My guest today is Dr. Theresa Regan.
Dr. Regan is the founder and director of the OSF Health Care Adult Diagnostic Autism Clinic
for ages 14 and over.
She has experience with autism assessments reaching nearly 1,000 adolescents and adult
evaluations working as a neuropsychologist specializing in brain behavior relationships.
It is no secret Dr. Regan is a specialist for adults with autism.
Dr. Regan is an author of a book series called Understanding Autism and Host of a Successful
Podcast Autism in the Adult, where she covers vast amounts of useful everyday benefits of
adults with autism, whereby she reaches audiences to better understand adults with autism.
Her podcast features various series for a variety of topics and is, in my opinion, provides
such valuable insights on how adults with autism can learn necessary skills and understanding
to better navigate life.
In addition, Dr. Regan has experience being a mother of an autistic young adult.
These topics of adults with autism are extremely important to me in my personal life and I'm
very thankful for her consideration and knowledge.
And now my conversation with Dr. Theresa Regan.
Dr. Regan, tell me about your journey into psychology and into autism and then specifically
adults and adolescents with autism.
Well, I had a kind of a backdoor journey, which I think has actually been a real blessing
for me.
So in high school, I thought I wanted to do something with my life that involved the brain
and understanding the brain as far as thinking and how we become who we are.
So I ended up studying in graduate school clinical psychology, which means I work with
clients and their families.
And then I specialized in the brain part of that, which is neuropsychology.
And in neuropsychology, you get to pick, would you like to focus on adults or would you like
to focus on children?
And so I ended up on the adult track, which usually includes like adolescents, adults
and then geriatric adults.
And after that, I had trained in many hospital settings and I ended up getting a professional
job in Central Illinois, Peoria, Illinois.
And I worked in the hospital setting and continue to.
I'm at 25 years here now at OSF Healthcare in Peoria.
And boy, I've had the opportunity to see lots of different things and learn lots of different
things.
And mostly I focus on in adults, how changes in the brain, wiring and structure can impact
thinking skills and also emotional expression, personality and behaviors.
So that was my base.
So I might, for example, do a checkup with someone to see if there looks to be a dementia
process going on, or I might work with someone who has a traumatic brain injury or an infectious
brain injury.
So I got to do that for a long time throughout my training and then also in the hospital
setting.
And again, that was just such a great global broad experience.
And then I became a mother and in our journey with our son, you know, it was confusing and
just, it was hard because he seemed in so much distress and I didn't know how to help
him or what was, you know, you get lots of advice as a parent, you know, but you can
still feel very isolated and alone and trying to figure out how to help your kids.
And so he had interventions from an early age and then at about four, I requested the
autism assessment and that was done through Easter Seals.
So he was diagnosed just after he turned five.
And I remember thinking, I am not prepared for this.
I do not know what I'm doing.
And then I stopped and I thought, you know, my whole life has really prepared me for this
in some ways.
Like I at least have a framework for understanding that brain wiring impacts how a person experiences
the world, how they express themselves, I at least have that lens, that framework.
And so I just, I'm a very kind of activated person.
So when I'm stressed, I kind of jump in and I try to learn and I try to experiment with
what might be helpful and what's not helpful.
So over that journey, then I'm also of course working at the hospital and I'd see patients
in the hospital setting and the staff would be confused, you know, like, I just don't
understand what we're missing with this individual.
How could we help them?
How could we understand?
And I think, I know what this is, it's undiagnosed autism and it may be in an 82 year old or
maybe in, you know, a 54 year old and not only do pediatric specialists not know how
to recognize it in adults, but adult specialists don't know because they don't focus on developmental
issues and they don't realize that developmental issues impact the presentation and the needs
of that individual throughout their whole lifespan.
So I just had experience after experience where it was such a blessing to be able to
add that component of understanding to the staff, to the client, to the family members.
And then I thought, you know, I just really want to dive into that more.
And at some point, you know, I realized I'm just really providing the service we should
just make it official and say, you know, we do this type of service for adults.
And so the administration gave me permission to form a name and put into practice the adult
diagnostic autism clinic.
And I've done over a thousand assessments now and I think, you know, I start at 14 as
the age range that I see.
