In celebration of the 200th episode of the Beautifully Complex Podcast, I have my son Luke back on the show. It?s been 14 years since his first diagnosis of ADHD, and we?ve both learned a lot of lessons along the way. In this episode, Luke and I each share our top 5 lessons learned ? my lessons in parenting a neruodivergent child and his lessons in being a neurodivergent individual. The episode starts with Luke sharing his lessons for other neurodivergent kids, teens, and young adults, so we encourage you to have your kids listen with you. As always with Luke, it?s a fun conversation.

There?s a cultural misconception that self-care is treating yourself to something, like a spa day or a weekend away with friends. While that is a type of self-care, it doesn?t sustain you through the day-to-day like internal self-care does, managing our stress, our mindset, and our thoughts and emotions. 

Don?t discount internal self-care as ?fluff? ? I can personally attest that it?s life-changing, as can my guest for this episode, licensed psychotherapist, Sarah Sanders, MFT. Sarah outlines the three main areas of internal self-care and teaches us how to go about internal self-care and why it matters so much. Making internal self-care a priority is a key ingredient to being the parent you want to be.

It can be difficult to secure accommodations and services for your child at school. It requires that many people agree on a shared vision and how to make that student?s vision for their education a reality through necessary support. Getting everyone on the same page is key, along with focusing on a few priorities in the here and now. 

In this episode of Beautifully Complex, I?m joined by Beth Liesenfeld of The IEP Lab. Beth shares her 3-part process to setting priorities for your child around school/education. She walks us through taking those priorities and creating a vision statement to share with your child?s school team to help everyone collaborate for a common goal.

Did you know that we are reactive by nature? That?s right! Our brains are wired to respond in kind for protection. But responding in kind ? like yelling at your child after they yelled at you ? is rarely needed in today?s modern world. And it?s never helpful, which is why we need to reduce our reactivity with our kids and parent from a place of calm intention. 

My guest on this episode of the Beautifully Complex podcast is parenting and mental health educator, Laura Linn Knight. Laura shares her insights and strategies on reacting less, addressing behavior and struggle with intention a lot more, and giving ourselves grace and amending our own behavior when we make mistakes. The calmer you are, the more power you actually have.

Recent data shows us that anxiety and depression have spiked tremendously in kids since the pandemic. Kids are struggling more than ever and they need our help (adults too, by the way). But what does that help look like?

In this episode of the Beautifully Complex podcast, psychologist and author of several books on anxiety and depression, Dr. Gregory Jantz explains the signs of anxiety and depression in children, what we can do as parents and educators to help them, and when and how to seek professional help.

The difference between supporting a child and enabling a child is often a very fine line when you?re talking about neurodivergent kids, who need extra support. Plus, busy, overwhelmed parents often default to enabling because it?s just easier to do it yourself a lot of the time and you?re on auto-pilot in survival mode yourself. So how do you parent more intentionally and as a supporter?

In this episode of the Beautifully Complex Podcast, Sarah Wayland, Ph.D. and I discuss the difference between supporting and enabling, when enabling is ok, how to be intentional about defaulting to supporting, and the consequences of enabling too much.

I truly believe that we all have greatness within us. Each and every one of us. My guest for this episode, Cathay Domoney, believes this wholeheartedly as well, and it?s one of the core tenets of her work with children and families.

Listen in as Cathy shares her process to help kids discover their own individual greatness. We talk about the mindset and ?pure filter of love and curiosity? required to truly allow our kids to discover their authentic selves and shine, which starts by stripping away the expectations of culture and others. You?ll learn how to build a relationship with your child that provides sacred space for exploration (and mistakes) so they can discover themselves? and their greatness.

Parenting is hard. Parenting kids in this generation is even harder. Our kids today have a lot more potential pitfalls ? and risks ? to navigate with the internet and social media. And we parents have that whole additional world of risk to help our kids navigate. It?s vast, it?s tricky, and it?s scary.

In this episode of the Beautifully Complex podcast, I?m talking with Titania Jordan with Bark Technologies. Listen in to learn all the dangers our kids face online as well as important conversations to have with your kids about these risks and tools and strategies to keep them safe. This is a very difficult but important topic and a must-listen for all parents.

Are you pressuring your child? You may not realize when you?re adding pressure, but you are very likely doing it often and not recognizing it. Neurodivergent kids don?t do well under pressure. It?s dysregulating and actually makes them less capable of actually doing the thing you?re pressuring them to do. 

