Practical Tools & Perspectives for Autism
Welcome to the Loving Growth Collective. If you are looking for a loving, respectful, and effective way to connect with your autistic child, loved one, or student, you’re in the right place. As the home of The JOIN Program, we provide a natural continuation of The Son-Rise Program principles. Our mission is to help you move from "managing" your child to truly joining them.
On this channel, you’ll find videos on:
Sensory Support: Understanding how your child processes the world.
Connection: How and why to build connection and trust first.
Communication: Why we recognize their full awareness, regardless of current verbal ability.
Regulation & Stimming: Why we join with our children instead of stopping them.
Interest-Led: Using what your child loves to build skills.
Join the Collective:
Visit www.lovinggrowthcollective.com to learn about our membership, classes, and community.
Subscribe for insights and heart-centered support.
The JOIN Program
Unlocking Voices Series Finale — Live Thursday @ 9AM EDT
"How do we move from simple words to real connection?" 🗣️✨
How do we help an 9-year-old autistic child express themselves?
Join us THIS THURSDAY, October 1st @ 9:00 AM EDT / 2:00 PM GMT (note the special time change!) for the GRAND FINALE of our live series, Unlocking Voices: A Whole-Child Roadmap to Autism Communication! 🚦
We’ll be workshopping our final live case study as guest mom Margaret (Maggie) joins us to share the story of her 9-year-old daughter, Serena! 🌸
Becky Damgaard (The JOIN Program) and Natsayi Dunira (Naturopathic Nutritional Therapist) will break down:
🗣️ The Relational Roadmap: How to build contextual speech (when, why, who) through intrinsic motivation and play.
🤝 Social Interactivity: Helping your child truly understand and participate in two-way communication.
🧠 Physiological Foundation: Looking at the brain-health and metabolic factors that make complex processing easier for an autistic child.
Don't miss this powerful finale!
🗓️ Thursday, Oct 1st @ 9AM EDT / 2PM GMT
📺 Live on YouTube & Facebook
👉 Subscribe to our YouTube channel and hit the notification bell so you don't miss us live!
#TheJOINProgram #LovingGrowthCollective #UnlockingVoices #Autism #Autistic #AutismParents #AutismParenting #AutismCommunication #PreVerbalAutism #SemiVerbal #NeurodiversityAffirming #ParentCoaching #AutismSupport #SpecialEducation #AutismProfessionals
3 weeks ago | [YT] | 0
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The JOIN Program
"My autistic child only says one word: 'this.' How do I help him find his first words?" 💛 Episode 4 of Unlocking Voices is right around the corner!
To give our guest mom, Ini, a relaxed and deeply supportive space, Becky Damgaard will be meeting with her this Monday for an intimate, pre-recorded 1-on-1 consultation regarding her 8-year-old son, Michael.
The full episode will drop on YouTube early next week!
If you are raising an older pre-verbal child who relies on just one or two functional words, you know the quiet worry of asking: "Is this as far as we go?" We believe: Growth has no age limit, and your child is not capped. In this episode, Becky walks Ini through The Language Ladder - our 5-step relational framework for shifting your home's internal climate, tuning into "Green Light" sounds, and using zero-pressure JOIN techniques to invite natural speech.✨
What You’ll Discover in Episode 4:
- Reframing "Non-Verbal": Why viewing Michael as pre-verbal changes what we listen for and how he responds.
- The "Connection Compass": How to spot the difference between a self-regulating sound and a true social reach.
- "You Speak, I Move": Giving single words or sounds instant, irresistible power over the environment.
- The "Name It" Technique: How to sow seeds for first words during high-value play without testing or demanding.
Watch for our post early next week when the video goes live on YouTube!📘
3 weeks ago | [YT] | 4
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The JOIN Program
What if your autistic child's sounds or repetitious language was actually an invitation?" 🚦🗣️
We often spend so much time waiting for full words with our autistic loved ones, that we miss the incredible, subtle ways they are already trying to connect with us. 🥹✨
When a child scripts, hums, or makes unclear sounds, it’s not random. It's purposeful, and can be a Green Light! The key isn't forcing them to say it "right"- it's learning how to enter their world so they feel inspired to share more of ours.
