https://302.buzz/PM-WhatAreYourThoughts

Welcome to another episode of Pediatric Meltdown. Parenting children requires patience, hope, limitless love, and joy, however, it is the hardest job ever. As pediatric clinicians, we partner with parents to ride the sometimes bumpy ride of parenthood. We all want happy, successful children, but for many children, the journey is difficult and for children with mental health concerns, finding help is often difficult.

Parent Natasha Robinson is a fierce advocate for her son Isaiah. From an early age, Natasha knew that her son needed help and resources. She began an exhausting journey of finding the right autism diagnosis and the services and programs to meet his needs. Sometimes we, the pediatricians, psychiatrists, teachers, and therapists helped immensely, and sometimes we got it wrong and got in the way. She persisted and continues to be a voice for him, and now, having sought additional training is a strong parent advocate for all children who need more.

Key Highlights:

[00:30 - 09:29] Opening Segment

• Natasha Robinson is a 35-year-old single mother from Kalamazoo who spends her days hanging with her 11-year-old son.
• She currently runs her own communications business and works part-time as a secretary.
• Her favorite job, however, is being a mom to Isaiah.
• Natasha has worked as a news reporter, substitute teacher, community health worker, and social worker in Michigan and North Carolina.
• She has a BA in journalism from Wayne state university and an MS In psychology from the University of Phoenix. 

[09:30 - 18:51] Having A 7-year-old son with ADHD and Dysregulated Emotional State.

• Natasha shares her struggles of parenting an autistic son, specifically the challenges of managing his ADHD and emotional dysregulation.
• She describes a journey to find medications and therapies that work best for her son. This process has been difficult and ongoing, with many side effects.
• Her main concern has been the potential for harmful side effects from medication, which can be difficult to research and navigate.

[18:52 - 27:29] Navigating Through The Pandemic

• Isaiah has a lot of challenges due to his disabilities, Despite this, he is also very funny and loves to make people laugh.
• Due to the pandemic, Isaiah's school year was disrupted and he was unable to access many services he was used to. This was very difficult for him.
• Since the pandemic, Isaiah has been able to resume some of his old activities, but his mood can vary greatly and he can be difficult to deal with when he is in a bad mood.

[27:29 - 36:06] The Advocacy for Change

• Natasha has dedicated her life to advocating for her son with autism and would like to do more in the future to help other families with similar situations.
• One of the ways she plans to do this is by creating a focus group of parents who have children with various disabilities.
• She believes that having parent voices in places where decisions are made will help improve the quality of care for children with autism."
• Closing segment
• Final Words

1. Huge Thanks to Natasha for honest and raw conversations about parenting who struggles to meet social expectations
2. Children with autism disorder need resources like nurses, family, and projects to find an early intervention 
3. We should continue to get better at recognizing children who are on the autism spectrum
4. Be ready to re-assess and beware of overshadowing diagnoses that distract you from really taking a comprehensive, hard look at the child, standing in front of you.
5. Check-in with parents and caregivers. They may be exhausted and could use your concern and care.
6. Get creative and innovative and continually reassess your services.
7. Partner with other clinicians and departments when there's a lot of cross-usage of services.
8. our families are gracious patient and forgiving, and Lord knows, How Natasha has given clinicians so much grace
9. Ask about the joy. Where does the child Excel and thrive for
10. Consider creating a focus group that includes parents of children with complex medical and behavioral health conditions. 
11. A system redo for Natasha would offer affordable, safe housing with in-home assistance to build a community of belonging, inclusion, and providing meaningful respite.
12. Parents of children with special needs want what all parents want, happy, successful children who reach their full potential and dreams

Key quotes:

“I think as long as people are aware that you're working on it and that working on it, isn't always pretty then they can give you the grace and space to do what you need to do.”

 - Natasha Robinsons

CONNECT WITH HER

Follow Natasha and Isaiah on TikTok @WatchZayPlay

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!

Pediatric Meltdown was listed as a Top 20 Pediatric Podcast on FeedSpot.  

If you’d like to connect with me, you can find me on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, or email me at [email protected] or [email protected]. To learn more about me visit https://www.medicalbhs.com/

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