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The Empowered Parent with Dana Baltutis
Welcome to The Empowered Parent Podcast.
This podcast is a space for parents to learn, reflect, and grow.
Each week, we explore topics that help parents understand themselves and their children more deeply - from communication and connection, to supporting neurodivergent development at home and in the community.
We’ve had wonderful conversations with experts, parents, and professionals - including speakers from the Neurodivergence Wellbeing Conference, and a special series following one mum’s journey in unschooling her child.
Every episode is here to inspire curiosity, compassion, and confidence in your parenting journey.
Don’t forget to follow along, share your reflections, and join the conversation.
You can connect with me at danabaltutis.com or mytherapyhouse.com.au.
Let’s celebrate neurodivergence.
Let’s celebrate belonging.
Episodes
98 episodes
ALL4ONE: A FATHER'S STORY: Episode 6: From Carer To Founder
Brad’s doing the things many families are told to stop hoping for: he’s building a life with purpose, friendships, and a sense of belonging, not just “being cared for”. Graham joins us for a heartfelt final check-in on how Brad is travelling no...
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ALL4ONE: A FATHER'S STORY: Episode 5: You Can Love Deeply Without Burning Out
Watching your child step into independence can be the proudest moment and the most unsettling one. Graham Clark joins us to speak honestly about what happened when his son Bradley, an autistic young adult, moved into his own home and Graham’s f...
ALL4ONE: A FATHER'S STORY: Episode 4: From Safety To Independence Through Supported Living
Buying a home for your child sounds like a practical decision until you realise it also forces a whole new identity for everyone involved. We sit down with Graham to unpack how his family moved from assuming Bradley would live with them forever...
ALL4ONE: A FATHER'S STORY: Episode 3: School Was The Anchor And Then It Ended
School can feel like it’s “for the kids”, but for many families it’s also the first place a parent stops feeling invisible. I sit down with Graham to keep following Bradley’s journey from childhood into adulthood, starting with the school years...
ALL4ONE: A FATHER'S STORY: Episode 2: The Survival Years Of Neurodivergent Parenting
Some parenting seasons are loud, messy, and relentless and you don’t even realise you’re surviving until you finally stop to breathe. We pick up Graham's story as a full-time carer for his non-verbal, neurodivergent son Bradley, stepping into t...
ALL4ONE: A FATHER'S STORY: Episode 1: The Beginning
A child can be sleeping through the night, walking on time, and lighting up your world with cheeky joy, and you can still end up facing a diagnosis that changes everything. Graham Clark joins us to start a special six-week series, sharing what ...
Unschooling Series with Paige Carter (Parent, Advocate, Community Leader, Business Owner) Week 9: When We Stop Pushing, Children Start Healing
What changes when a child’s wellbeing takes the lead and everything else rearranges around it? In this series finale with Paige Carter of Inclusive Oak, we follow a family through unschooling and burnout recovery, anchored by one unforgettable ...
Unschooling Series with Paige Carter (Parent, Advocate, Community Leader, Business Owner) Week 8 - We Moved Into A Caravan And Found Our Pace
What if the bravest choice is to stop doing what everyone expects and start doing what your child needs? We sit down with Paige Carter to unpack a seismic family pivot: renting out the house, moving into a caravan, and giving a neurodivergent c...
Unschooling Series with Paige Carter and Sarah Lovett : Week 7 - Rethinking Education When Safety Comes First
This week on The Empowered Parent Podcast I sat down with Sarah Lovett from Our PDA Kids and Paige Carter from Inclusive Oak. Both Sarah and Paige are parents of children with Pathological Demand Avoidance, or Persistent Demand for Autonomy, an...
Unschooling Series with Paige Carter (Parent, Advocate, Community Leader, Business Owner): Week 6 - Recovery, Stability, Then Expansion: Trusting A Child’s Pace
Say yes to slower. That simple pivot—away from pressure and toward real choice—turned a chaotic season into a week with fewer meltdowns, easier car rides, and a hydrotherapy session full of laughter. We open up about parenting a PDA child with ...
Unschooling Series with Paige Carter (Parent, Advocate, Community Leader, Business Owner): Week 5 - A Family Weighs CBD For Epilepsy And PDA
What happens when you remove the biggest triggers from a child’s day and the seizures stop? We sit down with Paige Carter to unpack a remarkable shift since Oakland left school, the role stress and heat play in absence and atonic seizures, and ...
Unschooling Series with Paige Carter (Parent, Advocate, Community Leader, Business Owner): Week 4- Hydrotherapy and Drop Offs
Change doesn’t wait for the perfect schedule, and neither do big feelings. We sit down after a long day to unpack a week where a 30-minute hydrotherapy session brought relief, the weather kept us indoors, and Oakland leaned hard into the comfor...
