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 it’s been like to parent Bradley, a now mid-twenties neurodivergent young man, from the earliest signs right through to supported independence.

We talk about the moments that first raised questions, like speech developing into substituted sounds, and sensory differences around food textures and loud environments. Graham takes us back to the uncertainty of assessments and the long wait for an autism diagnosis, and he’s candid about the grief that followed, the fear of the unknown, and the flood of “what if” questions that so many parents carry in silence. We also reflect on how much has changed in Australia, with stronger neurodiversity awareness, neuro-affirming perspectives, and NDIS supports that can make real independence possible.

Most importantly, Graham shares what helped his family move forward: teamwork with his wife Tracy, learning from therapists without getting overwhelmed, and building Bradley’s skills through practical steps, visual supports, and a steady belief in what’s possible. We explore what “success” can mean when you reframe it as safety, happiness, community contribution, and belonging, and why dads need more spaces to talk to other dads without judgement. If you’re parenting a child with autism or supporting neurodivergent adulthood, you’ll walk away with hope that feels grounded, not wishful.

Subscribe to the Empowered Parent Podcast, share this series with someone who needs it, and leave us a review so more families can find these stories. What’s one question you wish you could ask a parent who’s further down the track?

danabaltutis.com,  mytherapyhouse.com.au, https://mytherapyhouse.com.au/your-childs-therapy-journey/ https://www.danabaltutis.com/services

Transcript

Welcome And Series Roadmap

SPEAKER_01 0:02

Hello, welcome to the Empowered Parent Podcast 2026. This is our first series that we are putting on in 2026. Over the next six weeks, we are going to be following a wonderful father, a dad, a dad who's walked beside his son through childhood, diagnosis, through school years, adulthood, care systems, and eventually into independence. And now this dad is on his path to business ownership. Today we begin at the beginning, and we are going to unravel this journey over the next six weeks. Joining me is Graham Clark, father to Bradley, an adult neurodivergent young man. Alongside his wife Tracy, Graham has spent decades caring, advocating, learning, adapting, and creating opportunities, not only for his son Bradley, but now for many other families and adults through their newly formed organization, which he will be talking about in the series. In today's episode, though, we're going to talk about Brad's early years and Graham's early years as the father to a neurodivergent, wonderful child. We're going to talk about who Graham is, who Bradley is, life before and after the diagnosis, and why Graham wanted to share his story openly with all of you as a father. So a warm welcome to you, Graham, onto the Empowered Parent Podcast. Okay, so Graham, let's start with the first question. And I know it's a little bit stressful being on your first podcast for a long time. I know I interviewed you way, way back a couple of years ago, but just know that people are really eager to hear your story. So tell us a little bit about yourself and your family.

SPEAKER_00 2:26

I'm married to my wife, Tracy, and we're celebrating our 30th wedding anniversary this year, and it's a great milestone for us. I'm really proud of that. Um I come from humble beginnings. I joined the army in 1989 and served for five years. Absolutely loved it. It was my calling. It gave me purpose and identity. In 1994, I was medically discharged due to a back injury. Um to date I've had several back operations. And I guess that helped change the the what I was about to do going forward forward, as in I thought I was going to be military all the way and everything like that, happily married and all that sort of

Graham’s Army Years And Parenting Shift

SPEAKER_00 3:15

story, but our roles changed in the marriage, and I got to spend a lot of time with my son as I was a stay-at-home primary carer for Bradley. And I'm really, really fortunate and thankful that I got that opportunity because it was a really special time in my life. I know a lot of fathers don't get that option, so in a way, having the back operations sort of like got that positive out of it. Currently, originally when we we started this journey, we were just trying to figure out things. But today we run a business to help other families navigate that same path and and to let people know they're not alone. So yeah, we're really excited about that. We we're working into a niche marker, specializing in helping individuals transition from the family home into their own home. Our son's just gone through that process. And we feel that we have a really good understanding of that as we've just been through it with Bradley, he's currently living in his own home supported. So it's really, really cool.

SPEAKER_01 4:23

That's amazing. So, really, from the beginning, you really had to learn about adaptability and flexibility, right? So having to, you wanted to go and be a soldier, military, soldier, lieutenant, whatever, and then you had to change there and then, and then you had Brad. So let's talk about who is Bradley.

SPEAKER_00 4:50

It was Bradley. I'll just add to that also, Donna, I had to learn about parenting and managing emotions, feelings, you know. So I had to learn a whole lot. So, but yeah, at the time very scary. But yeah, I was really, really unpleased how things are going for us at the moment. So, who is Bradley?

