Kids Like Ours

Bridgette and Molly are joined by Meryl Duguay, a former special education teacher and founder of Duguay Educational Consulting & Advocacy, to talk about navigating schools when your child needs more support. Together they explore what parents should know when requesting an evaluation or IEP, what to do when a school pushes back, and how to advocate for your child while maintaining a productive relationship with the school team. They also talk about choosing a school for kids like ours, why test scores and rankings don't tell the whole story, and what parents should actually be looking for in a school environment.

Connect with Meryl

Duguay Educational Consulting & Advocacy 

Special education advocacy and consulting for families navigating IEPs, evaluations, school supports, and the special education system. Meryl works with families across the U.S. and offers an initial 30-minute consultation through her website.

Meryl’s parenting season song picks:

Sierra Ferrell - Years

Meryl chose Sierra Ferrell’s cover of “Years” because of how quickly her kids are growing up — and because of the complicated feeling of watching them reach new milestones while wishing you could slow time down. 

Noah Kahan - You’re Gonna Go Far

Inspired by a recent Noah Kahan concert — and by the fact that both of Meryl’s kids had recently learned to buckle their own seatbelts. 

Additional Resources Mentioned

The Arc of Colorado

Meryl shared The Arc as a resource for families looking for advocacy support in Colorado. The Arc has chapters throughout Colorado, with local chapters providing advocacy services for children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. 

AdvocacyDenver

A Colorado nonprofit that provides advocacy services for children and teens with disabilities and their families, including child advocacy and special education legal support. Meryl specifically mentioned AdvocacyDenver as a resource in the Denver area. 

Terms referenced:

IEP (Individualized Education Program)

A formal plan that outlines the special education services, supports, accommodations, and measurable goals a student needs to access education. Meryl emphasized that an IEP is a living document and that parents are meaningful members of the IEP team.

Child Find

A school district's responsibility to identify, locate, and evaluate students who may need special education services. Meryl discussed Child Find in the context of schools identifying students who may qualify for support, as well as parents' right to make a referral themselves.

Procedural safeguards

The rights and protections available to families throughout the special education process. Meryl encouraged parents to understand their procedural safeguards and know what recourse is available if they disagree with a school's evaluation or decisions.

Prior Written Notice

Documentation from a school explaining when it proposes or refuses to initiate or change the identification, evaluation, educational placement, or provision of a free appropriate public education for a child with a disability. Meryl discussed the importance of having decisions and refusals documented rather than relying on verbal conversations.

Compensatory education

Services or other remedies that may be available when a student did not receive services they were entitled to under special education law. Meryl discussed this in the context of students whose needs were identified later than they should have been.

A note from us: We are not experts in special education law, and this episode is not legal advice. Special education rules and processes can vary by state, so use the resources available in your own state and seek qualified guidance when needed.

The second episode of this two-part series brings Molly’s wife, Rachael, onto the podcast. She shares what it has been like to raise Molly’s son as her own, eventually adopting him, while building a family that looks very different from the one she grew up in. She and Molly talk about their different parenting styles, what happens when those differences show up in difficult moments, and the value of having people around who truly understand what it means to parent a kid like ours.

Rachel's parenting season song pick: 

Hayley Williams – Kill Me

Terms referenced:

Three-legged stool
The three areas of support discussed in the episode: medication management, school support, and parenting strategies.

Parentification
When children take on responsibilities that belong to adults, including managing an adult’s emotions or caring for younger siblings.

Peer support
Connecting with people who have lived through similar experiences and can understand what you’re going through from the inside.

We are not experts — just parents sharing what we're learning in real time. If any of these terms are new to you, you're not alone. We're learning too.

This episode kicks off a two-part series where Bridgette and Molly bring their spouses onto the podcast — starting with Bridgette's husband, Mark. He talks about how different parenting turned out to be from what he imagined, the mental load that caught him off guard, and what it's taken for them to stay aligned as a couple when the usual playbook doesn't work. It's a look at partnership from the other side, and a reminder that raising kids like ours is a team effort.