In this episode of the Beautifully Complex podcast, I outline how we pressure our kids, what the pressure does to them and why we should stop, and what to do instead.

When you don?t have ADHD yourself, it?s really how to know how your child with ADHD thinks and feels. Even if you do have ADHD too, the experience is different for each individual with ADHD, meaning it?s different for your child than it was and is for you. Yet, it?s important for parents to know what life is like for your kids so we can help them thrive. In this episode of the Parenting ADHD Podcast, I?m talking with Dr. Dawn Brown of the ADHD wellness center about how to discover how your child thinks and feels. We cover a variety of perspectives and topics including development, intense feelings and big emotions, sensitivity and rejection sensitive dysphoria, dysregulation, meeting your child where they are, and more? 

If there?s one tool we all need for life in this world ? kids and parents ? it?s calming techniques. In this episode of the Parenting ADHD Podcast I explain the role of the vagus nerve and our autonomic nervous system in getting us activated and feeling unsafe, and then list more than 20 tools and techniques to use for calming yourself or your child, by stimulating the vagus nerve to calm the nervous system. 

Seeing that ADHD and autism can be genetic, it stands to reason that there are many neurodivergent parents raising neurodivergent kids. Terry Matlen is one of them, but she?s also an expert on ADHD, especially in women. In this episode, Terry shares the feelings of guilt and inadequacy she felt raising her kids, because she struggled with many of the daily tasks due to her ADHD. She also offers some simple strategies to help make things like preparing meals and cleaning up more manageable when you may be struggling with executive functioning skills yourself.

One in five children has a learning disability or attention issue that causes school struggles. In the U.S. alone, that?s approximately 56.6 million students (Educationdata.org). And yet, we continue with an educational system that is solely focused on conformity and compliance. It is built for your average student with little consideration for those that can?t succeed in that system, even though they are virtually required to. 

My own son is one of those students and, despite a gifted intelligence, he graduated high school feeling stupid and worthless. He?s one of millions with a similar experience and that?s just not ok. That?s why I created the free, online School Struggles Summit. In this podcast episode, I?m sharing some of the amazing insights and strategies from the experts in the Summit. You have actionable strategies here in this overview and the opportunity to register for the Summit and learn so much more to help your struggling child or student have the opportunity to succeed in school (in their own way).

Most of our systems that involve children are designed on the compliance model ? that?s true in parenting and educating. We?ve leaned on compliance in our educational system since the 1800s, and it?s been part of our parenting culture for centuries.

And yet, neuroscience has now taught us that there?s a monumentally better way. Through research we know that our neurobiology is a driving force in behavior ? particularly our autonomic nervous system and our brain. We know that there are sensitivities and differences in our neurodivergent kids? neurobiology too, making it crucial that we adopt this brain-based lens when responding to and managing behavior. 

In this episode, OT Greg Santucci, explains why focusing on regulation (and dysregulation) are both a more effective and more humanistic approach than compliance. He also provides some actionable mindset shifts and strategies to help you implement a regulation model right away.

Most parents look forward to the start of a new school year. Their kids no longer need to be entertained all day every day and they get a bit of a break. However, if you the parent of a neurodivergent kid who struggles in school, you probably dread the start of a new school year ? I know I did. 

In this episode of the Beautifully Complex Podcast, I?m talking with educational therapists, Stephanie Pitts and Rachel Kapp about how to create a plan for a smooth start to the school year. You?ll learn about the 3 systems you need to support, how to simplify, and the communication necessary for your child to have a good school year.

The way we talk to our child matters. Not only does it become the little voice inside their heads and influence how they feel about themselves, but it can foster connection, build communication skills, and inspire confidence and resilience. 

In this episode, Rebecca Rolland, Ed.D. shares her formula for Rich Talk and other strategies from her book, ?The Art of Talking with Children: The Simple Keys to Nurturing Kindness, Creativity, and Confidence in Kids.? Learn how to implement reflective and active listening with your child and what benefits you and your child will be rewarded with when you do. Rebecca?s strategies help engage kids, make them feel seen, heard, and validated, and nurture their relationship with you.

Parents are human beings, nowhere near perfect. Often that means that we bring baggage from our childhood, our experiences, our own parents and let it color our parenting. We end up stuck on auto-pilot and often feel shame and blame when reflecting on tough parenting moments. Conscious parenting is about healing your own self so you can show up and be the parent you want to be for your kids. In this episode, Behavior Coach Lauren Pace outlines the steps necessary to make a shift to parenting with awareness and intention and creating the family life you really want. 

