20. S2, Ep8: Releasing the pressure: home schooling autistic daughters

Hannah Smith is 43 and was diagnosed last year - and her husband and two daughters are also autistic. She lives in Hertfordshire in the UK, where she unschools her children at home, while also running her own face and body art business. She recently trained to be a mindfulness practitioner, and in the future hopes to combine this with therapeutic arts and use her skills and knowledge to serve the autistic community. She wants to share her family’s experiences in order to help other families make sense of their own autism journeys. Today I’m delighted to share my conversation with Hannah Smith. In our conversation we talk about: ➡ Her family’s diagnosis journey ➡ The impact of intergenerational undiagnosed autism ➡ Meeting the needs of autistic children - and creating an environment in which they can thrive ➡ The benefits and impact of taking her children out of school and teaching them at home Squarepeg is a podcast in which neurodivergent women, and trans and nonbinary people, explore navigating a neurotypical world and share their insights, challenges and successes. I hope that these conversations will be inspiring and thought provoking, open you up to new ways of thinking about being neurodivergent, and help you feel more connected to a worldwide community of people with similar experiences. I’m Amy Richards, and after being diagnosed autistic at the age of 37 I’m now on a mission to learn more about different perspectives and issues around being a neurodivergent adult in a world that feels like it doesn’t quite fit.   EPISODE LINKS: Hannah’s website: www.theglitterbox.co.uk  Her Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thegltrbox/  Her zentangle Insta: https://www.instagram.com/the.mellowbox/  Find out more about the late, brilliant Ken Robinson and his progressive ideas about education: http://sirkenrobinson.com/ Find Katherine May, the autistic writer Hannah mentions, on Twitter: https://twitter.com/_katherine_may_   If you'd like to connect or get in touch with Squarepeg, you can find me on: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/squarepeg.community/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/squarepegautism  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/squarepegautism/  Or on my website: https://squarepeg.community/  Become a member of the Squarepeg community on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/squarepegpodcast