Her Son’s Diagnosis Changed Everything — For the Better with Patty Laushman | The Different Ability® Podcast

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In this heartfelt episode, I sit down with Patty Laushman — coach, educator, and neurodiversity advocate — to talk about her journey as a mom navigating years of uncertainty before learning her son is autistic. She shares what those first 8½ years were like, the challenges her family faced, and how one doctor’s words changed everything for the better.

We also talk about her path through college, becoming a mom later in life, and how her personal experiences led her to support neurodivergent teens, adults, and their families today.

Patty's Bio

Patty Laushman is an author, speaker, educator, and coach specializing in neurodiversity and the transition to adulthood for autistic and neurodivergent individuals. She is the creator of the SBN™ parenting framework, a practical approach that helps parents learn when to provide support, set boundaries, and give strategic nudges to activate intrinsic motivation so their emerging adults can build confidence and real-life skills.

Patty is the author of Parenting for Independence: Overcoming Failure to Launch in Emerging Autistic Adults (November 2025) and the founder of Thrive Autism Coaching, where she leads the Parenting for Independence group coaching program for parents of autistic teens and adults. Her coaching is grounded in both lived experience—parenting and homeschooling a profoundly gifted, multi-exceptional, autistic teen—and professional expertise, having worked with hundreds of families across the United States and beyond.

She is a Certified Autism Life Coach through the Association for Autism and Neurodiversity (AANE), whose LifeMAP program has supported more than 3,000 autistic teens and adults, and she also holds certification in employment services for people with disabilities through the Association of Community Rehabilitation Educators (ACRE). Patty’s professional background includes founding, growing, and selling a technology services company, as well as nearly a decade as a self-employed sales development consultant.

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