Advocacy, Activism, & Resources for Autism
Monica turns more than 25 years of autism activism, genetics, education and advocacy into evidence-based, proven resources for parents, direct support providers, and healthcare professionals. Find out more today.
Learn About SYNGAP1 and What Genetica Testing and Autism Could Mean To You!
Children with SYNGAP1 variations can have a variety of symptoms — seizures, intellectual disability, and low muscle tone, as well as sensory issues and speech delay. The severity of each of these symptoms can vary widely from child to child. As just as important, children with Syngap1 grow up to be adults!
See Bridgegap for more information about Syngap!!
Check out this Columbian Newspaper Article featuring my son Michael and other families working towards affordable and sustainable community housing. A shout out for Michael’s residential provider, VanCare for their awesome services and support.
Conference focuses on affordable housing for people with disabilities
Monica Meyer, Autism Activist, Keynote Speaker, Mother to Adult Son, Michael
From her son’s birth, Monica has had to discover or develop techniques of connecting Michael to the community and to the resources that have helped him lead a happy and fulfilling life. Speaking, conducting trainings, and meeting with parents, caregivers, and professionals lets her share her valuable insight and experiences.
Whole Life Community Living Consultant
Monica began with compassion for adults who have ASD (autism spectrum disorder), and a desire for them to lead happy, fulfilled lives, completely integrated onto the community. She shares her years of experience through the practical, evidence-based resources that parents and professional care staff need.
Monica’s credibility comes from raising a child with autism into adulthood, which gave Monica the real life experience of finding—and often times developing—community resources necessary for her son. Her trainings share the specific strategies parents and professional care staff need to be successful in supporting their adult child’s autism.
Finding that being a member of the community was key to a happy and fulfilling life for her son, Monica has created ways of integrating adults with autism into their community, promoting their communication, independence, and decision making.
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What’s new with Michael?
What’s new with Michael? A lot! In the past eight months Michael was diagnosed with Syngap1. Syngap1 is a epileptic seizure disorder that has co-occurring Autism, low muscle tone, intellectual disability, sensory issues and speech delay. When I read the symptoms I was overwhelmed at how it perfectly described Michael. We discovered this genetic disorder after the encouragement of his neurologist to have a genetic test. The idea was to see if we could identify a potential epilepsy diagnosis that has a treatment plan to help control his seizures. The bad news was there isn’t a treatment plan (yet), because it has only been recognized since 2009. The good news, this information has opened up a whole new world that include people just like Michael. I can tell you as odd as it sounds, this was a bit comforting.
A silver lining of the Syngap1 diagnosis has been finding support. Although Syngap1 is a rare disorder, the people that I have found are profoundly passionate. I would urge you to check out this website for more information about Syngap1: https://bridgesyngap.org/what-is-syngap1/
With this new information, Michael became eligible to start Epidiolex, the first and only FDA-approved prescription cannabidiol (CBD) for refractory epilepsy. He started Epidiolex two weeks ago and have notice a small difference in the number of Absence Seizures. He is currently on a very low dose to see how his liver reacts to this medication. He will need to have blood test every month for the next three months to monitor organ function before we consider an increase.
Our fingers are crossed and praying that Epidiolex will have a positive effect on the number of seizures Michael has daily. Most importantly, the number of drop attacks that often cause facial and bodily injuries.
Monica Meyer
Monica is a tireless advocate for individuals with autism across the lifespan and has a special interest in adults with classic autism.
She strongly believes that adults with classic autism should be active members of their community, participating at the level they are comfortable with.
Monica does this through designing structured opportunities in “real-life” settings that open up experiences for the individual with autism to make true choices for residential and work prospects.
Monica’s Journey
Monica has raised Michael from birth to adult. Early in her journey she realized how difficult it was to get services and help from government programs, health care professionals, etc.
For more than twenty five years Monica has focused on developing the support and techniques to help Michael become a active member of the community with a happy comfortable lifestyle.
Her focus is on sharing these resources with other parents and guardians, freeing their time from having to hunt for help and solutions to spending it where it counts.
Monica’s Resources
Monica turned her personal and professional experiences into useful, practical resources for parents and professional care staff.
In addition to her experience raising her son Michael, professional affiliations include appointment by the Governor of Washington to the State Autism Task Force.
Monica Meyer Consulting offers training, consultation, and a wide range of evidence-based ASD resources and strategies to support parents and care professionals.
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