Episodes

Hey, What’s Up! It’s Tommy. I sat down with Josh Stively from 1st Phorm, and what started as a conversation about health and mindset quickly turned into a deep discussion about purpose, burnout, fatherhood, anxiety, faith, community, and the reality caregivers face every single day. If you are raising a child with autism or profound needs, this episode is for you. If you feel exhausted, isolated, overwhelmed, or like your own health has fallen to the bottom of the list, this episode is for yo...

Hey, What’s Up! It’s Tommy. I sat down with Coach Steve Krebs to talk honestly about anxiety, mental health, stress, and what it actually looks like to take care of yourself when life feels overwhelming. If you’re raising a child with autism, caring for someone with special needs, or simply carrying more pressure than people realize, this conversation is for you. We talked about the fear of the unknown and how anxiety pulls us out of reality and into future scenarios that may never happen. Ste...

Hey, What's Up! It's Tommy. This episode of Spectrum in Camouflage is one of the most honest and emotional conversations we’ve had in a while. Kailee joins me as we talk about the reality of parenting a profoundly autistic child, the emotions that can sneak up on you, and how easy it is to get pulled into fear about the future. What started as a simple conversation about laundry piles, marriage communication, and everyday life turned into a much deeper discussion about what it feels like to ca...

Hey, What’s Up! It’s Tommy. I wanted to jump on and kick off something really important this month. We’re heading into Mental Health Awareness Month, and this has become a core part of my life. Not just because of what I’ve gone through, but because of what so many of you are going through right now. This episode is real. It’s raw. It’s a check-in. I talk about grief, loss, guilt, and what it actually looks like to move forward when life doesn’t go the way you planned. I share my experience l...

Hey, What’s Up! It’s Tommy. This episode hit deep. I sat down with Tyler Hudson, and what started as a conversation turned into something much bigger. This is dad talk in its rawest form. We talked about grief, fear, faith, purpose, and what it really looks like to raise a profoundly autistic child. Tyler shares his story as a father, a musician, and now a voice that’s reaching thousands of families. He lives in Tasmania, far removed from the noise, but what he’s saying is cutting through loud...

Hey, What’s Up! It’s Tommy. This episode is one of those late-night, real conversations. Kailee and I sat down tired, a little punchy, and just talked through life as parents raising a child with autism. It’s Autism Awareness Month, and instead of overthinking it, we just shared what’s actually going on in our world right now. We talked about Wyatt, the progress he’s been making, and one of the biggest wins we’ve had recently, him learning to swim on his own. That moment meant more than we can ...

Hey, What’s Up! It’s Tommy. Man, this episode hit deep. I sat down with my good friend Chris from AutismDad_Memes, and we got real about what’s actually going on with our kids, what we’ve gotten wrong, and what we’re learning along the way. There’s a lot of stuff out there that people just label as autism. But the truth is, not everything we’re seeing is autism itself. There can be underlying issues like gut health, inflammation, neurological challenges, or even misdiagnosed conditions that ar...

Hey, What’s Up! It’s Tommy. This episode hit deep. Kailee and I sat down and just talked, no script, no plan, just real life. And what came out was one of those conversations that reminds you what this journey is really about. We talked about Autism Awareness Month, but more than that, we talked about love, fear, the future, and what it means to truly care for your child, no matter what life looks like. Kailee shared a moment from a podcast she listened to that completely stopped her in her t...

Hey, What’s Up! It’s Tommy. This episode is real. It’s raw. It’s one of those moments where I’m just working through what’s been sitting heavy on my heart. Lately, I’ve been feeling the weight of it all. The ups and downs with Wyatt, the stress of work, the pressure of trying to be everything for both of my kids. There are moments when I just want to hear my son say, “I love you,” or ask me how my day was. And when that doesn’t happen, it can hit hard. I found myself slipping into that place ...

Hey, What's Up! It's Tommy. This week, my wife and I had a real conversation about slowing down, staying present, and not missing the good things right in front of us. We talked about how easy it is to get overwhelmed by social media, news, comparison, parenting pressure, and just the nonstop pace of life. When you are raising kids, especially in a home impacted by profound autism, it can feel like the world is always pulling at your attention. We shared how going back to simple things has hel...

Hey, What's Up! It's Tommy. In this episode, Kailee and I have a real, honest conversation about what life looks like when parenting feels heavy. We talk about the hard days with our son Wyatt, who is almost 11, nonspeaking, and living with profound autism. Some days feel calm and steady. Other days can turn fast, especially when sleep is off, routines get disrupted, or he is clearly dysregulated and cannot tell us what hurts, what he needs, or what is going on inside. We open up about how muc...

Hey, What's Up! It's Tommy. Today I’m sharing a very personal update after one of the most intense weeks I’ve had in a long time. Between the loss of our fire chief, travel to a national convention, and presenting a seminar on mental health in business, life threw a lot at me all at once. A year ago, situations like this would have sent my anxiety through the roof. Even six months ago, I probably would have canceled something important because I couldn’t handle the pressure. But this time was ...

