Episode 244 — One CONFERENCE Can Change EVERYTHING
Guest: Tracy Slepcevic • Date: February 20, 2025
Episode Overview
Tracy Slepcevic shares how her journey as a Warrior Mom led to The Autism Health Summit, an upcoming event empowering parents. We explore the impact of conferences, breakthroughs in autism treatment, and the power of community. The secret this week is… One CONFERENCE Can Change EVERYTHING
About Tracy Slepcevic
Tracy Slepcevic is a certified integrative health practitioner, speaker, and Air Force veteran. She is the bestselling author of Warrior Mom: A Mother’s Journey In Healing Her Son with Autism and the founder of Autism Health, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, as well as the Autism Health Summit. She is educated in the field of Complementary and Alternative Medicine and has dedicated over 16 years to researching various treatments and therapies for individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Over the years, she has worked with many doctors, scientists, advocates, and researchers, and she has made it her mission to educate families on the importance of living a healthy lifestyle.
You’ll Discover
Virtual vs. In-Person Learning Value (7:20)
The Myriad of Topics Covered at the AHS Summit (13:18)
The Basics To Start With (17:48)
Why You CAN Trust The Process (20:58)
Referenced in This Episode
https://ahsconference.com- use code AHS50 for a discount
Warrior Mom: A Mother’s Journey In Healing Her Son with Autism
Full Transcript
Tracy Slepcevic [00:00:00]:
To have that community, to be able to talk to other parents in person, to have those life changing relationships that I remember the day Noah was diagnosed, not having that. Who am I going to be able to connect with? Who's going to understand me? Who's going to understand my son? Today I could pick up the phone and I can call a number of people and they will all listen. My Rolodex of autism parents, including yourself, is beyond what I had ever imagined. But it started with going to conferences. Want to truly be the best parent you can be and help your child thrive after their autism diagnosis. This podcast is for all in parents like you who know more is possible for your child.
Len Arcuri [00:00:44]:
With each episode, we reveal a secret that empowers you to be the parent your child needs now. Saving you time, energy and money and helping you focus on what truly matters most. Your child.
Cass Arcuri [00:00:55]:
I'm Cass.
Len Arcuri [00:00:56]:
And I'm Len.
Cass Arcuri [00:00:57]:
Welcome to Autism Parenting Secret Secrets.
Len Arcuri [00:01:11]:
Hello and welcome to Autism Parenting Secrets. It's Len and today my guest is Tracy Slepcevic. She's a return guest, last heard on episode 181, be willing to go the Distance. And she's the author of Warrior A Mother's Journey in Healing Her Son with Autism. Traci is also a certified integrative health practitioner, speaker, Air Force veteran, and she's recently been sharing some very useful information on Substack. She's also taken on the herculean task of holding an annual in person conference to help parents just like you. And that's coming up. It's called the Autism Health Summit Journey to Wellness and it's April 11th through the 13th in San Diego.
Len Arcuri [00:01:56]:
The secret this week is one conference can change everything. Welcome, Tracy.
Tracy Slepcevic [00:02:03]:
Thanks for having me. Len. How are you doing?
Len Arcuri [00:02:05]:
I'm doing good. And yeah, hard to believe that your conference is only a couple months away. And I'm not kidding when I say it's. I can only imagine how much effort goes into running a conference that's well organized, useful. So again, my hat's off to you for having one that you did, I guess about a little over a year ago and now this one coming up. So you must be very excited.
Tracy Slepcevic [00:02:32]:
Well, I am very excited. It's definitely a labor of love, that's for sure. But I remember so many years ago when Noah was diagnosed with autism. I remember feeling really alone and like I didn't have anybody that I could connect with or who was going to understand me. How am I going to ask all these questions that I have rolling around in my Head. So I remember going to conferences back then. It was Dan and Autism one and all those great conferences that went on back then. And it's been such a beautiful journey that now that Noah is normal functioning as you know, because he came to stay with you guys.
Len Arcuri [00:03:14]:
You did.
Tracy Slepcevic [00:03:15]:
You know, my goal is to assist other parents on this beautiful journey.