One of the most impactful and transformative aspects of parenting is your relationship with your child (this is also true of the teacher-child relationship). A solid, calm, trusting relationship helps keep everyone regulated and feeling good. In this episode, Sarah Wayland, Ph.D. and I offer you four actionable strategies to foster connection with your child and build the relationship you want and need.

The new documentary film, The Disruptors, hears from many game-changing people about their ADHD and the vital role it has played in their success, and takes an immersive look at our approach to ADHD that debunks the most harmful myths, intimately taking viewers inside a number of families as they navigate the challenges-and the surprising triumphs-of living with ADHD.

In this episode, I talk with executive producer, Nancy Armstrong, about why she wanted to create a film about ADHD and how this film can change the course of the lives of children with ADHD and their parents. Listen in, watch the film, and share it with the educators and other adults in your child?s life. Change begins with each of us.

This is Part 2 of my conversation with Jonathan Joly. If you haven?t yet, listen to Part 1, episode 180. There?s still so much for parents of neurodivergent kids to learn from Jonathan - so much that it?s two episodes. 

Our culture has come a long way with acceptance, but there?s still so much further to go. We?re still very much a society based on conformity and normalizing everyone. I don?t have to tell you, but that simply doesn?t work. What happens when we keep pushing people to be our definition of ?normal? when it isn?t who they are? They end up feeling ?other? - unheard, unseen, and misunderstood. 

This is the life Jonathan Joly describes in his new book, ?All My Friends Are Invisible.? Growing up with ADHD, dyslexia and questioning his identity, Jonathan felt that there was no tolerance in the world for a kid with, what he calls, my ?crazy mind? and differences. So he had to create a world where he was valued more than in the real world? a world in his imagination. His invisible, imaginary friends allowed him to be 100 percent himself, without judgment, bullying, and shame. 

There?s so much for parents of neurodivergent kids to learn from Jonathan in his story, and in the way he parents his own children. He talks about how he didn?t finish school, but went back later and got a university degree and graduated with honors, how there?s a freedom to embracing who you are, and the coping mechanisms that he created and used to keep going in a world that rejected him. 

This is one of the most emotional, moving, and inspirational conversations I?ve had. I know you?ll find it impactful too.

Parents often ask, ?Is it sensory or is it behavior?? The truth is, sensory challenges cause behavior. Knowing that helps you determine a child?s intent and then zoom out and rewind to determine the particular sensory struggle that caused the behavior. There are many potential sensory struggles and they depend entirely on the individual.

In this episode, I?m joined by occupational therapist Laura Petix (aka, the OTbutterfly). Laura shares a variety of real-life examples to help you learn how to determine the specific sensory systems impacted in the tasks and activities your child or student struggles with. She explains the concepts in an easy to understand way so you better understand what?s triggering behavior and can formulate an informed plan to help.

No parent wants to yell at their kids, but it happens. We are emotional, complex, imperfect creatures, just like our kids, so we are going to make mistakes. Just like our kids. However, we can make simple changes in our parenting that can have profound positive effects on how often our kids are triggered, and ourselves. 

In this episode of Beautifully Complex, I?m talking with positive parenting expert, Amy McCready, about the basic emotional needs of kids and adults, some parenting truth bombs that will help you see a more effective path forward, and some proactive strategies that will help our kids feel better and do better more often.

This short bonus episode shares a couple announcements ? including a free webinar ? and the Behavior Revolution's best tips for handling the unpredictability of summer with neurodivergent kids. 

For most children with ADHD, autism, or anxiety, one of the biggest stressors can be the unknown ? unknown place, unknown schedule, unknown future. For this reason, vacation with neurodivergent kids can be challenging. As parents, we have grand expectations of family vacations? we want them to be packed full of memorable moments and ample joy. But the reality is that no one?s family vacations are like that. Every family has challenges. Ours just may have more sometimes. So join us for some tried-n-true tips on successful family vacations with neurodivergent kids.

We are in a crisis when it comes to children?s mental health and the healthcare needed to address it. We?re seeing a spike in anxiety and depression in kids and almost zero availability of mental health professionals. In this episode, I?m talking with Dr. Jason Kahn of Boston Children?s Medical Center about what parents can do when counseling or therapy isn?t yet available for your child. Tune in to learn about community and at-home supports.

I am excited to announce that the Parenting ADHD podcast is now the Beautifully Complex podcast. 

I?ll still be sharing the same content on neurodiversity, ADHD, autism, anxiety, learning challenges, and this complex parenting journey. But now I?ll be doing it under this broader name so parents raising neurodivergent kids who don?t have ADHD will join our community also. 