And then I think the oldest diagnostic assessment, the person was in their 80s, like maybe 82.
And I realized too how important it is to distinguish autistic characteristics from
what might look like a dementia to someone who doesn't know how to recognize the developmental
features.
And I came in through the back door, but that gave me another viewpoint, a different perspective
that I've been really blessed by.
Wow.
And so I got a couple of different things from the introduction.
It's like, in my experience, it seems like the most educated people with autism are those
that live it or are around it.
Yeah.
And they're superior over any research.
Yeah.
I think there's part of the living day today that you just can't get from a book.
I mean, in graduate school, I certainly learned about autism.
And of course, we know a lot much more about it now.
And I had gone to conferences about it before and I didn't even realize what I was seeing
until he was about four.
So even as a neuropsychologist, it's really hard to translate what you're seeing into this
vocabulary of neurology, especially for young parents too.
I think parents are encouraged to require the same behavior from all of their kids and
to have very close, clear consequences.
And what I've really been blessed by is the ability just to be a detective with people
and be like, wow, they're really overwhelmed.
What has led to this and how can we help them regulate better?
How can we help them feel better?
And what a breakthrough that is for people to be able to look at it in that different
way.
Yeah.
I'm delighted whenever you said that you just typically jump into things.
I think action, jumping into things and stress are anti-correlated.
So if you just get into it, your stress will calm.
And much more people would understand that.
As a psychologist, did you feel extra pressure because of you are navigating this and you
should be well-conformed or maybe even an expert?
I think that also was a blessing to me to realize that all the book knowledge in the
world, because my graduate program was like nine years after my bachelor's degree.
So it's an intense brain program.
And all this knowledge, there's always something we don't know.
And that piece of humbling experience, and I remember thinking back to things I have
thought in my mind that with life experience, I would never say again.
Like I remember walking into Walmart before I had a child and I saw a child, maybe three
or four in the cart and they had a pacifier in their mouth.
And I in my infinite wisdom, not being a parent, thought to myself, that would never
happen in my house.
And then as a parent, my child had this fixation with turning and holding three pacifiers in
each hand and two in his mouth.
And that was how he regulated and he'd turn them.
And I had to go into Walmart really quickly.
I never took him into any, but I had to grab a photo.
So I said to him, and he was probably, oh, he probably was around four.
So I said, we're just going to run in really quickly.
And you can only take one.
And I said, it's going to be really quick.
And sure enough, someone in the line started to tell me about how to stop that.
And they're like, here, you can just take it out of his mouth.
And they were taking it out of his mouth.
And I had to be, remember that humbling contrast.
And like that was me.
Without life experience, that was me.
And so it also has given me some grace to let people be in a different place than I am
because they haven't had that experience.
And so I just was able to say, you know what, we're not going to do that today, but I appreciate
your input.
So it's a humbling experience to live it and realize that you didn't have the whole picture.
And it also, I think, if handled well, allows you to extend grace to people who don't understand
or are in a different place.
And that's OK.
Yeah.
It would have been a typical or an easy reaction to kind of get on to that other person for
not knowing anything about what's going on.
Yeah.
And I could have felt very criticized.
Even as a parent, and parents get weary of criticism.
But again, because I had had that experience in Walmart, and I had processed that since
then, and I thought, what a contrast.
And I was able to choose then in the moment, instead of being really emotional or shaming
to them.
I was able to stop.
And so I think that's been my experience that here I am with all this book knowledge and
experiences the way that you really grow.
And can I grow while extending grace?
So I think that's been one of the biggest takeaways as far as my professional intersection
with my personal life.
Yeah.
That's wonderful.
And I'm reminded of your brain behavior relationship as a neuropsychologist and just having an
extreme interest with neuroplasticity and how we change and develop all the time.
That's pretty cool to me.
So what are some common themes adults with autism come to you with?
What that looks like for them and their life?
For them around others.
So one thing to keep in mind, and I, you know, a lot of times when I share stories, I'm sharing
experiences that are based in a time of struggle.
So as a clinician, people come to me in a season of struggle.
Yeah, that's a good thing.
Yeah, that doesn't mean that everything about autism is struggle.