🎵 Fun fact: Mark is also the composer behind our podcast theme music!

Mark's parenting season song pick:
Rush – Time Stand Still

Referenced in this episode:
Our conversation with Kelsie Olds (Episode 7) — on the instinct to punish, and why it doesn't teach kids the skills they're actually missing.

What if the goal isn't to stop your kid's challenging behaviors, but to better understand them? In this episode, Kelsie Olds, an occupational therapist, writer behind The Occuplaytional Therapist, and author of Your Child's Point of View, joins the podcast to explain why curiosity works better than punishment, why "teach them a lesson" often means something harsher than we admit, and how to give ourselves the same grace we're trying to give our kids.  It's honest, practical, and occasionally a gut-check.

Connect with Kelsie

The Occuplaytional Therapist

Featuring Kelsie's writing on parenting, behavior, and occupational therapy.

Kelsie on Facebook

Long-form, story-driven posts on parenting and behavior.

Kelsie's Book

Your Child's Point of View: Understanding the Reasons Kids Do Unreasonable Things

A one-page-at-a-time book reframing common parenting struggles from the child's perspective, with practical solutions and a bonus section on the parent's own inner child.

Kelsie's parenting season song pick:

Chris Patrick - Alley Oop

Additional resources mentioned:

The Explosive Child by Ross Greene

Referenced for its philosophy that kids do well if they can, and that challenging behavior often means a child is missing a skill needed to meet a demand.

The Good Inside by Dr. Beck Kennedy

Referenced for her point about the mental health cost to a child who is consistently treated as "the bad kid."

Terms referenced:

Gestalt language learner

A language-development pattern where a child learns and communicates in whole memorized scripts, phrases, or songs before breaking them down into their own original speech.

Proprioception

The sensory system responsible for body awareness and regulation; often a factor in why kids seek out physical actions like hitting, kicking, or throwing.

Restorative justice vs. retributive justice

Restorative justice focuses on repairing harm and community; retributive justice focuses on punishment for its own sake.

We are not experts — just parents sharing what we're learning in real time. If any of these terms are new to you, you're not alone. We're learning too.

How much of parenting is made harder by all the expectations we carry? In this episode, Bridgette and Molly explore the “shoulds” they’ve let go of while raising neurodivergent kids. They also discuss the idea of delighting in our children: getting curious about the things they love, appreciating what makes them unique, and intentionally balancing out a world that often focuses on their struggles. It's a feel good conversation about letting go, celebrating the good, and finding more joy alongside the challenges of raising kids like ours.

Resources Mentioned

Parenting a Spicy One by Mary Van Geffen

A compassionate guide to raising deep-feeling, strong-willed kids with practical strategies for staying calm, setting boundaries, and building a connected relationship.

Terms Mentioned

Delighting
Intentionally noticing, enjoying, and expressing genuine pleasure in who your child is—not just what they accomplish or how they behave. Delighting helps strengthen connection, especially during challenging seasons of parenting.

Body Doubling
A strategy where someone works alongside another person while they complete a task. The other person doesn't need to help—they simply provide a calming, motivating presence that can make it easier to get started and stay focused.

The "Shoulds"
The expectations we place on ourselves, our children, or our families about how parenting is supposed to look. Letting go of these expectations can reduce stress and make room for more joy and connection.

Yes Day
A planned day when parents say "yes" to as many reasonable requests as possible within agreed-upon limits, giving children an opportunity to lead and connect with their family.

We are not experts — just parents sharing what we're learning in real time. If any of these terms are new to you, you're not alone. We're learning too.

Bridgette and Molly are joined by Clay Gill, founder of Find Your Power, a coaching practice that helps neurodivergent adults better understand how they're wired and build lives that work with their strengths. Together they talk about Clay's journey to being diagnosed with ADHD and autism as an adult, the unexpected ways learning about neurodivergence can become personal for parents, and the pressure many families feel to figure everything out as quickly as possible. Plus, Molly and Bridgette complete Clay's Power Assessment and get coached live on the podcast.

