Beacon College's "A World of Difference: Embracing Neurodiversity" The Podcast

Winning the Homework Battles

Homework. The word gives kids shudders and triggers PTSD flashbacks in parents who recall their own dealings with

As the debate over the value of homework rages on, educators continue to embrace the adage that practice makes perfect.

Try telling that to a child with learning and attention issues whose patience and ability to stay focused have been ground down like a No. 2 pencil after an exhausting day at school. Homework can test any child’s limits. But for youngsters who learn differently, struggles with executive functioning — which impacts their ability to plan, organize, and prioritize — can mean homework leads to meltdowns and breakdowns that leave the child feeling

The good news is that, while there is no one-size-fits-all solution for helping neurodivergent children conquer homework, there are strategies parents can tailor to suit their child’s needs that can transform doing homework from horror to hurrah.

On this episode, we visit a Midwestern mother of three kids with ADHD who long endured stressful homework sessions but fortunately found a solution that has made homework less, well, work.

Next, our panel of national experts reveals what makes homework for neurodivergent kids a struggle and offers winning strategies for acing the assignment.

Later, you’ll meet our latest Difference Maker, a teenage car buff and photographer whose loving portraits of classic rides turn the saying seeing is believing on its head.

On this episode of "A World of Difference: Embracing Neurodiversity," we visit a Central Florida family that uses praise to nourish the souls of both their neurodivergent and neurotypical daughters.

One million neural connections per second.

That’s the speed at which brain science clocks a child’s brain developing between birth and age three.

And science shows that early nurturing from parents and caregivers is vital to boosting those neural connections in budding brains and to equipping babies with the sensory pathways and brainy bedrock they’ll need to succeed in life.

Yet, while every child needs early parental involvement, for kids with learning and attention issues early intervention stands as perhaps the most consequential thing parents can do to ensure their child reaches their full potential.

Early intervention primarily describes services and support children from birth to age three with learning and attention issues receive that address their individual communication, social-emotional, and learning needs, helps them reach their peak, and can reduce the likelihood the child will experience more serious mental health problems down the line.

On this episode, we visit a Texas school for neurodivergent students that finds fun ways to tackle the serious task of early intervention.

Next, our panel of national experts discusses how early intervention can enhance children’s outcomes.

Later, you’ll meet our latest Difference Maker, a renowned British academic with much to say about equity in higher education who through childhood negotiated silence and autism.

On this episode of "A World of Difference: Embracing Neurodiversity," we meet a family that has treated regular talks about learning differences as second nature since their son’s diagnosis.

Next, our expert panel guides parents to age-appropriate language to use from kindergarten through college for affirming talks with their neurodivergent children.

Later, you’ll meet our latest “Difference Maker,” an author, consultant, and motivational speaker who went from the low of entering foster care with developmental delays days after birth to the high of soaring across America in Air Force One as a valued presidential advisor.

On this episode of "A World of Difference: Embracing Neurodiversity," we visit a Virginia program that equips children with learning and attention differences with the social skills they need to regulate and recognize their emotions and succeed alongside their peers.

On this episode of “A World of Difference: Embracing Neurodiversity,” learn more as we explore the mental health needs of neurodivergent students.

Being a person of color in this country comes with a lot of baggage. Living with learning disabilities is no picnic either.

So, imagine the child who is both neurodivergent and a person of color. The intersection between race and neurodivergence can be daunting.

Black autistic children are twice as likely to be misdiagnosed with conduct disorder, owing, one study found, to deeply rooted perceptions of black children as mischief-makers. Or they are never diagnosed at all. Asian children may go untreated because Asian cultures often see learning disabilities as shameful, a result of poor parenting, or something that can be overcome by working even harder on achieving a good education which is strictly prioritized in many Asian American families. And Latino kids, like African-American children, often receive late diagnoses for autism — leading to them missing out on critical years of early intervention and treatment that could have improved outcomes.

Indeed, a 2007 study by the Center for Autism and Developmental Disabilities Research and Epidemiology at the University of Pennsylvania, found that African-American children were 5.1 times more likely to be misdiagnosed with conduct disorders before receiving the proper diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder.

On this episode, we explore the challenges one neurodivergent Asian college student faces around lingering stigmas about learning and thinking differences and limiting racial stereotypes.

Next, our expert panel looks closer the twofold challenges that neurodivergent children of color can face and provide strategies to head off the issues that can undercut their ability to succeed and thrive.

Later, we’ll introduce you to our latest “Difference Maker,” a neurodivergent NASCAR driver with a lifelong need for speed.

A recent blog post on Tech Nation, a growth platform for tech companies and leaders, asked an intriguing and important question: “In a technology-driven world, how is it possible to improve the world for everyone, without everyone’s input?” 

Of late, more companies answering that question by leveraging the abilities, insights, and talents of a wide array of different thinkers by diversifying their workforces.  

Rising high on the wish list are employees who are neurodivergent — workers who think and learn differently.  Why?  Research and anecdotal success stories confirm that different perspectives and cognitive skills produce tangible benefits to the bottom line.  As companies embrace neurodiversity in technology, more parents are steering their neurodivergent children into tech, hoping to nurture strengths and aptitudes that their learning differences may afford — abilities that may afford the child a sustainable, stable, and independent future.

On this episode of "A World of Difference," we explore a New York program that aims to transform the lives of neurodivergent students by teaching computer science thinking and technology skills to upgrade their education and future employment prospects. Next, we travel to a Texas private school for students with learning differences that is training the next wave of American defenders to man the cyber front lines. Later, you’ll meet our latest “Difference Maker,” the neurodivergent mind behind a coding education platform designed to help school districts equip students with the computer programming skills necessary to enter the workforce or to succeed in college.

Vocational Rehabilitation, or VR, helps individuals with disabilities transition into the workforce. It can support training in any field or career from science to law that requires postsecondary education or a degree. And VR can provide help with planning for college and provide help with some of the costs of attendance.  Of course, it helps to understand the nuts and bolts of how vocational rehabilitation can help your student go to college to maximize the benefits.

On this episode, we peek in on an education professional who tutors parents in the ABCs of using vocational rehabilitation programs to pay for college for students who learn differently.

Next, to help parents best maximize what could be a valuable resource for their college-bound child with learning or attention issues, our expert panel delves deeper into the thorny patch of different jargon, processes, and requirements that set apart state vocational rehabilitation programs.

Later, you’ll meet our latest “Difference Maker,” Jeremiah Josey, a baker who is a cooking up a multi-layered brand of success as a model, author, and neurodiversity advocate.

On this episode, we visit an Arizona twice-exceptional teenager who through her podcast is giving voice and shedding light on the 2e life.

Next, our expert panel delves deeper into the dynamics of twice-exceptionality and how parents can best support and advocate for their kids.

Later, you’ll meet our latest “Difference Maker,” world-renown paleontologist John “Jack” Horner whose success with science helped him bury his struggles with undiagnosed dyslexia.