SPEAKER_01 5:11

Wow, I'll just take a minute there because uh can I just interrupt because people can't see you, but as soon as you say his name, I can see your face light up, you smile, it's like, wow, who is Bradley?

SPEAKER_00 5:26

Yeah, who is Bradley? Yeah, he's just a beautiful person, he really is. Um, is it he's a happy young man in navigating life, finding his place in the world and really finding his voice at the moment, which is really, really cool. Where Bradley just used to have things that were modeled for him and he'd go from there, but we've been able to give him his voice by schedules and things like that, and he now tells us, so it's really, really special. It's it's I know not having my voice how I feel about that. So to be able to give Bradley his voice and understanding and really, really special. So, as I said, he's living in his own home. We purchased a home for him, and uh NDIS just supplies uh provides the supports for us. So Bradley can learn that, even grow even more in the home, and just be happy. And it got to the point where Bradley didn't want to be with mum and dad as well, which was really, really cool. So to see where we were and everything, but we'll carry that on in separate in the next episode. So, yeah, in the community, Bradley volunteers twice a week in the school canteen, and he absolutely loves it, gives him his purpose, identity, and just he owns that space, which is really, really cool. So if I go in there and try to help, he makes me feel a little bit unwelcome, you know. That's not required, Dad. So I'm cool with that too, because that's I love that.

SPEAKER_01 6:55

I love that. Look how far he's come.

SPEAKER_00 6:57

Oh, yeah, definitely, yeah. But he's well, he he's just like anyone else. He wants friends, sense of belonging, and to be valued and understood, which is you know exactly what we all want. So it's just the needs part of it makes that a little bit difficult for him to understand and to get that way, so get to that point. So yeah, but he's just like

Meeting Bradley As A Young Adult

SPEAKER_00 7:20

anyone else. We all want friends, we all want to belong the connection in that thing. It's just that he had troubles understanding how to do that in the right way sometimes. So we've been able to help him with that. So yeah, really, really cool.

SPEAKER_01 7:34

So Bradley is a young man, he's in his early 20s, isn't he, Graham?

SPEAKER_00 7:39

Uh 25, 26 in August.

SPEAKER_01 7:41

Oh, his mid-twenties now. Wow, time flies. So he's in his mid-twenties, and he's he communicates verbally.

SPEAKER_00 7:53

That's an area that was a real struggle with us. He was non-verbal.

SPEAKER_01 7:57

But he was non-speaking initially.

SPEAKER_00 8:00

Yeah, yeah, definitely. Yeah, he was definitely non-speaking, which made it really challenging for us as well. So, yeah, but that didn't overcome. So, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:12

But now he speaks, right? To communicate, and he also uses, like you said, visual supports to help him get his message across and also his emotions, his gestures.

SPEAKER_00 8:27

At his house, we have emotion charts, so how are you feeling, and then we have excited and things like that. And we linked them to the movie, a movie, a Disney movie, so he had some sort of understanding. But yeah, yeah. His speech is developing more and more, which is really, really exciting. But we use a lot of visuals out to chart if if he's hurting somewhere or something, just surf away of hurting. So yeah, the the speech is is growing.

SPEAKER_01 8:56

So tell me who was Bradley as a young child? Like, what was he like?

SPEAKER_00 9:02

Bradley was a beautiful child. Yeah, he was yeah, slept through the night. Everyone's dream with a young one, and from three months, you know, he was sleeping through night, and then he walked right on time at 12 months. He gave us no reason early on to think anything was different. It was he was just a lovely, thriving little boy. It was a really, really special time for us. It he has a wonderful cheeky side. He had that right from the start. You know, he's got a real spark to his personality, and it was yeah, just a loving person. So yeah, really nice.

SPEAKER_01 9:39

So he must take after his parents then, with his cheeky side and spark to the personality. Um maybe yes, yes. So, what were the early signs for you and Tracy, you know, that you saw that Brad was experiencing the world differently?

SPEAKER_00 9:56

Um, speech, speech started out, we started to develop speech, but uh round two, you know, instead of saying four words, it was substituted sounds like which meant Thomas or which meant drink. So what were they?

SPEAKER_01 10:12

I think we just missed that. So there were just sounds for that.

