373 – Michael Pereira of Miami, FL Father of Two Including One With Autism & Founder Of The Autism Voyage

Transcript:

Tom Couch: Special thanks to Amgen for sponsoring the Special Fathers Network Dad to Dad Podcast. Committed to unlocking the potential of biology for patients suffering from serious illnesses by discovering, developing, manufacturing and delivering innovative human therapeutics. Discover more about Amgen’s mission at Amgen.com.

Michael Pereira: We were also listening to the opinions of family like hey, don’t worry, you were the same. He doesn’t have anything. And that’s dangerous because if you’re in denial, plus having advice, that type of advice that can procrastinate an early intervention, watch out who you’re listening to. If you do have a gut feeling that there is something there that needs to be addressed, seek professional help. It’s just a conversation, but at least it’s going to help everybody.

Tom Couch: That’s our guest this week, Michael Pereira, a financial representative and founder of the website the Autism Voyage, offering assistance for parents of kids with special needs. Michael is the father of two children, including his son Christian, who is autistic. We’ll hear Michael’s family story on this Special Fathers Network Dad to Dad Podcast. Now say hello to the founder of the Special Fathers Network and host of the Dad to Dad Podcast, David Hirsch.

David Hirsch: Hi, I’m David Hirsch, host of the Special Fathers Network Dad to Dad Podcast. Two short messages First, I’d like to invite you to attend the 6th Annual SFN Dads Virtual Conference taking place via Zoom on Saturday, May 10th at 8:00am Central Time. We have a great roster of speakers and there will be plenty of time for breakouts to meet like minded dads who are committed to their children and and self improvement. Secondly, the Special Fathers Network Mastermind Group Experience is the most comprehensive program the 21st Century Dads foundation offers. Dads raising children with special needs, meet virtually on a weekly basis and form meaningful relationships while sharing weekly wins, discussing books and sharing heartfelt challenges. One of the highlights of the year is attending an in person weekend retreat scheduled this year from September 5th to the 7th. As you think about the year ahead, I invite you to join one of the existing or soon to be formed SFN Mastermind Groups and join a group of like minded dads to become the best version of yourself. It might just transform your life like it’s done for so many others. For more information please go to the Show Notes or Simply go to 21stCenturydads.Org.

Tom Couch: Now let’s listen into this conversation between Michael Pereira and David Hirsch.

David Hirsch: I’m thrilled to be talking today with Mike Pereira of Homestead, Florida who is Vice President with Coastal Wealth, founder of The Autism Voyage and father of two, including a son who’s autistic. Michael, thanks for taking the time to do a podcast interview for the Special Fathers Network.

Michael Pereira: Thank you, David. Thank you so much for having me.

David Hirsch: You and your wife Elizabeth have been married for nine years and are the proud parents of two children, Amanda Sophia, who’s three, and Christian Omar, who’s seven, who is also autistic. Let’s start with some background. Where did you grow up? Tell me something about your family.

Michael Pereira: So I was raised in Puerto Rico. I was actually born in Atlanta. Raised in Puerto Rico by a single mother, my mom and grandparents. I was raised very traditional, I would say, along with my brother, you know, very Hispanic, very loving home. Thank you so much for also coordinating this episode, because I know that my grandfather recently passed away, but very loving family, the way it was raised. It was a true blessing.

David Hirsch: Yeah, well, thanks for mentioning that. And you grew up with your mom as you just mentioned. and I’m wondering, what connection or connections did you have with your dad?

Michael Pereira: I would say growing up, not much. There wasn’t much presence from his side. I think in one of our conversations I mentioned that’s why I was so close to my grandfather. I would say he was the most closest father figure I had, but not much, you know, it was more on his side. And my grandfather was more showing me the ropes. I would say more like growing up on a farm. So he did show me the traditional ways. But in regards to having a relationship with my biological father, it wasn’t. I wasn’t present there.

David Hirsch: Yeah, well, that’s something we have in common. From my age 6, when my parents divorced, it was my maternal grandfather, like yours, who played a very influential role in my life. And I got to know him because he lived to age 93. I think he passed when I was 39 or 40. So it wasn’t just as a little guy. So, my recollection was that your dad lives in the US and that he’s actually the president of a hospital.