But when people intersect in my clinic, they're coming for assistance and that they've been
in a season of struggle.
So a lot of times the themes are that there's been, they've hit a roadblock in their ability
to understand themselves and to shift their behaviors to meet the expectations of others.
And people around them are confused and they're confused.
And there can be this kind of shaming situation.
And it kind of goes back again to some of the parenting things too.
Like as a parent, you get a lot of this input like, that wouldn't happen in my house.
And again, I've said that.
And or things like, you know, if your child is struggling, it's because you aren't doing
something correctly.
And then as they get older into adulthood, they get the message that if they're struggling,
it's because they're not doing something well.
And we have this kind of American, and I'm sure part of it is just a human outlook.
But in the United States, we have this value for independence and determination and willpower.
And you know, there are posters around that say the only thing holding you back is you,
you know.
And so, but what that can lead to, if you don't understand neurology, is this feeling
like if you are not meeting the expectation of the classroom, if you are not meeting the
expectation of the Christmas party or whatever, it's because you don't have the will or determination
to regulate yourself in a complex situation.
And so one of the themes that has been, and again, I think this is one of the biggest
reasons to get a clarifying diagnosis is that if something is a stumbling block for someone's
wellness and it's related to a traumatic experience or, you know, poor life choices or whatever,
our psychology approach can be very helpful if the difficulty regulating or meeting their
goals is related to a nervous system that needs something different.
We need to know that.
And not only can it break that cycle of shame and stuckness, like I'm stuck because none
of the traditional things are going to are really helping me to overcome this.
But it gives new approaches that you wouldn't otherwise have.
So you have a better understanding, you have new approaches and the theme of why are we
stuck?
Is it because of you or me?
You know, that can be broken and we can focus on being detectives and figuring things out
together and partnering together.
So regulation, you know, the ability to stay calm and psychologically present in various
situations can be one thing that people present with as far as struggle.
Communication and relationships could be a point of struggle.
And sometimes it's that adulting piece, you know, like just getting through the day and
why am I brilliant in physics but I struggle to pay my bills on time or whatever.
So those would be some common things.
But the overall shift could be about this greater understanding, breaking those assumptions
that just keep us trapped and then focusing on solutions for those stumbling blocks.
Yeah.
I think an easy way to describe autism is lacking adaptive responses, especially from
the some of the neurobiology of autism and how we have to integrate into society and
social norms.
And that's very much in contrast of the autistic phenotype.
And without knowing that you have the autistic phenotype, like officially, that can be very
challenging.
Yeah.
I think and a lot of the challenge is just that people don't know.
I mean, they don't.
There's just a lack of knowledge and that's something we can help with, you know.
So autism has become a household word in many respects, but at the same time, not many people
know what it looks like.
Yeah.
They know.
Yeah.
So translating like this is neurology in this person can be really important.
But yeah, the brain's neurologic architecture that we're born with, the more knowledge we
have about each individual, you know, the more enlightened we can be about, oh.
So because we'll always say, what does this behavior mean?
Because behavior is communication.
So if somebody who doesn't know autism interacts with someone, they're still going to be saying
like, what does it mean that they looked at me that way?
What does it mean that they didn't say this or they did say this?
And we're supposed to get meaning out of behavior.
But if they don't know that neurology presents that way, then there's these wrong assumptions.
Well, they just don't care enough or they don't care about me or they're focused on
this interest and they think it's more important than me.
So if we can introduce this knowledge that this is what neurology looks like in this
person and their behavior doesn't mean that you've been rejected or you've been slighted,
it means that this is what intrigues their wiring.
This is what their wiring loves.
And how do we translate that so that both people's needs can be met and that you can
understand each other?
So it's not me against them or them against me, but it's, oh, we have nervous systems
and this is what yours looks like.
Yeah, okay.
Yeah, so I had a follow-up question and I was wondering some helpful tools or protocols
that you might have in your experience, especially with the amount of logistics that you've worked
with, though they might be kind of general things that's helped.
But I was just curious if there's some common protocols or tools that you guys work with
or work with.
So I think one intervention tool is essentially explanation, like translating.