SPEAKER_00 10:15

Yeah, a sound, yeah. T T for Thomas and for drink. So the first word and the last word of like drink, okay. So it wasn't developing those full words. Oh, yeah. We also found sensory with food, like textures and things like that, sort of sounds like really loud sounds, and that environment sort of stuff was overwhelming for Bradley. He his standard food was every night for a long time was strawberries, frum meat, chips, and cheese. That was it, that's all he would eat. So, yeah, that was a real sign as well. So, and just touching things or materials as well, sort of that sensory sort of

Early Signs Through Speech And Sensory Needs

SPEAKER_00 11:05

sort of thing. Yeah, and and we weren't looking for a big night diagnosis yet. We didn't really understand that. It was like a quiet phase for Brad and texture issues, but that made us curious as into what's going on, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 11:23

And he was your only child, he's your only child, right?

SPEAKER_00 11:26

Yeah, he's our only child, yes, but it's our only child.

SPEAKER_01 11:29

Yes, so you didn't have anything to compare with, and you just thought, oh, that's just bread.

SPEAKER_00 11:35

Yeah, well, we just kept back in those days. I don't know if it still happens, we just go to the nurse, you know, with your little blue book, and it used to give his right height right way, and then and then it just developed on from there, like it wasn't like the speech and everything like that. And then someone mentioned about hearing, so we went to a hearing specialist, and he said, I think you need to look into this a bit more.

SPEAKER_01 11:56

So yeah. So you said he was a cheeky child. What were the other like some joys of those early years for you guys?

SPEAKER_00 12:07

Being a family, being with Brad, it's just all those sort of things. But the cheekest thing he ever done to me, and I always I will never forget when he was about three. And he had this thing with water in the mouth, sort of thing. Yeah, and anyway, he came up to me and then he spat his water and then he'd run off. And I'm like, Oh, I didn't know whether to be more concerned about him slipping over in the water or what he'd just done, but I'm like, yeah, I had to respond.

SPEAKER_01 12:32

Cheeky, he wanted to interact, right? So he used his sensory profile to interact with you.

SPEAKER_00 12:38

Yeah, definitely. And it was cool, it was, yeah, just one of those memories that would never leave me just to look on his face and like, yeah, okay, nice.

SPEAKER_01 12:48

Oh, I love that. I love that. And it's probably those visual memories in your mind that get you through the hardest times, right? So, what were some of the harder times for you and Tracy, you know, in those really early years?

SPEAKER_00 13:07

Diagnosis was hard. School was was another hardest moment as well. That like the initial diagnosis was devastating to us.

SPEAKER_01 13:17

So, talk to me a little bit about that, you know, in those days. So that would have been about what, 23 years ago, 22, 23 years ago?

SPEAKER_00 13:25

Yeah, Bradley was three years, eight months when he was diagnosed. He was diagnosed later on because we're putting it all together, I guess. So um Tim, what was that question again, no?

SPEAKER_01 13:36

Like what what was it like, you know, in those days? What you went to the doctor, or you know, where did you go to get diagnosis? And and what were you expecting when you got there? And was it different to what you were expecting?

SPEAKER_00 13:51

Um yeah, in those days we seen a specialist, hearing specialists, and then he referred us to the Flinders Cat team, I think they were called.

SPEAKER_01 13:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:00

And then we went for that assessment. At that stage, I was unsure. I I could see there was

The Diagnosis And The Long Wait

SPEAKER_00 14:10

something, but I didn't know what it was or had any understanding of that. So it was a very, very scary time, very unpredictable.

SPEAKER_01 14:19

Yeah, you just yeah, what what's did you know at that point in your lives, did you know anything about autism at all?

SPEAKER_00 14:29

I had a family member with autism, but I hadn't had any involvement or sort of like in that thing. So no, I didn't really have any understanding to be honest with you. You're right. Yeah, no understanding at all. I didn't didn't even cross my mind, you know.

SPEAKER_01 14:47

So when the doctors or when the team told you, oh, your son is on the autism spectrum, like what were the first thoughts that went through your mind?

SPEAKER_00 14:58

Okay, so we went and had the assessment, and then there was a period of waiting. So I can remember that really good, but it was I think it was like two or three months before we got the diagnosis, and then the lady from the cat team came out and told us that two or three months was yeah, tough time. Tough time, it really was. It's the uncertainty, the unpredictability, just what's going on, and what's you what what you know. I mean, you only want your best for your child, and yeah, so yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:30

And it's interesting, isn't it? And I think the mentality of society has shifted now with you know, these organizations like Reframing Autism and with the NDIS, and people, you know, I'm going to a neurodivergence and well-being conference in September. And, you know, people are really proud of their autism. But I think back in the day it was more about, you know, he's not going to fit in, he's not going to belong, he's going to be different. How do I do it? And, you know, and whatever time period it is, when you are talking to me about this waiting period, I think as professionals, as therapists, people who are working with families, we need to be very mindful about where the family's at and what the information we relay to the family can do to the family, how it can affect the family, right?

unknown 16:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 16:30

Well, we had no support in that period because we had no diagnosis or anything like that. I think the biggest thing I see today is there's more understanding.

