Autism Outdoors Utah Damon Tarah Bryan

EPISODE 164

Autism Outdoors Utah:
An Innovative Nature-based Family Support Program
with Damon and Tarah Bryan

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Show Notes

Damon and Tarah Bryan, founders of Utah Autism Outdoors, discuss how they created their nature-based program for autistic individuals and their families after their son’s autism diagnosis. They discuss how their organization started with simple parent support groups and has grown to include outdoor activities like hiking, river rafting, paddleboarding, and yoga classes in nature. The conversation covered the therapeutic benefits of outdoor activities for regulation and sensory processing, the importance of creating safe spaces for families to connect without judgment, and how they incorporate siblings into their programming.

Learn more about Utah Autism Outdoors

Featuring

Damon Bryant

Damon Bryan

Damon Bryan, LMFT, is a mental health clinician with over 20 years of experience. He Founder and Director of Autism Outdoors Utah and is the owner of Sage Canyon Counseling and co-founder and President of Sage Canyon Autism Foundation, where he channels his clinical expertise and lived experience as a dad of two neurodivergent kids into building community for autistic individuals and their families. He has worked in outpatient and residential settings, wilderness programs, and therapeutic boarding schools.

Tarah Bryan

Tarah Bryan

Tarah Neujahr Bryan is Co-Founder and Assistant Director of Autism Outdoors Utah, a Chief Marketing Officer by day and a Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT-200, RCYT) with a trauma-informed and adaptive-yoga specialization. She was named Silicon Slopes CMO of the Year in 2022 and has spent her career bridging communications strategy with community impact; pro-bono work for American Cancer Society and Wings Cancer Foundation, award-winning volunteer service with Intermountain Therapy Animals, and board leadership with Utah HIMSS and Rotary Club.

Transcripts coming soon! In the meantime, you can access the automatic transcripts on your preferred streaming platform.

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…and Continue the Discussion

Do you have a book or podcast club? If so, you may use this discussion guide to facilitate a conversation about this episode.

1) What inspired Damon and Tarah to develop Autism Outdoors Utah? Do you see a similar need in your community?

2) Tarah speaks of intentionally developing their community, creating a safe space, sharing stories and moving forward in nature. What do you take away from that discussion?

3) What is striking about the range of activities provided for families, and how they are offered to families? Why is it important for siblings to be fully welcome and involved?

HOSTED BY

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Barry Prizant, Ph.D., CCC-SLP

Dr. Barry Prizant is a speech-language pathologist with more than 50 years experience as a researcher and international consultant for autistic and neurodivergent individuals and their families. He is an Adjunct Professor of Communicative Disorders at the University of Rhode Island and Director, Childhood Communication Services (a private practice).  Previously, he served as Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry in the Brown University School of Medicine, and held a tenured professor appointment at Emerson College. Publications include 5 books, most notably Uniquely Human: A Different Way of Seeing Autism (2015; 2022) and The SCERTS Model manuals, an educational approach implemented in more than a dozen countries. He has published 150 scholarly chapters and articles and serves on numerous professional advisory boards for journals and professional organizations. Barry has presented more than 1000 seminars and keynote addresses internationally, including two invited presentations at the United Nations for World Autism Awareness Day. His career contributions have been recognized with honors from Brown and Princeton Universities, the Autism Society of America and the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.

Visit Barry’s website here

Uniquely Human, the book (Updated and Expanded edition!)

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Dave Finch

Dave Finch is the author of the New York Times bestselling memoir, The Journal of Best Practices: A Memoir of Marriage, Asperger Syndrome, and One Man’s Quest to Be a Better Husband. As a writer and creative consultant, his work has appeared on ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, NPR, SiriusXM, The New York Times, Rolling Stone, The Howard Stern Show, and the award-winning Netflix series, Atypical. Based in Denver, Dave’s company, Elevated Studio, produces this podcast and other recognized series.

Visit Dave’s website here

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“I have read a million and one books on Autism.  Uniquely Human is the best book I have ever read, hands down. Thank you Barry for this incredible gift!!!!”
Navah Paskovitz, Mother of three boys with Autism, Co-Founder, the Ed Asner Family Center

“Compassion, learning and supportive strategies–the three essentials for working with folks with ASD–are an integral part of this must-read book.”
Michelle Garcia Winner, Speech Language Pathologist and Founder of Social Thinking

“Thanks be to Barry for the first-ever must read written for parents, educators, and clinicians.”
Michael John Carley, Founder, GRASP; Author of Asperger’s From the Inside-Out

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“What makes the book compelling is how funny Mr. Finch is about himself. He’s great company.”

Susannah Meadows, The New York Times

“In this hilarious memoir (which also gives some of the finest explications of Asperger’s out there), Finch approaches trying to be a better husband and father with the determination of Sherman marching on Atlanta.”

Judith Newman, People (4/4 stars)

“Talk about being on a roll. This dude wrote a book, he has Asperger’s syndrome. He cured himself by listening to me on the radio!”

Howard Stern

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Music

Matt Savage, courtesy of Savage Records

Matt Savage is an autistic jazz musician, composer, and bandleader. Matt has collaborated with jazz greats like Chick Corea, the Ellington All Stars, Chaka Khan, Wynton Marsalis, Bobby Watson, Clark Terry, Jimmy Heath, Jason Moran, Arturo O’Farrill, John Pizzarelli, Joshua Redman, Terri Lyne Carrington, Jon Faddis, Jerry Bergonzi. Donny McCaslin, and more. He has recorded more than a dozen records and graciously contributes the music for Uniquely Human.

Production and Sound Design

ELEVATEDSTUDIO

Uniquely Human: The Podcast is produced, engineered, and edited by Elevated Studio in Denver, Colorado. Owned and operated by co-host Dave Finch, Elevated Studio produces digital media assets and content strategies for the electronics, entertainment, and lifestyle industries.