympics Indiana. Lori uses her experience and finds the funny out of the anxiety while performing her stand up called RainMom Comedy. Lori has been performing stand up since 2018 and finds that comedy is a great gateway towards her goal to raise awareness, understanding and acceptance of special kids who rock. ***************************************** To purchase my book “Welcome to My Life – A Personal Parenting Journey Through Autism” click HERE or visit Amazon.com! You can easily stay connected to the Living the Sky Life podcast and me in various ways.  Please visit my website www.lauriehellmann.com for all the links. I'd love to hear what you think, so if listening on the Apple platform, please leave a written review and rating of the podcast!  If you are interested in being a guest on an episode of Living the Sky Life, please contact me!