Full-Tilt Parenting: Strategies, Insights, and Connection for Parents Raising Neurodivergent Children

Today’s episode is all about social skills, but from an updated lens
that really speaks to the lived experiences of today’s kids. My guest is
writer and journalist Catherine Newman, and we’re going to dive into
her new book, What Can I Say? A Kids Guide to Super Useful Social Skills to Help You Get Along and Express Yourself.

What Can I Say is aimed at kids ages 10 and up, and it
includes practical and accessible advice to help kids and teens learn
social skills, including everything from introduce themselves, express empathy, be persuasive, and apologize to compromise, ask for help, be grateful, and comfort a friend.

In this conversation, Catherine and talk about why learning social
and interpersonal skills are more important than ever for our kids,
despite the fact that their lives are evolving to include more time
spent online. We also talk about the climate for social emotional learning and ways parents and educators can to reinforce the social skills our kids are learning.

About Catherine

Catherine Newman is the author of the memoirs Catastrophic Happiness and Waiting for Birdy, the middle-grade novel One Mixed-Up Night, the kids’ craft book Stitch Camp, the how-to books for kids How to Be a Person and What Can I Say? and the novel We All Want Impossible Things
(forthcoming, Harper, November 2022). She edits the non-profit kids’
cooking magazine ChopChop, writes the etiquette column for Real Simple
magazine, and is a regular contributor to the New York Times, O, The
Oprah Magazine, Parents magazine, Cup of Jo, and many other
publications. She lives in Amherst, Massachusetts, with her family.

 

Key Takeaways

Why it’s still important to learn
social skills and interpersonal skills even though our kids’ lives are
evolving to include more time spent online

Why it’s important to spend time learning social skills just as we would learn any other type of skill like algebra or singing

The importance of learning
interpersonal skills that focus on empathy, setting boundaries, being
curious, and being supportive and inclusive of people with different
identities

How OT can help neurodivergent kids grow up with advanced social emotional skills

What parents and educators can do to support and reinforce the social skills they are learning

 Resources Mentioned

Catherine Newman’s website

Catherine on Instagram


What Can I Say? A Kids’ Guide to Super Useful Social Skills to Help You Get Along and Express Yourself by Catherine Newman


How to Be a Person: 65 Hugely Useful, Super-Important Skills to Learn before You’re Grown Up by Catherine Newman

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Patty Laushman, a speaker, autism life coach, and the author of the book Parenting for Independence: Overcoming Failure to Launch in Autistic Emerging Adults, joins me to talk about one of the misunderstood stages of parenting: supporting our neurodivergent kids as they move into emerging adulthood. In our conversation, Patty and I unpack the concept of “failure to launch,” why that label is actually unhelpful and inaccurate, and how redefining independence can change everything. We talk about self-determination, motivation, and what support actually looks like during this phase of life. Patty also shares her SBN parenting framework—Support, Boundaries, and Nudges—and offers grounded, compassionate guidance for navigating this transition while strengthening trust and connection along the way.

About Patty Laushman

 

Patty Laushman is an author, speaker, educator, and coach who specializes in supporting neurodivergent individuals and the families who love them. With both personal and professional experience, she deeply understands the challenges of being neurodivergent in a world designed for those who are more neurotypical—and the transformative power of the right kind of support.

She is the founder and head coach at Thrive Autism Coaching, where she and her team help neurodivergent teens and adults, as well as their parents, build the skills and confidence needed to thrive. Patty developed the SBN™ parenting framework, a step-by-step system that teaches parents how to use support, boundaries, and nudges to help their autistic emerging adults reclaim motivation, build momentum, and move toward more meaningful lives on their own terms.

Through her Parenting for Independence group coaching program, Patty has guided hundreds of families through this unexpected stage of parenting—helping them rebuild trust, strengthen relationships, and finally start seeing progress. Her compassionate, neurodiversity-affirming approach has been described by clients as “the only thing that has ever worked for us.”She lives with her husband, son, and Golden Retriever in the Denver/Boulder metro area. In her spare time, you’ll find her hiking, camping, headbanging to heavy metal, or devouring medical or crime dramas.

Things you'll learn from this episode  

How understanding a child’s lived experience lays the groundwork for more effective, compassionate parenting

Why the term “failure to launch,” while loaded, can help families find the right support and resources

How redefining independence to include positive interdependence supports healthier outcomes for emerging adults

Why self-determination is central to helping neurodivergent young adults move out of stuckness and burnout

How the SBN framework—Support, Boundaries, and Nudges—guides parents in creating momentum without control

Why resetting expectations and timelines can ease parental shame and anxiety while supporting real growth

Resources mentioned

Patty Laushman’s website Thrive Autism Coaching


Parenting for Independence: Overcoming Failure to Launch in Autistic Emerging Adults by Patty Laushman


How to Get Your Autistic Emerging Adult in the Driver’s Seat of Their Life (freebie from Patty)


Parenting for Independence (Patty’s program)

Private Coaching for Parents with Patty


The Real Work of Parenting Neurodivergent Young Adults (Part 1) — a crossover episode with Penny Williams (Full-Tilt Parenting podcast)


The Real Work of Parenting ND Young Adults (Part 2) (Beautifully Complex podcast)


A Conservation with Dr. Gina Riley on Self-Determination Theory & Motivation (Full-Tilt Parenting)


A Conversation with Linda Murphy About Declarative Language episode (Full-Tilt Parenting)

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In this special kid’s POV edition of the podcast, Asher answers
questions from listeners — specifically our kid audience — about his
social life. Like many differently-wired kids, social scenes aren’t
always smooth sailing for Asher. He sometimes struggles to pick-up on
others’ cues and his occasionally intense emotional reactions to certain
situations can be off-putting to other kids.

