Connected and Capable

You know your own dysregulation is playing a role in the chaos at home. You’ve heard it all: take time for yourself, take a deep breath, take a break.

But in the second your kid melts down, the siblings start fighting again, or your kid leaps off the fireplace (yup!), you’re yelling before you even remember to breathe.

You aren’t failing. You just haven’t been given the right tools.

In this episode of Connected + Capable, I’m walking through the three calming tools parents hear the most. I’ll share why they often fall short on their own, and what needs to come first. I’m also sharing my own story of how my regulation fell apart when I had two kids close together.

In this episode, we’ll talk about:

1. Why “take time for yourself” helps, but can wear off by 11 AM the next morning, especially if you’re touched out, have sensory needs, or are neurodivergent yourself.
2. Why you can’t remember to breathe in the moment, and how so many of us were taught to hit mute on our own feelings growing up.
3. “I know to pause, but I can’t make myself.” Why taking a break can feel impossible, and why that’s neurology, not a failing on your part.
4. What has to happen instead: catching it, shifting it, building regulation into your day, and creating a toolbox that fits YOU.

Your needs matter too. No matter how big your kid’s needs are, or how dysregulated you feel, there’s a path forward, one small step at a time.

Key Timestamps

[04:00] Why “take time for yourself” falls short

[09:00] The MOST common tool that doesn't always work in the moment

[11:30] Why taking a break can be so hard (it's not you)

[14:30] The missing piece to turning around your dysregulation

[16:00] Building regulation into your daily routine

[17:00] Creating your own regulation toolbox

Resources Mentioned

How to Stay Calm When Your Kid Can't: Adult Regulation Workshop

Episode 7: The Secret Key Each Parent Holds to Regulating Their Kid

Episode 17: 3 Steps for When You're Too Dysregulated to Help Your Kid

MORE RESOURCES FOR YOU

Ready for a simple plan to overcome the attention, sleep, sensory, and big emotion challenges? I'll show you how for uniquely wired kids 1-18 years old in just 2-5 minutes a day. Join me in The Connection Hive-- https://YourKidsTable.com/TCH

LET'S CONNECT:

Instagram: https://Instagram.com/Yourkidstable

Facebook: https://Facebook.com/Yourkidstable

Pinterest: https://Pinterest.com/Yourkidstable

If you enjoyed this episode, we'd be so grateful if you left us a review! It's a huge help in encouraging us and letting us know what parents with uniquely wired kids need the most.

How much should I be helping... and when do I need to step back?

Because reminding them about the homework, the test, the missing assignment, or the thing they swore they were going to remember can get exhausting.

But simply backing off and expecting them to figure it all out on their own usually isn’t the answer either.

In this episode, I’m sharing what this looks like in real life with my own teen with ADHD and the shift I’ve been making as both an occupational therapist and a parent.

We’re talking about how to support ADHD teens in a way that builds the skills they’ll eventually need to manage school (and life!) more independently without constant reminders, battles, or nagging. We'll get real about planners too and if ADHD "should" use them. 

Plus, I’ll share what I’m doing right now to help him navigate a new school year, and why my goal isn’t to eliminate support, but to be really intentional about how and when I give it.

If you’re worried about how your ADHD teen will eventually manage all of this without you, this episode will give you a different way to think about what you can start doing now.

Resources mentioned in this episode

Unlocking ADHD Workshop: https://yourkidstable.com/adhd

504 Playbook: https://yourkidstable.com/504-accomodations-for-adhd/

07:00 – When a Common ADHD Strategy Isn’t Working

12:00 – How to Talk So Your ADHD Teen Opens Up

15:00 – Support vs. Independence: Finding the Balance

22:00 – Why ADHD Teens Need Rhythm + Routine

25:00 – Preparing ADHD Teens for More Independence

MORE RESOURCES FOR YOU

Ready for a simple plan to overcome the attention, sleep, sensory, and big emotion challenges? I'll show you how for uniquely wired kids 1-18 years old in just 2-5 minutes a day. Join me in The Connection Hive-- https://YourKidsTable.com/TCH

LET'S CONNECT:

Instagram: https://Instagram.com/Yourkidstable

Facebook: https://Facebook.com/Yourkidstable

Pinterest: https://Pinterest.com/Yourkidstable

If you enjoyed this episode, we'd be so grateful if you left us a review! It's a huge help in encouraging us and letting us know what parents with uniquely wired kids need the most.

A few months ago, I went through one of the hardest nervous system experiences of my life.

