Ep. 128 - The First Time I Googled Autism with LaNiqua

Ep. 128 - The First Time I Googled Autism with LaNiqua

From Autism for Badass Moms by Rashidah Cartwright

March 3, 2026 · 51 min

About this episode

LaNiqua shares her journey of navigating her child's autism diagnosis and her mission to empower other parents.

In this heartfelt episode, LaNiqua shares her powerful storyof navigating her child's autism diagnosis, overcoming challenges, and transforming her experience into a mission to empower other parents. Discover her insights on advocacy, community building, and finding hope beyond the diagnosis. In this episode, we discuss: 00:00 - Welcome and episode introduction 02:00 - Recognizing early signs: speech and gut issues 06:15 - Initial feelings upon diagnosis and self-blame 11:24 - Deep dive into research and understanding autism spectrum disorders 15:52 - Dealing with limited school support and advocacy at IEP meetings 22:07 - The journey through community challenges and building a support network 27:30 - Transitioning from parent to advocate and launching her coachingbusiness 33:09 - Overcoming fears of big trips and trusting her son's abilities 38:14 - Launching her advocacy book, Birth of an Advocate 40:41 - The importance of storytelling and empowering marginalized voices 44:30 - Words of encouragement for new moms and parents in the early search foranswers 46:21 - LaNiqua’s definition of being a badass mom and advocate 49:19 - Final thoughts: hope, evolution, and celebrating…

People in this episode

Host: Rashidah Cartwright

Guest: LaNiqua

Topics covered

  • autism diagnosis
  • parent advocacy
  • community support
  • empowerment
  • storytelling
  • IEP meetings

Keywords

  • autism
  • advocacy
  • parenting
  • support network
  • IEP
  • community
  • empowerment
  • storytelling

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Birth of an Advocate

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