Michael Pereira: Yeah, he’s high up there in the leadership of a hospital. Obviously he’s a doctor first, so he studied medicine. That’s why I was born in Atlanta, because my mom was married to him. But he was

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Michael Pereira: going to Emory University. Obviously he finalized. Medicine didn’t work out for them, so we obviously moved back to Puerto Rico and he moved throughout the US and became obviously in the leadership of a very good hospital here in the US.

David Hirsch: And when you think about the relationship or I guess, a lack of relationship with your biological dad, are there any, lessons or insights, you know, that you’ve taken away from that?

Michael Pereira: By him not being present? Now with Christian and Amanda? I would say it doesn’t substitute. I would say a relationship. Right. Being able to be there for the children, to be able to show them the ins and outs. Obviously, my grandfather, the way he raised me, was more on the playful. You know, let me show you some tricks. Let me show you some hobbies. Not necessarily. Hey, how do you manage this type of situation if you. How can you calm down? How can you respect your mother? So it’s different. But what I can take away, obviously, is that a father role is needed. And that’s why. Exactly. I’m. Every day I wake up trying to be better, but also understanding that I’m also learning this role. Right. It’s learning as I go and understanding that I’m not perfect, but I’m trying my best.

David Hirsch: Yeah. Well, it’s another thing we have in common is that, I think, the lack of having my biological dad in my life for about seven years as a young guy motivated me when I got married and we started having children that, you know, I wanted to be the best dad I could be. And that’s what I hear you saying.

Michael Pereira: Oh, yeah.

David Hirsch: And I think the pendulum swings one way and one generation, and it’s swinging back the other way. And maybe we overcompensate a little bit just because of our own lived experience.

Michael Pereira: Yeah.

David Hirsch: So you mentioned that your maternal grandfather Eddie just passed away. Very sorry to hear that. And he was your father figure growing up. And, I’m wondering, what did Eddie do for a living when he was working?

Michael Pereira: He was more in the, for what I understand, the train tracks, when you would put, like, the railroad. And he was more on, that type of labor, obviously. When we came to Puerto Rico, I was, I would say, maybe 2 years old. A couple. He was already retired. So, basically, it was like a blessing for him because for what I understand, he was always saying, hey, I wasn’t doing anything. You came into my life. Now I’m a hundred percent on top of you. So that’s why.

David Hirsch: Okay, well, thanks for sharing. Any other men that played an influential role other than your grandfather, Eddie?

Michael Pereira: That’s a good question. But I would say it’s more around the later years, around my career. There’s a lot of bosses. I did have that. I would say, even though you cannot compare a father figure to this type of role, but help me alongside, you know, throughout my career, making decisions, informed decisions, learn how to validate stuff, not to speculate, not to assume, being able to, manage a demeanor, a tonality and so forth. So I did. There were a couple male figures throughout my career that helped me a lot.

David Hirsch: Great. So my recollection was you went to Inter American University in Puerto Rico, Ponce Campus, where you got your BBA in marketing. And then you went to Sogum University and got your MBA. And, where did your career take you?

Michael Pereira: Everywhere. I would say Latin America. I really always saw myself being in corporate, but obviously life throws you a curveball. Right. So throughout the corporate career, I would say I loved traveling. Getting to know new cultures, new ways of managing deals, complex deals. So it’s taken me from being in an entry level role to being able to present in board meetings. So all those skills acquired throughout the years, I would say is what I’m trying to apply now in this new journey.

David Hirsch: So what companies did you work for and where was the work that you did?

Michael Pereira: All companies were, even though the headquarters, are throughout the US they always had like a regional office here in Miami. I was able to have the honor to be in LG Electronics, Yamaha, Fico, Inseado. There were a couple companies there that obviously love being here in Miami, and Miami is a really good place to be in, but those are the companies. So it was mainly – mainly, you can see that they fluctuate. Yamaha from being in the sports. I would say engines, and then going to electronics with LG Electronics, and then from there going to banking, financial services. And a lot of the skills that were applied to one could be applied to another. I would say just enhance it or try to master that skill, but those are the type of companies I work for.

