Exceptional Parenting Podcast

Bullying is a huge problem for our nation’s young people. Recent studies indicate that at least 1 in every 5 children are bullied in school by the age of 18 – and over half of teens admit to being bullied online. Tune in as Exceptional Parenting Podcast host, Stefanie Boucher, speaks to a bullying intervention specialist, as well as a middle and high school adjustment counselor, about what constitutes bullying and what parents and teachers can do to protect children so they can thrive.

In this episode, you'll learn about the long-term effects bullying can have on both targets and aggressors, and how to shift this damaging paradigm; which populations are more likely to become targets of bullying, and how adults can help protect these individuals; and, strategies parents and kids can use to stop bullying in its tracks if and when it occurs.

About Our Guests:

Connie Mahoney is the former Director of Prevention & Intervention Services for Springfield (MA) Public Schools, where she led the development of the bullying prevention policy and intervention plan from 2010 through 2015. She has worked as both an instructor and public speaker on bullying, and also developed curriculum for the Committee for Children’s Think Tank, a research-based program widely used in schools throughout the country. She is currently serving as Assistant Principal at a high school in Massachusetts.

Bethany Menard is a school adjustment counselor who has experience working with children and teens in a variety of age groups. Currently she works at the middle school level, where she helps students, parents, teachers, and administrators resolve issues around bullying, assault, and mental health and seeks to reduce the frequency and severity of bullying on campus.

Could your adolescent daughter be at risk of losing much of the hard-won self-confidence she developed in childhood? According to experts, probably so. In fact, most girls emerge from adolescence with poorer self-image and less self-confidence than boys – despite having similar levels of self-esteem as their male peers around age 10. Join Exceptional Parenting Podcast host, Stefanie Boucher, and Chief Program Officer at Girls Empowerment Network, Caroline Crawford, for a lively discussion about the factors that can damage girls’ well-being during adolescence and the things parents can do to now to empower their daughters and set them up for a lifetime of success.

About Our Guest:

For more than a decade, Caroline Crawford has mentored youth, and volunteered or worked with organizations that make a difference in the lives of young girls and boys. As the Director of Programs at Girls Empowerment Network, Caroline oversees teams in Austin and Houston. She empowers young females and helps them grow their self-confidence and self-worth as they navigate the pressures of girlhood. She appreciates that Girls Empowerment Network’s programs create a safe space for girls to be wholeheartedly vulnerable and authentic while exploring who they are and who they want to be. Caroline holds a Master of Science in Social Work from The University of Texas.

Find out more about Caroline or the Girls Empowerment Network by exploring the following resources.

Learn More: https://www.girlsempowermentnetwork.org/
Get involved: https://www.girlsempowermentnetwork.org/get-involved/supporters/

Conflict is a part of life. No matter how much we try to avoid it, disagreements – of some sort or another – regularly pop up between family members, friends, students and teachers, roommates, and co-workers. Fortunately, conflicts don’t always have to be experienced as negative (and, in fact, it’s far preferable when they aren’t). In this episode, Exceptional Parenting Podcast host Stefanie Boucher joins certified mediator, Stacey Harris, J.D., for an in-depth discussion about what parents can do to help their children build the conflict resolution skills they need to successfully navigate their lives.

Tune in to learn:

-Basic principles of conflict resolution
-How to teach and practice effective listening skills
-Simple, effective conflict resolution techniques to use with your children, teens, or loved ones

About Our Guest:

Stacey Harris, J.D., is the Associate Director of Disability & Access Services at Boston University, where she co-runs a student mediation program for students across the university. Stacey has spent more than 20 years working on civil rights and disability compliance issues in higher education and government settings, and now focuses heavily on university policy, technical standards, and compliance. Most importantly, she works directly with students, not only on accommodations but on their own self-advocacy skills.

Have you ever wondered if homeschooling may be right for your child? Tune in as Exceptional Parenting Podcast host, Stefanie Boucher, speaks to a veteran homeschooler, Natasha Curtis, about the pros and cons of being a modern homeschooling parent. Listen as Natasha shares the details of her homeschooling journey, including why and how she began to homeschool her two children, how she juggles professional and homeschooling responsibilities, and how both she and her children feel about their experiences several years after making this transition. You’ll also hear her response to some common myths about children who are homeschooled, including the (mostly false) notion that they are doomed to fall behind socially, will have trouble getting into college, or will be unable to keep up once they get there.