So even when people come, often they come with family or they, even when they suspect
this might be what it is, they often don't see all the pieces that hang together in the
brain and why.
So part of the big intervention is pointing that out, like your brain really loves this
and this works for you in this way.
But look at how it could work against you in this way.
So really giving them that more true narrative is one of the interventions, I think.
And then one of the things I think is so important that no counselor or teacher or physician
really is going to bring up is the use of physical inputs for regulation.
And I think the autistic really needs that.
And what I mean is that looking at that proprioceptive and vestibular input to just calm and regulate
the nervous system.
So what we tend to do if someone's dysregulated, if they're upset or if they can't get activated,
we tend to talk to them about it.
So let me tell you why you should be in a different place emotionally.
Let me tell you why you should behave differently.
And this talking while someone's dysregulated is not really helpful to the autistic because
talking is draining.
So the autistic is like, I'm already drained.
You are talking to me about being drained.
You know, let's send you to counseling so that you can talk more about how you're
feeling. And I have nothing against counseling.
I do it.
I think it's very effective.
But there's something else the autistic needs, which is how do I just get my nervous system
to feel calmer and to feel better in my own skin before we start talking about regulation?
And so what I love to think about is, you know, if we have an infant that is screaming
and crying and they just get very dysregulated and talking isn't going to help them, you
know, and explaining why they don't need to cry isn't going to help them and punishing
them or whatever.
But what does help them is holding them, which gives them pressure input, proprioceptive input
or swaddling them and rocking them.
That's vestibular input.
So we have this very innate nervous system pattern built into us.
Everybody who has a nervous system has this.
And a lot of us use strategies to calm and center the nervous system based on this principle
without even thinking about it.
Like one person might say, oh, riding my bike outside is the best.
I just feel really calm and rejuvenated, but I can't ride on a stationary bike.
That's not going to do it.
Well what they might be saying is, I really need that movement input because vestibular
input needs you to move through space like rocking, right?
And then you can, what I love about this is everybody can use these tools.
It's an inherent nervous system thing.
So everyone can relate to it and it really lends itself to this detective mindset of,
oh, your nervous system really likes this.
And so if somebody is pacing or they're overactive, they're not sitting down, we could say as
a detective, oh, wow, your body really wants a movement now.
How else could you get that?
Let's see if a swing helps you feel better regulated.
And you get this partnership, you get this detective kind of thing, and then people learn
how to take care of their nervous system.
Otherwise, what happens is we get into this kind of pattern where we try to make sure
everything in our external environment and life is just so, so that our nervous system
feels okay.
And we spend a lot of time trying to make sure unexpected things don't happen and loud
things don't happen.
And that's fine, but it is impossible to totally do that and it's exhausting.
So adding this element of how are we going to take care of your nervous system today?
You know, how can you get pressure input?
Pressure input gives the brain proprioceptive signals and that calms the nervous system.
How can we get you the stabular input where the fluid in your ear is moving?
Do you need a rocking chair?
Do you need to ride your bike?
Do you need a hammock?
And that gives the brain centering input and how does that fit with you?
And so that's part of the really activating thing too.
Let's be a detective, let's partner together, and then let's figure out how to get your
nervous system what it needs.
And to use those physical inputs is so important, I think, because talking through other strategies,
this reliance on talking first, I think, can be too overwhelming.
You know, let's help your nervous system feel better first, and then we can talk through
some things.
Yeah, that's incredible insight.
And I think it's unfortunately, it's not considered as often as it should be.
I was thinking about Temple Grand and designing the squeeze machine.
Yeah, exactly.
Yeah.
And it's just so helpful, everything you described.
I like squeezing paper towels in my head.
Yes, yes.
And that, you know, you sharing that, that gives people ideas, right?
It's kind of a creativity based on a revelation.
So we have this revelation that squeezing something feels good.
And then we have this innovation or creative mindset of how else could your system get
that.
What kind of effective way, what kind of, how can we really get the most out of that
for you?
Yeah, also, as you were describing that, I was thinking that you're giving people an
ability to kind of zoom out out of the situation and have a more perspective on what is happening
and what are some other options that I can do.
Yes.
Yeah, you need someone.