Len Arcuri [00:03:21]:
Wonderful. No, I know how incredibly powerful conferences were for myself early on, Cass and I, in terms of response to what was happening with Fry, it was Cass who said, okay, you need to get to a conference. She was taking care of things at home. I was the conference person. And I was so resistant early on because I didn't want to be at a conference with other parents. You know, there were a lot of strong emotions I was having and I just didn't see the benefit of it. And so of course now I know looking back how incredibly powerful conferences were. Literally all the, the things that really move the needle the most to help Cass and I meet rise needs, we learned at an in person conference.
Len Arcuri [00:04:04]:
Just searching on the web or hearing what other people are doing can only do so much. So I really do think that in many ways conferences can be magical.
Tracy Slepcevic [00:04:14]:
Oh, absolutely. There's so much out there that's evolving and changing. And initially I wrote the book Warrior Mom, A mother's journey and healing your son with autism. But I wrote like the basic protocol in the book. And since then there's, there's so much more information. And that's why, like you said earlier, I started the step stack and it's under Autism Warrior Mom. And so I can write articles on new information, you know, the most recent updated stuff. And, you know, people really enjoy that because once you write a book, it's set in stone.
Tracy Slepcevic [00:04:55]:
Now the basics are in my book and everyone should start with the basics before they move on to like the bigger treatments and therapies and so on and so forth. But it's really about addressing those underlying conditions, finding out what's going on underneath so that you don't put a band aid on it. And then, you know, using those alternative medicine or what we call biomedical intervention treatments to be able to address those, those issues and get these kids to a functioning state. I don't talk about like curing or changing or anything. We want them to be as functionable as possible. And so to me, my journey never ends. You know, Noah still has autoimmune stuff, although he's fully functioning. As you know, he traveled all by himself for the first time out to see you and your son.
Tracy Slepcevic [00:05:49]:
And you know, so he's, he's able to do everything that I wanted him to do. He works, he drives, he goes to school, he does all this stuff. He's got, you know, a small little group of friends and he is a little bit of an introvert still when it comes to people he doesn't know very well, as you know, and. But he, he's exactly where I wanted him to be. And that's, that's what I want for other parents. I want them to, to know that the only way one is through, there's no way around it. You still have to address all that stuff and there's no one pill that cures all. But creating a community where we can come together and we can talk about it and come up with those solutions for those parents and be able to advocate for them, that's.
Tracy Slepcevic [00:06:44]:
That's the most important part. And the big reason that I started the nonprofit Autism Health was to help pay for all those scholarships for these parents to be able to attend who are low income. And, you know, all my sponsorships help cover those expenses as well so that I could drive down the price so that people can, you know, it can be affordable. And then also we provide CME credits. There's a lot of doctors that want to learn about, you know, new alternative ways to, to treat their patients. And that's super important to me.
Len Arcuri [00:07:21]:
Fantastic. And yeah, to make it accessible and affordable because frankly, especially after Covid people taking the time and the effort to go physically somewhere to learn, everyone's got this idea that, hey, everything can be done virtually. And yes, much can be done virtually. There's no question about it. But in terms of that in person conference, if you can get there and you. Keeping prices down and making it affordable is a key part of that. But parents still have to pay for the flight and the hotel and the like. I think what I just want to interject is that it's really hard to get a sense of the return on an investment like that because again, as you're navigating, trying to figure out what's going to help your child the most, what's going to address the root causes for what's uniquely happening with them.
Len Arcuri [00:08:15]:
That knowledge making a connection you couldn't make before or understanding an approach that you didn't know before, the return on the investment to gain that knowledge is exponential and it could be massive. And that's where there's a little bit of a barrier. Yes, I got a plan. I got to get coverage for my kid. I have to spend Money on a conference and a flight. But, you know, I think it'd be useful and I know I wish like, I knew this more early on to really think about what is the return on this thing I'm about to do. And that's where a conference is different than watching something virtually because it's what happens in between the presentations, it's what happens in community with the doctors or the scientists or the other parents. That, that's where I found the greatest insights and the greatest AHAs have come in terms of what was going to help Rye the most.
Tracy Slepcevic [00:09:07]:
I love that you talk about the return on the investment because I've one. When I started this journey with Noah, we, we, we didn't have much of anything. I was bartering for treatments, I was negotiating. I sold everything I own pretty much. I even short sailed my house to take Noah, you know, to the Ukraine for stem cell therapy. So I'm, I'm that person. That's why I provide scholarships for those who are low income. And but another thing is, is that I've gone to conferences even where I've paid for a booth and a couple thousand dollars for a booth and you know, and then there's like 30 attendees and I'm like, wow, okay, not quite what I expected.