About Our Guest:

Natasha Curtis is small-business owner and the mother of two amazing (and very different) kids. She made the decision to homeschool her children nearly six years ago in order to better address their health and learning needs, and hasn’t looked back since. In addition to taking a lead role in the education of her teenage son, she also owns and operates Zeppelin Comics in Northern California with her husband of 23 years.

Do your kids spend as much time playing outside as you did when you were young? According to experts, probably not. It’s rare these days for kids to spend entire afternoons rolling down hills, climbing trees, or enjoying lengthy recesses at school where they swing too high and push merry-go-rounds too fast. Instead, these once-classic childhood activities have been replaced by adult-supervised ones, such as organized sports, accelerated academics, and of course, screen time. We’ve done this, of course, because we largely believe that kids are safer this way. But could our attempts to keep kids out of harm’s way be hindering their development?

Tune in as Exceptional Parenting Podcast host, Stefanie Boucher, speaks with pediatric occupational therapist, international speaker, Timbernook founder, and author Angela Hanscom about how unrestrained physical movement and outdoor play are vital for your child’s cognitive and physical development - and why a lack of it may be (at least partly) to blame for today’s epidemic levels of attention deficits, as well as sensory and emotional disorders.

About Our Guest:

Angela Hanscom is a pediatric occupational therapist and the founder of TimberNook – an award-winning nature-based program that has gained international popularity. She holds a master’s degree in occupational therapy, and an undergraduate degree in kinesiology (the study of movement) with a concentration in health fitness. Angela’s book, Balanced & Barefoot: How Unrestricted Outdoor Play Makes for Strong, Confident, and Capable Children, (New Harbinger Press, 2016) discusses the effects of restricted movement and lack of outdoor playtime on overall sensory and motor development in children. Angela keynotes conferences and conducts workshops for parents, educators, and clinicians all over the world. She and her work have been featured in Glamour magazine, The Washington Post, NPR, and Johnson & Johnson TEDx.

Don't miss these great resources from Angela Hanscom!

Hanscom, Angela. Balanced & Barefoot: How Unrestricted Outdoor Play Makes for Strong, Confident, and Capable Children, (New Harbinger Press, 2016). 

Hanscom, Angela. "The Real Reason Children Fidget - And What to Do About It." YouTube video, 25 Sep, 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXLaoDucF0k.

TimberNook (outdoor/nature experiences for children), https://www.timbernook.com

We all want our kids to become strong, independent adults. But in order for that to happen, we need to teach our teens how to get what they need, when they need it, and do so under a variety of circumstances. Join Exceptional Parenting Podcast host, Stefanie Boucher, as she chats with school psychologist, Natalie Borrell, and long-time educator, Alison Grant, about strategies for developing grit, resilience, and the ability to self-advocate in the school setting and the world at large.

Tune in to learn:

- Which steps to take right now to help your child gain independence
- How to help your child find and obtain the resources they need for success
- How to foster self-advocacy skills in the school setting when your child has an IEP or 504 Plan

About Our Guests:

Natalie Borrell is an experienced school psychologist and the founder of Life Success for Teens, an academic life coaching organization for high school students. Dubbed by colleagues as the “teen whisperer,” Natalie has a great deal of experience working with students with ADHD, executive functioning weaknesses, and other learning differences. In both roles, much of her work revolves around evaluating students to help determine their strengths and weaknesses, and then providing appropriate interventions.

Alison Grant is a long-time educator in the secondary school setting and the Director of Training and Curriculum at Life Success for Teens. A Family Consumer Science teacher at Willoughby South High School, she was named the Adele Knight Teacher of the Year in 2011. In 2017, Alison earned her academic life coaching certificate as a means of helping students realize success both inside and outside of the classroom. Her favorite part of teaching and coaching is watching a student have one of those moments when everything clicks and his or her hard work pays off.

To learn more about Natalie or Alison, visit Life Success for Teens (https://lifesuccessforteens.com).

Are you worried about your child’s transition from Early Intervention to school-based services? Are you concerned that your son or daughter might not be “ready” to attend school or that you might not be able to find the right environment for him or her? If you’re the parent of a child with a disability, your child’s third birthday is a big deal, and there is a lot of logistical and emotional work that takes place as you help your child enter into this new faze of life.

