Academic coach and author of The Disintegrating Student, Jeannine Jannot, Ph.D., shares insights on why previously high performing students might fall apart and offers strategies for building skills and resilience.

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Today’s conversation is all about understanding and supporting autistic identity—how it develops, why it matters, and the ways parents and educators can help nurture it. I’m joined by Rebecca Duffus and Lyric Rivera, two incredible advocates doing powerful work in this space, and the authors of the new Autism, Identity & Me workbook for kids, and the accompanying professional and parent guide of the same name. In our conversation, we talk about the importance of identity development for autistic young people, the current state of neurodivergent education, and how parents and caregivers can foster a positive, affirming understanding of neurodiversity. We also dig into the “superpower” narrative—when it helps, when it doesn’t—and how to use Rebecca and Lyric’s Autism, Identity & Me workbook as a practical tool for ongoing conversations about identity, acceptance, and self-understanding.

About Rebecca Duffus

Rebecca Duffus BSc, PGCE, MA is an experienced Advisory Teacher with a Psychology Degree and a Masters in Autism and Education. She has many years of experience working with students and educators in both mainstream and specialist education settings as well as within local councils, charities and education services. Rebecca has been a speaker at conferences across the UK, developed a range of parent programmes, and provides training and coaching for settings.Rebeca is the author of the Autism, Identity & Me Workbook and Guidebook set published by Routledge.

About Lyric Rivera

Lyric Rivera, an autistic self-advocate from Texas, is a prominent figure in the field of neurodiversity and autism advocacy. Over the years, Lyric has educated millions about autism and neuro-inclusion through their blog, NeuroDivergent Rebel, their consulting organization, NeuroDivergent Consulting, and their best-selling business ethics book, Workplace Neurodiversity Rising.

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Executive functioning/education coach Seth Perler explores the concept of resistance in differently-wired kids and shares strategies and tools for how parents can support their kids in learning how to face their resistance.

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Today we’re unpacking a topic that so many families struggle to understand—Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, or OCD—especially when it shows up in children. My guest is Dr. Tamar Chansky, a clinical psychologist and author of the newly updated and revised edition of her seminal book Freeing Your Child from Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. In our conversation, Tamar and I talk about how our understanding of OCD has evolved over the past 25 years, what intrusive thoughts really are, and how parents can recognize and respond to them with compassion and clarity. Tamar walks us through her five-step approach for helping kids manage OCD effectively, and she offers a message of hope—reminding us that with the right support, children can learn to take charge of their thoughts and lead full, joyful lives.

About Tamar E. Chansky, Ph.D.

Tamar E. Chansky, Ph.D., founder of the Children’s and Adult Center for OCD and Anxiety, has helped thousands of children overcome fears and gripping mental compulsions. She is also the author of Freeing Your Child from Negative Thinking, Freeing Your Child from Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, and Freeing Yourself from Anxiety.

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This week is a continuation of last week’s episode with executive functioning coach Seth Perler, which was so packed full of information (and also so long) that I had to break it up into two separate episodes, which I’m now referring to as a “masterclass” in executive functioning. 

In last week’s episode, Seth shared his protocol for setting up a child for success in their developing executive functioning skills. In today’s episode, Seth is going to get into the nitty gritty about specific strategies he uses to address different executive functioning challenges that show up in school and in life. 

THINGS YOU’LL LEARN FROM THIS EPISODE:

* What “Frankenstudy” is, and how to know where to focus your energies so you can create a “domino effect” with your child’s fledgling executive functioning skills

* How to best use “learning planners” to learn how to think / talk through their plan (and what we’re doing wrong)

* The benefits of monthly planners versus daily or weekly planners

* Helping kids identify the “MIT” – most important thing – each day

* The importance of creating a sacred study space for a child

* How to optimize an internet browser to make it easy with bookmark bars (and have tabs automatically open, including calendar, grade tab, email)

* Why it’s important to get kids to start checking grades weekly (Seth recommends Sunday nights)

* The importance of helping a child create clearly identified routines (for leaving house, doing daily plan, doing homework, etc.)

* How getting visual with kids benefits them in developing their executive functioning skills

* Why separate digital timers need to be a part of a child’s life so they can learn to calibrate time, as well as get started and do short bursts of work

* Creating a weekly overhaul of systems

* The important of kids “getting into the mode” for studying, etc: organize their space, make their plan, and executive

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Today we’re diving into one of the most tender and complex stages of parenting—launching our neurodivergent young adults into independence, or more accurately, interdependence. My guest is Penny Williams, a parenting coach for neurodiverse families and the award-winning author of four books on ADHD, including Boy Without Instructions. In this episode Penny and I talk about the emotional challenges parents face during this transition, how to redefine what success and independence really look like, and why interdependence is often the goal that best supports our kids’ thriving. We also explore the healing and acceptance this stage asks of us as parents—and how, even in the uncertainty, there’s so much possibility for connection, growth, and joy.