Tracy Slepcevic [00:09:50]:
There's never, when you purchase the booth, there really isn't for the most part a return on your investment. Right. Because regardless, the return is typically, it's life changing, it's invaluable. The relationships that I've made at those conferences, even the ones that I didn't get, a lot of businesses, the interactions that I had with the other vendors, other parents and you know, I can't put a price tag on that. I really can't. So I always know that my goal when I, when I go to sponsor, be a vendor at a, at a conference, is definitely to build those relationships and you know, to, to be there for those people, to network, to do all those things. And that's what I want for people. I want them to come, you know, it however it is that I can make it affordable for them.
Tracy Slepcevic [00:10:59]:
You know, there are discount codes as well. AHS50 gives them $50 off a, a ticket, you know, that pretty much covers the cost of their food and, and you know, the entertainment and some of my speakers and so on so forth. But to have that community, to be able to talk to other parents in person, to have those life changing relationships that I remember the day Noah was diagnosed not having that, who am I going to be able to connect with who's going to understand me, who's going to understand my son? Today I could pick up the phone and I can call a number of people and they will all listen. I. My Rolodex of autism parents, including yourself, is, is beyond what I had ever imagined. But it started with, with going to conferences. And back then I couldn't, I couldn't afford to go to a conference. But I still found a way to be able to attend a conference and that's super important.
Tracy Slepcevic [00:12:04]:
Unfortunately, I can't do it in every city. I have to pick or choose annually where that conference is going to be this year because it's my hometown, San Diego. It just happens to be a little easier. But, you know, there's so much to address in Southern California as well. And I believe that, you know, these parents need to, they need to learn, they need to get that information. I'm all about solutions. And there is no judgment as to whatever it is that you choose to do with your child, but it should, there should be some informed consent there and it, you know, it should be the right of the parent to choose. So I stand for a lot of things, but I judge no one.
Tracy Slepcevic [00:12:57]:
I believe everyone's on their beautiful and, you know, spiritual journey, however that gets to be laid out before them.
Len Arcuri [00:13:05]:
And.
Tracy Slepcevic [00:13:06]:
But I'm super excited about our upcoming conference. We have so many new speakers. We have one of the creators of GCMAF injections, GC proteins, macrophage activating factors. So your body has this and throughout three years of oxidative stress and everything, it kind of breaks it down. And this is like your central immune system. And so he's flying out from Malaysia with, you know, one another doctor who will be speaking? I have Dr. Sabine Hazan who's speaking on, you know, fecal transplant and all the research that she's been doing through her foundation. Dr.
Tracy Slepcevic [00:13:42]:
Peter McCullough is coming back. Del Big tree. You know our favorites. Dr. Brian Hooker. You know, he's, he, he's a wealth of information. He's also going to be at my fundraiser on Saturday. So I'm super excited to see him.
Tracy Slepcevic [00:13:59]:
So is Sabine. Uh, but there's so many different new doctors. Dr. Mariah Henchy, she speaks on Lyme. And a lot of these kids have that underlying condition of Lyme. And it's like they don't even know it. They, they don't even get the right test because as me and Noah went for, for a Lyme test, we just went through quest and apparently that's not a really Good test.
Len Arcuri [00:14:23]:
Yeah. It doesn't mean much.
Tracy Slepcevic [00:14:24]:
Yeah, yeah, I know. So there's so many new speakers that I'm excited. We're going to be talking about mesenchymal STEM cell therapy. Dr. Nick Giussani is going to be speaking on that, which is done right here in the United States, by the way. You don't have to travel to a different country and worry about the dangers of getting a treatment or a therapy, especially a medical one, in another country and spending thousands of dollars, like I had to short sale my house to take no out to the Ukraine. So it's very affordable right here in the United States. So we're going to be talking about that.
Tracy Slepcevic [00:15:04]:
There's. There's so many new topics. We have a young man who is on the spectrum, and he is going to be leading off the conference with. With his talk. And. And so he's like the autism advocate. I didn't have an advocate last year speak. And I was, you know, I was really bummed that I didn't do that.
Tracy Slepcevic [00:15:26]:
But in, you know, you and your son will be there. He's always. I'm willing to, like, have him dive in and do whatever it is that he wants to do that makes him feel good. You know, I. This is their conference. This is. This is my way of being in service to them. And that's, you know, that's the most important thing.
