Emmalou: I’m talking to Dr. Mark Mauzy. And the last time I talked to him in January of 2019, he was just starting Gem Train, a platform for providing valuable information for family members of those with autism. And now here we are almost two years later. Dr. Mauzy, Welcome.
Mark: Thank you. Good to be with you, Emmalou.
Emmalou: And I’m remembering that we were talking last, you were just getting started. You just had a few courses, and we were talking about what would be coming. And now how many courses do you have?
Mark: Well over 30 and counting, that original enthusiasm has not slowed. We dove in and we had great vision for the types of things we wanted to collect and gather to help these families that we care about. And man, we’ve hit it, we’ve gone out and, and worked with several different professionals. And we can kind of get into some of those areas here shortly. But it’s been so exciting. And we can say with a smile that we’ve increased and done what we set out to do.
Emmalou: That is impressive. That really is, as I recall, you took a rather drastic change in your professional life. So what led you to start Gem Train?
Mark: Thank you for asking me. So my background, I have a PhD in marriage and family therapy and systems theory. So for 15 years, I was a counselor and I worked with a lot of families and individuals who had you know, an array of struggles and needs, but oftentimes saw the challenges that can be experienced by families and individuals when they have a struggle. And autism was one of those areas that just broke my heart because I saw such wonderful, good people who were often misunderstood or parents who felt like they were failing, when they were trying much, much harder than the average parent. They had so much investment and so much love and care, but they just lacked the tools to know how. And because they didn’t know how, in some cases, it ended up feeling like failure. And then I have a good friend. And we decided to join our talents and abilities and resources and we launched Gem Train. And he has a family member on the spectrum. I do. And we decided that we wanted to make a difference. And so we got some funding together and we launched gem train. And we began seeking out professionals such as yourself. Actually, Emmalou, you were one of the first people that we did a course with.
Emmalou: It was my honor.
Mark: And it’s still there, it’s still on the site. And it’s about self care, which we believed was very important and still do. And so we just set out. We bought a bunch of camera equipment and got some professional editors involved and filmers involved and they would go with us. And we would do an interview with a professional and gain their knowledge and experience and turn it into a course that we could then put on our site and let people watch and learn.
Emmalou: And it is grown from there. So that’s interesting. And my background, I was a special ed teacher. So I worked with students and families. And I I agree with what you were saying, a lot of it is a matter of understanding. And parents are quite hard on themselves.
Mark: It’s heartbreaking all right. In fact, I learned a principle. And I believe this applies in a lot of areas of life. But it’s really applicable here, I believe. And it’s this. If something isn’t getting done, it’s usually one of two problems. It can be because the person knows how, and they just don’t want to do it. That’s one problem, then there’s a different problem where somebody genuinely doesn’t know how. They’re willing, but they just don’t know how. Let’s say that I grew up in an area and I’ve never seen snow in my life. And you asked me to shovel your driveway, and you come back in an hour and it’s not done. Well, that might be because I’ve never done it before. I don’t know how. I’m willing, but I don’t know how. And I saw so many parents or caregivers that would struggle feeling like they were failing. And they were being treated like somehow they just weren’t trying hard enough. And it wasn’t the problem. They were trying more than the average parent. They just lack the tools and the skills and that’s the fire in us. That’s the fire that drives what we do. And we go find people that have those Tools, so we can get them in front of the parents and say, “Here, here’s how.” And so we can match that beautiful energy of a loving parent with the tools to actually do something.
Emmalou: And as I recall, you cover a wide variety of topics. There’s the issue of the fussy eater, you know, it’s the texture of foods, and you have children with autism. How do you get them to eat?
Mark: Yeah, yeah, Brittyn Coleman is known as the Autism Dietitian. And we have a course with her called Healthy, Picky Eaters. And she’s made some recommendations like changing the texture of food, playing games, trying to find ways to keep them away from what she refers to as the blonde foods, fries, chicken nuggets, potato chips, and maybe introduce some things like some green beans, carrots, you know, helping with their diet. And she’s fun. And the way she does it, she’s just a delight.
Emmalou: And I also remember that some of your experts are parents who, I guess, learned on their own and became very successful.
Mark: You’re right. One of the courses I really appreciate is from a mom, and she just goes by Lara. And she’s a wonderful, wonderful person. And we thought it would be very helpful for people to see that you don’t have to have a degree or letters behind your name, to have something to say about autism. And she just tells her story as a mom and share some of the things that she’s done to be successful. And I can tell you, knowing her fairly well on and off camera, she’s amazing. And such an inspiration. And I would think that any parent that needs maybe someone to relate to or to feel like they’re not alone, would appreciate what she has to say.
Emmalou: So where is Gem Train going? And I know you added the subtitle Autism Awareness to make it more specific. But where do you see the future of Gem Train?