As I worked through the weeks that followed, I couldn't stop thinking about the kids with autism I've worked with for over 20 years... and one question kept coming back to me.

Could big meltdowns actually leave a child's nervous system stuck in a cycle that's much harder to escape than we realize?

In this episode, I share my own experience, the emerging research that's starting to explore this idea, and why I think looking beyond behavior may completely change how we support autistic kids with frequent meltdowns. If your child seems to get caught in the same cycle over and over again, I hope this conversation gives you a new way to think about what's happening underneath the surface.

Resources Mentioned

Get a seat in the new Beyond Behavior—Thriving with Autism Workshop: on Aug 19 (replay provided): https://yourkidstable.com/autism/

Studies mentioned:

https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10209395/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41868251/

Key Timestamps:

2:10 my first panic attach

7:15 The connection to autism?

12:00 A new way to think about meltdowns

18:00 What the research is saying

24:15 Where do we go from here?

MORE RESOURCES FOR YOU

Ready for a simple plan to overcome the attention, sleep, sensory, and big emotion challenges? I'll show you how for uniquely wired kids 1-18 years old in just 2-5 minutes a day. Join me in The Connection Hive-- https://YourKidsTable.com/TCH

LET'S CONNECT:

Instagram: https://Instagram.com/Yourkidstable

Facebook: https://Facebook.com/Yourkidstable

Pinterest: https://Pinterest.com/Yourkidstable

If you enjoyed this episode, we'd be so grateful if you left us a review! It's a huge help in encouraging us and letting us know what parents with uniquely wired kids need the most.

When should we embrace a child's differences... and when is it a sign they need more support?

It's one of the hardest questions parents of autistic and neurodivergent kids face.

In this episode, I'm sharing a simple 3-step framework I use as an occupational therapist to help sort through that question. We'll talk about stimming, aggression, sensory challenges, participation, and how to tell the difference between something that's simply different and something that's truly impacting your child's quality of life.

If you've ever worried, "Am I pushing too much... or not enough?" This episode will give you clarity and confidence moving forward.

Resources Mentioned:

Get a seat in the new Beyond Behavior—Thriving with Autism Workshop: on Aug 19 (replay provided): https://yourkidstable.com/autism/

Key Timestamps:

2:48 Every child is different

7:15 Starting with acceptance

12:40 One important question

17:35 A lesson from camp

22:10 Moving forward with confidence

MORE RESOURCES FOR YOU

Ready for a simple plan to overcome the attention, sleep, sensory, and big emotion challenges? I'll show you how for uniquely wired kids 1-18 years old in just 2-5 minutes a day. Join me in The Connection Hive-- https://YourKidsTable.com/TCH

LET'S CONNECT:

Instagram: https://Instagram.com/Yourkidstable

Facebook: https://Facebook.com/Yourkidstable

Pinterest: https://Pinterest.com/Yourkidstable

If you enjoyed this episode, we'd be so grateful if you left us a review! It's a huge help in encouraging us and letting us know what parents with uniquely wired kids need the most.

This week at sensory summer camp, one moment completely changed the direction of my day... and reinforced something I think every parent of a neurodivergent child needs to hear.

When a child melts down, refuses, runs away, or seems completely "noncompliant," what if we're asking the wrong question?

In this episode, I'm sharing two real stories from camp that highlight what was happening underneath the behavior, the surprising sensory tool we reached for in the middle of a meltdown, and why shifting from "How do I stop this behavior?" to "What does my child need right now?" can change everything.

If you've ever felt stuck in power struggles, wondered whether you're helping or making things worse, or just wished someone could explain what's really going on... this episode is for you.

RESOURCES MENTIONED:

Save your seat in the new Beyond Behavior–Thriving with Autism Workshop on Aug 19 (replay provided): https://yourkidstable.com/autism/

Fun and Function - Sign up for their newsletter and receive a coupon 10% here!

KEY TIMESTAMPS:

3:45 What was really under this meltdown

11:15 A sensory tool that surprised me

18:05 Looking beyond "bad behavior"

23:40 What demand avoidance looked like at camp

29:20 The question every parent should ask

33:15 What's coming next in this series 

MORE RESOURCES FOR YOU

Ready for a simple plan to overcome the attention, sleep, sensory, and big emotion challenges? I'll show you how for uniquely wired kids 1-18 years old in just 2-5 minutes a day. Join me in The Connection Hive-- https://YourKidsTable.com/TCH

LET'S CONNECT:

Instagram: https://Instagram.com/Yourkidstable

Facebook: https://Facebook.com/Yourkidstable

Pinterest: https://Pinterest.com/Yourkidstable

If you enjoyed this episode, we'd be so grateful if you left us a review! It's a huge help in encouraging us and letting us know what parents with uniquely wired kids need the most.

