In this week’s episode, Lauren and Rina interview the incredible social entrepreneur and campaigner, Tinuke Awe. Tinuke recounts her experiences raising her black autistic son and passionately describes the work that she is doing to challenge prejudice, create community and shine a light on her son’s identity. The group discusses the absence of role models and representation, the importance of finding community and how to tackle cultural barriers to acceptance of disabled children. It is an emotional and joyful conversation that veers between anger, tears and lots of laughter.

In this week’s episode Rina and Lauren discuss the importance of connecting with people who share your experience, building a community (hello the fkingnormal podcast!) and just how valuable this is for providing a safe space to cope through difficulties — together. They interview Australian author and advocate Melanie Dimmitt on her journey to accepting her less typical parenting path, what she learnt and what she has gone on to achieve to support others in a similar position.

Melanie discusses the initial feelings she had hearing her son’s diagnosis, her path to finding acceptance and how connecting with others in similar situations opened her eyes and prompted her to write her debut book. The group discuss their own routes to acceptance and how building support networks with others was the life line that they all needed. Melanie spoke candidly about what she first struggled with, but also highlighted just how relieving it was to find others that she could relate so deeply to.

This week Rina, Lauren and season one guest Gemma Sherlock, interview trained psychotherapist Emmett de Monterey on his extraordinary life and memoir ‘Go The Way Your Blood Beats.’

Diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy at 18 months old, Emmett was raised by loving, accepting and liberal parents and yet he grappled for a long time with accepting his own identity. His feelings towards his disability, coupled with the realisation that he was gay made his early adolescence a difficult time in his life. This was further compounded by becoming a media sensation and ‘charity poster child’ for a ground-breaking gait surgery in the US.

In this episode, Lauren and Rina talk with artist and comedian Miriam Elia about living with the uncertainty that comes with her son’s diagnosis of Leigh syndrome. They discuss Miriam’s unique parenting approach and the profound impact that this has had on her entire family's story.

In this episode Lauren and Rina discuss neurodiversity and how we want the world to evolve, with the team behind the play ‘Just be Normal’ - Connor Pearce and sister's Emma and Sophie Jackson. The conversation includes a beautiful monologue performance from the play by Sophie, as well as each guest sharing their own personal experiences and their hopes and wishes for a more accepting and accessible world.

In this episode, Rina and Lauren talk with Jazz Manley about her experience of searching for answers and a diagnosis for her son Max. Jazz is very open about her own vulnerability and mental health struggles. She discusses her son’s difficult birth and the challenges she faced when he was young, when her concerns surrounding her son were not shared by others and she felt unheard.

In the first episode of our new series Lauren and Rina speak to performer and writer Bryony Kimmings. Bryony's son Frank is autistic and two years ago, she was also diagnosed with ADHD. They talk about Bryony’s parenting approach, discovering your own neurodiversity and how to balance a neurodiverse family with sometimes conflicting needs and wants. With her characteristic candour and wicked humour, Bryony describes how much she has learnt about herself and in doing so, how she has become a better parent to Frank as she drives to create their own neurodivergent utopia in their crumbling old country home.

It’s our series 1 finale and time to turn the tables on our hosts, Lauren and Rina are interviewed by our first ever podcast guest, the wonderful Genevieve. They discuss their experiences of pregnancy, birth and diagnosis with some key moments of acceptance, internal and external influences that helped, from language to being kinder to oneself, modifying parenting expectations and learning to not give a shit about what others’ think.