Empower Students Now

You can't co-regulate with someone if you're dysregulated yourself. That's the single most important thing Amanda Werner has learned from years of parenting a neurodivergent child, navigating a marriage through an international move, and researching nervous system regulation as a lifelong special interest. In Part 2 of the nervous system series on the Empower Students Now podcast, A...

You can't regulate a classroom from a dysregulated nervous system. And you can't regulate a nervous system you don't understand. In Part 1 of a three-part series on the Empower Students Now podcast, host Amanda Werner — a certified meditation teacher, 16-year classroom veteran, and AuDHD educator — breaks down what the nervous system actually is, what dysregulation looks and feels l...

What happens when an American teacher who spent many years teaching English Language Development (ELD) students becomes an immigrant herself? In this deeply personal episode of the Empower Students Now podcast, host Amanda Werner records from Uruguay — her new home — and shares the raw, unfiltered reality of her first month as an American expat in a Spanish-speaking country where she doesn't...

If Part 1 of this series was about what was lost in autism history, Part 2 is about what replaced it — and the damage it caused. In this episode of the Empower Students Now podcast, host Amanda Warner continues her deep dive into Steve Silberman's NeuroTribes, tracing how Bruno Bettelheim's "refrigerator mother" theory blamed parents for their children's autism, how instit...

Why do so many misconceptions about autism still persist in our schools — even as we know more about autism than ever before? The answer is buried in history. In Part 1 of a multi-part series on the Empower Students Now podcast, host Amanda Werner breaks down the riveting and heartbreaking history of how autism was first identified, researched, and defined — and how decisions made almost a century...

What if the next time a student lies, sneaks, or breaks a rule, instead of reaching for a consequence, you reached for a conversation?  In this episode of the Empower Students Now podcast, host Amanda Werner shares a powerful reframe for how teachers and parents can approach misbehavior — one that prioritizes connection over compliance and treats behavior problems as signals, not crimes. Inspired...

What happens when a meditation teacher stops meditating — and decides that's okay? In this deeply personal episode of the Empower Students Now podcast, host Amanda Warner gets honest about the chaos of her life right now: selling a house, moving her family to Uruguay with a one-way ticket, packing up her entire life — and barely keeping up with her own self-care practices along the way. Rathe...

What if the most "difficult" kid in your classroom is actually the one you should be paying the closest attention to — not to discipline, but to champion? In this episode of the Empower Students Now podcast, host Amanda Werner breaks down a powerful Atlantic article by Russell Shaw called "In Praise of Difficult Kids" and explains why the students who challenge you, interrupt y...

What do teachers really know about autism — and how much of it is actually wrong? In this episode of the Empower Students Now podcast, host Amanda Werner — a 16-year classroom veteran and AuDHD educator — breaks down five of the most damaging and persistent myths about autism that still circulate in schools and explains why they cause real harm to autistic students. Drawing on research, years of t...

What is neurodiversity — and why should teachers care? In this episode of the Empower Students Now podcast, host Amanda Warner — a certified meditation teacher, 16-year classroom veteran, and AuDHD educator — breaks down the neurodiversity movement in plain language for teachers. You'll learn what neurodiversity actually means (and what it doesn't), where the movement came from, its core...

On the Empower Students Now podcast, host Amanda Werner shares that she pursued an autism diagnosis at 43 after years of researching autism following her child’s 2021 diagnosis. During this time she was also diagnosed with ADHD, identifying as AuDHD. She describes feeling overwhelmed trying to organize her ideas into traditional formats and turns to poetry as a way to express the “messy” chaos of...

Host Amanda Werner discusses how schools often misinterpret student “defiance” as willful disobedience when it may reflect nervous system distress, trauma responses, autism, or ADHD. She shares her experience as a former teacher and as an autistic parent of an autistic/ADHD child, describing how her child’s early “defiance” led to an autism diagnosis and how she previously blamed students and pare...