David Hirsch: Okay. And my recollection was that the territories that you covered were pretty broad,

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David Hirsch: like the Caribbean and Venezuela. Caribbean and Ecuador. So you had a chance to do some traveling?

Michael Pereira: Oh, yeah. Loved it. Loved it. Really did.

David Hirsch: So I’m sort of curious to know, how did you and Eliza meet?

Michael Pereira: Yeah, we met in serving, I would say that’s the main word. But providing food for the homeless. There was an activity here in Miami at that point that like, a lot of churches would meet in to like a parking lot or so forth to be able to provide food. Not only to homeless, but I would say any family that was going through some hardships, they would just drive by and would get a, you know, a package that we would provide those families. And that’s where I met her. She was going to another church, I was going to another. And we just, you know, started having a conversation. And from there on now up to today.

David Hirsch: And they say the rest is history.

Michael Pereira: Yeah, that’s it.

David Hirsch: Well, I know in a prior conversation I had a chance to meet your wife just virtually. And she seems like a real sweetheart. You got lucky.

Michael Pereira: Thank you.

David Hirsch: So let’s talk about special needs first on a personal level and then beyond. Prior to Christian’s diagnosis, did you have any connections to the world of disability or special needs?

Michael Pereira: No.

David Hirsch: And what is Christian’s diagnosis and how did it come about?

Michael Pereira: Autism spectrum disorder, a mild. As time passes by, what I’ve noticed is that they have different names. At one point, supposedly was Asperger’s. Then it became a spectrum. Within the spectrum there’s different tiers and I assume that’s going to continue to evolve. But in our case, at that moment he was diagnosed with obviously autism spectrum disorder on the mild side, which means more or less for what I understand is high functioning, but still has some sort of developmental issue that might need any support, any requirements. But it’s more in the high functioning area, I would say.

David Hirsch: And at what age was he diagnosed or did you notice that there might be some differences?

Michael Pereira: Yeah, we noticed that he had several symptoms around one year old, but he was diagnosed later on, around I would say three and a half. When he was one year old, we started to see symptoms that. I don’t like saying this, but we were in denial. so we just said, okay, let’s see, let’s see if it continues. We know that there’s a gut feeling that he need this needs to be addressed, but let’s see if time passes by and this can reduce or anything. At that time Covid came by, so I was able to stay home, not travel. So I was able to see that a lot of the symptoms reduced. We don’t know why, but when Covid released that I started traveling again, a lot of the symptoms just returned full force, head against the wall, tippy toeing, aligning, stuff. He was non verbal on the earlier years, within that time frame of COVID he started talking again. When Covid released that all those symptoms came back, there was a lot of regression also in his speech as well.

David Hirsch: So is he verbal now or non verbal?

Michael Pereira: He’s verbal, still not conversational. So if you say, hey Christian, how are you? He’s going to say: Kung Fu Panda. He’s going to say something. But he, that’s for us is enough, right? For now. He’s doing well.

David Hirsch: I’m glad to hear that. I do know, friends who raised some autistic kids. And one in particular that comes to mind, Randy Lewis, who was featured in episode number two way, way, way back when, mentioned that his son Austin was non verbal for 10 years. Right. They thought he was never going to speak.

Michael Pereira: Wow.

David Hirsch: And now they feel like he’s making up for all the lost time. So, you know, you never know. Right. You just have to, keep communicating and make sure that he’s learning and, you know, God only knows what level of communication he’ll be able to, experience.

Michael Pereira: Right.

David Hirsch: So once you got the diagnosis, you’d said it was like, at age three and a half, what were the fears that you and Elizabeth had knowing that your son has something specific like ASD?

