This Is Not What I Was Expecting

Did you know a child with ADHD may have trouble falling or staying asleep? Did you know that children with physical disabilities can have mental health challenges too? Join Tracy, Perl and Christina to talk about some of the surprising things they've learned as parents of children with mental health challenges and bust some of the myths you may have heard.  For one on one support at no cost to par...

For parents raising children with behavior and mental health (and other) challenges it feels like we spend so much time fighting. Fighting our insurance company to provide the treatments our children need. Fighting the school to help our children. Fighting the doctors to actually listen to all of our child's symptoms and what we've already tried. Sometimes we ask ourselves, "Is it worth it?" Join...

This week we have a full house to talk about PA's law regarding mental health consent. So many parents reach out to ask if their children can refuse mental health treatment once they turn 14. The answer to that is an emphatic No. Act 65 of 2020 allows children to consent to mental health treatment on their own once they turn 14 but it definitely does not allow them to refuse necessary help. Get mo...

If you've ever lost it because you had to ask your child 14 times to bring their laundry down from their room or felt like a bad parent because you medicated your child or didn't medicate your child, you're not alone. As parents of children with mental health or behavioral challenges we can find a lot to beat ourselves up over. Join Melissa, Tracy and Christina as they tackle parent guilt and shar...

It school break and while our kiddos may be thrilled as working parents break time means double duty for us. If you feel like your world is absolute chaos you're not alone! Join Chrissy, Jill, Melissa and Christina as we wade through the sea of anarchy together. For one on one support at no cost to parents of children with behavior and mental health challenges in PA visit: https://www.paparentandf...

It's not unusual for parents to be told that their health insurance won't pay for their child's mental health treatment. That can leave a parent in a tough spot trying to cover the costs out of pocket or even worse forgoing the necessary treatment. No need to panic! Today we're talking about how you can get insurance that will cover the therapies your child needs at no cost to you, no matter your...

Children come with so much stuff! We're tempted to organize but one Parent Alliance team member has a good reason to not get organized. This week we share some tips on organizing, ideas for helping your child break down large tasks and a surprising downside and we chat a bit about chores. Have a topic you want us to address? Reach out to us at contact@paparentandfamilyalliance.org For one on one s...

When your child suddenly starts acting out at school it can really throw you for a loop. The goal is to figure out what's going on and get them back on track as quickly as possible but the process is so slow. Additionally it really takes a toll on us, a parents. We question everything we're doing. This week we unpack not only ideas on how to help our kiddos but also how to help each other as paren...

We're never quite sure if we're doing too much or too little for our children. When you're raising a child with a mental health challenge it's even harder to know. Join us for this week's episode when Tracy, Chrissy and Christina share tips they've learned for walking that line between helicopter parent and hands off parenting. We'd love to hear what challenges you're facing. Feel free to reach ou...

In this episode of This Is Not What I Was Expecting we dive into the challenges of parenting that you won't find addressed in parenting books. From food challenges to sensory processing disorders, we discuss our children's struggles and share our experiences. Tune in to hear our tips and advice for navigating these all to frequent tricky situations. For one on one support at no cost to parents of...

Sometimes we wonder if anyone understands just how hard it is ... to be a parent, to be a parent of a child with a mental health challenge, to BE the child with the mental health challenge. Join Melissa, Tracy and Christina to check in and and chat about how this time of the year can be a little disheartening. For one on one support at no cost to parents of children with behavior and mental health...

The Parent Alliance offers one on one support to parents of children with behavior and mental health challenges no matter their age! Yes, you can give us a call and talk to a Family Support Partner at no cost even if your child is over 18 because, we get it. Our job as parent doesn't end just because our child becomes a legal adult.  For one on one support at no cost to parents of children with be...

As always the team at PaTTAN has excellent resources to help us understand this service. Check them out here: https://www.pattan.net/publications/teachers-desk-reference-extended-school-year-esy/ https://www.pattan.net/videos/extended-school-year-esy/ Questions an IEP team could consider regarding the need for ESY: Documented problems with working memory from assessments Demonstrated need for cons...

