Autism & Neurodiversity

Why is a supportive mentoring relationship so important? One of the most effective ways to connect and garner trust with our autistic or neurodivergent loved one is by developing this type of relationship. Mentoring is more than just words–It is more than advice. As we tune into their individual and unique needs as a mentor we avoid unrealistic expectations and better position ourselves to support...

Take advantage of the expertise of therapeutic consultant Shayna Abraham. She has been helping parents and families navigate therapeutic treatment decisions for 20 years and shares great insights, like alternatives to traditional university, how to overcome the struggles families face, and why it is so important for parents to find like-minded, supportive communities. What You'll Learn from this E...

Does neurodivergence automatically predispose one to mental health issues? Why is it so difficult for an autistic or neurodivergent individual to manage mental illness? In a subset of this community, severe mental illness is a very real and debilitating issue. There are steps you can take to mitigate the negative effects of those issues. What You'll Learn from this Episode: What it means to be sev...

Are you parenting from a behavioral or default mode? Is your child behaving or complying out of fear? Are they stuck in a fight-or-flight brain state? Fear and power tactics damage relationships and development in children, especially neurodivergent children. Learn how to parent from a position of connection and collaboration to strengthen your relationship with your child. What You'll Learn from...

Neurodivergent children have a more difficult time growing or developing resilience during struggles. For this reason, well-meaning parents often create an environment where their children are not challenged, but instead remain in a constant state of comfort. Learn why this creates comfort and family harmony in the short term, but doesn’t provide the skills necessary for neurodivergent children to...

The challenges that come with parenting autistic and / or neurodivergents can be hard. There may be things you dislike or even downright hate. It’s hard to show up and parent effectively when we feel this way. What if you could love your parenting experience? Would you show up differently? Be more effective? Learn how to love your experience and show up in a way that supports your neurodivergent’s...

There are some common mistakes we see parents making when they set goals for themselves or to help their autistic and/or neurodivergent loved ones. Don’t make these mistakes! What You'll Learn from this Episode: Why the type of goals we set can be a problem. Why a focus on timelines doesn’t work in goal setting for autistic and/or neurodivergent young people. How to look at needs versus wants. One...

If you want to achieve your parenting goals easier then create a plan to set yourself up for success. Don’t rely on will-power alone. Learn how to have more fun and make it easier to work on your parenting goals. What You'll Learn from this Episode: Why relying on your will-power is not an effective way to reach your parenting goals. Why you need to look at the obstacles in the way of your goals....

The balance of power in a mentoring type relationship with a young person is continually adjusting as a child develops into adulthood. As you parent, shifting ownership to them is an important part of their development. When they are autistic and/or neurodivergent and have a different timeline for developmental milestones it can create challenges as they start adulting. In this episode are some pr...

When one of the children, teens, or young adult’s you’re parenting or working with is autistic and/or neurodivergent they have higher support needs. Having parental goals is important if you want to meet their needs effectively. We as parents and mentors are the leaders. We choose the direction, focus, and goals. We set the pace, hopefully informed by our families needs and developmental stages. W...

Autism and Co-occuring diagnosis are commonly missed and create complexities that many treatment providers may be missing. Many of our autistic and neurodivergent children, teens, and young adults are being traumatized, triggered, shamed, and misunderstood because their unidentified needs aren’t being addressed in their treatment plans or by their clinicians and providers. We’re excited to bring y...

If you want the autistic and neurodivergent child, teen, or young adult you parent or work with not to fail, meaning you want them to succeed with their goals, you’ll want to teach and model HOW to fail. The right way to fail. The useful way to fail. How to use fails to succeed. Failing and then shutting down and giving up is a common issue for many or our neurodivergent young people. What You'll...

Staying curious may be one of the essential ingredients to empathy and our ability to connect with the young people we parent and mentor. One of the goals of NDM or Neuro-developmental Mentoring,™️ the approach we developed and teach, is to shift our focus from trying to fix a problem to a focus on mentoring development. To be an effective mentor you you can’t fake curiosity. There are nuances to...

When our autistic and neurodivergent young people struggle and get stuck and their development slows or stalls out, there’s one thing that’s usually at the bottom of their struggles. It’s not their neurodivergent brain or their disabilities. It’s shame-based thoughts, stories, and beliefs they’ve internalized. They might pick these up from being a neurodivergent in a neurotypical dominate culture...

Are you heading for an identity crisis?  When so much is required for supporting someone who is neurodivergent, oftentimes our identity, our labels for ourselves and how we see ourselves turns into a focus on giving and being there for our loved ones. This can create issues for us especially when things shift as they get older. Jason has some great tips for dealing with this and improving your qua...

Demotivating is the last thing we want to be doing, but motivation can be a big challenge. We want our autistic and neurodivergent young people to succeed in what their motivated to pursue, create, and do in the world. One of the biggest mistakes parents and mentors make is in how they’re unintentionally demotivating their young person. Learn how to break the pattern that are sabotaging your effor...

Aging into legal adulthood is not the same thing as developing into an adult who is ready for the rights and responsibilities governmental laws bestow on adults. Our autistic and neurodivergent young people often still need our support and guidance even if they have turned 18, which is the age most states and countries consider by law to be a legal adult. This legal shift can be intimidating espec...

Jason and I get asked all the time, “How do you motivate them?” The short answer is you can’t. But there are things you can do as a parent and mentor to tap into their own desires and support their success while building your relationship in the process. What You'll Learn from this Episode: Why many common approaches don’t work. The common assumptions around why our young people perform or don’t p...

When you are parenting or working with autistic and neurodivergent young people there is a line between giving your best and martyring or burning yourself out. Don’t set yourself up for failure. Learn the equation for assessing how much to give and to who. What You'll Learn from this Episode: How to assess the line between giving your best and burning yourself out. The equation for effort and retu...

Many of us with good intentions are sabotaging development. Over time, this can be really discouraging when you’ve invested your time, energy, emotions, and even money, and your neurodivergent young person is still struggling and not making much progress. Listen in for one of the biggest things we see that gets in the way of development. What You'll Learn from this Episode: The biggest thing we se...

Rigidity issues cause a lot of problems and frustrations for many parents and mentors. When you examine what may be behind rigidity for many autistics and neurodivergents it can be easier to handle and come up with more effective responses. What You'll Learn from this Episode: What someone values when their rigid. What makes it hard for us to see the big picture. How to work with rigidity. When it...

If you’ve heard the phrase, “You need to meet them where they’re at,” you may be wondering what it really means and why it’s so important when you’re parenting and mentoring neurodivergent young people. When neurodivergents have developmental challenges and their own unique timelines outside the bell curve of their neurotypical peers, meeting them where they’re at and not where we think they shoul...

Problems and conflicts are always going to come up. In this episode, Jason shares an example of how some positive things came from some difficult challenges between some of our students at our school NeuroDev. He changed their names and some of the details to protect privacy. This experience is a great example of what can come from conflicts (which are inevitable) and how with a good relationship,...

There are nuances with assessing someone’s capabilities that many people miss. In this episode, I share one of the common ways we assess that’s causing lots of frustration and disappointment. It sets us up for unfair and dishonest expectations. It can also hinder development. Listen in for what it is and what you’ll want to do instead. What You'll Learn from this Episode: The assessment measure th...

The difference between the strengths and weaknesses of our neurodivergent young people can feel frustrating. Passing judgement hurts our relationship. Honest assessment is necessary, but ignoring weaknesses doesn’t work. In this episode, Jason shares the approach and philosophy we take at NeuroDev to support development. What You'll Learn from this Episode: What assessments give us false expectati...