Join us TODAY! @ 12 PM EDT / 5 PM GMT for Episode 3 of our free live series, Unlocking Voices: A Whole Child Roadmap to Autism Communication.
We’ll be workshopping our next live case study with guest mom Hadi and her daughter, Kayla! 💛
Becky Damgaard (The JOIN Program) and Natsayi Dunira (ACCTS - Restore and Reset) will break down:
🗣️ How to catch your child's subtle communication cues & give them instant power
🕊️ Dropping performance anxiety in favor of playful persistence
🧠 Supporting the body's natural energy and physiology for learning.
👉 Grab your Language Starter Guide here: loving-growth-collective-ttwep6.subscribepage.io/
Or ask questions live, when you Join here on Youtube to catch the livestream.
#thejoinprogram #lovinggrowthcollective #unlockingvoices #autismcommunication #nonverbalautism #autismlanguagedevelopment #NeurodiversityAffirming #AutismSupport#parentsupport #playbasedlearning#autismparenting
1 month ago | [YT] | 3
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The JOIN Program
When you are raising an older autistic child (ages 9+) who is pre-verbal, semi-verbal, or struggling to communicate, you’ve likely been told a version of the exact same story: “What you see now is likely as far as they will go.”
If you’ve heard those words, I want you to take a deep breath. At Loving Growth Collective and The JOIN Program, we refuse to set a ceiling on your child. We operate on a deeply held, unwavering value: Your child has a limitless capacity to learn and grow.
Years ago, a mother named Natsayi traveled across the world to Massachusetts searching for answers for her son, Joshua. She was exhausted, overwhelmed, and trying to figure out what the future looked like.
When we met, we worked together to build a foundation of acceptance, emotional safety, and relational connection for her son. But something else happened too - she began writing a business plan to help other autism moms through naturopathic nutrition and brain health.
Years later, life has come full circle. 💛
Starting this September, Natsayi Dunira (Naturopathic Nutritional Therapist, ACCTS) and I are coming together for a groundbreaking 4-part livestream series:
✨ Unlocking Voices: The Whole-Child Roadmap to Autism Communication
Combining Regulation, Physiology, and Connection to Facilitate Speech at Any Age
How this 4-week series works: Instead of lecturing you on theory, we are troubleshooting real-life case studies live on air.
We are kicking off our very first session with a mother named Sophia and her 11-year-old son, Aiden. Together, Natsayi and I will look at Aiden through two distinct, powerful lenses:
🧠 The Physiology Lens (Natsayi): Investigating the internal physiological pressures locking up his nervous system—gut health, sleep, nutrient deficiencies, and cellular energy. We cannot ask a distressed, dysregulated nervous system to perform!
🕊️ The Relational Lens (Becky): Reducing external demands, releasing performance anxiety, tuning into his unique "green light" vocalizations, and using JOIN playroom protocols to turn sounds into meaningful speech.
Across all 4 weeks, we will cover the entire ecosystem of communication—from nervous system co-regulation and the caregiver's internal climate (The Happiness GPS®) to real-time Q&A where we troubleshoot your family’s scenarios.
When an older child isn't speaking, the answer isn't "more drills," forced eye contact, or piling on pressure. Real communication emerges when we align internal physiology with deep emotional safety.
Maybe the story you were told about your child’s limits isn’t the end of their story at all.
👉 Join the free livestream here & Grab Your Language Starter Guide.
Before the live case studies begin, Natsayi and I sat down for a raw, personal conversation about where this all started and what functional lab readings reveal when a child moves out of chronic stress.
🎧 Watch Episode 1: From Burnout to Breakthrough Now: https://youtu.be/vEQgMyWg1oI?si=zFBEr...
With so much hope,
Becky Damgaard
Co-Founder, The JOIN Program & Loving Growth Collective
1 month ago (edited) | [YT] | 1
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The JOIN Program
A beautiful story about Elli and her Sisters Son-Rise Program autism journey
5 months ago | [YT] | 0
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