What if one food could help your child feel safe enough to start expanding beyond the handful of foods they currently eat?

In this final episode of our picky eating series, I'm sharing what I call a gateway food, specifically a recipe that helped my own son move from eating one specific brand of chicken nuggets to eventually eating grilled chicken, different proteins, and a much wider variety of foods.

But this episode isn't really about chicken nuggets, although you'll learn exactly how to make them, because they are amazing effective and super tasty. The big takeaway is about understanding why certain foods feel safer to picky eaters, the simple characteristics that make kids more likely to try something new, and how to build bridges from foods your child already eats to foods they've never touched before.

I'll also share why progress often looks very different than parents expect and how to spot the small wins that are actually moving your child forward.

RESOURCES MENTIONED

Get a seat in the free picky eating workshop

Picky Eater Approved Chicken Nugget Recipe

KEY TIMESTAMPS

2:55 What progress really looks like

4:49 The gateway food

6:38 Three things picky eaters need

9:22 Building a bridge to new foods

17:21 Giving kids the right choices

24:47 When it doesn't work right away

MORE RESOURCES FOR YOU

Ready for a simple plan to overcome the attention, sleep, sensory, and big emotion challenges? I'll show you how for uniquely wired kids 1-18 years old in just 2-5 minutes a day. Join me in The Connection Hive-- https://YourKidsTable.com/TCH

LET'S CONNECT:

Instagram: https://Instagram.com/Yourkidstable

Facebook: https://Facebook.com/Yourkidstable

Pinterest: https://Pinterest.com/Yourkidstable

If you enjoyed this episode, we'd be so grateful if you left us a review! It's a huge help in encouraging us and letting us know what parents with uniquely wired kids need the most.

In this episode, we're digging into one of the most important factors for helping extreme picky eaters: they're struggling because something deeper is getting in the way.

There's 5 big reasons kids refuse to eat and it's not because of you're parenting or that they're just difficult.

Learn how to identify these signs yourself and how to start looking at your child's eating through a different lens and why identifying the "why" behind picky eating can completely change your next steps.

If you've ever felt frustrated, confused, or wondered why nothing seems to be working, this episode will help you connect some important dots and give you a clearer path forward.

RESOURCES MENTIONED

Get a seat in the free picky eating workshop

Constipation strategies article

KEY TIMESTAMPS:

00:00 Welcome and picky eating mission

02:03 Previous episode and workshop recap

09:57 Oral motor skill struggles

11:53 The snowball picky eating

15:50 Physical causes to check

20:35 Anxiety behind food refusal

24:53 Next steps for families

27:34 Gateway food next episode teaser

MORE RESOURCES FOR YOU

Ready for a simple plan to overcome the attention, sleep, sensory, and big emotion challenges? I'll show you how for uniquely wired kids 1-18 years old in just 2-5 minutes a day. Join me in The Connection Hive-- https://YourKidsTable.com/TCH

LET'S CONNECT:

Instagram: https://Instagram.com/Yourkidstable

Facebook: https://Facebook.com/Yourkidstable

Pinterest: https://Pinterest.com/Yourkidstable

If you enjoyed this episode, we'd be so grateful if you left us a review! It's a huge help in encouraging us and letting us know what parents with uniquely wired kids need the most.

In this first episode of our picky eating series, I'm sharing the story of how my son went from gagging at the sight of food to becoming a kid that loves a wide variety of foods. A reality that wouldn't have happened if we had just waited for him to grow out of it. 

You'll hear the mistakes I see parents make over and over again (through no fault of their own), and the 5-step framework that guided us from surviving mealtimes to actually enjoying them.

If you've ever wondered what's really behind picky eating, or how to help your kid's eating improve, this episode is for you! 

