Autism & Neurodiversity

Are you being supportive or enabling? It’s sometimes hard as a parent finding a balance between helpful support and enabling where we intervene so much that we hinder our child’s development and growth. It gets even more challenging when you’re parenting an autistic or neurodivergent child, teen, or young adult who often needs more support than other typical children or needs that support for a lo...

You may have a neurodivergent child, teen, or young adult with a pretty negative attitude. You might be feeling really negative about things yourself. In this episode, I offer perspectives on what may contribute to all the negativity. I offer an easy and effective way to counteract it and why you would want to besides just feeling better. What You'll Learn from this Episode: What may contribute to...

Join us as we share the recording of a presentation we gave at the Independent Educational Consultant’s Association (IECA) 2021 Fall Conference. It’s time to rethink interventions for those who are Neurodivergent (ND). ND diagnoses are swelling, shifting, and crystalizing. The latest research is giving better perspectives on why ND diagnoses are developmental differences and not mental health issu...

The main goal of common interventions for neurodivergent clients often misses the mark. Counseling, medications, and behavioral interventions can support neurodivergent clients, but they rarely address the primary goal and often do harm when used inappropriately. In this episode, Jason shares his perspectives on what the goal should be, some pros and cons of classical interventions, and how to bet...

We’re all hearing talk of the importance of developing resilience. Neurodivergent kids, teens, and young adults often lack as much resilience as their neurotypical peers. They’re also more prone to feeling stressed than their neurotypical peers when faced with similar events or circumstances. While these sensitivities can be a strength in some situations, it can also lead to overwhelm and shutting...

Past problems and old resentments can block our ability to support forward momentum for our autistic and neurodivergent children, teens, and young adults. In this episode, I encourage you to take a look at the stories you’re telling. Make peace with your past to free up time and energy for what’s in front of you in the present, and break out of old, unhelpful patterns. What You'll Learn from this...

If you never intentionally make the shift from the parent role to the partner role, it is highly likely the neurodivergent young adult you’re trying to help and support will struggle to shift out of the child role. In this episode, Jason explains what transactional analysis is and makes recommendations for how to better support their transition into adulthood. What You'll Learn from this Episode:...

If you find yourself doing a lot of exhausting micromanaging of your neurodivergent child, teen or young adult this episode is for you. There may be many reasons you fall into that parenting style and I offer some insights and tips to help you break out the micromanaging trap that isn’t serving you or your child’s development well. What You'll Learn from this Episode: Why you may want to move out...

So many of our neurodivergent kids, teens, and young adults are rigid thinkers or have areas they get stuck and inflexible around. It’s often frustrating as a parent or mentor to bump up against that rigidity and not be able to influence or get through to our kids especially when they’re really struggling. In this episode, I offer some insights to help you navigate rigidity and more effectively su...

Front-loading is an effective tool for supporting development and growth in our neurodivergent children, teens and young adults. We took our neurodivergent NeuroDev students on our annual river rafting trip near Moab, Utah this week. It went smoothly and was a great success. No drama! We can’t say that about previous years. One reason this trip was so successful this year was due to all the front-...

Anger can be destructive and hurt relationships. In this episode, Jason explains how anger is a secondary emotion and what emotion is underneath it. He gives tips on how to manage our own anger and how you can mentor neurodivergent young people when they’re angry using a relationship building versus behavioral approach. Connecting and meeting needs is so much more important than trying to control...

What do you do when your child, teen, or young adult has no motivation to do their homework, help out around the house, have good hygiene, eat healthy, or any of the other less fun but necessary parts of life? Listen in as Debbie explains why the typical approaches don’t work in the long-term and what actually does. Debbie also offers four strategies to tap in to your child’s intrinsic motivation...

In this episode, we talk with Laura, the creator of ProgressParade.com, a website that matches neurodivergent students with expert learning specialists for online special education tutoring so learning challenges can turn into life-changing achievements. Jason and I talk a lot about the benefits of focusing on the other areas of development, not just academics, but we brought Laura on because find...