Mark: Well, we see probably a couple of different things. There is certainly a need for specific knowledge and understanding, we may find as we get feedback from people that some more technical courses are wanted, maybe a little more of a kind of a learning management approach. We’ve also got quite an interest in developing a community feeling for the sake of support. So many moms feel alone and need to know, not just mom’s, parents, I should say. But moms primarily need to know that they’re not alone, to have a forum and a space to not only discuss their challenges, but their successes and tips and tricks and how they’re applying these things, what’s working for them. We know that not every course or every suggestion is going to work for every child. But you can get a pretty good idea of some of the things that are likely to work and try them and have someone you can talk to about it. So, we foresee a supportive environment, as well as some additional technical information going forward.
Emmalou: And you started out with the website. But now you’re also on YouTube.
Mark: Yeah, most of our content is available on YouTube, through podcasts as well, Spotify, iTunes, and so forth, I Heart Radio, some of the popular podcast platforms. And when I say most of the content, we’ve reserved just a handful of lessons, per course, you can just purchase the course on Gem Train, it’s a small fee, it’s 10 bucks, of course, it’s very affordable to get those additional pieces that aren’t included on YouTube or other places. And we’re fine with that. If somebody wants to go to YouTube and watch the majority of the course you can watch it right on gem train as well. And if you feel like you get what you need, that’s just fine with us. Our goal is to get that valuable information out. My business partner and I agreed, there’s a lot of different ways to make money in this world. And we joke and we say if we wanted to make money, we would sell tennis rackets. You know, of course we want this project to be self-sustaining so that we can continue to provide valuable content, but that’s why we’ve kept our costs down. And at this point we’ve definitely spent far more than it has brought in and we’re okay with that. We want this to reach the people that need it, and we have a passion for that and so we’ve carried it forward with that objective.
Emmalou: I am impressed with what you are doing, you know, getting feedback, finding out what do people need? So as people who listen, respond and let you know, what was helpful, what they need more answers on. Are you looking at attracting more courses? Well, I guess again, depending on feedback you get, right.
Mark: That’s right. Yeah, we obviously feel like we have a pretty good sampling of what’s available there now. One of our most popular courses is actually called Married with Autism, Married Successfully with Autism. Wonderful couple, you just absolutely love these people, Damian and Kelly. And he’s on the spectrum. And they talk about this in their course. And they give some tips and some tricks about how they’ve done it. And it’s given people tremendous hope, even those that are married to someone on the spectrum, as well as those that have children who are growing up who may have wondered, will my child ever be able to be in a marriage? And if you watch that course, you say, Oh, actually, the answer to that is yes, they can be married. Every marriage requires work and adaptations and married on the spectrum successfully just requires its own unique set of adaptations, but it can be done and they’ve figured it out. People love it.
Emmalou: I may be confusing her with someone else. But I’m remembering a comment that one real advantage is she knows he cannot lie to her. You want to be married to a man who is always going to be honest, you know, he’s never gonna lie.
Mark: That’s right. Yes. so neat. That that did come up in their course, in their interview. And the other thing she said that I thought was really kind of kind of tender, is she said, she had to learn to live in more of a grounded kind of perspective of marriage, that if she tells him what she needs, and he’s willing to do it, that that’s just as much an indication of love as maybe some of the spontaneous unspoken things. And she kind of got away from that kind of test that unspoken test. If he really loves me, he’ll just know what I need, like magic. That’s just not real. And, and so she had to learn to say, I need a hug. And, they even schedule a time sometimes for that type of affection and connection. And she’s learned to accept that that is the proof that he loves her. Yeah, she doesn’t have to play the wish fairy tale type games, that she can just say, this is what I need. And when he does it, she knows that he loves her because he just showed her.
Emmalou: Yeah. Well, I actually think that’s probably a good idea for all by us. Don’t expect anyone to read your mind.
Mark: That’s the thing. Yeah. Yeah, much of their course applies to any marriage. And of course, there’s those additional benefits of, you know, some of the uniqueness that someone on the spectrum brings to a marriage.
Emmalou: Yeah, how valuable, how valuable. I’m impressed with the variety of topics. great value here. Good information. And so how do people find you?
Mark: Oh, pretty easy. So gemtrain.org. Gem, like a diamond, train, like personal trainer. And everything’s there. All the courses are available, we’ve kind of broken them down into sensory, mind and learning, social, you know, kind of the typical menu structure, if you will. So it’s the courses, the site’s very easy to navigate to find the courses. They’re also welcome to reach out. If they would like, they can email me, gemtrainco@gmail.com And they can also comment, like on YouTube, for example. Okay, there is a place for comments. And if they want to subscribe to the channel and comment on YouTube, we do watch that. And so if they have suggestions or recommendations or just feedback, that’s a great way to get it to us as well.