RESOURCES MENTIONED:

Free Picky Eating Workshop

KEY TIMESTAMPS:

4:31 The child who changed my career

8:24 When my own son stopped eating

14:42 Step 1: The biggest mindset shift

16:38 Step 2: Why routines matter

18:30 Step 3: What's underneath picky eating

20:09 Steps 4 & 5: Building progress that lasts

MORE RESOURCES FOR YOU

Ready for a simple plan to overcome the attention, sleep, sensory, and big emotion challenges? I'll show you how for uniquely wired kids 1-18 years old in just 2-5 minutes a day. Join me in The Connection Hive-- https://YourKidsTable.com/TCH

LET'S CONNECT:

Instagram: https://Instagram.com/Yourkidstable

Facebook: https://Facebook.com/Yourkidstable

Pinterest: https://Pinterest.com/Yourkidstable

If you enjoyed this episode, we'd be so grateful if you left us a review! It's a huge help in encouraging us and letting us know what parents with uniquely wired kids need the most.

If you’ve ever felt like sensory strategies sound helpful in theory… but impossible to actually fit into real life, this episode is for you.

We’re talking about small, realistic ways to build regulation into the moments that are already happening throughout your day using quick sensory “doses” that can help with focus, emotional regulation, transitions, and big behaviors.

You’ll also hear:

Why sensory strategies don’t have to be complicated to work

The idea of “habit stacking” and how parents are using it in everyday life

How movement, deep pressure, vibration, and even hydration can impact the nervous system

Ways to help sensory seekers and easily overwhelmed kids differently

Practical ideas you can start using immediately at home, in the car, during homework, transitions, and more

If your child seems dysregulated often, struggles with transitions, or you’re just trying to make daily life feel calmer and more manageable, this episode will leave you with simple ideas that actually feel doable.

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED:

Join Fun and Function Giveaway (receive 10% off)

Grab the Free Sensory Toolkit

KEY TIMESTAMPS:

04:39 – Habit stacking sensory tools

06:59 – Weighted input & crawling

13:33 – Vibration & fidgets

18:25 – Movement for regulation

25:08 – Why water helps regulate

MORE RESOURCES FOR YOU

Ready for a simple plan to overcome the attention, sleep, sensory, and big emotion challenges? I'll show you how for uniquely wired kids 1-18 years old in just 2-5 minutes a day. Join me in The Connection Hive-- https://YourKidsTable.com/TCH

LET'S CONNECT:

Instagram: https://Instagram.com/Yourkidstable

Facebook: https://Facebook.com/Yourkidstable

Pinterest: https://Pinterest.com/Yourkidstable

If you enjoyed this episode, we'd be so grateful if you left us a review! It's a huge help in encouraging us and letting us know what parents with uniquely wired kids need the most.

If you’ve ever wondered… does nutrition actually affect ADHD symptoms? Or is it all hype online?

In this episode of the Connected + Capable Podcast, we’re digging into what the research really says about ADHD and nutrition in a practical, parent-friendly way.

We’re talking about:

▶️ elimination diets and anti-inflammatory eating

▶️ food dyes and processed foods

▶️ fish oil and omega-3s

▶️ iron/ferritin and zinc

▶️ vitamin D and magnesium

▶️ what the studies actually show (and what they don’t)

As both a pediatric OT and a mom of a child with ADHD, I know how overwhelming this conversation can feel. One person says nutrition changes everything… another says it doesn’t matter at all.

The truth is much more nuanced.

This episode is NOT about “curing” ADHD or giving you a giant list of supplements to start tomorrow. Instead, I want to help you understand:

- where the evidence is strongest

- which approaches may help some kids

- why there’s no one-size-fits-all answer

- and how to think through these options without fear or pressure

We also talk honestly about sensory-based picky eating, the emotional toll of restrictive diets, how to approach nutrition without all-or-nothing thinking, and why supporting a child’s relationship with food matters too

If your child struggles with ADHD, emotional regulation, hyperactivity, attention, sleep, or picky eating, this conversation will give you a grounded place to start.

LINKS + RESOURCES MENTIONED:

Supplement links + research articles referenced

Free picky eating workshop: 3 Keys to Turn Around Picky Eating

MORE RESOURCES FOR YOU

Ready for a simple plan to overcome the attention, sleep, sensory, and big emotion challenges? I'll show you how for uniquely wired kids 1-18 years old in just 2-5 minutes a day. Join me in The Connection Hive-- https://YourKidsTable.com/TCH

LET'S CONNECT:

Instagram: https://Instagram.com/Yourkidstable

Facebook: https://Facebook.com/Yourkidstable

Pinterest: https://Pinterest.com/Yourkidstable

If you enjoyed this episode, we'd be so grateful if you left us a review! It's a huge help in encouraging us and letting us know what parents with uniquely wired kids need the most.