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

Today we’re talking about the power of community, resilience, and what it really means to show up bravely in the caregiver parenting journey. My guest is fellow community builder and mom on a mission Jessica Patay, the founder of We Are Brave Together, a global community supporting moms raising children with disabilities and other unique needs. Jessica’s work is deeply rooted in her own experience...

We are kicking off this season with a conversation with Dr. Stuart Shanker, who I first learned about through my friend Seth Perler as he’s been part of the TEFOS Summit. I love Stuart's message and recently devoured his book Self-Reg: How to Help Your Child (and You) Break the Stress Cycle and Successfully Engage With Life, and wanted to dive deeper with Stuart about it. In this episode, we get i...

Today we’re exploring the intersection of giftedness, identity, and belonging—and what it means to support gifted kids in a world that’s changing faster than ever. My guest is Mark Talaga, director of the Center for Identity Potential, where he focuses on helping young people understand themselves more deeply and develop a grounded sense of who they are. In our conversation, Mark and I talk about...

Today I’m talking with Amanda Diekman, author of the book, Low-demand Parenting: Dropping Demands, Restoring Calm, and Finding Connection With Your Uniquely Wired Child Because low-demand parenting can be such an effective approach to supporting differently wired kids, especially kids who fall under the PDA profile of autism, I invited Amanda to join the show for a conversation about what this par...

Today we’re talking about something that can make or break the parenting experience: how we align with our partners in raising our kids. My guest is clinical counselor Martina Nova, author of the new book Same Page Parenting, where she offers a practical framework for helping couples move out of blame and into more honest, connected conversations about parenting. In our conversation, Martina and I...

Kristy Forbes joins me to talk about what autistic burnout is and how it presents, why “deep rest” is critical for someone experiencing autistic burnout, and how autistic burnout is differentiated from mood disorders or depression. We also talk frankly about the challenges of seeing burnout in autistic / PDA children through a neuronormative lens, and how that may lead to therapies and strategies...

Today we’re diving into the complex and often overwhelming world of allergies, asthma, and related conditions—and what it really takes to support kids (and families) living with them. My guest is Dr. Zachary Rubin, a double board-certified pediatrician and allergist/immunologist who’s known for making allergy science accessible and understandable to millions. He’s also the author of the new book,...

Today we’re diving into what it really looks like to advocate for our neurodivergent kids in school in a way that’s truly aligned with who they are. My guest is Dr. Destiny Huff, a trauma therapist, advocate, and educator whose work is deeply informed by her own lived experience as a late-diagnosed autistic mother. In our conversation, we explore the limitations and pitfalls of traditional IEP pro...

Eliza Fricker joins me to talk about PDA or pathological demand avoidance – and in fact I know many people interpret PDA as persistent desire for autonomy. I’ve done a few episodes on PDA before but never from a parent’s perspective so after reading Eliza’s book, The Family Experience of PDA, I knew I wanted to share her perspective with the Tilt community. During this episode, we talked about how...

Today we’re talking about autistic burnout—what it is, how it shows up in children and young people, and what it actually takes to support recovery. My guest is Jodie Clarke, an autistic and ADHD professional with more than 20 years of experience specializing in autistic experience and mental health, particularly in children and teens. In this episode, Jodie talks about the signs and causes of aut...

Our family has gone through our fair share of big changes, which you’ll hear all about in this episode, so this is something that I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about. Especially as a parent of a differently wired kid, I know that there are some extra challenges that might come up when their routines, environment, life circumstances, or supports change, and our kids are also more likely to be r...

This is a short, special mini-episode I’m sharing because my friends at Elmbridge University (formerly Bridges Academy) let me know that enrollment is now open for the next cohort of their truly unique graduate program in cognitive diversity in education, and application deadlines are coming up in June. When Dr. Susan Baum—one of the leading voices in twice-exceptionality and Chancellor of the pro...

Today we’re talking about something many families know they need to think about—but often don’t know where to begin: financial planning for children with disabilities. My guest is Mary McDirmid, a Chartered Special Needs Consultant and the co-founder and COO of All Needs Planning, a nationwide firm built by caregivers, for caregivers. In our conversation, Mary walks us through why proactive planni...