And that's, it's, you know, we're stuck a little bit because we don't have enough experts
who can help someone step back and see the big picture.
And so they're stuck in their own skin and in their own head, you know, and they're like,
okay, what could I do?
But they can't, they can't move beyond that.
And the expert is supposed to say, what I see is this pattern.
Have you noticed this pattern?
And then they'll say, oh, so that links with this.
Okay, you know, you need someone outside and who's knowledgeable enough about the brain
and neurology to start to show you pattern, how the pattern works for you and against
you, and to have this creative partnership.
So people who are trying to do that on their own, I applaud them, you know, for that self,
that journey to figure out yourself.
Ideally, it would be nice to have an expert to come alongside and to say, I'm wondering
if you've considered this because this is how neurology works.
And I'm noticing this.
Yeah, that's a whole people can catch onto that.
That's valuable information.
So I know in your podcast, you talk a lot about different aspects of life.
So I have a couple that I've really want to ask you about.
And the first one is, how about adults and relationships?
Yeah.
And what I love about the diagnostic piece, again, is this ability to break some of the
misunderstanding about relationships.
So you know, we, I gave some parenting examples because that's where I learned, you know,
in parenting my son, but these examples across the lifespan.
So you know, how does this pattern and way of interacting impact friendship or dating
or retirement or marriage or kids?
And that's another benefit of having someone outside of yourself to say, okay, you're in
a new season, you know, so our bodies change over time, our brains change over time, our
chemistry changes and our life circumstances change.
So those all kind of coincide and someone could say to you, hey, you know, I think the
things that you used to regulate yourself before this relationship, you know, are less
available to you now because you have this schedule or you're with this person, they
don't like, you know, interact interacting with that activity or they want more one
on one time.
So someone to help partner with you to say, how were you regulating before and are you
getting enough regulation now and how could we shift that?
And then things like communication.
So I'm just a firm believer that any characteristic that we have as humans, our strengths need
to be identified.
And then we need to understand that our strengths work against us in certain situations.
It's not that this characteristic that I have is all good or all bad.
It's that it really works for me here, but boy, I can get stuck in this area, you know,
with us.
And so, you know, social relationships and communication can have some of that too.
So the individual who has that self-knowledge may be able to see in their new relationship
how that impacts them.
For example, they may be great and love having conversations about very interesting topics
and or let's work on this project together or but if they're with a partner who wants
to have heart-to-heart conversations and gaze into each other's eyes, that may be fine,
but the self-knowledge part can say, you know, my nervous system leans toward task or topic
oriented activities.
I see that your nervous system really likes to connect with relational discussions.
And I want to be there for that.
But this is how my nervous system leans.
So all of us will make sacrifices in a relationship with a partner.
And for example, if you're making that sacrifice and you're like, I really want you to get
what you need, let's have that relational conversation.
I'm going to need some alone time or a bike ride or whatever to regroup after that.
You know, so this is me showing up for you.
And I want to do that.
I also want to reset my nervous system after we do that.
So the ability to know that about themselves and then to have words to wrap around that
to communicate that to somebody else.
And it goes back to that thing that we're always, whether we realize it or not, we're
trying to figure out what that behavior means.
What does it mean that he doesn't want to talk to me?
You know, well, it may not mean a whole lot.
It may mean that this is how he expresses love in the relationship in this other way.
But to be able to start with that knowledge and for the autistic to be able to recognize
that in themselves and communicate it, that can be huge because it can break up that tendency
to get stuck and to just have kind of a shame or, you know, a relationship where the biggest
communication is you're not living up to my expectations.
That can be very wearying and a big misunderstanding really.
Yeah.
There's a lot of almost barriers to being compatible with other people.
Yeah.
And if you know what you enjoy the most in relationship, you can consider that when you're
joining with a partner.
I think what doesn't work is thinking that all relationships should look the same and
then trying to become that person, you know, because our relationship should look like
these people who have a relationship.
And I think if you start with your own nervous system and the nervous system of your partner,
what makes me tick?
What makes them tick?
What do they need out of a relationship that I don't need?
And vice versa.
And then are we compatible?
Because compatibility may be there with someone else who also loves to talk and do rather
than gaze into someone's eyes and, you know, process emotions.