Michael Pereira: I think it was fears combined with judgment. So there, there’s a lot of feelings that go around that phase. And I would say it’s slash denial, slash acceptance phase. And there’s a lot of things that go, you start thinking, right. And for us, it was more the uncertainty that, is it going to be independent? What’s going to happen now? That he’s going to school. He was having a

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Michael Pereira: couple problems because he was not focused. You know, a lot of stuff happens throughout that phase. And obviously for me to just mention a couple minutes, but I would just say that that uncertainty, really like, put us in a dark mindset because we start asking questions, okay, if something happens to us, who’s going to take care of him? Obviously, even though my mom, I would say, David, she’s the best grandma any kid would ask. But at the same time, physically, you know, it’s very hard. She’s 60, I would say 66, 67. Very hard to be able to just take care of two children right now. One always on the sofa and the wall trying to jump everywhere. So even though the intention is there from her side, it’s very difficult from a physical side to be able to take. So a lot of questions from our side just came up around that, hey, what if we pass away? What’s going to happen? What if something happens to me that I get sick? What happens with my wife? Around the pregnancy, her health really, got hit really hard. So, you know, all these questions, and a lot of these questions were only asked, you know, conversations within our own marriage. And, you know, that’s where I think this initiative of the autism, which began because we started looking for all this information, and there was so much information out there that we got overwhelmed. Sometimes we got even more confused. It came to a point that we just said, you best trust God first. And I think that made our marriage tighter and just, you know, rely more on God and understand that uncertainty, is okay. Right. That we just need to try our best to really be in sync with what we’re trying to do. And our goal right now is just to be a support system, to be able to see how we can help him be independent as much as possible.

David Hirsch: I love it.

Michael Pereira: I hope I answered the question.

David Hirsch: Oh, yeah. Yeah. More than answered it. So even though he’s only seven, I’m wondering if there’s any meaningful advice that you’ve gotten that’s been instrumental for you and Eliza from other parents..

Michael Pereira: Yes. Obviously, we’re young, and this. We’re just starting, I would say, but we are always in survival mode. We’re always waiting for that call from the school to come and pick him up. And a lot of parents, when trying to, you know, just talk to two parents within the same classroom, you know, has helped us a lot to understand, again, that this is just like any growing pain, I would say, but it just needs more monitoring. Right. It just needs to be a little bit more paying more attention to them. And something that we’ve learned, David, is that we’ve been able to identify what he’s trying to say with his behavior, not necessarily what he’s saying, because he’s still not conversational. So that for us, when, for example, if he. We know that he’s going to have a meltdown soon, we know what. What kind of triggers are those? When we go out to the public, which we were years without going out to a restaurant, when we started going out to the mall or anything that. Like that we knew that something that would trigger him would be the blower that dries your hands from a sensory issue. So, you know, understanding those triggers, understanding what to avoid, also understanding that even though we’re trying to avoid something, we also want to give him exposure. Right. So. So it’s kind of that middle ground that we want to avoid something but also give him exposure. So it comes to a point that he’s. He can get used to it.

David Hirsch: Yeah. Well, thanks for sharing. And not to focus on the negative, but what have been some of the biggest challenges that, you’ve encountered with regard to his ASD diagnosis?

Michael Pereira: I would say maybe I think this happens to everybody, that our circle becomes smaller, even from a family perspective because obviously not everybody understands or everybody is supportive. So something that’s worked for us is again, our circle becomes smaller and usually it’s other dads or other mothers that, that understand and gone through this path.

David Hirsch: What impact has Christian’s situation had on your marriage or your extended family, for that matter?

Michael Pereira: In our marriage, well, you know, special needs families, the work rate is really high. So in our case, it made us tighter, I would say, because this can either make you or break you. Right. All those therapies, it’s – it’s a lot.

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Michael Pereira: But for us, we again, I think it brought us closer to God prayer, align ourselves with communication, be more in sync with our main goal. Also, something that I would say David has helped us is now we have Amanda. She’s not diagnosed, she’s neurotypical. And we want to make sure that also she feels supported. Even though we’re putting attention to Christian in certain things, we want her to feel equal. Right. So that type of alignment always helps. Always helps. And that’s what we’re striving for. Right. Even though she’s only three, but we’re trying because obviously she’s going to grow up and we want to make sure that she feels equally loved and she also feels good with Christian. Right. Because I’ve seen in other cases that sometimes that can be traumatizing and we just want to make sure that both of them love each other and feel supportive of each other.