Also, this is part one of a two-part episode — listen to the rest of the conversation on Penny’s Beautifully Complex podcast, which you will find here. 

About Penny Williams

A parenting coach for neurodiverse families, Penny Williams is the award-winning author of four books on ADHD, including Boy Without Instructions, producer and host of the Beautifully Complex Podcast, host of the annual Neurodiversity Summits, and co-creator of The Behavior Revolution Program, a parent training program designed to change the narrative on behavior and help parents celebrate and support their kids with ADHD or autism through neuroscience-backed insights, hard-won strategies, compassion, and guidance.  Penny empowers parents to help their neurodivergent kids — and families — thrive.

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Resources mentioned

Gap Programs Debbie Explored

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Executive functioning coach Seth Perler joins me for a two-part series in which Seth shares with us the exact approach he uses with students he works with when helping them foster their fledgling executive functioning skills. In this episode, Seth shares with us his protocol for setting up a child for success in their developing executive functioning skills. In part 2 next week, Seth will go in-depth into his specific strategies surrounding building these skills in school and in life. 

THINGS YOU’LL LEARN FROM THIS EPISODE:

* Seth’s definition of executive functioning framed so it helps people apply the principles to help kids

* A step-by-step breakdown of exactly how Seth works with families

* Why our relationship with our child is the number one thing to be preserved when doing this work

* The importance of parents doing their own personal work / self-care during this process

* Why kids “can’t do what we’re asking them to do because they can’t, not because they won’t,” so we need to back up and scaffold from where they’re at

* The role of mindfulness, mindset, and motivation

* Why symptoms are more important than labels

* Why it’s critical to understand the role of emotional regulation in executive functioning

* How we as parents can co-regulate our emotions with our child

* Why we want to focus on 3 positives for every 1 negative

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Today we’re exploring EMDR—Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing—a therapeutic approach that’s been shown to be highly effective in treating trauma, including for neurodivergent individuals. My guest is Dr. Naomi Fisher, a clinical psychologist who specializes in trauma, autism, and alternative education, and an expert in EMDR. Naomi will share her journey into EMDR and explains not just the mechanics of how it works, but also what actually happens in a session. We talk about the importance of understanding trauma in children, particularly those who are neurodivergent, and why flexibility and attunement are so essential for therapists in creating a truly supportive environment.

About Dr. Naomi Fisher

Dr. Naomi Fisher is a clinical psychologist who specialises in trauma, autism and alternative education. She is the author of several books including When the Naughty Step Makes Things Worse and the Teenager’s Guide to Burnout. She runs webinars for parents and more of her work can be found at www.naomifisher.co.uk

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Today, we’re talking about such a pressing consideration for anyone raising a kid these days — what it means for today’s generation of kids to grow up with very public lives and coming of age in a digital world where so many aspects of their lives are online and available for public consumption, not to mention that much of their important work of identity formation is being shaped by the media and technology they interact with.

My guest, Devorah Heitner, gets into all of this in her brand new and essential book for any parent, Growing Up in Public: Coming of Age in a Digital World. For this conversation, I asked Devorah to talk us through what I see as some of the more pressing issues for parents like us, including how to balance a child’s right to privacy in their texts and online lives with valid concerns about online influences and engagement when that child is dealing with anxiety, depression or other mental health disorder, the impact of social media on kids who may already be struggling to fit in and find their people, and how many homework and grading apps used by schools may actually be undermining our kids development of executive function skills and creating additional stress for parents.

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Today we’re talking about one of my favorite topics — what it really means to connect, collaborate, and let go of control as our kids grow into themselves as they enter the transformative teen years. My guest is Dr. Ann-Louise Lockhart, a pediatric psychologist and parent coach who helps overwhelmed parents raise confident, emotionally healthy kids and teens, and the author of the brand new book, Love the Teen You Have: A Practical Guide to Transforming Conflict Into Connection. In our conversation, Ann-Louise shares insights from her book and offers a powerful reframing of what it means to parent through the teen years. We talk about shifting from control to curiosity—especially when raising neurodivergent kids—along with individuation, cognitive dissonance, and why living a fulfilling life as a parent is one of the best ways to model healthy behaviors for our teens. She also reminds us that it’s never too late to repair, reconnect, and love the teen we have right now.

About Dr. Ann-Louise Lockhart

Dr. Ann-Louise Lockhart is a pediatric psychologist, parent coach, speaker, and author who helps overwhelmed parents raise confident, emotionally healthy kids and teens. As the founder of A New Day Pediatric Psychology, she empowers families to move from chaos to connection using practical tools rooted in clinical expertise and real-life parenting. She is the author of an upcoming book launching October 28, 2025 titled, Love the Teen You Have: A Practical Guide to Transforming Conflict Into Connection. She has been featured in The New York Times, Parents, HuffPost, and on The Today Show. Her dynamic, relatable style has made her a trusted voice for parents nationwide.

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