Neither of those approaches are all good or all bad.
But you can't consistently give someone all they need emotionally all the time if your
nervous system works in a different way.
So starting with the self-knowledge.
Yeah.
There's a lot of autistic phenotypes have competing goals.
Everybody has competing goals.
The more we do one thing, it's going to subtract from us being able to do the other things.
But with autism, like with the restrictive, fixated interest and the scheduling and the
difficulties with social communication.
Yeah.
This is a whole relationship part of something that I personally struggle with quite a bit.
I know that's maybe too personal.
But autism came on the radar for me from romantic relationship and coworkers.
So various forms of relationships.
And it was just like, okay, wow.
I mean, just.
Yeah.
And I think with romantic partnerships, if you have that self-knowledge, sometimes you
can make choices that are a little outside the box.
Like I have couples that do really well, but they each keep their own living space.
And maybe they've been together nine years, you know.
But why do they do well?
They have their own space.
They realize how they work best as a couple.
And they're not trying to make their relationship look like someone else's relationship.
I think another thing that happens with relationships can be that over time, there's increasing complexity
in adult romantic relationships.
A lot of times because the longer you're with someone, you know, then you're expected to
go to weddings with them or meet their family or go to their holiday family vacations.
And maybe you have children together.
And this multitasking starts to come into play where it's not just a one-on-one relationship.
You have this exponential demand start coming.
And that means you're extending yourself in these multiple areas and probably don't have
as much access to what regulates you.
And it can feel like life just kind of goes on without asking our permission, right, to
expand and change.
And so attention to what, you know, the social media relationship or family looks like versus
what actually fits me.
Because a lot of pressures.
A lot.
Yeah, social comparison and fitting in.
A lot of conversation was just fitting in and a lot of early on, a lot of just like
modeling people.
Right.
Because that's what we're supposed to do and how much conflict that it actually ends
up being.
Right.
It's kind of funny because parents talk about their teens and peer pressure, but we all
feel peer pressure, don't we, at any age.
You know, so and so is retiring to the Florida Keys and I don't have that.
And so we're always comparing and it doesn't do us much good.
Yeah.
As you was describing some of that, it's like, yeah, it makes sense.
As you're explaining, we work inward and then work out from ourselves.
Because if this isn't broke or this isn't fixed or functioning, then all the entangled
social dynamics of life will be off.
That's very powerful.
What is your experience with adults and employment?
Yeah, that's, that's a difficult thing, isn't it?
Yeah.
Sorry.
Yeah, yeah, you're fine.
I think there's a whole range of, of how that looks and how people experience that.
And I think we're not, we don't have the big picture yet because we don't have everyone
diagnosed correctly yet, the people that we have diagnosed, maybe people who've hit a
real difficult season and gone in for more assessment or maybe who have relatives who've
been diagnosed or so it's difficult for us to make conclusions about the big picture
of employment and autism.
I certainly know that there are autistics, you know, in all levels of, of employment,
but having said that, you know, the, the challenge I think can be resiliency.
Being in every day, every week, every month, it's, and sometimes, so I think, you know,
you've heard of that term, autistic exhaustion, I think resiliency can be a core challenge.
And resiliency can impact relationships and it can impact your job and, you know, the
ability to keep doing all these activities.
And so that's what I do hear a lot that it's difficult to stay in the same job, you know,
for a decade or whatever and make a living and pay your bills over the long term.
Yeah, yeah.
That's a lot of challenges there.
Yeah.
Just with the scheduling, like B2, the scheduling and sameness and then adding in more social
webs entangled with that.
Yeah, there's definitely a big social component.
Yeah.
I think that's why helping the autistic understand their nervous system and communicate it to
other people, you know, that can be helpful in the work setting as well.
And trying to figure out what fits your nervous system the best as far as work and also sometimes
making decisions about, you know, not taking the most intense, prestigious job, even if
you're brilliant at something that it may not fit your system to work 60 hours a week,
you know, it may not fit your system to do presentations in other nations or, you know,
there's a point at which caring for your whole system means I'm not going to take that promotion
even though I'm tempted to because it's going to look good.