Connect with Clay

Find Your Power

Introduces the POWER Framework and assessment designed to help neurodivergent adults identify where their energy is being drained and build more sustainable ways of working and living.

Clay Gill on LinkedIn⁠

Follow Clays work and insights on neurodivergence, burnout, executive functioning, and building sustainable ways of working that reduce self-friction and overwhelm.

Clay's parenting season song pick:

Raw Fear - Twenty One Pilots

It’s not easy to admit your worst parenting moments. But pretending they don’t happen is what can make people feel so isolated. In this episode, Bridgette and Molly open up about the moments they’re least proud of. The times they’ve become completely dysregulated themselves, reacted in ways they’d love to take back, and what they’re learning as they move forward.

Resources Mentioned

Raising Lions by Joe Newman

Offers practical strategies for raising strong-willed, challenging children by focusing on compassionate discipline, clear boundaries, and building parental authority.

Terms Mentioned

Co-regulation

The process of helping a child regulate their emotions through a calm, supportive connection with another person. Rather than expecting children to manage overwhelming emotions alone, co-regulation involves adults modeling and supporting emotional regulation until those skills develop.

Repair

The act of reconnecting after conflict, mistakes, or emotional outbursts. Repair may include acknowledging what happened, apologizing, validating feelings, and rebuilding trust.

Emotion Chart

Visual tool that helps children identify and communicate their emotions. These can support emotional awareness and regulation by giving children language for what they're experiencing.

We are not experts — just parents sharing what we're learning in real time. If any of these terms are new to you, you're not alone. We're learning too.

Bridgette and Molly welcome their first guest, Michelle Yu, founder of Josie, a company helping organizations better support working parents and caregivers through coaching, community, and resources designed for the realities families face. Together they talk about what parents are carrying behind the scenes, why so many caregivers feel stretched to their limits, and how workplaces can create cultures where people can actually thrive. They also explore the added layers that come with parenting neurodivergent kids, the power of finding people who get it, and why support often matters more than solutions.

Connect with Michelle

Josie

Coaching, content, and community designed to help working parents and caregivers navigate transitions and feel supported both at home and at work.

Michelle Yu on LinkedIn

Follow Michelle’s work and insights on workplace culture, caregiving, and supporting working parents.

Michelle’s parenting season song pick:

⁠The Strokes - The End Has No End⁠

Additional Resources Mentioned

Spring Health

A workplace mental health platform that connects employees and families with therapy, coaching, care navigation, and personalized mental health support through employer-sponsored benefits.

Family First

Caregiver support that helps families navigate healthcare needs, care coordination, and family logistics.

Cariloop

Employer-sponsored caregiving support offering guidance, planning tools, and care coaches for families managing caregiving responsibilities.

Homethrive

Personalized caregiving support that helps families manage everything from aging parents to complex care needs.

Deborah Porter "The Mom Coach"

Parent coach and speaker who supports moms navigating the challenges of parenting and family life. Michelle referenced Deborah’s perspective that parenting doesn’t necessarily get easier—it changes.

In this episode, Bridgette and Molly open up about their school journeys — from early concerns to IEPs, starting over at new schools, trialing medication, and everything in between. They share the emotional reality of advocating for kids who are often misunderstood and what it’s taken to find the right support.

Resources Mentioned

⁠The Explosive Child⁠ by: Dr. Ross W. Greene

Introduces collaborative problem solving and the idea that “kids do well if they can.”

⁠Raising Kids with Big Baffling Behaviors⁠ by: Robyn Gobbel

Discusses behavior through a nervous-system lens and asks what children need to feel safe, regulated, and supported.

Terms Mentioned

ADHD (Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder)

A neurodevelopmental condition that affects attention, impulsivity, emotional regulation, and executive functioning. ADHD impacts much more than focus and activity levels.

ODD (Oppositional Defiant Disorder)

A pattern of intense irritability, emotional reactivity, and resistance to demands that goes beyond typical childhood behavior.

IEP (Individualized Education Program)

A school plan that provides individualized supports and accommodations for students with identified needs.

