Wonderfully Wired

For years, my guest Caroline Maguire wondered why nobody in the industry was serving Wonderfully Wired kids by explicitly teaching them social skills. As a Wonderfully Wired person herself, Caroline thought it was "bonkers," that nobody was acknowledging how hard it was for these kids and teaching them the skills they were lacking.

Wonderfully Wired kids often struggle to understand social rules:

1. They may feel like they've broken rules they didn't know existed.

2. Feedback they receive can seem unexpected and confusing.

Caroline emphasises that in her 20 years of experience, all the children she taught were more worried about belonging and being understood than their academic performance. She believes that developing the underlying executive functioning skills is key to helping kids live the fulfilling lives they aspire to.

This month we are featuring the incredible insights of Dr. Liz Angoff from ExplainingBrains.com. Dr. Liz's approach to assessments is transformative, focusing on celebrating the strengths of a child's brain, recognising challenges, and using a child's language to understand the uniqueness of their brain. This process is inherently more collaborative and respectful, involving feedback to the child and the family that is empowering and celebratory of neurodiversity right from the very start.

In this episode, we dive into the world of AI-powered active listening tools and their potential to support individuals with dyslexia. Our guest, Nick Koshnick, a dyslexic physicist and data scientist, joins us to share his insights and experiences.

• AI-powered Writing Tools: We explore how AI can assist dyslexic individuals in writing and communicating more effectively, emphasizing tools like Vnote.ai that convert spoken input into written text.

• Unique Strengths and Adaptability: Nick discusses his journey, emphasizing the significance of recognizing unique brain strengths and weaknesses. He advocates for adaptability and leveraging individual strengths in creative problem-solving.

• Neurodiversity in Entrepreneurship: Embracing neurodiversity is crucial in entrepreneurship. We highlight the resilience and hard work that dyslexic individuals often exhibit, which can lead to significant strengths in reasoning and interconnectedness.

• Clarity in Communication: The importance of clear communication, especially in leadership roles, is underscored. We discuss the effectiveness of interactive tools and writing prompts in enhancing writing abilities.

• Voice Writing Tools: Benefits of using AI in voice writing are discussed, including improved clarity, accuracy, and efficiency in document creation.

• AI's Role in Education: AI's potential in education, particularly for dyslexic students, is explored. Nick emphasizes the value of AI in generating ideas and facilitating a more personalized and creative approach to writing.

Tune in to get inspired by Nick's journey and learn about the future possibilities of AI in supporting neurodiverse individuals.

In this episode, I speak with Victoria Bagnell from Connections in Mind. Victoria specializes in training teachers and executive function coaches. Her organization is dedicated to supporting children in developing their executive functioning skills.

We begin by understanding what executive functioning is and why children need support in this area. Victoria provides insights into what executive function coaching looks like and discusses the necessary changes in classrooms to address unconscious bias against children struggling with executive functioning. We also explore strategies for creating a sense of belonging to prevent children from masking or acting out. Additionally, we cover techniques to help children stay motivated and how Connections in Mind assists adults in developing their executive functioning skills.

Join us as we explore these critical topics and learn how to better support children and adults in enhancing their executive functioning abilities.

Join us for an inspiring conversation in this first episode of the Season 3 of the Wonderfully Wired Podcast, featuring Zak and Nadine Judge. Zak, a university student in his twenties studying computer design, and his mom, Nadine, share their journey with ADHD. They discuss the discovery of Zak's difference, the decisions they made about his schooling, and the strategies that worked and those that didn't. The episode delves into the creation of a supportive family culture, highlighting Nadine's role in helping Zak decide what he truly wants from life and supporting him towards those goals.

Additionally, Zak and Nadine open up about their mental health journeys, with Zak providing an uncanny description of how his brain works. This episode is a story of wounds and healing, character and resilience, gumption and determination, and the power of unconditional love and family support. It is a testament to the importance of seeing, supporting, and truly celebrating the Wonderfully Wired.

The sound quality of this episode is not as good as our usual work! The content is worth it! Find a transcript at https://www.wonderfullywired.online/episodes

I took what I thought was a diversion into talking about physical disability inclusion with Scott Whitney of All4Inclusion and found that to see difference, to support challenges and to really celebrate gifts we must hear real stories of people with lived experience different to our own.

As part of creating teacher training material on inclusion I collaborated with Scott Whitney to talk about living with disability and what it would take to create more inclusive schools.

"The strong cannot be brave. Only the weak can be brave; and yet again, in practice, only those who can be brave can be trusted, in time of doubt, to be strong. The only way in which a giant could really keep himself in training against the inevitable Jack would be by continually fighting other giants ten times as big as himself. That is by ceasing to be a giant and becoming a Jack."

Heretics, G.K. Chesterton

Is it helpful to look at which part of the brain is dominant to help us understand our chidren's unique wiring? Is dominance only left or right or are there other modalities that can help us understand how our children process information, feel love or express frustration.

Chantal Deacon Daniel introduces us to the Genetic Brain Profiling Tool . Chantal believes the tool can give us insight into our children (and ourselves) that can help families love each other better, discipline wiser and communicate clearer.

We talk about the tool but also about Chantal's own story of resilience and the power of a mom willing to be intentional and tenacious in serving her family.

Meet Jessica McCabe, the force behind "How to ADHD." Seven years ago, Jessica embarked on a transformative journey, evolving from a place of self-doubt to becoming an advocate for understanding and working with the ADHD brain. In her own words, she shares:

"Seven years ago, I didn't respect myself; I thought that I just needed to try harder. I dropped the shame, embraced the way my brain works, and developed strategies to accomplish anything I set my mind to. Now, I want this to be the norm—a world where discussing our working memory is as natural as talking about our eye color."

Jessica's insights are a breath of fresh air, and this month, she unveils her latest creation, the book "How to ADHD: Working with Your Brain, Not Against It."

My guest on the podcast is Adell Bridges, a movement expert and yoga instructor who often credits her ADHD for the creative way she instructs bodies and brains on the mat. Adell is both a role model of a successful wonderfully wired adult and an infectious brain-body enthusiast and teacher. This episode is a gift to parents of wonderfully wired kids and parents who are wonderfully wired themselves.

Whilst we know that being "out of the box" is a good thing, it often creates difficulties for both us as parents and our children, when it results in explosive, difficult behaviour.

Dr Greene offers so much hope and practical teaching to parents like you and I pulling out our hair, desperate to help a child who is often in trouble (or in distress!) due to his inability to consistently manage his frustration in an adaptive way.

"Seeing your kid struggle isn't fun." says Dr Ross Greene. "The trick is to pay close attention to whether she needs your help or can manage it on her own. And the magic is in how, if she does need your help, you handle things from there."

I'm so excited to give you real tools in knowing just how to 'handle things from there' this month!

Dr Greene explains the Collaborative Proactive Solutions (CPS) approach with clarity and practical examples.