Life, Love, and Autism with Susan Baker

The Simplicity Sessions

Welcome back to The Simplicity Sessions, I'm delighted that you’ve joined us today. My name is Jenn Pike, your host, registered holistic nutritionist, medical exercise specialist, the best-selling author of the Simplicity Project, and the creator of the women's revolutionary health program, The Hormone Project.

Today’s conversation is with Susan Baker. Susan Baker is the mom of two beautiful children, Andrew, 13, and Abby, 9. She is the author of Life, Love & Autism, an online blog that chronicles her family’s journey of growth and challenge, including love, loss, and an autism diagnosis. She is a holistic nutritionist by training and has been in the natural health industry since 2001. She continues to inspire health in others through her online programs and social media presence. Susan lives in Toronto with her husband and children.

"Life, Love & Autism is a beautiful documentation of life as a family. Often hilarious, sometimes hard, but most certainly inspiring, Life, Love & Autism is raw, real, and relatable. The stories go far beyond autism; they are about the human connection and what brings us together. The joy, the challenge, and the learning that comes from it all. A journey-- lived, documented, and shared.”

Jenn and Susan discuss how Susan’s life has changed after having children and searching for ways to improve the quality of life of her eldest, Andrew, who was diagnosed with non-verbal autism. You will hear about the inspiring story of a mother that will do anything to help her child become all that he could be instead of trying the “fix” him.

If you have a question for me and my team, send it over to [e-mail] or via Instagram at @jennpike and I'll do my best to share helpful insights, thoughts, and advice.

Here are the main topics of today’s episode:

• Introducing our guest, Susan Baker
• Why Jenn thinks Susan is inspiring
• The loss of a child
• Autism diagnosis of Susan’s first child
• The wonders in sharing your journey
• Andrew’s communication breakthrough
• Andrew’s want to share is experience
• Who has Susan Baker become?

Connect with Susan Baker -

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lifewithsusan/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lifeloveandautism

Lead With Love ~ Motherhood anthology: The voices of ten different women, each with a unique experience of motherhood. Raw, real and heartfelt. Mine, one of 10 chapters, and probably the best summary of my journey as a mother and of how each of my children shaped who I am today. The love, loss and joy of it all. ~Susan Baker @lifewithsusan

Life as a Nonspeaker: An Insider’s Perspective (Andrew S., nonspeaking autistic, age 12, Nov.2020) : 25-min

https://youtu.be/tm9fTEgQK4A

Connect with us -

Thank you for joining us today. If you could do me the honor of hitting the subscribe button, leaving a review and sharing this podcast with a friend or on social media tagging me when you do @thesimplicityproject on Facebook, @jennpike on Instagram, @simplicityjenn on Twitter, I would be forever grateful.

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Online work with Jenn:

Register for my signature program The Hormone Project and work with me 1:1 to support your health, hormones, and more via the following link www.jennpike.com/thehormoneproject.

Sign up for The Synced Program to learn how to tune your body to the lunar cycle and acquire a multidisciplinary approach to balance your body in less than 30 minutes a day!

Interested in registering for the upcoming Audacious Women program? Send us a message via our website at https://jennpike.com/contact/

To learn more about the products mentioned in this episode, visit the link I’ve shared on my Instagram @jennpike. There you can discover where you can purchase these products and how you can start to make them part of your everyday simplicity approach.

Learn more about the products and supports I recommend from of our amazing partners

• Eaton Hemp Sale is on Aug 19th (1 day event), 25% discount - Jenn uses their CBD oil to recover after her workouts along with her husband.
• Saint Francis Herb Farm education includes webinars, blogs and articles on important topics including plant medicines that they create on women's health, digestion, allergies, on immune support, on heart health, brain health, and sleep. I use and recommend their products and you can use the code JENNPIKE15 at check out and save 15% off your order or use the code JENNPIKE20 at check out and save 20% off hemp products through August 17.
• Skin Essence is Canadian-founded, organic, non-GMO, not animal-tested- this company is one that we love and have around the house. You can even talk to the company to get advice on which products may be right to try first. If it’s your first time ordering from Skin Essence, use my code JENNPIKE15 for 15% off. Use code JENNPIKE10 at check out and save 10% off your order for every order after that. Facial cleansers. Jenn keeps one fresh one that she uses to wash at night and the other one is called Pure that she keeps on a ledge near the shower. While in the shower, she lets her body get wet then she massages the Pure facial cleanser into her skin. She takes a little of the dried powder into her palms and creates a bit of a paste to which she will massage that in exfoliating her forehead, hairline and all around her face down through her neck
• GoodJuju make all-natural, plastic-free home & body products that are good for you, and good for the planet. Use code JENNPIKE10 at check out and save 10% off your first order
• Eden Hemp Sale is on Aug 19th (1-day event) - Jenn uses their CBD oil to recover after her workouts along with her husband.

Quotes

• “My spirituality really allowed me to see this unfolding in a way that was meant for my life.”

• “Can it be okay to be, you know, yeah? The opposite of strong, can it be okay to accept help? Can it be okay to say, you know what? There are other people in my life who love and care for my children and they can take care of them just like I can”

• “It's not another woman, another person is being open about it. You can feel and see yourself inside of that. And that's what I think, you talk about these stories going far beyond what you and your family unit are experiencing. That's where the connection piece comes in and why people are so drawn to it.”

• “What does this child need? I just said I don't know, but I will never give up. I will never give up on my child. And that wasn't me thinking there was some kind of miracle solution that I was missing. It wasn't about that, right? It wasn't about waiting to fix this child, but it. I know there's more, I know there's more and so I'm open and I don't know what that looks like. And within a couple of weeks, I met a family who was using a method of communication that involves spelling on a letter board, a very simple method, but it's one that's unconventional.”

• “I am, I would say, yeah, a new version of Susan Baker, which is somebody who continues to work at this, but is so much more trusting in the process of life. And partly because I can look back on examples of where I pushed myself to trust in the process of life. And it unfolded in a way I could never have predicted, but that brought me to an incredible place because I trusted in this process and I let go where I thought I should be going, what I thought I should be doing, what I thought I should be doing for Andrew or Abby. Um, and that's very difficult for my personality, but you know, I'm 44 this year and that is who I am now is just somebody who is more open to. You know, doing things in a way, I guess I, I'm not typically programmed to do it, you know?

Additional Information About Jenn:

Jenn studied and graduated with honors in Human Anatomy and Physiology with such a passion that it propelled her to continue her education over many years. Jenn is a Registered Holistic Nutritionist, Medical Exercise Specialist, Registered Yoga Instructor and Faculty of the Toronto Yoga Conference, Pre & Post Natal Yoga Expert, STOTT Pilates trained instructor, Twist Sport Conditioning Coach, Spin Instructor Crossfit Level 1 Coaching, among other certifications she got along the way. She is also a guest Holistic Expert for Breakfast Television, Global, CHCH, Rogers Tv and writes columns for STRONG Fitness Magazine, iRun magazine, Savvy Mom and contributes to Inside Fitness Magazine, The Toronto Star and Sun. She is also a proud educator and ambassador to Genuine Health, Nature’s Emporium, and Juice Plus.

Jenn is a proud mama to two beautiful souls and her best teachers of life. She resides on Lake Simcoe in Keswick with her husband and two children.