SPEAKER_01 16:40

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 16:41

And I think with understanding, you know, you get better results instead of a judgmental form. Do you know what I mean? So I can remember when I could still see the the lady coming and sitting down at home and everything like that. And yeah, I just cried. I cried.

SPEAKER_01 16:59

Yeah, yeah. And because you it's like you didn't have that understanding or image of who Bradley is and what he could be, right? It was just like, oh and like you said, the less information you have, the harder it is to digest it. So it is really important to have stories like your yours out there and have like the neuro-affirming, neuro, neuroneutral, now they're calling it as well, neuroaffirming, neuroneutral organizations that are really advocating for people with differences.

SPEAKER_00 17:38

Totally, totally.

SPEAKER_01 17:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:40

And oh sorry, I'll just jump in the dump. I can remember when when the diagnosis was given and the tears, and once I got out of that emotional mind and sort of like got to sort of some sort of wise mind, then the thoughts started to come, well, I want to, you know, parents, you know, I'd like to see him go to university or I'd like to see him become a neurosurgeon, or just those sort of things. And now I'm looking at, well, all trying to understand what what what what is that, you know, is is Bradley going to be able to have a job? Is Bradley gonna think? Is Bradley gonna even have to be able to have children? Is you know, just all those sort of questions, you know. So very, very tough time.

SPEAKER_01 18:23

How did you I know we might talk about it later, but how did you reconcile that with yourself in yourself?

SPEAKER_00 18:34

Briefly I got to the stage where I I what made me feel better was I made a promise to Bradley and I that I would learn as much as humanly as possible, so he would have someone that understood him.

SPEAKER_01 18:54

Oh I love that. I love that you're amazing. Yeah, we've brought tears here, but that's that's because it's coming from the heart, and you know, I know you, Graeme, I know Tracy, I know Bradley, and that learning, and even for the dog that you have, and now you've got chickens, that learning is coming on for the whole family, right? All the time. It doesn't stop, it doesn't stop.

SPEAKER_00 19:22

And for me, that alone emotion is one of the toughest. So I just didn't want Bradley to be alone.

SPEAKER_01 19:31

Yeah, so it's about the belonging that you didn't want a Brad to feel alone. Um and now I think Graham, he he's like trying to be alone. He's like, come on, guys, give me some me time.

unknown 19:47

Right.

SPEAKER_00 19:48

Absolutely. He made that very clear.

SPEAKER_01 19:50

He's got a great community, he's got a great community.

SPEAKER_00 19:53

He does, and Bradley's Tracy and I do one shift a week each, so I do a um Monday, and Tracy does a Saturday night, and that's enough for Bradley. Come around when you're on shift, otherwise, you know, phony or you know, that sort of thing.

SPEAKER_01 20:08

So yeah, you you've there's boundaries, he's got boundaries.

SPEAKER_00 20:11

Totally and I love that. I love that.

SPEAKER_01 20:13

I know, amazing, amazing. So I just want to ask, like, as parents, co-parents, and as a as a couple that is very loving and intact, dumb, and in those days, did you and Pro Tracy process things differently or similarly around the diagnosis, around who Brad was as you know, a little boy?

SPEAKER_00 20:40

Yeah. We we processed things similarly. We we we spoke a lot, we communicated a little bit. It was teamwork for us. Um we we found our feet together helping each other. You know, autism was so huge, but we could lean on each other if I was sort of like being had a rough day or things like that when Tracy came home. And you know, I could have that

The Promise To Learn And Advocate

SPEAKER_00 21:05

break sort of thing and things like that. Um we we we learned quickly that we couldn't both collapse on the same day. So that's complement each other, strength, you know, and that kept us moving forward. It's teamwork sort of stuff. Very challenging when you don't understand and you're just learning that part, you know, it's it's a big world. So yeah, and a scary world.

SPEAKER_01 21:29

And what's beautiful, that teamwork has really come through in your business or in your service. Do you want to talk about the name?