Len Arcuri [00:15:48]:
Fantastic. Yeah. No, Ry loves performing, so, yes, he's going to love being there. You know, I think this is the second conference you've done, and I know the first one has to be a challenge. Everything's new, so I'm only imagining that this one will be even more impactful than your first conference, because we get better as we go. Right. And. And so with parents who are listening, and again, if you're intrigued by this idea, thinking, okay, maybe this makes sense, maybe husband and wife may be thinking, both can go or one can go.
Len Arcuri [00:16:24]:
But I know one barrier that I would have that might be enough for me to not go to the conference is I'm worried I'm going to be overwhelmed with 25 things, 25 new interventions to do that are going to break the bank, and I don't have the capacity to do them well. So I think with all those dynamite speakers you mentioned, which is phenomenal, the key thing I want to just share with people is you don't have to do everything. This is about knowledge. It's about understanding. And it's not about going to a conference and coming and coming back with a Whole litany of things to do. It may just be that you come back perhaps better informed, with better focus, knowing for your child what might make the most sense and coming back with that clarity and precision, along with the community to help you in whatever it is that your takeaway is. So it actually doesn't have to create more overwhelm. It could actually create more serenity with you focusing on what you know is what's the best fit for your child.
Len Arcuri [00:17:28]:
Again, not to cure or do anything, but just to meet your child's needs. Because every, every one of these kids is so incredibly unique. Being in this conference will help you piece that together.
Tracy Slepcevic [00:17:40]:
We even have Julie Matthews speaking on nutrition. So let's start with the basics. You know, although people say it's expensive to be gluten free, dairy free, it is not expensive to eat real food. So knock out the processed stuff that costs a lot of money and just eat real food. Try and stay away from the pesticides, the hormones, all that stuff. That is the best route to go. But for a year, the first year after I got all Noah's test results back, we did no gluten, no dairy, no soy, no yeast, no sugar. I mean, it was just real food.
Tracy Slepcevic [00:18:21]:
And did I allow them to have starchy stuff like potatoes and stuff like that? Yeah, but I made them at home. So there's, there's so much that we can do at a very basic ground level. And I can tell you I'm here to motivate because I had nothing. But everything I wanted to do for my son, I accomplished. You know, back then, I wanted to do hyperbarics. I walked. You know, I met one of the hyperbarics companies at a, a fundraiser. And so I was talking to him, I'm like, listen, my son deserves to have this treatment.
Tracy Slepcevic [00:19:00]:
Just right now, finances are a little tough, but I'm willing to do whatever. I will market your company. I will, you know, I'll scrub your toilets, I'll work your front desk, whatever you want me to do. I'm your gal. And so I was able to barter for those treatments and I did their marketing on the weekends, or I would go to different events like autism walks or, you know, tea talks or whatever. And I would talk to people, you know, about, you know, their hyperbarics company, which no longer exists, unfortunately, but was, it was eye opening as to what you can create when you decide at that moment, I'm going to be a powerful creator and I'm going to create this for, for my child. Not going to Put a barrier and say, I can't afford or do whatever. And I.
Tracy Slepcevic [00:19:49]:
That might be a little hypocritical or not, but it's really whatever you feel your child deserves to have. You can create it. You really can. There's ways. There's so many different options. There's so many different ways. And so I'm here to inspire everybody. And if you haven't read my book, the first part of the book, which is very brief on my story, is very inspirational on how we got through some of the toughest times, you know, in my marriage, not with Steve and I, but with everything that was being thrown at us.
Tracy Slepcevic [00:20:34]:
And Steve fights Big insurance, and big insurance fought back. And he was in a smear campaign on the front page of the LA Times the same year that Noah was diagnosed with autism. And then we're, we're getting backlash from, from all of this. And then they labeled my husband as a crook when he's, he's, you know, nothing of the sort. So I, there was so much to overcome, but I was so laser, laser focused on those health. And I'm like, my son will function. And if you truly believe it down to a cellular level, that that's possible, however that gets to look your journey, my journey, everybody's journey is so different. Everybody's biological makeup is so different.