In this episode, Exception Parenting Podcast host, Stefanie Boucher, chats with author, journalist, advocate, and mother Jamie Sumner about how to simplify the transition. Get inside tips and advice from someone who has been there, understands the very real challenges that parents and kids face, and knows what works and what doesn’t when it comes to advocating for your child.

About Our Guest:

Jamie Sumner is the author of several books, including Unbound: Finding Freedom from Unrealistic Expectations of Motherhood and the forthcoming book Keep On, Superhero for parents of children with special needs. She’s written for the New York Times and the Washington Post, as well as other publications, and is the reviews editor at Literary Mama. Jamie is also a mom to a son with cerebral palsy, and she writes and speaks about disability in literature. She loves stories that celebrate grit and beauty in all kids.

When Jarrett Krosoczka went to live with his grandparents at the age of three, he wasn’t sure why he was there or why his mother couldn’t be there with him. It wasn’t until the age of nine that he learned the truth: his mother was addicted to heroin and had spent much of Jarrett’s life incarcerated. In this episode of the Exceptional Parenting Podcast, host Stefanie Boucher talks to Jarrett about the emotions and challenges children can experience when growing up in a family facing addiction or other difficult circumstances. Tune in now to find out:

- How and when to discuss sensitive situations with the children you care for;
- What kids facing loss need from their caregivers; and,
- The #1 thing children must have in order to develop their creativity.

About Our Guest:

New York Times best-selling author and illustrator Jarrett J. Krosoczka creates books with humor, heart, and a deep respect for his young readers—qualities that have made his titles perennial favorites on the bookshelves of homes, libraries, and bookstores.

With more than 30 published books to his credit, Krosoczka is a two-time winner of the Children’s Choice Book Awards and has been a finalist for the prestigious Will Eisner Comic Industry Award. He has delivered two TED Talks, which have collectively accrued more than two million views online. Krosoczka has been featured on NPR and can be heard weekly on The Book Report with JJK on SiriusXM’s Kids Place Live, a show focusing on books, authors, and reading. His Punk Farm, Lunch Lady, and Platypus Police Squad series are all currently in development for film. Learn more about Jarrett and his work at studioJJK.com.

In 1985, 18 percent of teens said they felt stressed “all the time,” according to a UCLA study. By 2017, that number had soared to 41 percent. Our nation’s youth are undergoing a mental health crisis. But why? Are smartphones or social media to blame? Or are our schedules just too busy? And what about these chaotic and unpredictable times we are living in? Tune in as Exceptional Parenting Podcast host, Stefanie Boucher, continues this conversation with long-time educator and youth counselor, Sal Caraviello, to discuss the biggest causes of teen stress and, more importantly, what parents can do to get things back on track for our kids. This is Part 2 of a two-part series.

About Our Guest:

Salvatore Caraviello has been working with children and adolescents for more than 30 years. As a former teacher, administrator, coach, counselor, and youth minister, he has developed unique insight into the concerns of modern youth and has worked tirelessly to help countless children and families find success, balance, and happiness in all areas of their lives. In 2015, Sal was named WInchester Citizen of the Year, in Winchester, Massachusetts. He was the first non-resident to ever be selected.

In 1985, 18 percent of teens said they felt stressed “all the time,” according to a UCLA study. Fast-forward to 2017, and that number soared to 41 percent. Our nation’s youth are undergoing a mental health crisis. But why, and what can we, as parents, do about it? Tune in as Exceptional Parenting Podcast host, Stefanie Boucher, sits down with long-time educator and youth counselor, Sal Caraviello, to discuss what has changed in the teen landscape over the past 30 years and what we can do to get things back on track for our kids. This is "Part 1" of a two-part series.

About Our Guest:

Salvatore Caraviello has been working with children and adolescents for more than 30 years. As a former teacher, administrator, coach, counselor, and youth minister, he has unique insight into the concerns of modern youth and has worked tirelessly to help countless children and families find success, balance, and happiness in all areas of their lives. In 2015, Sal was named Winchester Citizen of the Year, in Winchester, Massachusetts. He was the first non-resident to ever be selected.