The entire premise of everything I share and teach is that when we feel good we can do good. 

So how do we help our kids (and ourselves) feel good? Through acceptance, understanding, seeing behavior as communication, and being the calm anchor in the storm for our kids. 

The Beautifully Complex podcast will help parents, caregivers, and educators harness the realization that we are all beautifully complex and marvelously imperfect. Each week I?ll offer insights and actionable strategies on parenting neurodivergent kids ? those with ADHD, autism, anxiety, learning disabilities... My approach to decoding behavior while honoring neurodiversity, and parenting the individual child you have will provide you with the tools to help you understand and transform behavior, reduce your own stress, increase parenting confidence, and create the joyful family life you crave. 

It?s the same mission I?ve always had for the podcast? I?m just opening my arms wider to invite more parents, caregivers, and educators in. 

I hope you?ll continue to join me on the journey of learning to help our neurodivergent kids find their versions of success and joy, while stressing less and enjoying parenting more.

One of the most challenging aspects of raising a neurodivergent child is school and learning. In the U.S., our schools are built on a compliance and conformity model, which is a huge barrier to success for kids who learn differently and are behind their peers in skills and development. That?s why it?s crucial that parents understand their child?s learning needs and the accommodations and services they are entitled to. 

In this episode, I?m talking with former special education teacher and advocate, Liz Capone, about IEPs, 504 plans, and how to work with your child?s school to ensure that your child has what they need at school to learn and show mastery.

The one thing all of us want for children is for them to feel loved, important, and special. As much as we want that, we don?t always succeed at it ? life gets busy, and even the most well-meaning adults get frustrated and have bad days. Since neurodivergent kids get exponentially more negative messaging each and every day because of their differences, it?s crucial that caregivers make a conscious effort to ensure that these kids feel loved and lovable. 

In this episode of the Parenting ADHD Podcast, I?m talking with the author of the ?All the Time? children?s book series, Deborah Farmer Kris, about the steps parents can take to ensure that kids feel truly loved and loveable. Deborah provides quick, simple ideas you can take action on right away.

Sensory challenges are common with both ADHD and autism. Often, the way sensory input is processed by an individual can explain behavior. In this episode of the Parenting ADHD Podcast, I?m talking with Carol Stock Kranowitz about the changes in her latest edition of her groundbreaking book, The Out-of-Sync Child, the importance of movement in working with sensory challenges, and what to do if your child struggles with sensory processing.

The concept of self-regulation is well-known among parents of kids with ADHD or autism. Especially since our kids often struggle to self-regulate. But there?s a lot more to talk about in the world of regulation. Our autonomic nervous systems drive behavior. And that nervous system is always either in a state of regulation or a state of dysregulation. This is crucial understanding for parents, caregivers, and teachers of neurodivergent kids. When one is regulated, they are calm and connected and feeling good. But when one is dysregulated, they?re feeling out-of-whack and that drives behavior. Join Sarah Wayland and I as we discuss how to recognize if your child is regulated or dysregulated and how that information informs your responses.

Success with ADHD is absolutely possible, though that can be hard to hope for while watching your child struggle in school. That?s why I love to share ADHD success stories with you. In this episode of the Parenting ADHD Podcast, I talk with successful ADHD entrepreneur, Isaac Eaves, about how he attained success by creating habits and routines that helped him focus, reframing struggles and making them his superpowers, and taking one step at a time toward his goal.

Many neurodivergent kids love video games. They?re stimulating, rewarding, and often a less intimidating social environment. However, parents worry about how much time their kids are spending on screens. FInding balance is key, but you can also use your child?s interest in digital play to build skills, like executive functions. Kids are practicing planning, organization, time management, problem solving and more in their video games. You can use that to help them apply those skills in their everyday, offline life. And that?s exactly what my guest, Randy Kulman, Ph.D., founder of Learningworks for Kids, discusses in this episode of the Parenting ADHD Podcast. Join us to learn how to use his Detect-Reflect-Connect model to help your kids relate the skills they use in their favorite games to real life tasks and activities.

Everybody lies to some degree (remember when you told your friend she looked beautiful when wearing a dress you hated?). Lying is part of growing up. And kids want to do well ? they want to meet your expectations and please you. When your child tells you a lie, it isn?t because they ?disrespect? you. It?s so much more than that, and isn?t really about you at all. 