Emmalou: Okay, good way to provide feedback, get more of what you like, and thank you for doing this. You’re going to be helping a lot of people, not just the people with autism, but the people who love them. And are part of their world.
Mark: You know, that’s our hope and I have to tell you, some of the professionals we’ve met are really on the front lines and they know their stuff. There’s an energy working with them because they feel the way we feel. And they want to help. Donald Best figured out basically how to understand social rules because so many of them are implied. And he’s on the spectrum and he figured it out. We’ve got Dr. Janelle Nimer, who does animal assisted therapy to make it easier for someone on the spectrum to go through trauma therapy because they have a service animal in the room. We’ve got Najmeh Hourmanesh who immigrated from Iran, and she does wonderful work with trauma treatment. Music therapists, how music can be used to communicate when verbal communication isn’t really the best option. Maybe a child is triggered. But they can bang on a drum to tell you how they’re feeling. And the parent can bang back and let them know that they’ve understood. It’s just amazing stuff.
Emmalou: Lots of fun. Wow!
Mark: Yoga and meditation. Who knew? Yeah, yeah, yoga expert, Beth Williams, who gives specific courses, and moves and poses and things that can calm a parent and a child together. And just did a course with us on meditation, how to calm your mind, things like that. As well as some more practical things like toxins. I think you even know Jeffrey Knight.
Emmalou: Yes, I do. Dr. Knight. And Beth Williams. Yes. Yes.
Mark: Yeah, they’re great people. And Dr. Knight did a course with us on toxins, all the toxicity issues in your environment, and things of that nature. So the list goes on. And it’s just fun. We’ve got Dr. Brett Merrill, who helps with managing screen time. How much is too much. He talks about that. Because we know that any kid, especially those on the spectrum, tend to get pulled into those screens. Right?
Emmalou: They do.
Mark: It’s really been fun. An expert up in your area, Jeff Tesch, talks about some proven, successful parenting techniques. We’ve got his course. Just wonderful martial artists that teaches us how to do stress redirection. Imagine that! How interesting. Yeah. Alan Hughes. He’s a master in his martial art. But it’s not about fighting. It’s about the energy of redirecting stress. And he walks through how to do that if a child is having a breakdown, and how to redirect that stress so that it doesn’t have to be hit head on. And so confrontational.
Emmalou: Well, listening to you talk just reminds me of a toolbox. You know, the more tools you have the better. Autism is a complex issue that requires several different approaches. The more tools you have in your toolbox, the more effective you’ll be. And you have a lot of tools in Gem Train.
Mark: Thank you. That really feels good to hear. I think you’ve nailed it. That is our desire. And knowing that, you know, different parents are going to need different things. One father just told me that he listened to the course from Robert Dolman, who’s an expert on neuroplasticity. And he talked about children having a massive, big project that they can accomplish to to embolden their confidence. And this father just helped his child on the spectrum raise, I believe it was an acre of cantaloupe. And she raised it and sold those cantaloupe and he said you should see the smile on her face and the satisfaction for having accomplished this big, structured task that she can claim credit for having done something. He learned that from watching Robert Doman’s course on neuroplasticity and brain neuroplasticity. So, it’s things like that that motivates. You don’t have to hear too many of those stories to want to get this out there and make every effort to help those parents.
Emmalou: That is a huge success. That is exciting!
Mark: It is awesome. I didn’t know about the cantaloupe sale until it was over.
Emmalou: That’s wonderful to know that you can help your child experience that type of success. That they are laying the groundwork for moving forward with their life and becoming self-sufficient. This is awesome. This is really awesome. I hope every family who can hear us checks it out. Well worth it valuable, valuable. And I now know why you named it Gem Train.
Mark: That’s kind of how we came up with that, little gems of wisdom, you know, those little things that make all the difference? And again, what’s the point? If you’re a parent who has the energy to help your child, we want to give you the tools in the toolbox. I love that imagery, so that you can then go and say, Oh, I want to help my child. Now I know how!
Emmalou: Yes, priceless. Thank you so much. Dr. Mauzy. Thank you for what you’re doing. And thank you for your time to share it.
Mark: My pleasure, my privilege, Emmalou. So, so excited. And I hope your listeners will go find both of your courses on gem train, not just the one on self-care, but also how to have a successful IEP for your child in school. I hope they will look at both of your courses because they’re excellent.
Emmalou: Oh, thank you. It was a real honor for me to be part of it. I’m glad to hear it’s doing so well. It’s valuable information.
Mark: It’s exciting.
Emmalou: Well, thank you, Dr. Mauzy. And you have a great day!
Mark: Thank you Emmalou. Appreciate your time.