Full-Tilt Parenting: Strategies, Insights, and Connection for Parents Raising Neurodivergent Children

Today I’m welcoming Amanda Diekman back to the show to talk about her new book, The Parents Handbook for Kids in Burnout: A Low Demand Approach to Healing and Thriving, and what parents need to understand when their child is experiencing burnout. Amanda will explain what burnout actually is, how it can show up differently across childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood, and why it’s so often mi...

Dr. Lori Desautels (author, Connections over Compliance: Rewiring our Perceptions of Discipline) helps educators, parents, and adults who work with children shift the way they think about discipline by reaching for sustainable behavioral changes through brain state awareness rather than compliance and obedience. She’s actively pushing back against reactive and punitive practices that can potential...

Today I’m talking with Eli Weinstein, a clinical social worker, husband and dad of two, creator of ELIvation, and host of The Dude Therapist podcast, about the pressure cooker that parenthood can create for couples, and what it actually takes to stay connected when life gets loud. In our conversation, Eli and I dig into the expectations, resentment, mental load, and communication breakdowns that c...

New York Times' bestselling author Katherine May (Wintering) talks about her new book, The Electricity of Every Living Thing, about her journey of discovering her identity as an autistic woman. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Research psychologist Dr. Rachel Kowert comes back to the podcast for a fascinating and updated conversation about kids and gaming, and why so much of what parents hear about video games doesn’t necessarily line up with what the research actually tells us. In our conversation, we dig into Rachel’s new white paper, Raising Good Gamers, and unpack the research around violent video games, gaming diso...

Performance poet and advocate LeDerick Horne talks about his journey with a hidden disability, his advocacy work, and how he found his love for poetry. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today I’m talking with Dr. Phil Boucher, a board-certified pediatrician who’s particularly interested in helping families understand and support kids with ADHD and help parents better understand their child, trust their instincts, and make informed decisions about what their family needs. This is a unique conversation for the show because, for the first time, we’re looking at the whole journey thr...

My guest this week is Steve Silberman, an award-winning science writer who authored the 2015 book NeuroTribes: The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity, a brilliant book that upends conventional thinking about autism and suggests a broader model for acceptance, understanding, and full participation in society for people who think differently. Steve’s articles have appeared in Wired, t...

I’m talking with developmental psychologist Dr. Peter Gray about his new book, Restoring Childhood: How to Set Kids Free in the Age of Anxiety, which challenges one of the dominant narratives about the youth mental health crisis: that smartphones and social media are largely to blame for the rise in anxiety, depression, and other mental health challenges among kids. Peter argues that this picture...

I’m excited to share this powerful and gut-punching conversation with Jonathan Mooney, a self-described “do-gooder,” speaker, and writer who didn’t learn to read until he was 12-years-old. Growing up with Dyslexia, Jonathan faced a number of low expectations: he was told he would be a high-school dropout and likely end up in jail. Instead, he earned a degree in English Literature, started his firs...

​In this conversation, Debbie Reber speaks with Dr. Özgür Bolat about his book The Reward Trap and the hidden costs of using rewards to motivate children. Dr. Bolat explains that rewards may create short-term compliance, but they often undermine intrinsic motivation, self-esteem, and long-term confidence by teaching kids that love and approval are conditional on performance.  Drawing from his...

What if the reason you or your child can’t “just do the thing” is not laziness, but a Wall of Awful built from repeated frustration, shame, anxiety, and failure? Brendan Mahan breaks down the hidden emotional barrier behind procrastination, avoidance, and shutdown - and shows how to actually get through it without burning out. Debbie Reber welcomes Brendan back to unpack his new book, Overcoming t...

Joining me is Georgie Wisen-Vincent, an expert in play therapy and co-author, alongside Dr. Tina Payne Bryson, of the new book The Way of Play: Using Little Moments of Big Connection to Raise Kind and Confident Kids. In today’s episode, Georgie shares insights from The Way of Play and explains why play is a universal language that helps kids express their feelings and navigate life’s challenges. W...

​Today we’re talking about the complex and often misunderstood sleep challenges that show up in neurodivergent kids with Dr. Melisa Moore, a clinical psychologist who is board-certified in behavioral sleep medicine and has spent years supporting children, teens, and young adults with sleep and mood concerns. We’ll talk about some of the concepts in Melisa’s new book, The Good Sleep Guide for Neuro...

I wanted to explore this concept of interoception and differently wired kids more deeply for the show, so I reached out to Kelly Mahler, an occupational therapist who specializes in interoception and is a co-principal investigator in several research projects pertaining to topics such as interoception, self-regulation, trauma, and autism. Kelly answered my big questions about interoception, includ...

Today I’m talking with James Guttman, author of Hi World, I’m Dad: How Fathers Can Journey to Autism Awareness, Acceptance, and Appreciation. James is the father of a nonspeaking autistic son and a neurotypical daughter, and through his writing and podcast he shares an honest, deeply personal perspective on fatherhood, autism, and the journey toward acceptance. One of the reasons I wanted to have...

Pediatric and occupational therapist Rosemary White explains the philosophy behind DIR / Floortime as a powerful modality to support children's sensory, motor, and social / emotional development. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today we’re talking about a parenting experience that comes with its own unique set of challenges and complexities: raising neurodivergent kids as a single parent. My guest is Dr. Gila, a clinical psychologist, neuropsychologist, certified parenting coach, and single mom who is passionate about helping grownups support beautifully complex kids with compassion, connection, and brain-based tools tha...

Dance/movement therapist Dr. Lori Baudino talks about how teaching differently wired kids to tap into the mind-body connection can help with emotional regulation, social communication, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today we’re exploring a more holistic, humane approach to supporting neurodivergent learners — one that starts with understanding the nervous system and builds from there. My guest is Dr. Emily King, a child psychologist who has spent more than 20 years working with neurodivergent youth in both school settings and private practice. She’s the creator of The Neurodiverse Classroom®, a professional d...

Dr. Stuart Shanker, author of Self-Reg, shares his expertise on self-regulation, offering practical strategies and compassionate insights to help neurodivergent kids and their families manage stress and build self-awareness. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today, I’m joined by Bryden Carlson-Giving, an occupational therapy practitioner and the creator of the EMPOWER model, the first neurodiversity-affirming OT framework. Bryden is both neurodivergent and disabled himself, and his work focuses on helping practitioners challenge ableism and create more supportive, affirming environments for neurodivergent individuals. In our conversation, Bryden walks...

Linda Murphy describes declarative language as a positive, thoughtful communication style that emphasizes understanding, patience, respect, and kindness, and as you’ll hear from our conversation, it is an ideal communication style for really all children, but especially neurodivergent children and kids whose nervous systems are triggered by demands or more imperative communication styles. We discu...

Today we’re diving into dysgraphia—what it is, how it’s different from general handwriting struggles, and why so many kids go unsupported for far too long. My guest is Kelli Fetter, a certified handwriting specialist and occupational therapist, and the founder of Handwriting Solutions. Kelli breaks down the neurological underpinnings of dysgraphia, how it can show up differently from child to chil...

Deb Dana, a clinician, consultant, and author, gives us a primer of the key points of Polyvagal Theory, and in doing so, explains the ways in which it can support the way we parent our differently-wired kids. Deb explains the nervous system pathways, why co-regulation is essential to our survival, what befriending and listening to our autonomic nervous system looks like in practice, and the benefi...