{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"How's Your Ma Podcast","title":"How's Your Ma: Episode 14 (Ciara Jones)","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":4190,"description":"This week, Orla and Leanne are joined by Ciara Jones — mother, full-time carer, and one of Ireland's most tireless autism advocates. Ciara is mam to three and a half children (as she puts it) including Gavin, who is autistic, intellectually disabled and preverbal. In 2018 she left a 20-year career to become his full-time carer.Ciara opens up about her happy childhood in Cabra, her parents' quiet strength, and the devastating loss of her own mother — a moment that pushed her to finally open the autism support hub she'd always dreamed of. She shares the story of volunteering in a Russian orphanage in her twenties, meeting her husband Mick and building their family, and the early, lonely days of parenting a non-speaking autistic child.From there, Ciara talks through the extraordinary advocacy work she's built: the AsIAm 5K, the Autism Support Hub she runs with her friend Caroline, the Sparkle for Autism Ball (which has raised almost €400,000 towards a goal of half a million), and her role as founder of Chasing Justice — a group supporting over 200 families whose autistic children have been abused or secluded in Irish schools. She speaks candidly about the day Gavin ran from her at school, what daily life with him looks like now, the guilt she carries about what lies ahead for her other two children as young carers, and what keeps her and Mick going as a couple.It's a raw, funny, and deeply moving conversation about grief, resilience, community, and refusing to let anyone feel alone.Content note: this episode discusses child illness/death (stillbirth, cancer, end-of-life care), and later touches on the abuse and seclusion of autistic children in schools.\nTimecodes00:00 – Intro: Orla and Leanne welcome Ciara Jones00:14 – Ciara introduces herself: mum of three and a half, full-time carer to Gavin (16), Dara (12) and Éabha/her youngest, plus stepson Michael01:24 – Who Ciara was before \"mummy\" — growing up in Cabra02:08 – Life as a young carer; her dad the grafter, her...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/FUVDSkfVPC0QV4Qius2XwJXiLtOKT4vb9TebidaGyrI/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9mZGQ1/YmQ5MjYyMGQwMjhi/YTM0MTRiNDY1OTY1/MDIxMi5qcGVn.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}