... introduce yourself a little bit and tell us who you are?

Okay.

My name is April Ratchford.

I am an autistic occupational therapist.

I run a podcast called Adulting With Autism, helping late diagnosed, diagnosed young adults transition into the adult world.

On top of that, I'm a full-time occupational therapist at a long-term rehab facility.

Mm-hmm

... like adulting with autism.

So what does it look like to get out of autistic burnout? What is that? What are the steps that someone can take? What does that look like?

So it's just daily itty bitty steps.

It could be taking a walk outside.

It can also be finding something that's mind numbing, like a fidget.

Some people crochet because it's mind numbing.

And then eventually you start to relax and you just add stuff a little bit at a time.

It's not bubble baths.

I was going to say, how does someone even start that process of figuring out what they want?

So April, how would you describe your journey in your own word from lived experience to becoming an occupational therapist and a global podcast host?

So I started out as a nurse, a, a trauma nurse, and then when I went back to school, because I was just an LPN, I was going back for my bachelor's and my master's, and that's when my son got the official diagnosis of being autistic.

So my sister, who is also an occupational therapist, looked at me and said, "You can do what I do because he's gonna need you." So I switched my major and became an occupational therapist to become his advocate, to make sure he had everything that he would need to be successful throughout school.

Once he got out of high school in during COVID, he went to a college that didn't support him.

We have barely any supports for autistic young adults in Kentucky, and so when he fell on his face and felt this horrible self-loathing about himself, I got frustrated.

I was angry that they took advantage of him by giving him a $10,000 loan.

He had no idea what he was doing instead of contacting me.

So how do trauma and emotional regulation intersects for ND adults?

yeah so thank you can you introduce yourself to our audience

sure So my name is April Ratchford.

I am a licensed occupational therapist here in Kentucky in the United States.

I was late diagnosed autistic, figuring it out as I started the podcast.

Prior to becoming an occupational therapist, I was a nurse for 16 years and switched my major when my son finally got his diagnosis.

My entire family is autistic.

My sister is an autistic Allie.

We've talked about some of that.