In this Parent Lean-In episode, Debbie answers a listener’s question about how to travel and navigate vacations with a child who is tied to routines. Debbie shares her past experiences and offers tips for pre-trip planning, addressing concerns ahead of time, establishing new routines while traveling, being flexible, using visual aids, and getting the child active and moving, and more.   Resources...

Today we’re exploring what it means to reconnect with our bodies and how that can transform not just our emotional health, but our parenting and relationships as well, with Celia Bray, a psychologist, somatic therapist, and the award-winning author of Inscribed: Your Body’s Hidden Script. In our conversation, Celia shares her own journey from disconnection to what she calls somatic mastery, and wh...

11-year-old Asher joins me to share our best tips and strategies for making travel run more smoothly and having successful vacations with neurodivergent kids. As much as many families and their children may love going on vacation, the change in routine, different foods, shifting expectations, and new stimuli can even turn a trip to “The Happiest Place on Earth” (Disneyland) into one full of stress...

You may recall that last fall, my friend and colleague Penny Williams,  a parenting coach for neurodiverse families, the author of four books on ADHD including Boy Without Instructions, and the host of the Beautifully Complex Podcast, and I did a two-part series on what it really looks like to support our neurodivergent young adults as they move toward living self-determined lives – Part one was h...

I’m excited to be bringing parenting coach Margaret Webb back to the podcast this week. Margaret helps parents find more peace in parenting the child they didn’t expect when they were expecting, and part of her work is supporting parents survive summer break. Many parents (and not just parents raising differently-wired kids) limp across the finish line of a long school year only to find themselves...

Today we’re diving into the nuanced world of circadian rhythm sleep syndromes, and how biological and environmental factors intersect in shaping our children’s sleep. My guest is Alex Mortlock, a registered clinical psychologist who has been in practice since 2010, with training rooted in evidence-based approaches to mental health. Alex will help us unpack what’s actually happening when a child’s...

In this special episode, I’m joined by my husband, Derin, for a candid and heartfelt reflection on our journey together—more than eight years of parenting, navigating relationship shifts, and supporting our neurodivergent child through adolescence and into early adulthood. This is a personal conversation for us, one where we open up about what this path has really looked like behind the scenes. We...

Dr. Gail Post, the psychologist behind the popular Gifted Challenge blog, joins me to talk about her book, The Gifted Parenting Journey: A Guide to Self-discovery and Support for Families of Gifted Children, which combines research, theory, and clinical experience, and extends her advocacy efforts to address the needs of parents of gifted children. In this episode, we dive into the realities of pa...

In this special 10-year anniversary and 500th episode of Tilt Parenting, I’m turning the spotlight toward the community that has shaped the show from the beginning. I’ll share key findings from a new parent survey about the lived experience of raising neurodivergent kids, including the profound isolation many families feel and the hard-won confidence parents develop as they learn to support their...

Supporting 2e students continues to be one of the biggest challenges for those of us raising twice-exceptional children, and today we’re going to do a deep dive into how to do this. Maria Kennedy, director of the Bridges Educational Group at Bridges Academy joins me to talk about how the definition of giftedness in some countries keeps gifted students from getting into gifted programs, the importa...

Listen to an episode of Understood.org’s new podcast, Everyone Gets a Juice Box, about the messy realities of neurodiverse parenting with journalist and radio host Jessica Shaw. As a mom of two, she brings honesty and humor to the everyday chaos, victories, and challenges of raising kids who learn and think differently. In this episode, I’m the guest, and I share the story of how we ended up homes...

Today we’re talking about what it really means to thrive in a world that often feels overwhelming—for our kids and for us. My guest is Stephanie Malia Krauss, author, speaker, and strategist whose new book How We Thrive: Caring for Kids and Ourselves in a Changing World explores the urgent need to protect the human essentials—things like sleep, play, connection, and wonder—that modern life so ofte...