Lorren Rodriguez doesn’t always talk about herself or her own neurodistinct* and wonderfully wired brain, but she does talk about how important it is to take care of ourselves.  Lorren is on an advocacy mission to empower and help other neurodistinct moms so that we can be our best selves and be the rested and best parent we can without all the “mom guilt” and shame that can so often happen due to “societal pressures.”

As a mom to two Neurodistinct teenagers myself, there is always something going on in our daily schedule be it sports, tests, most recently Junior Prom, and all the things that we take care of for our families.  When my boys were younger, I was so focused on their needs and not wanting to make a mistake that could “mess them up” that I forgot about my needs and myself.  This led to a pretty horrific autistic burnout for me.  So Lorren’s work and her heart really resonate with me.

Lorren hosts the account @Atypical_Ladies on Instagram and she offers support, words of encouragement, affirmations (I Love these!) and workshops to join others in a supportive community.

Meet Lorren…

Social Autie: What is your specialty or focus area of Autism Advocacy?

Lorren:  My specialty is being my son’s advocate and other children. Also, the parents I coach. Being an autism parent is a unique journey and it takes support and advocacy from every corner to feel understood and heard.

Social Autie: Why did you begin advocating for yourself and others?  What makes this personal to you and Your Big Why? 

Lorren:  I would say my son and my mom journey. For years, I felt guilty as if I did something wrong and realized there is nothing wrong. It’s just a different journey and it motivated me to bring this to light that we need to let go of the idea what society conditioned us to believe what is normal.

Social Autie: What is/are the top tip(s) or insight(s) you have discovered for advocating for a) others and b) yourself?

Lorren:  I think accepting is huge. We see a lot of awareness but what about acceptance? That’s more of an action. Once you take those action steps it feels good for yourself and educating others. Something as simple as having an open conversation about it, explaining to a family or friend how to connect more with your self and giving them examples.

*Neurodistinct is a term coined by my good friend and fellow autistic, Tim Goldstein of the NeuroCloud.  Neurodistinct is our preferred term to neurodivergent because everyone wants to be "distinct."  To learn more about this term and why we choose it check out S2 E11 with Tim Goldstein on the Mind Your Autistic Brain Talk Show.