David Hirsch: Yeah. Well, it probably helps that, he’s the older brother, so Amanda, as she grows up, you know, doesn’t know any different. Right. He’s always been who he is.

Michael Pereira: Yeah.

David Hirsch: And, you’re very insightful, even at a young age, like you are, to understand that you’re not just raising a child with special needs, but you’re raising multiple children and that you want to make sure that there’s this, issue of siblings, and family balance that you have in proper order and, be disciplined with spending a certain amount of time with her. Even though you might view the gravitational pull to spend more time and resources on Christian, helping him. And just the fact that you’re focused on that, that it’s on the radar screen means that you’ll, be more intentional about the time and the division of resources that you have.

Tom Couch: We’ll be back with more of the conversation on the Special Fathers Network Dad to Dad Podcast in just a few moments. But first, this quick message. Please help 21st Century Dads gather research on families raising children with special needs by having them complete the Special Fathers Network early Intervention Parents survey. A link to the survey can be found in the show notes. As a token of our appreciation, each person, mom or dad, who completes the survey will receive a great dad coin. Thank you. Now back to the conversation.

David Hirsch: I’m thinking about supporting organizations and what organizations come to mind that either Christian has benefited from directly or your family has benefited from, as it relates to the ASD diagnosis.

Michael Pereira: There hasn’t been much, David, obviously for us, the same thing I mentioned that the circle is smaller. The same thing for our outdoor activities. We – it was a couple years that we took for us to stay here and understand the situation. So it’s, it’s not that we were too sociable, I would say, but it’s more around just. We were a long time just here, home being able to understand therapies, be able to understand everything. Actually my wife, I think I mentioned this to you that she was a stay at home mom. Now she’s a therapist. You know, that’s the thing we tried, you know, just adjust our lifestyle and be able to see if we can have this as a main goal to help other families like ours.

David Hirsch: Did you mention in a prior conversation that autism speaks or the church has played an important role?

Michael Pereira: It has. From Autism Speaks, I think it was more from an article, standpoint. Just read. They have very good, I would say, resources. I started to reach out a couple of months ago to be. They have a 5k. So just to be part of that, just to get also to get to know the community itself, church as well, from a church perspective where we haven’t gone because obviously it’s very difficult from I’ll say daycare or the care center to be able to take care of Christian. So we just decided not to go for some time.

David Hirsch: Yeah. Well, I hope that you’ll find a church environment that is welcoming and inclusive so that you don’t feel like his behavior would impact your ability to worship. And I know that the largest churches seem to have the best resources, not always the best experience. From a practicing standpoint, you have to find the church that’s right for you. But, at least by my own experience, the churches that have like thousands or tens of thousands of parishioners in some cases not all have programs specifically developed or designed to accommodate families that have kiddos with whether it’s autism or down syndrome or cerebral palsy or you know, Rare disease. And you know, if that’s an important dimension to your life, hopefully that will continue

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David Hirsch: to be part of it as well.

Michael Pereira: Yeah.

David Hirsch: So let’s talk about the, Autism Voyage. What’s the backstory? How did that start? And what’s your vision for that?