Hey, What’s Up! It’s Tommy. We are wrapping up February, which feels crazy to even say. Winter always feels endless after Christmas, but here we are, staring down spring. And I want to talk about two things today that have been heavy on my heart. First, what we can start preparing for as spring comes. Second, the difference between a full change of plans and simply making a pivot. If you’re new here, welcome. I’m a dad to an almost 11-year-old non-speaking autistic son. We are not trying to “...

Hey, What's Up! It's Tommy. Happy Friday, and welcome back to Spectrum in Camouflage. Today I’m joined again by Dr. Matt Hamilton from Maximum Potential, and we’re keeping this one practical and real. We’ve talked before about deeper neurology and chiropractic care, especially with sensory challenges, autism, and complex cases. This time we zoom out and talk about what “healthy living” actually looks like for busy families, especially during winter in Ohio when everyone feels trapped inside and...

Hey, What's Up! It's Tommy. In this episode, I’m sitting down with my new close friend, Zack Ponder from The UnSpecial Podcast. Zack is one of those guys you meet online and instantly think, man, I get him. He has a heart for profoundly affected families, even though he did not come into this space as a special needs parent. He came into it through calling, compassion, and a real desire to make sure families feel seen and supported. We get real fast. We talk about faith, contentment in hardshi...

Hey, What's Up! It's Tommy. On today’s episode of Spectrum in Camouflage, my wife Kaylee joins me and we talk about two sides of this life at the same time. The wins that are giving us real hope right now, and the heavy current events that have shaken the autism community. We start with what’s been going well. Wyatt has been more regulated lately, we’ve seen encouraging “soft signs” of progress, and our home has felt calmer. We also talk about what’s helped, including chiropractic-based nervou...

Hey, What's Up! It's Tommy. Today I’m hanging out with Chris, aka AutismDad_Memes, and this episode is one of those real-deal dad conversations that hits you in the chest a few times. Chris and I are both construction guys, both raising one neurotypical kid and one autistic kid, and we talk about what it’s like trying to hold it together, show up for our families, and still find ways to help other parents who are barely hanging on. Chris shares why he started using social media in the first pla...

Hey, What's Up! It's Tommy. In this episode of Spectrum in Camouflage, my wife Kailee and I sit down for a real, late-night conversation about a recent trip I took to Puerto Rico to speak at an event. We talk about what it was like to travel alone, speak in front of a big crowd, and stay sober through an environment where drinking is usually the normal thing. We also get honest about what was happening back home while I was gone. Kailee shares how she was feeling, what was weighing on her emot...

Hey, What’s Up! It’s Tommy. Kailee and I are sitting down to recap the holidays and talk through what really happened behind the scenes, Christmas, New Year’s, family visits, routines getting shaken up, and the emotional weight that can come with all of it when you’re parenting a child with profound autism. This year was a big one for us. We did something we haven’t done in a long time, we hit multiple family stops in one day. That might sound normal to some people, but for us, it’s a whole dif...

Hey, What's Up! It’s Tommy. Welcome back to Part 2 of my conversation with Dr. Matt Hamilton from Maximum Potential Chiropractic. If Part 1 opened the door to the idea of the “Perfect Storm,” this episode walks you deeper into how the nervous system actually develops, how regression can happen, and why healing often looks messy before it looks miraculous. We talked about real kids, real families, and real progress. Things like a child making eye contact and saying “I love you” for the first time...

Hey, What's Up! It's Tommy. I’m super stoked because I sat down with Dr. Matt Hamilton from Maximum Potential Chiropractic, and we kicked off a longer, science-heavy conversation about neurologically focused chiropractic care and something they call “The Perfect Storm.” This episode is Part 1, and I’m splitting it up so the ending is going to feel like a hard stop. That’s on purpose, because I want you to be able to actually absorb this stuff without your brain melting. We started by talking ab...

Hey, What’s Up! It’s Tommy. This is a short, post-Christmas encouragement for every parent who feels tired, stretched thin, or quietly overwhelmed after the holidays. Christmas can bring joy, but it can also bring stress, comparison, and emotional whiplash, especially for families raising autistic children or navigating special needs. In this episode, I want to remind you of something simple but powerful. As long as your kids have you, they have everything they need. And as long as you have you...

Hey, What's Up! It's Tommy. It’s the Friday before Christmas, and Kailee and I wanted to talk honestly about what the holidays can feel like in a home like ours, the good moments, the hard moments, and everything in between. We share how Wyatt has had some high-stimulation days lately, how a good chiropractic appointment and a calm day can feel like a huge win, and how we’ve learned to stop forcing “normal” holiday expectations. We talk about getting our Christmas tree as a family, keeping thin...

Hey, What's Up! It's Tommy. In this episode of Spectrum in Camouflage, I talk about some huge changes coming out of the CDC around the hepatitis B vaccine for newborns, what that means to us as autism and special needs families, and how I am learning to sit beside grief instead of living inside it. I share my own struggle with survivor’s guilt after losing a firefighter brother in our town, the weight of looking back at early vaccine decisions for Wyatt, and how all of this ties into mental stre...