Everyone Gets a Juice Box: For Parents of Neurodivergent Kids

Tehrima Rai spent years being told her son was “just picky.” Relatives blamed her parenting, and she struggled to get help. But Tehrima, a pediatrician herself, trusted her instincts and kept searching until she found the real answer: ARFID, an extreme fear of food that’s more common in neurodivergent kids. Through feeding therapy, logbooks, and her own experimentation, she helped her son eat — and finally healed deep wounds of her own.

For more on this topic

• Listen: Why I stopped hiding my kid’s neurodivergence
• Watch: Guiding a neurodivergent kid through grief (by breaking all the rules)

For a transcript and more resources, visit Everyone Gets a Juice Box on Understood.org. You can also email us at [email protected].

Getting your child the support they need at school shouldn’t feel like a fight. But for millions of families, it does. In Zero Reject, an investigative podcast from Understood.org, award-winning journalist Anya Kamenetz looks at how changing federal policies are reshaping special education — and what’s at stake for families trying to access the support their children are legally entitled to. Start listening now.

Understood is a nonprofit where millions of people who are navigating neurodivergence find clear guidance, practical tools, and people who get it. To help us continue this work, donate at understood.org/podcast-donate.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Psychotherapist and ADHD expert Merriam Saunders spent years locked in daily battles with her strong-willed daughter. No form of discipline worked. Then one ordinary blowup led to an unexpected realization: The problem wasn’t defiance, it was an ADHD skills gap. And, crucially, she realized it wasn’t her daughter’s job to fix it. 

Merriam shares what happened the moment she chose connection over control, and how that choice reshaped their relationship for good.

For more on this topic

• Watch: Why I stopped hiding my kid’s neurodivergence 
• Read: 7 discipline tips when your child has ADHD

For a transcript and more resources, visit Everyone Gets a Juice Box on Understood.org. You can also email us at [email protected].

Getting your child the support they need at school shouldn’t feel like a fight. But for millions of families, it does. In Zero Reject, an investigative podcast from Understood.org, award-winning journalist Anya Kamenetz looks at how changing federal policies are reshaping special education — and what’s at stake for families trying to access the support their children are legally entitled to. Start listening now.

Understood is a nonprofit where millions of people who are navigating neurodivergence find clear guidance, practical tools, and people who get it. To help us continue this work, donate at understood.org/podcast-donate.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Jessica is off this week, but we didn’t want to leave you without something great to listen to. So, in honor of back-to-school, we’re sharing an episode about school refusal from another Understood podcast, called In It.

Why do kids sometimes refuse to go to school? And what can families do about it, both in the moment and to avoid it in the future?

In this episode, hosts Gretchen Vierstra and Rachel Bozek hear from Erin, a returning guest whose family has struggled with school refusal challenges for years.

The hosts also talk with psychologist and Understood Expert Dr. Andrew Kahn, who shares some of the reasons that could be behind a child’s school refusal. He offers tips and strategies for turning the situation around. 

For more on this topic

For a transcript and more resources, visit Everyone Gets a Juice Box on Understood.org. You can also email us at [email protected].

Getting your child the support they need at school shouldn’t feel like a fight. But for millions of families, it does. In Zero Reject, an investigative podcast from Understood.org, award-winning journalist Anya Kamenetz looks at how changing federal policies are reshaping special education — and what’s at stake for families trying to access the support their children are legally entitled to. Start listening now.

Understood is a nonprofit where millions of people who are navigating neurodivergence find clear guidance, practical tools, and people who get it. To help us continue this work, donate at understood.org/podcast-donate.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

For years, Margaret Ables believed the kindest thing she could do for her autistic child was to help them blend in. Then a single article reframed everything she thought she knew about acceptance and disclosure, and what her kid actually needed from her. She and host Jessica Shaw dig into the messy, evolving work of showing up as yourself in a world that isn't always built for you. This is a candid, funny, occasionally heartbreaking conversation about shame, self-advocacy, and belonging.

For more on this topic: 

For a transcript and more resources, visit Everyone Gets a Juice Box on Understood.org. You can also email us at [email protected].

Getting your child the support they need at school shouldn’t feel like a fight. But for millions of families, it does. In Zero Reject, an investigative podcast from Understood.org, award-winning journalist Anya Kamenetz looks at how changing federal policies are reshaping special education — and what’s at stake for families trying to access the support their children are legally entitled to. Start listening now.

Understood is a nonprofit where millions of people who are navigating neurodivergence find clear guidance, practical tools, and people who get it. To help us continue this work, donate at understood.org/podcast-donate.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Alynda Wheat Savage and her husband Dave were never big rule followers. They brought that punk rock spirit to parenting their son, Jack, who is neurodivergent. So when Dave was diagnosed with glioblastoma, they threw out the rulebook to help Jack process and grieve in a way that worked for him. 

Alynda shares how they protected Jack through diagnosis, decline, and loss. Her story is sometimes funny, always unflinching, and full of heart.

For a transcript and more resources, visit Everyone Gets a Juice Box on Understood.org. You can also email us at [email protected].

