630: What My Nonverbal Autistic Son Taught Me About Truly Listening with J. Brad Britton
Achieve Your Goals with Hal Elrod
Hal Elrod
4.8 • 1.5K Ratings
🗓️ 25 March 2026
⏱️ 48 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Today's guest, J. Brad Britton, is one of my earliest mentors and the co-author of the new book, Real Words with Sam. J. Brad's son Sam was diagnosed with autism at age two, and he remained largely non-speaking for most of his life.
But after attending a symposium and seeing the success other families had with a unique spelling method, J. Brad discovered that Sam had been thinking, listening, understanding, and was capable of communicating, often poetically, in ways that changed everything.
In our conversation, Brad shares the emotional story of how his relationship with Sam has evolved and how it has completely changed the way he understands his son, himself, and others.
You'll also understand why this conversation is about so much more than autism, what it means to move beyond assumptions and truly see someone, and why becoming a more patient, present, empathetic human being may be one of the most powerful transformations any of us can experience.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- The Inspiration For Writing "Real Words with Sam"
- How Brad's Entire View of People Changed
- The Symposium That Created A Huge Breakthrough
- Spelling to Communicate Changed Everything
- The Relationship Between Apraxia and Autism
- The Power of Open Questions and Original Thought
- Everyone Needs to Be Seen and Heard
- Learning and Adapting Never Stops As a Dad
- Spiritual Lessons Learned On This Ongoing Journey
- The Chapter That Intentionally Induces Tears
- Why This Book Is For Every Human Being
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello and welcome to the Achieve Your Goals podcast, the show that empowers you to wake up to your full potential and achieve your biggest goals and dreams. |
| 0:09.6 | I am your host, Hal Elrod, and I invite you to join us each week as we share actionable strategies to take your life to the next level, |
| 0:16.5 | as well as interview world-class experts and entrepreneurs who have achieved extraordinary goals |
| 0:21.9 | themselves and we ask them to give you a peek behind the curtain and teach you exactly what you need |
| 0:26.6 | to do to do the same ready here we go today's conversation is one that will undoubtedly inspire you |
| 0:34.5 | and it may move you to tears my My guest today is Jay Brad Britt, |
| 0:37.9 | and he's been my mentor for over 20 years and he's the co-author of a brand new book, |
| 0:43.2 | Real Words with Sam, that he co-authored with his son Sam. And it tells a remarkable story |
| 0:48.7 | of discovering that Sam who was diagnosed with autism at age two and had largely been non-speaking for most of his |
| 0:55.8 | life. And he was actually believed by Jay Brad and his wife, Paulette, and the whole family, |
| 1:00.1 | to be incapable of communicating. And then they discovered that he was actually thinking, |
| 1:06.7 | listening, and understanding far more than anyone realized. Through a method called spelled communication, |
| 1:13.9 | Sam began sharing his thoughts, letter by letter, revealing intelligence, wisdom, and a voice |
| 1:19.8 | that had been inside of him all along and he didn't know how to communicate with people. |
| 1:26.0 | This conversation isn't just about autism. It is about |
| 1:29.2 | assumptions, humility, and what happens when we finally learn how to truly listen to the people |
| 1:37.9 | that we love. Brad is brought to tears toward the end of the episode as he reads part of the |
| 1:43.3 | story. You might be brought to |
| 1:44.9 | tears too. I was deeply touched and I think you will love this conversation and you will be a more |
| 1:51.4 | empathetic, more loving, better human being after you're done watching or listening to this. |
| 1:57.8 | It is my great pleasure to introduce you to my friend, the one and only Mr. J. Brad, |
| 2:02.3 | Britt. |
... |
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