The holiday break has started and we're already out of things to do to keep our kiddos busy! We're looking for any ideas we can find to avoid hearing the dreaded "I'm bored." Join us as we troubleshoot ideas and inspiration to help everyone enjoy winter break. For one on one support at no cost to parents of children with behavior and mental health challenges in PA visit: https://www.paparentandfam...

When you're raising a child who struggles with their behavior or mental health, changes in schedules, large noisy events and activities with lots of pressure are ticking timebombs. Unfortunately all those things come together to make the holiday season the most joyful and hectic time of the year. Join our team as we talk about some of the challenges we face raising our own kiddos who struggle. We'...

In the real world the holidays don't always go as planned. In the moment things can feel like a disaster but so often looking back they're some of our favorite memories. In today's podcast the Parent Alliance team shares some of their favorite mishaps and ideas for managing those holiday expectations. Help your child prepare for holiday socialization with ideas from the Understanding your child's...

It's never easy to talk with your child about topics that are scary, awkward or safety focused. But when your child has anxiety, depression or any mental health challenge you, as a parent, can feel like you're walking a tightrope between giving them the information they need and not needlessly upsetting them. Join Melissa, Perl and Chrissy to hear how they navigate those tough parenting conversati...

This fall the Parent Alliance team held a youth, young adult and parents conference. We learned so much we wanted to share the highlights with those who couldn't make it. Join us to catch up without having to leave your house. We won't be posting next week since it's Thanksgiving but we hope you have a nice day filled with love and peace.  For one on one support at no cost to parents of children w...

We shared the Parent Alliance's tip sheet for Understanding your Child's Social Battery: https://www.paparentandfamilyalliance.org/understanding-social-batteries We're always here to provide one on one parent peer support to parents living in PA at no cost: https://www.paparentandfamilyalliance.org/one-on-one-help For one on one support at no cost to parents of children with behavior and mental he...

We shared the Emotional Safety Planning tip sheet. There's versions for parents, kiddos and we didn't leave out our Spanish speaking parents! There's a version for you as well. https://www.paparentandfamilyalliance.org/emotional-safety-plan It's also never too early or too late to help our children learn some mindfulness exercises. Check out those along with morning affirmations and other quick ti...

As the school year loses it's shine of newness a few of us got together to talk about how it's going, how we're holding up and how we hold it together. For one on one support at no cost to parents of children with behavior and mental health challenges in PA visit: https://www.paparentandfamilyalliance.org/one-on-one-help Find out more about the PA Parent and Family Alliance and how you can support...

If you live in Pennsylvania and would like to work one on one with a Parent Alliance teammate reach out to us here: https://www.paparentandfamilyalliance.org/one-on-one-help For one on one support at no cost to parents of children with behavior and mental health challenges in PA visit: https://www.paparentandfamilyalliance.org/one-on-one-help Find out more about the PA Parent and Family Alliance a...

We talked about and shared the following resources today: https://www.paparentandfamilyalliance.org/bullying-prevention  For one on one support at no cost to parents of children with behavior and mental health challenges in PA visit: https://www.paparentandfamilyalliance.org/one-on-one-help Find out more about the PA Parent and Family Alliance and how you can support our work at https://www.papare...

We talked about a lot of resources available on our website.  Check out our Juvenile Justice eBook https://www.paparentandfamilyalliance.org/juvenile-justice-ebook Other tip sheets we talked about, like the Social Battery tip sheet can be found here: https://www.paparentandfamilyalliance.org/tip-sheets We're still putting the finishing touches on the Friendship eBook. Visit our What's New page to...

This week we really rely on the excellent information from the PA Education Law Center (ELC) and their truancy resources: https://www.elc-pa.org/truancy/ Check out the webinar the ELC did for us on the topic of Truancy. Attorney Wakelin did an excellent job of breaking down each important section of the law and clearly spelling out how schools should be working with Pennsylvania parents to help th...