With the high prevalence of neurodivergent individuals also having Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), it’s critical to understand what it is, what it isn’t, and how to manage it. In this episode, Jason explains OCD, why it’s different from the repetitive Autistic behavior called stemming, and why it’s important to understand the root causes. Jason shares the key to knowing how to manage OCD, hel...

It can be really challenging to know if we’re parenting too much or too little. Especially when we have a son or daughter, that’s neurodivergent and has some developmental delays or extra challenges. When your child enters the adulting transition, it can get even more complicated. How much should we support and how much should we back off? What’s helpful and what’s not. Too little support and mana...

We appreciate Travis Slagle, the Clinical Director at Evoke Therapy Intensives, for coming on our show for an in-depth discussion about effective parenting and healing ourselves. Parenting is challenging, especially if we haven’t worked through our own issues. Parenting a neurodivergent child often adds additional stressors into the mix, bringing our personal issues into the equation. We go into s...

Why is maintaining good physical health and hygiene such an issue for some autistic and neurodivergent young people? In this episode, Jason gets real about the challenges and negative outcomes some of them experience. This is not an easy or fun topic to discuss but it’s a relevant one and the struggle is real! Jason offers insights into understanding what may be behind hygiene resistance and poor...

This week, we sat down with our friend Eric to discuss ways to nurture tech talent among our neurodivergent young people. Eric Pedersen, is the Dean of Science, Engineering, and Technology at Dixie State University in Southern Utah. He sits on the board of several technology companies, and is a founding partner at our program for neurodivergent young adults, NeuroDev. Eric gets candid about the pa...

Parenting and especially parenting neurodivergent kids, teens, and young adults can get really challenging. For Part 3 of Parenting with Confidence, I share a simple yet effective tool and process to help you have the confidence to weather the inevitable bumps and challenges that come with parenting. Join me as I encourage you to examine where you focus your time and energy and consider if it’s ac...

We invited our two oldest boys to come on our show, and they both quickly agreed to. We didn’t even have to bribe them or twist their arms. We adopted Dalton and Lee from foster care a couple months before they turned 7 & 8. They experienced a lot of abuse and neglect and were bounced around from group homes to foster homes before they landed with us- two young and inexperienced parents at the...

Helping our neurodivergent kiddos have the motivation to do things outside their comfort zone is a challenge for parents and mentors. In this episode, Jason draws on examples from mentoring students at NeuroDev to illustrate balancing discomfort with growth, building relationships of influence, and the most effective way to promote change. We all have an innate desire to grow and progress, but we...

Betina, the author and creator of neurodiversitynetwork.net, joins us on this episode to share about her work to make educational and employment services more accessible. Hear about the simple things employers are doing to improve hiring practices, provide better support, and increase neurodivergent employee retention. Betina also shares tips and resources for neurodivergent job seekers to better...

In part two of Parenting With Confidence, Debbie explains why you may get such mixed results from parenting strategies you’ve tried. Our best parenting comes from high-quality relationships that start with us, which is great news because it’s not dependent on our child’s behavior. You’ll understand why the tool Debbie shares in this episode is so important and how to model and teach it to your neu...

In this episode, Jason and Debbie invited two of NeuroDev’s graduates to talk about their experiences growing up and coping with their ADHD and ADD diagnosis. They share some of their struggles, what was helpful, what would have been more helpful in school, and advice and tips for other neurodivergent young people. What You'll Learn from this Episode: The challenges and benefits of being able to h...

When our kids are defiant or refuse to do things, it can be very frustrating. Whether it’s an outright refusal or more passive/aggressive like when they agree to do it, but never do. Are they being oppositional? Does your child have Oppositional/Defiant Disorder or could it be something very different? Listen in as Jason explains what Pathological Demand Avoidance is, it’s prevalence in those with...