We were lucky to catch up with Lola Dada-Olley recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Lola thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.
In 2020, my family launched the “Not Your Mama’s Autism Podcast” in the midst of the pandemic. Some well-meaning people in my life warned me against doing so over concerns that I would be discussing personal topics not typically shared in my culture relating to disability, neurodivergence, health care access and cultural stigma. In the end, after speaking to my husband, I realized that it was time for our advocacy journey to be more public and that public advocacy needed to be done in storytelling form. The hope is that our podcast, part memoir/part interview style podcast would help some people see that they were not alone and to have our children be able to better understand their journey when they come of age.
Lola , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I am an attorney, advocate, writer, speaker and podcast host. I grew up advocating for my little brother who is both intellectually disabled and autistic at a time when few knew what autism even was. Fast forward to today and I am now a mom of two children on the autism spectrum, a boy and a girl. My daughter is autistic and intellectually disabled, just like my brother is. I advocate for disability and autism inclusion through authentic and vulnerable storytelling in the form of our podcast, ” Not Your Mama’s Autism”, and via public speaking engagements throughout the country. I also recently wrote a column titled, “The Caregiver Chronicles”, detailing the mental health considerations associated with lifetime caregiving and I am currently working on a book that also highlights lessons learned over a thirty plus year journey.
My family sits at the intersection of race, disability, neurodivergence and the immigrant experience. Family stories like mine rarely get told. So, we have decided to make our advocacy more public as a result. Not Your Mama’s Autism is available on all major platforms and on YouTube. People can learn more about our family’s personal story via our website, www.notyourmamasautism.com and book me for speaking engagements at loladadaolley.com.
Have you ever had to pivot?
Moving across the country to Texas was a major pivot for our family. I had to start a new phase of my career and learn a new body of law. I had to obtain a new law license, eventually learned to practice law in a new industry and adjust to the significant different in services offered for my children that were tailored to disabled and neurodivergent people.
It took about three years for my daughter to begin to get the quality of services she enjoyed in the state that we left. It was a very valuable lesson, while we all may live in the same country, services can vary widely from state to state. This can affect outcomes for children with complex medical needs. As a country, we need to do better.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
I just hope that by choosing storytelling as our form of advocacy, more people can see themselves in our story. I hope that people have a better understanding of the type of resources and support families like ours need.
Contact Info:
- Website: notyourmamasautism.com
- Instagram: @notyourmamasautism
- Facebook: @NotYourMamasAutism
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@notyourmamasautism
Image Credits
Tosan Olley