504 Plan

A school accommodation plan that provides supports to help students access learning but typically offers fewer specialized services than an IEP.

RSD (Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria)

An intense emotional reaction to real or perceived rejection, criticism, or disappointment.

Trauma

Emotional responses that can develop after difficult or overwhelming experiences.

Trauma-Informed Approach

A way of supporting children that recognizes behavior may be connected to stress, difficult experiences, or nervous-system overwhelm.

Unsafe Behaviors

A term schools often use for actions that create risk to the child or others, including aggression, property destruction, or behaviors that require additional intervention.

Occupational Therapy (OT)

A therapy approach that helps children build everyday skills related to regulation, sensory needs, and independence.

Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP)

A specialist who supports communication skills, including speech, language, social communication, and sometimes emotional or behavioral needs that impact interactions.

Behavior Specialist

A professional who helps identify patterns behind challenging behaviors and develops strategies and supports to help children succeed across settings.

Emotional Regulation

The ability to recognize, process, and manage emotions. Many children struggle with regulation when overwhelmed or stressed.

Dysregulation

A state where a child becomes overwhelmed and loses access to coping or self-regulation skills.

We are not experts — just parents sharing what we're learning in real time. If any of these terms are new to you, you're not alone. We're learning too.

In their very first episode, Bridgette and Molly share who they are, how they met, and the moments they realized parenting wasn’t going to look the way they thought it would. From early observations to formal diagnoses, they open up about what it really means to raise kids like theirs.

Resource Mentioned

⁠In a February episode of the Full-Tilt Parenting podcast titled:  A Conversation with Dr. Ross Greene About the Kids Who Aren’t Okay⁠, Ross Greene discussed the idea of “the unlucky kids.”

The idea resonated deeply with us: some children show pain quietly and receive comfort, while others show it through behaviors like yelling, hitting, running, or exploding and are often met with correction first.

Terms Mentioned

ADHD (Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder)

A neurodevelopmental condition that affects attention, impulsivity, emotional regulation, and executive functioning. ADHD impacts much more than focus and activity levels.

ODD (Oppositional Defiant Disorder)

A pattern of intense irritability, emotional reactivity, and resistance to demands that goes beyond typical childhood behavior.

IEP (Individualized Education Program)

A school plan that provides individualized supports and accommodations for students with identified needs.

Sensory Processing Disorder

Difficulty processing sensory information, which can lead children to seek or avoid certain sensory experiences.

Neurodivergent / Neurodivergence

A term describing brains that work differently from what is considered neurologically typical.

RSD (Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria)

An intense emotional reaction to real or perceived rejection, criticism, or disappointment. (Incorrectly referred to as Rejection Sensitivity Disorder in this episode)

PDA (Pathological Demand Avoidance / Persistent Drive for Autonomy)

A profile involving extreme avoidance of demands, often connected to anxiety and a strong need for autonomy.

Anxiety

Persistent fear, worry, or nervous-system activation that can affect behavior and daily life.

Trauma

Emotional responses that can develop after difficult or overwhelming experiences.

Occupational Therapy (OT)

A therapy approach that helps children build everyday skills related to regulation, sensory needs, and independence.

Invisible Disability

Challenges that may not be visible to others, even though they significantly affect daily life.

Dysregulation

A state where a child becomes overwhelmed and loses access to coping or self-regulation skills.

Fight, Flight, Freeze

Automatic stress responses that can show up as aggression, avoidance, shutting down, or explosive behavior.

Proprioception / Proprioceptive Input

The body's sense of where it is in space. Some children seek movement, crashing, pressure, or rough play to help regulate. (Referred to as the "P" word in this episode.)

Strong Sense of Justice

Some neurodivergent children may be highly aware of fairness and rules, even while struggling with their own regulation.

Anger Iceberg

A framework showing that anger often sits on top of deeper emotions like sadness, fear, shame, or overwhelm.

We are not experts — just parents sharing what we're learning in real time. If any of these terms are new to you, you're not alone. We're learning too.