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Finding Common Ground

Finding Common Ground

Von: ROC Vox Podcast Network
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Many families feel like they're treading water, especially those living with autism and other developmental differences. As your hosts, we get it, and we know this frustration all too well.

In response, we've created tried-and-true strategies that help everyday people achieve extraordinary things. Even those who might have doubted themselves can borrow our confidence, follow one of our "blueprints," and with a supportive community cheering them on, make the impossible happen.

Each success inspires those coming up behind us, creating a ripple effect of positive change—Which is why we'll never run out of content!Our podcast tackles tough issues head-on with unfiltered conversations focused on solutions.

We won't avoid "the elephant in the room"—in fact, we'll invite it to dinner! Our unique format appeals to people from across the globe, offering strategies that turn efforts for one into advocacy for the greater good. We breakdown topics like innovative housing, effective self-advocacy, and healthcare complexities, guided by our audience on what to cover next.

Each episode offers fresh perspectives, featuring many guests you won't find on mainstream platforms. We intentionally invite differing viewpoints because finding common ground with those we see as obstacles is the surest way to create new and innovative solutions.

Join our Supporter's Club and check out our merch. Let’s ensure the A/I/DD community's voice is heard. If you want to dig deeper, schedule a session with us. We happily work one-on-one, develop trainings, and offer public speaking engagements to assist individuals and organizations in promoting things like inclusivity and equity.

Join our community, plant seeds of positive change, and before you know it, you'll be moving mountains with us! Want to support our mission and access exclusive content? Join our Supporter's Club and check out our merch.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/finding-common-ground--6199849/support.©2026 ROC Vox Recording & Production Hygiene & gesundes Leben Seelische & Geistige Gesundheit
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  • Representation, Inclusion, and Belonging: with Autistic Youth International Founder Rebecca Tarrant

    Representation, Inclusion, and Belonging: with Autistic Youth International Founder Rebecca Tarrant
    Jun 22 2026
    Steve sits down with Rebecca Tarrant, founder of Autistic Youth International and the US coordinator for Neurodiversity Pride Day. Based in Charlotte, North Carolina, Rebecca is a law-school graduate, an autistic advocate, and a mom to Jackson, a level-three non-speaking autistic child whose diagnosis set her on an entirely new path.

    In this conversation, Rebecca and Steve explore what true inclusion looks like for neurodivergent and disabled children and young adults. They talk about inclusive book drives, sensory-friendly festivals designed from the ground up, the dangers of deficit-based thinking, and why over-medication of misdiagnosed autistic kids is a crisis hiding in plain sight.

    Rebecca shares why strengths-based approaches and lived autistic experience in leadership make all the difference, and why every child deserves more than just an hour at the party. From Charlotte to Uganda, Autistic Youth International is building a more neuro-affirming world, one book, one festival, and one community at a time.

    Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/finding-common-ground--6199849/support.

    Recorded at ROC Vox Recording & Production Studios in Rochester, NY. Learn more at rocvox.com.
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    37 Min.
  • From Green Card Lottery to Chief Diversity Officer: Dr. Hirah Mir's Inspiring Journey

    From Green Card Lottery to Chief Diversity Officer: Dr. Hirah Mir's Inspiring Journey
    Jun 3 2026
    What happens when someone who grew up receiving food stamps, living in Section 8 housing, and navigating government services as a new American child becomes the Chief Diversity Officer for New York State's largest agency? You get Dr. Hirah Mir — and her story will move you. In this powerful episode of Finding Common Ground: Dadability, Steve sits down with Dr. Hirah Mir, Executive Lead for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at OPWDD (the Office for People With Developmental Disabilities). Dr. Mir shares her remarkable journey from immigrant to PhD holder to leading a 13-person DEI team serving nearly 20,000 employees — driven every step of the way by her own lived experience with disability, poverty, and government services. Together, Steve and Dr. Mir explore what it truly means to serve families with developmental disabilities — including the groundbreaking family leadership academies held in partnership with Georgetown University, the fight for language access for the 60+ languages spoken across New York's DD community, and why fathers and youth voices must have a seat at the table in advocacy spaces. Dr. Mir also shares her upcoming documentary, American Nightmare, American Dream, which follows her and three other women across a decade as they navigate government services, pursue higher education, and ultimately give back through public service. This is a conversation about compassion, community, and the belief that good government — when it listens — can change lives. 🔑 IN THIS EPISODE
    • Dr. Mir's journey from Pakistan to Section 8 housing to earning her PhD
    • How lived experience in government services shaped her career at OPWDD
    • The Georgetown University leadership academies for self-advocates and families
    • Why language access matters — OPWDD now provides services in over 60 languages
    • The importance of father involvement and youth voices in disability advocacy
    • Steve's story: from welfare and potatoes three times a day to a national bus initiative for families
    • The American Nightmare, American Dream documentary
    • How New York State is leading the country in person-centered disability services
    CONNECT & FOLLOW
    • Subscribe on YouTube | Rate & Review on your favorite listening app
    • Join the Facebook community to continue the conversation
    • Support the show and help us keep Finding Common Ground


    Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/finding-common-ground--6199849/support.

    Recorded at ROC Vox Recording & Production Studios in Rochester, NY. Learn more at rocvox.com.
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    43 Min.
  • Garbage Bags to Graduate School: From Invisible to Unstoppable

    Garbage Bags to Graduate School: From Invisible to Unstoppable
    May 7 2026
    If foster care is supposed to make children feel safe, why do so many still feel unseen, unheard, as they’re shuffled from home to home?

    Beth LaFontaine knows that answer, not from theory, but from lived experience. She moved through 19 foster placements, carried her belongings in garbage bags, and learned early that survival often meant staying quiet, guarded, and unseen. But her story doesn’t stay there.

    In this conversation, Beth shares what it actually feels like inside the foster care system, the grief that follows you, the moments that shape you, and the people who can change everything simply by choosing to see you.

    “I wasn’t just a behavior. I was a child who needed to be understood.”

    “We don’t need better suitcases. We need better systems.”

    “There is so much grief, and not enough space to name it.”

    You’ll hear about the quiet power of one teacher who saw beyond the chaos, the long shadow of broken trust, and why so many well-intended systems miss what matters most. But this isn’t just a story about what’s broken. It’s about what’s possible.

    From high school dropout to licensed clinical social worker, from surviving the system to working to change it, Beth is now helping bring voices together, foster youth, caregivers, and professionals, to build something better.

    There’s honesty here. There’s hard truth. And there’s hope. Because being seen can change everything.

    Please visit https://FCGadvocacy.org to learn more about the solutions we are working on! The Foster Care Collective is one of areas of focus and information will be updated on our homepage as we continue this important initiative. Also check out our stories of success and some of the ways we can help you move the needle on what matters most to you.

    Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/finding-common-ground--6199849/support.

    Recorded at ROC Vox Recording & Production Studios in Rochester, NY. Learn more at rocvox.com.
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    45 Min.
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