SPEAKER_00 21:40

The the name, well, we had a motto for Bradley, Tracy and I developed a motto around that time, and it was all for one. We were gonna give sorry.

SPEAKER_01 21:50

No, that's okay. That's okay. All for one, yep. So it was you, Trace, and Brad.

SPEAKER_00 21:57

And we were gonna give out all. So See where we could go and just give Bradley options and things like that as well. So all for one was our motto. That's yeah, which is yeah, and that's your business name now, right?

SPEAKER_01 22:11

All for one ability service.

SPEAKER_00 22:14

Yeah, we we we we understand disability and everything like that, but we'd like to know we're curious about what else is there? What else? Do you know what I mean? I don't want to be locked into just a diagnosis. Well, we respect that and behavior support plans and we follow them and everything else. There's just that little bit of curiosity, you know. Can you make that sandwich or can you use a knife or just those real, real simple things which help when you move out of home and you're independent and you can do your your food, you know? So yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:45

And I definitely see that you guys have this belief in Brad, right? And that's why he shines because it's you guys have the belief in Brad, but also the belief in yourselves and the belief in the three of you as a family unit.

SPEAKER_00 23:03

And that was the hardest thing was not being disrespectful, but we didn't believe believe in Bradley's ability as a parenting sort of thing, and and that that was our biggest mistake. And then when he moved into a home, we believed, and then we believed in ourselves, and it's just blown on from there.

SPEAKER_01 23:26

But yeah, we just got so then Graeme. I'd love to ask the next question. What do you think, looking back now, what do you think professionals could have given you more or less of to help you in that belief in Brad? Or were they giving it and you just couldn't hear it at the time?

SPEAKER_00 23:49

Yeah, I think I think that's the case was we're given a lot of advice. And I don't know whether it was too much, sort of, at the time why you're trying to figure this all out in those early days. But overall, I'm really thankful and appreciate that what the therapists have done, you know. Big changes to Bradley, and it was also I really enjoyed the therapy sessions as well because I could go to the therapy sessions, see what was happening, and then get advice and then bring it home. And then like and then we could practice there. So the guidance was was huge, you know. The information has to be fed slowly to the to the person, I think, because too much too fast is, and especially when you're in a new world, it's just so overwhelming, and then it goes gray, the world goes gray because it's like wall, you know, and then you you have all those questions and what ifs and whys and all that sort of stuff.

SPEAKER_01 24:47

And do you think that in those therapy sessions you saw the potential of your wonderful child?

SPEAKER_00 24:58

100%. Because at home, Dad done it when when he was in therapy sessions, then Bradley done it, and that taught me a whole lot, you know, and that helped with that belief and everything like that. But at home, I don't think I gave him the option, you know. If dad's got it, don't worry.

SPEAKER_01 25:17

You didn't know, you didn't know, right? Because

When Professional Advice Helps Or Overwhelms

SPEAKER_01 25:20

we get into a a groove.

SPEAKER_00 25:23

Oh, totally, totally, and it works, and it's it's it's the same pattern all the time, sort of thing, because that works. And in a rough day, a pattern that works is really comforting, do you know what I mean? So, yeah, so I guess I just continued those patterns on of getting him his coffee and making him his lunch and things like that.

SPEAKER_01 25:41

So yeah, yeah, and then um when you had therapists tell you, hey, come on, let him be who he needs to be. It wasn't easy, was it, coming doing that transition either, like letting things go and supporting him through the learning, because it is a learning, it doesn't mean that he's gonna get his own coffee from get-go. There's gonna be some spills and some, you know, he's like a little kid, like he could burn himself, and you know, you're still being safe and trying to protect him.

SPEAKER_00 26:12

Yeah, well, uh and the difference is there with Bradley, like for you and me, don't put water in the kettle, sir, and that's it. But for Bradley, it has to be a process, you know. Okay, we fill up the kettle, that's the first step. Then we put coffee in the cup, and then you know, so it had to be a process for Bradley. Whereas for you and me, it's real simple. Oh, we'll just go and get a coffee.

SPEAKER_01 26:33

That's yeah, we don't think about it.

SPEAKER_00 26:35

No, and then that process is in everything, which is which is a way helps Bradley understand, and I think it's a really good, predictable way for Bradley to to Yeah, get those sequences, right?

SPEAKER_01 26:47

He's really methodological, which I love. I love methodological.

SPEAKER_00 26:52

But again, you you still have to build resilience with that, you know. I don't want to make Bradley's life so predictable that when something happens that's out of the norm that we can't change or manage or anything like that. I want him to have that resilience. Okay, I can change with that as well.