Getting your child the support they need at school shouldn’t feel like a fight. But for millions of families, it does. In Zero Reject, an investigative podcast from Understood.org, award-winning journalist Anya Kamenetz looks at how changing federal policies are reshaping special education — and what’s at stake for families trying to access the support their children are legally entitled to. Start listening now.

Understood is a nonprofit where millions of people who are navigating neurodivergence find clear guidance, practical tools, and people who get it. To help us continue this work, donate at understood.org/podcast-donate.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Melena Blanton is a clinical psychologist and mom of two neurodivergent kids in Eastern Kentucky. She’s had to fight through lack of resources and small town prejudice to get her kids the help they need. That’s meant driving hours for evaluations, training as a tutor herself, and building a scrappy sisterhood of moms doing the impossible. This is what advocacy looks like when the system is broken.

For more on this topic: 

For a transcript and more resources, visit Everyone Gets a Juice Box on Understood.org. You can also email us at [email protected].

Getting your child the support they need at school shouldn’t feel like a fight. But for millions of families, it does. In Zero Reject, an investigative podcast from Understood.org, award-winning journalist Anya Kamenetz looks at how changing federal policies are reshaping special education — and what’s at stake for families trying to access the support their children are legally entitled to. Start listening now.

Understood is a nonprofit where millions of people who are navigating neurodivergence find clear guidance, practical tools, and people who get it. To help us continue this work, donate at understood.org/podcast-donate.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this episode of our sister show Hyperfocus, listener Jenna Plonsky opens a raw conversation about ADHD, late diagnosis, and the mental health struggles many women face in silence. 

From postpartum depression to PMDD, this episode explores how hormonal shifts intersect with neurodivergence — and why so many go undiagnosed for decades. It’s an honest look at shame, self-perception, and the turning point that comes with finally understanding your brain.

For more on this topic

For a transcript and more resources, visit Hyperfocus on Understood.org. You can also email us at [email protected]

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Getting your child the support they need at school shouldn’t feel like a fight. But for millions of families, it does. In Zero Reject, an investigative podcast from Understood.org, award-winning journalist Anya Kamenetz looks at how changing federal policies are reshaping special education — and what’s at stake for families trying to access the support their children are legally entitled to. Start listening now.

Understood is a nonprofit where millions of people who are navigating neurodivergence find clear guidance, practical tools, and people who get it. To help us continue this work, donate at understood.org/podcast-donate.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Rainy Saturdays just got a whole lot better. Leslie Bushara, chief program officer of the Children’s Museum of Manhattan, reveals how she’s taking notes from neurodivergent kids and their parents to build a space that’s welcoming to every kind of learner, including yours. From muted paint colors to reimagined animations, Leslie shares what happens when you actually listen to kids. 

For more on this topic 

For a transcript and more resources, visit Everyone Gets a Juice Box on Understood.org. You can also email us at [email protected].

Getting your child the support they need at school shouldn’t feel like a fight. But for millions of families, it does. In Zero Reject, an investigative podcast from Understood.org, award-winning journalist Anya Kamenetz looks at how changing federal policies are reshaping special education — and what’s at stake for families trying to access the support their children are legally entitled to. Start listening now.

Understood is a nonprofit where millions of people who are navigating neurodivergence find clear guidance, practical tools, and people who get it. To help us continue this work, donate at understood.org/podcast-donate.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Alison Cho grew up in a tight-knit Korean American family where Harvard and medical school weren’t just dreams, they were expectations. Alison had undiagnosed ADHD and autism, and she often felt like she was letting her parents down. Now she’s raising two neurodivergent kids of her own. And she’s navigating the same cultural expectations she grew up with, this time as the parent. In this funny and tender interview, Alison explores what she wants to keep from her upbringing — and what she wants to leave behind.

For more on this topic

For a transcript and more resources, visit Everyone Gets a Juice Box on Understood.org. You can also email us at [email protected].

Getting your child the support they need at school shouldn’t feel like a fight. But for millions of families, it does. In Zero Reject, an investigative podcast from Understood.org, award-winning journalist Anya Kamenetz looks at how changing federal policies are reshaping special education — and what’s at stake for families trying to access the support their children are legally entitled to. Start listening now.

Understood is a nonprofit where millions of people who are navigating neurodivergence find clear guidance, practical tools, and people who get it. To help us continue this work, donate at understood.org/podcast-donate.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Two experts in ADHD went decades without realizing they had it themselves. Katie Severson, a speech pathologist, and Lori Long, a child psychologist, co-run The Childhood Collective and host the Shining With ADHD podcast. But both received their own ADHD diagnoses only after becoming mothers. They talk about late diagnosis, the shame that came before it, and how it shapes their parenting.

For more on this topic

For a transcript and more resources, visit Everyone Gets a Juice Box on Understood.org. You can also email us at [email protected].

Getting your child the support they need at school shouldn’t feel like a fight. But for millions of families, it does. In Zero Reject, an investigative podcast from Understood.org, award-winning journalist Anya Kamenetz looks at how changing federal policies are reshaping special education — and what’s at stake for families trying to access the support their children are legally entitled to. Start listening now.

Understood is a nonprofit where millions of people who are navigating neurodivergence find clear guidance, practical tools, and people who get it. To help us continue this work, donate at understood.org/podcast-donate.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.