Tracy Slepcevic [00:21:17]:
So they're going to respond differently to different treatments. It's, it's, you know, if you just like we were talking earlier, if you just trust the process and you know, sometimes just turn the reins over to God, that sometimes God will send you those angels that get that you deserve to have in your life. And you know, your road might not look the way you thought it would look, but in the end it looks a whole lot different. And Noah gave me purpose, you know, and I'm sure you feel the same way that your son gave you purpose, because you wouldn't be sitting right there if it wasn't for him. And so this is, this is what you and I want to share with the world. We want to share like our inspirations, our hopes, or, you know, all those things that motivated us to, to get our kids to functioning states.
Len Arcuri [00:22:12]:
No doubt so much of what you said I really, really resonate with this concept of faith also is unbelievably important because if you're looking for evidence, forget about it. It comes down to you having faith that more is possible for your child. There's always something you can do if, again, if you're focused on what the needs are. And so that faith is important. And then as you started creativity, there's always a way to do and to help your child in ways that might be more economical. So in other words, you don't have to go to a conferen and break the bank in terms of like, investing in everything. Whatever it is that you're trying to help your child with, there's going to be a lot of different avenues that you can do that. It doesn't all require spending money.
Len Arcuri [00:23:03]:
So like you were saying, with food, sometimes it's just going back to feeding basic, wholesome food unprocessed, which, again, does not have to be more expensive. As you shared and Julie Matthews, I know we'll go into that in detail, I'm sure, at the conference. So, yes, I, I couldn't agree more with a lot of what you're sharing. And again, so if you want to put that into action for the benefit of your child, there's really no better way to get more wind at your back than being in community, learning more. And again, that's where I think the conference, the Journey to Wellness conference that you're providing gives a very unique opportunity for parents. I know you shared the code, and I'll put everything in the show notes as well as links where you can find out more about the conference. Is there anything else that you think if a parent's on the fence trying to figure out, is this worth it or not, what else could you share that you haven't already talked about, Traci, to help them see this opportunity?
Tracy Slepcevic [00:24:03]:
So I also want parents to know that if their child is under the age of 18 or severely autistic, I do not charge for a ticket. I do feed them. No worries. But typically I don't charge for a ticket. There's a lot of information. So if you're bringing, you know, small children, you may want to consider, you know, having somebody with you to assist you or whatever. There are a lot of great vendors where you're going to be able to try a lot of those different things like hyperbaric oxygen therapy. And, you know, we'll have Bemer there with the Beamer device.
Tracy Slepcevic [00:24:41]:
So all these different, you know, foot baths and naturopathic doctors that you can, you can talk to and, you know, so so many different things that you can do versus if you were to do it virtually, you wouldn't be able to interact with those. Granted, we will get you that information of who those vendors are. They're on my website. You can always, you know, look under the sponsorships. But if you go to autismhealth.com I also want to ask that if you can afford to give 10, 15, $25 a month on a reoccurring donation, your donation makes a huge difference. So we're building out programs like we want to do webinars, you know, monthly. We want to hire some full time coaches so these parents can have some free coaching and all these different programs. I mean it starts with the conference and it pays for the conference, but really we need to do more throughout the year.
Tracy Slepcevic [00:25:50]:
We're going to be doing a walk probably the end of June and you could do it wherever you're at. It'll be a 5K walk. You can, you know, gather groups of people. And so we'll be doing some fundraisers. But if you go to autismhealth.com if you click on the conference tab, it'll take you to the conference. You can register again, that code is AHS for Autism Health Summit 50 and you can get $50 off. If you ever have any questions, reach out to me. Tracy T r a c yautismhealth.com and I'm happy to assist you.
Len Arcuri [00:26:25]:
However, I can go to Tracie's website. You can learn more, but trust me, there's not many of these types of opportunities. Conferences used to be a little bit more prevalent than they are now. Probably post Covid. So as I look at the calendar, this is the only thing that I'm pointing clients to in terms of a great opportunity to do something in person. So the information will be in the show notes. And Tracy, again, as always, thank you for your own unique way that you're paying it forward and providing this kind of guidance and information for parents who definitely need it. So again, thank you for everything you're doing and I'm looking forward to a dynamite conference.
Tracy Slepcevic [00:27:04]:
Well, thank you. I appreciate what you do as well and God bless everybody and I look forward to seeing you all there.
Len Arcuri [00:27:14]:
Your child wants you to transform now and the fastest way to do that is with personalized support. To learn more, go to allinparentcoaching.com intensive.