Michael Pereira: Yeah, the Autism Voyage is a blog and newsletter. It started when I mentioned that I started looking for information. There was information out there, but I would scattered around and, and I couldn’t really find some, I would say recent articles. In some cases I would find some articles, but they were older, so I didn’t know if it was trustworthy or not. So, you know, out of that I tried other things I would say to be able to just leave my corporate job. Tried looking for other employers, try to do the same, travel less. Obviously when you’re going into startups, you get into different hats, not only your position, but you do other stuff. But around that time, David, I was looking for my, I would say my own insurance agent or financial advisor. And it was tough because each car went into it was everybody just want to sell me something or recruit me. And nobody really took the time to have a conversation. It was more around very transactional. I would say that that’s what I’m going to. And became very frustrating as a father. So obviously knocking doors and all that, I noticed that this was a gap. I would say that nobody was taken care of. So I just decided, let’s see how we can do this to help other families. But from an educational standpoint first. And then if they feel that there is a need and they see the benefit, then obviously I would be able to provide services like the one I wanted. So the block per se provides informational educational content like any parent would ask. From music therapy, from haircuts for sensory overloads, from aquatic therapy, those type of obvious information. And from a services standpoint, well, what we try to do is provide more in the comprehensive insurance planning side, to be able to provide guidance to parents in three main areas. One would be develop like an income protection strategy. That. Why. And again, I just came up with this because I’m a father. it was what I was looking for. And my rationale is, okay, a Christian depends on me 100% and I’ll know until when. And I get cancer, I get a stroke, my income will be interrupted and most likely that will funnel down to him. So it’s more around being able to, develop a strategy around income protection. The second one would be to be able to Use some sort of, life insurance to be able to fund a special needs trust. obviously there’s a lot of ways of funding, but for me, a simple life insurance is predictable. And then the third one is more around long term care because again, I don’t know until when Christian will depend on us. And if he’s 40 and I’m 80, I’m, out now and I need care like my grandfather just needed a couple months ago. Usually not usually what I’m seeing is that nursing homes and assisting living facilities are becoming very expensive. So you want to have that type of conversation. So those are the areas we try to focus on. And again, it’s more. Because that’s what I saw, that there was a kind of gap, that those conversations were not happening.

David Hirsch: Yeah. Well, I love the work that you’re doing in the name of the autism voyage, providing other families with resources like you just made reference, and helping them think about some of the, maybe blind spots that they have. You didn’t use the word disability coverage, but that’s what I think you were referring to when you said income protection.

Michael Pereira: Correct.

David Hirsch: And I remember as a young dad myself, that was one of my greatest fears was, you know, if I became disabled. Right. It’s one thing if you die, you know, your spouse gets the insurance proceeds and, you know, hopefully there’s enough there to, you know, make a difference. But, I was thinking, you know, the life insurance isn’t for me. Right. The life insurance is for my family. And it dawned on me as a young worker, as a young dad, that I needed disability coverage. So I’m really glad to hear that. that’s a focus of yours.

Michael Pereira: Yeah.

David Hirsch: And then we don’t like to think about it, but, you know, we are all going to get older. And like you said, one of the things that seems to be skyrocketing, growing or going up in cost at 2 or 3x the rate of inflation, is long term care. Right. And, you know, I think we need to be mindful of that. Maybe there’s not a sense of urgency for long term care, but it’s something that needs to be on the radar. And once you develop a meaningful relationship, a trusting relationship with a

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David Hirsch: family, and you’ve been able to help them with their insurance needs, their disability insurance, their life insurance needs, you know, that’s something that, you can talk about, you know, as time goes by.

Michael Pereira: Yeah.

David Hirsch: So I’m sort of curious to know what role spirituality has played in your life.

Michael Pereira: I would say everything man, you know, without that, even though it. Something for me, I needed to work on is consistency and prayer because I wasn’t consistent. So being able to work on myself, I would say from a task now, it’s, It’s a, It’s a routine. It’s a habit that, that needs to happen. And, it’s amazing how it makes you feel afterwards, right? Because obviously you’re putting everything on in his hands. Obviously you do what you need to do from your side. And I try to do everything in excellency and being able to, to serve, to have that mindset of serving, but also understanding that everything is. It’s in his hands and, and just calm that even though. That we might feel that we’re alone or that we’re in survival mode, or sometimes I see my wife, that she’s just, you know, Christian, have an episode or something, you know, for us it’s, it’s. That’s the pillar of our household.

David Hirsch: Thank you for, sharing. So I’m thinking about advice now, and I’m wondering what advice you can share with parents, specifically dads who find themselves with a recent, diagnosis or, you know, somebody who, whose child is a little bit older for that matter.