Unschooling Series with Paige Carter (Parent, Advocate, Community Leader, Business Owner): Week 3 -Small Wins, Big Steps In Unschooling
Ever watched a child light up at the zoo, then shut down at the hospital and wondered how to bridge those worlds with care, dignity, and actual access? We dive into a week that held both: a quiet bus at Monarto where curiosity bloomed, and a cl...
Season 2 NEURODIVERSITY - Episode 10: Every Colour Matters - Closing Thoughts on Neurodiversity (Dana Baltutis, Speech Pathologist and Parent Coach)
The rainbow stretches across the sky – vibrant, diverse, and complete only because each colour exists. This powerful metaphor frames our season finale on neurodiversity, reminding us that human brains, like rainbows, aren't meant to be identica...
Season 2 NEURODIVERSITY - Episode 9: Photography As Therapy: Motherhood, Bipolar, And Neurodiversity (Bianca Buliga: Parent, Artist, Photographer, Advocate)
What if a camera could say what your voice can’t? We sit down with Bianca, a neurodivergent artist and mother living with bipolar II, ADHD, and autistic traits, to explore how art, therapy, and the right clinical support helped her turn pain in...
Unschooling Series with Paige Carter (Parent, Advocate, Community Leader, Business Owner): Week 2 - Rethinking Success: Recovery, Autonomy, And Gentle Education
A five-minute visit can hold a whole season of hope. I sat down with Paige Carter of Inclusive Oak to trace the delicate return of motivation after school burnout, and name a stage many families live inside: curiosity without capacity. Oakland ...
Season 2 NEURODIVERSITY - Episode 8: Parenting with ADHD: Finding Your Calm-ish (Dr. Claire Milligan, Psychologist, Business Owner, Parent)
What happens when a clinical psychologist with ADHD parents two neurodivergent children? A uniquely insightful perspective on navigating family life with different brains. Dr. Claire Milligan opens up about her journey from struggling parent to...
Unschooling Series with Paige Carter (Parent, Advocate, Community Leader, Business Owner): Week 1 - When school breaks a nervous system, what does real education look like?
What if the bravest thing you could do for your child’s education was to stop pushing and start listening to their nervous system? That’s the pivot Paige Carter makes as she chooses unschooling to help her autistic son, Oaklan, recover from sev...
SEASON 2 NEURODIVERSITY - Episode 7: Beyond Shame: Discovering the Joy in Your Brain Architecture (Sarah Eagle, Neurodivergent Consultant, Business Owner and Advocate)
What happens when we reframe neurodivergence not as a deficit, but as a natural variation in brain architecture? Sarah Eagle, founder of Joy Diving Australia and late-diagnosed autistic woman with ADHD, offers a refreshing perspective that cele...
Season 2 NEURODIVERSITY - Episode 6: Hope in Therapy: Cultural Sensitivity Meets Neurodiversity (Anushka Phal , Educational and Developmental Psychologist, Business Owner, and Community Advocate)
What happens when cultural identity meets neurodiversity? Psychologist Anushka Phal knows this intersection intimately as a Fijian Indian, born in New Zealand and raised in Australia, who received her own ADHD diagnosis as an adult. This revela...
Season 2 NEURODIVERSITY - Episode 5: Neurodivergent Families: Finding Your Tribe (Paige Carter, Advocate, Parent Coach)
What happens when the professional becomes the parent? Despite 14 years working in the disability sector, Paige Carter found herself completely lost when her son was diagnosed with autism at age two and a half. That moment sparked a powerful re...
Season 2 NEURODIVERSITY - Episode 4: Living Authentically: How to Embrace Your Neurodivergent Identity (Joanne Hatchard, Social Worker, Advocate, Podcaster)
What happens when we truly embrace neurodivergence as a fundamental part of human diversity? Joanne Hatchard, founder of Better Being Me and creator of the "Be Me Completely" course, brings profound wisdom from both personal and professional ex...
Season 2 NEURODIVERSITY - Episode 3: The Heart Behind Mingle Co: Vee's Mission to End Isolation (Violeta Abarzua Vasquez - Event Manager, Advocate, Podcaster, Film Maker)
"Sometimes I feel things very intensely," reveals Violeta Abarzua Vasquezas she shares her journey of discovering neurodivergence in both herself and her children. This revelation transformed not only her understanding of her family but sparked...
Season 2 NEURODIVERSITY Episode 2: Mind the Gaps - Dr. Vanessa Spiller on Neurodiversity (Clinical Psychologist)
What if challenging behaviours aren't problems to fix, but signals showing us how a child's brain works? Dr Vanessa Spiller, clinical psychologist and FASD expert, revolutionises our understanding of neurodivergent children through her groundbr...