People are going to acknowledge my talent and my skills and I'm going to get more money,
but the intensity is going to go up and that really does hurt me in a lot of ways and I'm
not willing to pay that price and service to a promotion.
But that's again kind of against our American kind of culture of how are you getting better?
How are you, you know?
So to shoot for balance and how something fits you is not always applauded in the same way,
but I think, you know, it really pays off and for people in a different setting, let's
say it's not occupation, let's say it's school, I see this as well like, well, they should
be in all honors classes because they're brilliant, you know, well, yes, they can do the work,
but you have to take into account their whole life picture, you know, how much demand is
on this person, how much drain to their nervous system, what are we doing to support and fill
their nervous system?
And is there anything left over?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And if we're saying this person, their personhood is important, not just their physics knowledge,
you know, can we support them in self care?
Can we support them with having extra and not being drained to exhaustion before we
feel like, boy, they're really doing a good job?
Yeah, there's education, employment, relationships, those three things that we talked about today
are very challenging.
Yeah.
And the insights you gave us is just things that are kind of outside the box that hopefully
people can consider and find some benefits to.
Yeah, I think it does in a lot of ways introduce a different worldview, you know, where to
start when we're making life choices and are we prioritizing something that we feel is
the greatest good and are we making choices that help us along the marathon or we're just
going to sprint for a while and collapse or but again, that can be very against the social
media picture, it can be very against the American way of if you want it enough, you
go get it.
And if you don't have it, it's because you don't want it enough.
So it does challenge us.
And when we feel ourselves like cringing at the thought of taking regular classes instead
of honors or turning down a promotion or whatever, you know, that's a good cue that maybe we
should think through what we value the most.
If I'm going to cringe about that, why is that?
You know, let's do some exploring of our own beliefs and why we hold those and whether
they give us the greatest good.
Yeah, well said.
Two things before we wrap up.
Tell us how we can follow you and get introduced to your work both as in the clinic and share
something that you're most excited about recently.
So I would direct people to my website really to look at maybe my projects and my work.
So that's adultandgeriatricautism.com.
The website just got revamped, so I'm excited about that.
It's simpler.
I think it's easier to navigate.
There's a link for the podcast.
There's links for video courses.
There's links for the blog.
So hopefully it's kind of organized in a way that's user-friendly.
You can also contact me through the contact page.
My work in the hospital for diagnosis.
One tricky thing about that and it is aligned with what we've been talking about is that
I have a four-year wait list.
So professionally, it's really stressful for me as well.
You know, like I want to help people.
And so my website is really my answer to that, like I can't see everyone in the office, but
I can extend some knowledge and thought-provoking ideas through the website.
And I think the nicest innovation I have now on the website is the opportunity for video
visits in some geographic areas.
So the one thing COVID did that was very nice for us is allowing video visits across
state lines with certain license restrictions.
So I do have a video visits tab on there.
I've met some great people already through that.
And so that's a really nice option.
And I think there's a nice combination of, you know, lots of free resources and some
paid resources and the books and things like that on the website.
Okay.
The, I just imagine that the video chats, the video therapy, based off of everything
we discussed here is very valuable and is a very efficacy.
I think so because, again, you've got how nice is it to have someone from the outside
that can say, you know what, I would really consider this or I see this pattern.
Because you may not have that expert in your neighborhood.
You know, we've had people from 11 other states travel to our clinic because it's not available
locally.
So I want to make that accessible.
And again, some changes in the law and what we're able to do from COVID have allowed me
to put that on there.
So it's only been on there for like a month or two, but video visits are available and
the information's on the website.
Wow.
Wonderful.
Wow.
Well, Dr. Reagan, thank you so much and good luck with everything and I'll be following
along for sure.
Thanks, Ryan.
I appreciate the talk and the opportunity to come on.
Yeah.
Thank you.
If you're listening to the podcast or listening to the episode, please feel free to leave
a review or ratings.
In podcasting, review and ratings are crucial and I very much appreciate your feedback.
You can contact me on X at RPS, 47586 or click on the hop link so you can have links to all
the show platforms and contact information.
You can email me info.fromthespectrum at gmail.com and thank you for listening to From the Spectrum
podcast.