Michael Pereira: Just to watch out who you’re listening to. That’s very important in this stage because, I’ll give you an example from my side. When we started to notice that those symptoms again, when Covid released that a lot of symptoms reduced, increased, we also, even again, denial was there. But we were also listening to the opinions of family, like, hey, don’t worry, you were the same. He doesn’t have anything. And that’s dangerous because if you’re in denial, plus having advice, that type of advice that can procrastinate an, early intervention. Watch out who you’re listening to. If you do have a gut feeling that there is something there that needs to be addressed, seek professional help. It’s just a conversation, but at least it’s going to help everybody. So I would say that that would be my recommendation, David.

David Hirsch: Yeah, well, I think that, your instincts are good if you’re going to on the side of engaging, being intentional about seeking those resources. Right. As opposed to maybe delaying or hoping that things will get better on their own. I think that’s a good way to think about it. So why is it that you’ve agreed to be a mentor father as part of the Special Fathers Network?

Michael Pereira: You know, even though I think I’m young in this journey, it comes to a point that maybe experience doesn’t have age and maybe there’s some sort of experience that I faced that obviously we’ve been able to get ahead that maybe could serve as a thinking point for other parents. So I think that’s part of being part of a community, to be able to share experiences and, help other parents to understand that they’re not alone, even though they could feel alone, but they’re really not. There’s other people that have gone through these same, I would say, anxieties and uncertainties, and everybody at the end of the day thrives. So I would say that would be the main reason.

David Hirsch: Yeah. Well, we’re thrilled to have you. Thank you for being part of the network. Is there anything else you’d like to say before we wrap up?

Michael Pereira: No. Thank you so much for this opportunity. This is amazing what you’re doing. And again, this type of conversation, I think it’s, it’s very enlightening and it’s very helpful too, even for me right now. It’s these type of questions, it helps me. It helps me think and have more gratitude for what we have today.

David Hirsch: If somebody wants to learn more about the Autism Voyage or to contact you, what’s the best way to do so?

Michael Pereira: They can go to the website. It’s www.theautismvoyage.com. there you’re going to see the blogs. There you’re going to be able to see the newsletter so they can subscribe. And also there’s an email if you want to just, email me. By all means, I’m here to help.

David Hirsch: What’s your email address?

Michael Pereira: There’s two. There’s one that’s called Servicing@theautismvoyage.com and michael@theautismvoyage.com.

David Hirsch: I’ll be sure to include that information in the show notes so it’ll make it as easy as possible for somebody to follow up with you.

Michael Pereira: Awesome.

David Hirsch: Michael, thank you for your time and many insights. As a reminder, Michael is just one of the dads who’s part of the Special Fathers Network mentoring program for fathers raising a child with special needs. If you’d like to be a mentor father or are seeking advice from a, mentor father with a similar situation to your own, Please go to 21stcenturydads.org. Thank you for listening to the latest episode of the Special Fathers Network Dad to Dad Podcast. I

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David Hirsch: hope you enjoyed the conversation as much as I did. As you probably know, 21st Century Dads foundation is a 501 not for profit organization, which means we need your help to keep our content free to all concern. Would you please consider making a tax actable contribution? I would really appreciate your support. Michael. Thanks again.

Michael Pereira: Thank you.

Tom Couch: And thank you for listening to the Special Fathers Network Dad to Dad Podcast. The Special Fathers Network is a dad to dad mentoring program for fathers raising children with special needs. Through our personalized matching process, new fathers with special needs children match up with mentor fathers in a similar situation. It’s a great way for dads to support other dads. To find out more, go to 21stCenturyDads.org.

David Hirsch: And if you’re a dad looking for help or would like to offer help, we would be honored to have you join our closed Facebook group. Please go to facebook.com groups and search dad to dad. Lastly, we’re always looking to share interesting stories. If you’d like to share your story or know of a compelling story, please send an email to david@21stcenturydads.org

Tom Couch: The Special Fathers Network Dad to Dad Podcast was produced by me, Tom Couch. Thanks again to Amgen. Committed to unlocking the potential of biology for patients suffering from serious illnesses by discovering, developing, manufacturing and delivering innovative human therapeutics. Discover more about Amgen’s mission at Amgen.com.

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