In this episode of the Parenting ADHD Podcast, Dr. Norrine Russell is back to explain why kids lie, what it?s really about, and what you can, and should, do about it. One key strategy is to ask yourself how much is fact and how much is wishful thinking. This conversation is not what you would assume and that?s what makes it so powerful.

Did you know that meltdowns are different from tantrums? While a tantrum can devolve into a meltdown, a meltdown is very different. A child is not in control of themselves during a meltdown. Their brain has sort of been hijacked. In this episode of the Parenting ADHD Podcast, my partner in the Behavior Revolution, Sarah Wayland, Ph.D., and I take a deep dive on meltdowns. We?re talking about what a meltdown is and how it?s different from a tantrum, and we?re outlining the five steps you need to take when your child is having a meltdown ? and some of these steps may surprise you. If you want to reduce the intensity and duration of meltdowns, and help your child when they?re having a hard time, this episode is a must-listen. 

The autonomic nervous system governs the majority of our responses and reactions because behavior is biological. Fight, flight and freeze are all states of the autonomic nervous system, and all states of dysregulation. Calm and connected is also a state of the autonomic nervous system, when an individual is regulated. When you understand these connections to regulation and behavior, you have the foundational information necessary to understand behavior, notice, get curious, and create some transformation. In this episode of the Parenting ADHD Podcast, nervous system expert Irene Lyon teaches us about trauma, the autonomic nervous system, unresolved survival stress, and how those experiences and biology come together to shape behavior.

An ADHD diagnosis can come with a lot of emotions, especially shame. So many kids and adults feel ashamed of their ADHD and lack confidence to be their true selves as a result. In this episode of the Parenting ADHD Podcast, ADHD Adult and Executive Function Coach, Mallory Band shares her story of growing up with ADHD, accepting her brain and its differences, and learning to live authentically. Mallory has tips for parents on how to help your kids gain the confidence it takes to live as their true selves too.

It has always been tough to be a teenager, which has been exacerbated by the COVID pandemic and schooling at home for long periods. Teens are struggling more with their mental health than ever, which means they need more support and guidance in this area than ever. But teens aren?t always open to talking with their parents about the hard stuff, or talking to anyone about it. 

In this episode of the Parenting ADHD Podcast, Natalie Borrell & Alison Grant of Life Success for Teens share the stress and anxiety they are seeing today in their school and among their clients. They also offer tips and strategies to help teens who are struggling.

Emotional intelligence is a learned skill set. We must teach our kids about feelings ? what they are and what they mean ? as well as how to manage them and communicate them to others. In her work with children and her emotional toolkit, Nadine Levitt teaches that emotions are trying to help us. They?re messengers. Some emotions are more challenging to feel but they?re all natural and necessary. It?s our job to figure out what the message means and what to do about it. Tune in to this episode to learn how to talk to your kids about their emotions and teach them the skills necessary to navigate their feelings in productive and healthy ways.

American culture implies that if you are in control of your child?s behavior, you are a ?good parent.? But that is extremely flawed logic. Our job as parents is to guide our kids to create a life of joy, fulfillment, and success for themselves. It?s not to have little people that we control. It?s not to have someone to exert authority over. How would that benefit our kids? How would that benefit us? 

So we have to relinquish some control to our kids to teach them independence and set them up for success. But we also have to relinquish control to our kids for the benefit of their confidence and sense of competence. Kids can?t do well if we don?t allow them to make their own choices and take charge of themselves (and they can?t develop those skills either). Join me as I talk about the benefits of relinquishing control to our kids, and the importance of accepting what we cannot control and focusing our energy instead on what we can influence.

Scientific research shows us that affirmations are a powerful tool to combat negative limiting beliefs and reshape our neural pathways in the brain for the positive. Kids with ADHD (and/or autism) get exponentially more negative messages throughout their days which has a damaging impact on their confidence, sense of competency, and self-esteem. They need tools and strategies like affirmations to counterbalance the negative input and self-beliefs that commonly impact them. 

In this episode of the Parenting ADHD Podcast, I?m joined by the co-founder of Self-Pause, Jaeden Schafer, to discuss what effective affirmation practice looks like and why it?s so beneficial to adults and kids alike. Listen in to learn how you can support your child and their self-confidence with affirmations.

We don?t naturally think about how much of our parenting is actually about our kids and their needs, and how much of it is actually about ourselves. Yet, it?s crucial that we do build an awareness around when our own experiences, challenges, fears, and traumas are getting in the way of seeing our kids? needs clearly and providing for their needs. More often than not, our reactions and responses are more about us than about our kids. 