SPEAKER_01 27:11

Definitely. I love it when parents come up to me and ask me to do a series on the Empowered Parent Podcast, because this is what I wanted the podcast to be is for parents to share their stories and to learn from each other. So, what prompted you, Graeme, to approach me and decide that you wanted to share your story, your journey on this episode publicly?

SPEAKER_00 27:40

I was bored. No, no, only joking. Sorry, Donald.

SPEAKER_01 27:44

That's where Grant gets his cheekiness from.

SPEAKER_00 27:48

Um why did I decide to share my story? I can remember sitting in the Flinders Plinic when this was all going on, like the assessment. Would have really liked to have heard from another father on how they'd got to the other side, so to speak. Yeah, just to have that support from another father to to understand it and yeah, where there was nothing. I'm doing the podcast to break down stigma and to pay it forward. I've had a lot of people help me and I could ride off into the sunset and travel around Australia, but I'm choosing to pay it forward. It's really, really important. I've learned a lot. I'm not a specialist,

Building Skills With Visual Steps

SPEAKER_00 28:30

but I feel I can just basically help people. So yeah, and it's it's sharing what we learn in the hope that just you know, one word or one sentence will help another family. And and it reminds them that I'm not alone, you know. If I can share my experiences, and oh I always thought I was the only one going through those experiences, to be able to share that with another person and have them feel not alone, really important for me.

SPEAKER_01 29:00

I love that. I love that. And you mentioned about you know being a father, you would have liked to have heard from another father, just going back a little bit. Like, what do you think has been missing for dads in this journey as a dad?

SPEAKER_00 29:21

I would have liked a support group or of other fathers, so that's something I'm probably gonna look into later on down the track, just to have that support group, just come, we have dinner, just have a chat, just no therapist. It's not, you know, it's just casual and it's people meeting with people, and then you get that support, and then you can support each other, you know. I've had a bad day, oh okay, how can I help? Or you know, just listening, listening. And it's really nice men to men sort of thing. I feel like yeah, just really, really nice.

SPEAKER_01 29:57

I love that. I love that. And what do you hope? Let's go for the final question in this episode. So, what do you hope families listening take away from this whole series that we're doing with you?

SPEAKER_00 30:14

Oh, would you like families to understand that there's hope and there's belief and there's light at the end of the tunnel? You know, changing original dreams isn't a setback. Like it's the start of a different, incredibly rewarding story. And success, you know, success isn't a corporate career, it's it's your child being happy, safe, living in their own own home and contributing to the community. And belonging, belonging, the most important word of all. So, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 30:50

I love that. Contributing and belonging. I love that.

SPEAKER_00 30:53

Yeah, and the reality is that it's a beautiful life out there that you know, there is light ahead, and it's it's entirely possible, you know. We've done nothing special, we've had to take the hard road, and if I can just help or just in some way,

Why Dads Need Dad Support

SPEAKER_00 31:10

one word, one sentence, then yeah.

SPEAKER_01 31:13

I love that. And like you said, you know, it's about it's a journey, and it's you know, one road, one sentence, one connection, one word, you know, one word. And I think that I I love it when dads speak up and dads support each other because there isn't often much for dads out there, or dads feel they can't speak up, or they bottle up their emotions, or even some dads might be neurodivergent or on the autism spectrum or have ADHD themselves and not know it, but they they they cope, they manage and often in silence.

SPEAKER_00 31:56

Totally. I I feel like I I showed my emotions in different ways to Tracy as well. So that understanding of those emotions. I I turned logistical, you know, I was going to arrange everything and get everything set and all that sort of thing, but that was my way of showing my grief and understanding my grief and my pain and her and things like that. And yeah, it's yeah, it's nice. It's just nice to be able to give back. That's what I really want to do.

SPEAKER_01 32:28

I love it. Well, I cannot wait for the next episodes, Graham. Thank you so much for coming on today and sharing so openly and vulnerably with our listeners. And I think so many parents listening will relate to that feeling of loving their child so deeply while also trying to make sense of a world they never expected to navigate, right? And next week we continue the story as we move into the carer years and the reality of caring for bride through childhood, balancing family life, advocacy, exhaustion, burnout, and you know, the emotional load many carers quietly carry every single day. So thank you, Graham, and thank you everyone for joining us on this special series on the Empowered Parent Podcast.

SPEAKER_00 33:23

Thanks, Dan. I really appreciate it. Thank you.