Webinar: Cannabis for Autism by Farmacy Cannabis Lecture Series

on-demand webinar

About this Webinar

Whole Plant Access for Autism (WPA4A) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that works to educate families about the possible benefits of cannabis for autism. Founded in 2016, WPAA works with families all over the world who have a loved one with autism spectrum disorder. These families either do not want to use pharmaceuticals or have tried multiple pharmaceuticals with little or no success in treating some of the most difficult symptoms of autism, such as self-injury, aggression towards loved ones, severe insomnia, cognitive impairment, and communication difficulties.

WPAA believes that education is key to helping families find success with cannabis for autism symptom management. Working with like-minded organizations and doctors, WPAA works to bring awareness to others about alternatives that can help so many.

Rhonda Moeller and Jenni Mai are the co-founders of Whole Plant Access for Autism and are our featured guest speakers. They will discuss the wonderful work their doing and point audience members towards research and resources available to families.

Presenters

Friends of the Farm Lecture Series

Rhonda Moeller

CEO and Co-founder of Whole Plant Access for Autism

Rhonda is the mother of 2 children, one of which is on the autism spectrum. Born and raised in California, she graduated valedictorian of her high school class and received a full scholarship to attend Cal State University, Long Beach. Graduating Magna Cum Laude with her BS in Biochemistry, Rhonda went on to attend UC, Irvine for her Ph.D. in Structural Biology. Three years into her Ph.D. program, Rhonda decided to put the Ph.D. program on hold as she joined the workforce as Quality Control Manager at a local environmental chemistry laboratory.

After working in the lab for 10 years, Rhonda decided to leave her position as QCM and work part-time in order to spend more time with her daughter who needed more support. When it came time to consider medicating her child, she knew that pharmaceuticals with their side effects were not going to be an option. So, she began to research alternative biomedical options and being in California, cannabis came up as a suggestion by another family. In January 2016, she got a recommendation from a doctor for her daughter and was amazed by the results.

Once she began to discuss using cannabis with other families, it became obvious that her background in science was an asset to helping others understand how this type of treatment can help where other’s hands were often tied. From there Whole Plant Access for Autism (WPA4A) was formed as a local support group. As WPA4A began to grow outside the local California area and began to require more time and monetary support, the 501(c)(3) was formed in order to better serve the community.

Jenni Mai

President and Co-founder of Whole Plant Access for Autism

Jenni is the mother of three adult/teen sons on the Autism spectrum. She is originally from Wisconsin and now lives in Southern California. Jenni and her husband jumped at the chance to move to a medicinally-legal alternative botanical state in order to try the treatment on her middle son, Nate, who had an extremely difficult time managing severely aggressive and self-injurious behaviors with traditional pharmaceuticals.

This type of treatment was the only option left to try in the family’s pursuit to keep him safe and out of alternative placement. Thankfully it has been a huge success in not only reducing these behaviors almost to the point of complete elimination but in the total removal of psychotropic pharmaceuticals as well. At one point, Nate was taking 18 pills every single day, including extremely heavy doses of Benzodiazepines. Now he only uses a natural plant with far greater success and continues to happily reside in his family home. Jenni now helps other families write their own success stories with medicinal botanicals and specializes in helping those with extreme behaviors.

Jenni received her undergraduate degree from Southeast Missouri State University and her Master of Science in Nonprofit Administration from Louisiana State University – Shreveport. She hopes to apply her education and real-world experience as a parent who has spent decades searching for safe and effective treatment options for her own children, to help others on the same journey.