In this episode of the Parenting ADHD Podcast, I?m talking about how to determine what is about your child and what is more about you, and how to use that information to be adequately focused on your child?s struggles to be a better parent. One strategy is to ask yourself, ?What does my reaction say about me?? We cover more insights and strategies in the show, as well.

Gender diversity is more common among neurodiverse kids and teens, especially those on the autism spectrum. People who do not identify with the sex they were assigned at birth are three to six times as likely to have autism as people who don?t question their gender assignment, according to the latest studies on the subject. Neurodivergent kids have trouble fitting in and they often explore different communities to discover where they fit, including the transgender community. 

In this episode of the Parenting ADHD Podcast, I have an open and honest conversation with transgender woman, Wynne Nowland, about how parents, friends, and families can support a child or teen who is questioning their assigned gender or has reached the realization that they are transgender. One of the most important aspects is getting mental health experts involved to help you and your child navigate gender exploration and gender identity. A humanistic approach is key to a healthy journey.

This episode is for every human! It?s time to open our hearts and minds to accept every single person as their authentic selves.

We?re working on our next free online Parenting ADHD & Autism Summit ? Decoding Behavior Summit February 11-13, 2022. In interviewing all these experts on behavior, parenting, ADHD, autism, and anxiety we have had our own lightbulb moments. 

In this episode of the podcast, we?re sharing some of what these experts will be offering during the Decoding Behavior Summit and letting you know how you can participate in this online conference for free.

Your parenting mindset is the #1 most important aspect of parenting kids with ADHD, autism, or other neurobehavioral disorders. Being the best parent you can be for your neurodiverse kid is 90 percent about changing yourself ? it?s never about changing your kid. 

This episode of the Parenting ADHD Podcast is part of our Behavior Revolution series. Penny and Sarah outline the perspective you need to adopt to address behavior in a compassionate and effective way, while honoring your child?s neurodiversity (instead of trying to change it). Let?s start 2022 by getting your mind right for parenting your neuro-atypical child.

Ari Sokolov grew up with ADHD, but she didn?t let her struggles in school define her. Instead, she found ways to make her strengths of creativity and problem-solving work for her. And everything changed when she accidentally walked into a computer science class in middle school and discovered coding. Coding is an outlet for her ADHD creativity and hyperfocus and she grew so passionate about it that it became her path forward. My guest on this episode is 20-year-old Ari Sokolov, a college student and app developer who founded The Trill Project, a safe space for teens and adults to get mental health support. Join us to hear Ari?s inspiring story.

Self-care is a necessity, not a luxury. Even more so for parents raising neurodiverse kids, like those with ADHD or autism. And yet, self-care is the first thing we sacrifice as parents, thinking we are doing better by our kids and our families in doing so. The reality is, the less we care for ourselves, the less we have to give to others. Sacrificing your self-care is actually making you less able to give your all to others. 

On this episode of the Parenting ADHD Podcast, I?m talking to the author of ?Sit Down to Rise Up,? Shelly Tygielski about radical self-care. Listen in to learn about developing compassion-based resilience and creating a community of care for yourself to prevent caregiver depletion and burnout. You?ll leave this episode feeling valued and inspired.

Creative parenting not only helps you create moments of magic, but it also fosters trust and independence, emotional expression, out-of-the-box thinking, happiness through connection, and the ability to let go of perfection. Creative parenting can cut through the stress, anxiety, and struggle to bring more light and joy to your child, yourself, and your family, as well. In this episode of the Parenting ADHD Podcast, theater producer, Nina Meehan, shares the basics of creative parenting and the tools you need to embrace creativity in all aspects of your parenting. We all have creativity within us ? Nina helps you rediscover it and use it to bring mre magic and joy to your family.

By college age, 66-85 percent of all people have been impacted by trauma. And marginalized populations ? including those with disabilities like ADHD, autism, and anxiety ? are much more likely to experience trauma, many consistently and frequently. We can?t prevent all trauma, but we can affect how our kids (and ourselves) cope with it and heal it. In this episode of the Parenting ADHD Podcast, Dr. Randall Bell, author of ?Post-Traumatic Thriving,? outlines the three choices an individual faces after trauma and the strategies scientific research identifies as necessary to thrive. If you are the caregiver of a child with ADHD, autism or anxiety, I can almost guarantee your child has been traumatized ? and you probably have too ? just by trying to succeed as a neurodiverse person in a neurotypical world. I encourage you to listen to this episode and help your family heal.