We talk about it all in this episode, as Asher opens up about not
only what’s challenging for him in relationship to other kids, but what
strategies he’s using to get through these challenges and maintain
friendships, something that is very important to him.

 

Questions answered in this episode:

What are your friendships like?

What kind of challenges have you had in your friendships and how have you handled them?

What happens when you have a meltdown in front of a friend?

What do you do when kids are mean to you or call you names like “weirdo?”

What advice do you have for kids starting a new school?

How do you manage group situations that don’t go your way?

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Today’s conversation is a candid, honest look at what it’s really like to parent while navigating ADHD yourself. My guest is Laura Key, Vice President of Content Strategy at Understood.org and the host of the award-winning ADHD Aha! podcast. Laura was diagnosed with ADHD at 30, and she brings both professional insight and lived experience to this conversation as a mom raising two neurodivergent kids. Laura and I talk about the emotional labor so many mothers carry, the unique challenges parents with ADHD face, and why self-compassion is not optional—it’s essential. We dig into shame, burnout (both the quiet, everyday kind and the big, overwhelming kind), communication with partners, and the pressure that can come with framing ADHD as a “superpower.” This episode is an honest exploration of the joys and struggles of parenting with ADHD, and a reminder that you’re not alone in any of it.

About Laura Key 

Laura Key is Vice President of Content Strategy at Understood.org, a non-profit organization dedicated to empowering the 70 million people with ADHD, dyslexia, and other learning and thinking differences in the United States. She's also the host of the award-winning ADHD Aha! podcast.

Things you'll learn from this episode  

How adult ADHD is often misread as anxiety at first, and why addressing one can illuminate the other

Why late identification can bring both grief and relief after years of self-blame for brain-based differences

How shame and invisible executive function demands can quietly dominate family life, especially for moms

Why being great in a crisis but overwhelmed by daily details is a common—and misunderstood—ADHD pattern

How burnout can show up as both “micro” and “macro” exhaustion, including frenetic busyness that masks collapse

Why recovery often starts with basic regulation and more realistic self-expectations, not grand productivity plans

Resources mentioned

Understood.org

Understood on Instagram

Understood on LinkedIn


ADHD Aha (podcast)


Imposter Syndrome After a Lifetime of Hacking Her ADHD (Debbie with Laura on ADHD Aha)

Understood’s podcast study on women, podcasts, and ADHD

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Today’s episode is all about self-care for autistic people, and joining me is return guest Dr. Megan Anna Neff of Neurodivergent Insights. Megan Anna has just published a new book called Self-Care for Autistic People: 100+ Ways to Recharge, De-Stress, and Unmask! which she wrote to help autistic people accept themselves, destigmatize autism, find community, and take care of physical and mental health.

Megan Anna considers self-care to be a collective effort that includes the well-being of the community, a framework that really resonated with me. So we talk about that, along with other ideas from Megan Anna’s book, including how internalized ableism can hinder self-care, considerations for navigating self-care for individuals with PDA, and insights into co-regulation, sensory considerations, and how advocacy and accommodations in the workplace can also be forms of self-care.

 

ABOUT DR. MEGAN ANNA NEFF
Dr. Megan Anna Neff (she/they) is a neurodivergent Clinical Psychologist
and founder of Neurodivergent Insights where she creates education and
wellness resources for neurodivergent adults. Additionally, she is co-host of the Divergent Conversations podcast. As a late-diagnosed AuDHDer (Autistic ADHD), Dr. Neff applies their lived experiences from a cross-neurotype marriage and parenting neurodivergent children to their professional focus. They are committed to broadening the mental health field’s understanding of autism and ADHD beyond traditional stereotypes. This personal-professional blend enriches their work and advocacy within neurodiversity.

Dr. Neff is the author of Self-Care for Autistic People and a forthcoming book on Autistic Burnout. Additionally, she has published in several peer-reviewed journals on topics ranging from neurodivergence, place attachment, relational psychoanalysis, social psychology, and integration of spirituality into psychotherapy.

 

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Why self-care should be approached with self-attunement and an understanding of one’s own needs

Why self-care is a collective effort that includes the well-being of the community

How internalized ableism can hinder self-care and why it’s important to address it

Ideas for navigating self-care for individuals with PDA regarding autonomy, co-regulation, and sensory considerations

Ways to practice self-care in the workplace, including self-disclosure, documentation, and setting realistic expectations

 ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Dr. Megan Anna Neff’s website


Self-Care For Autistic People by Dr. Megan Anna Neff

* A special bonus offer for Tilt Parenting community *

Divergent Conversations Podcast

Neurodivergent Insights on Instagram

Neurodivergent Insights on Facebook

Dr. Megan Anna Neff on LinkedIn

Dr. Megan Anna Neff’s Link in Bio


Dr. Megan Anna Neff on Diagnoses and Misdiagnoses (Tilt Parenting Podcast)

Sarah Wayland


Is This Autism? A Guide for Clinicians and Everyone Else by Dr. Donna Henderson and Dr. Sarah Wayland

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