Host Amanda Werner shares why she is discussing her family’s diagnostic journey, describing years of feeling overwhelmed and not understanding why daily life felt so hard for her and her child. She explains pursuing evaluations through medical providers and insurance, how her child was diagnosed with ADHD and later autism, and how that helped their family understand needs, strengths, and challenge...

Amanda Werner hosts an off-the-cuff episode of the Empower Students Now podcast about what led her to suspect she was autistic and eventually seek a formal adult autism diagnosis. She explains that her suspicion began after her child was diagnosed with autism in 2021 (and ADHD), which led her to research autism’s genetic links and to reflect on stigma, labels, and the value of openly discussing au...

Access Editable Essential Skills Slideshows Here Amanda continues her Empower Students Now series with short classroom slideshow lessons available via email sign-up here by focusing on emotional regulation. She defines it as noticing emotions and body sensations, understanding triggers, using strategies to reduce intensity, and choosing responses rather than reacting—emphasizing it is not suppress...

Access Essential Skills Slides Here In this episode of the Empower Students Now podcast, host Amanda dives into the critical skill of conflict resolution. Amanda shares personal experiences and highlights the lack of formal education on resolving conflicts. Offering a range of practical steps and strategies, she categorizes conflicts into task, values, and relationship types and provides a seven-s...

Content Warning: This episode discusses emotionally charged topics that may be difficult for some listeners. Please take care of yourself and listen when and if you feel ready. In this raw and honest episode, I'm sharing something I wrote back in September 2025—a four-page document I never published, explaining why I left teaching. Again. I've left the profession three times. Gone back,...

In this urgent and heartfelt episode, recorded on Sunday, January 25th, Amanda Werner offers raw and real advice for teachers dealing with a recent tragedy involving the death of ICU nurse Alex Pretti by federal agents. Acknowledging the emotional burden and chaos, Amanda provides practical guidance and reassurance to teachers on how to care for themselves and their students in the aftermath. She...

Access Essential Skills Slides Here In this episode of the Empower Students Now podcast, host Amanda Werner dives into the essential skill of collaborative problem solving. This episode is part of a broader series focusing on the critical skills needed for students' futures. Amanda provides practical strategies for teaching collaborative problem solving in the classroom and emphasizes the imp...

In this episode of the Empower Students Now podcast, host Amanda Werner discusses the importance and challenges of teaching active listening to students. She provides an overview of essential skills like self-advocacy, ethical reasoning, and critical thinking, emphasizing that active listening might be the hardest but most critical of all. Amanda dives into the components of active listening, offe...

Join Amanda Werner and her good friend Jessica Martin in this insightful episode as they dive deep into navigating life with autism and other neurodivergent conditions in adulthood. Jess shares personal experiences about her sensory sensitivities and struggles with social anxiety, while Amanda discusses the process and importance of receiving an autism diagnosis later in life. They explore how sel...

In this special New Year's episode Amanda shares some big news, that she's Autistic! To help Amanda reveal this difficult and amazing truth to the world Amanda brings on her co-host, Jessica Martin from Two Wacky Teacherpreneurs Tell All podcast . They discuss Amanda's recent autism diagnosis and its implications. Amanda shares her emotional journey and the significance of understan...

Free Editable Slides to Teach Critical Thinking Skills Amanda Werner discusses the importance of critical thinking for both students and adults in this episode of the Empower Students Now podcast. Highlighting that critical thinking involves asking good questions, examining information, recognizing biases, and being open to changing viewpoints, she provides practical steps for teaching and practic...

Free Editable Slides to Teach Ethical Reasoning & More! In this episode of the Empower Students Now podcast, host Amanda Werner delves into the crucial skill of ethical reasoning. With the advent of AI and its pervasive impact on education and social dynamics, Amanda emphasizes the importance of teaching students to navigate complex, gray-area situations where right and wrong aren't alway...

Free Editable Google Slides to Teach Self Advocacy & More In this episode of the Empower Students Now podcast, host Amanda discusses the critical issue of violence against educators, highlighted by a recent study from the National Education Association and the American Psychological Association. She shares shocking statistics from the 2021-2022 school year, revealing the prevalence of verbal a...