Autistic and ADHD Kids Parenting Strategies: Every Brain is Different

Connect With Samantha: https://everybrainisdifferent.com/

Join the Neurodivergent Parenting Community: https://www.everybrainisdifferent.com/membership

 

Samantha and Lauren introduce a multi-part series on road tripping, focusing in this episode on strategies for smoother car travel, especially for kids with autism.

They explain why road trips are hard-loss of routine and predictability, sensory overload, limited autonomy, sibling noise conflicts, motion sickness, and movement needs—and emphasize that success is about regulation, not perfection.

Tips include planning seating ahead of time, packing comfort items and regulation tools first (headphones, sunglasses, weighted items, fidgets), keeping snacks and water accessible, using GPS timing to reduce “are we there yet,” creating visual roadmaps/schedules, practicing expectations, building in movement breaks, and watching early meltdown signs.

 

00:00 Summer Chaos Intro

00:47 Road Trip Series Setup

01:54 Why Road Trips Are Hard

04:06 Pre Trip Car Plan

05:43 Predictability With GPS

07:54 Sensory And Sibling Noise

10:32 Devices And Offline Options

11:57 Movement Break Strategies

15:14 Visual Roadmaps And Packing

19:07 Meltdown Prevention And Repair

20:52 Games And Entertainment Ideas

23:57 Validate And Parent Regulation

26:23 Key Takeaways And Wrap Up

 

Connect with Samantha Foote!
Website: https://everybrainisdifferent.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/everybrainisdifferent
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@everybrainisdifferent

Connect with Samantha: https://www.everybrainisdifferent.com/

Join the Neurodivergent Parent Community: https://www.everybrainisdifferent.com/membership

Samantha and Lauren interview Daniella Feldhausen, a former DC attorney who founded Kids Up Reading Tutors after earning a master’s in special education and focusing on helping children with reading and spelling challenges, including dyslexia and dysgraphia.

Daniella explains that her team tailors one-on-one, high-dosage tutoring (multiple sessions per week) based on a detailed skills evaluation rather than relying on a diagnosis, aiming to help students catch up quickly and build confidence.

00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro

00:46 How Kids Up Works

03:43 Confidence and Family Wins

05:25 Dyslexia vs Dysgraphia

08:49 Hidden Struggles in Older Grades

10:42 First Steps for Parents

13:01 It Is Never Too Late

19:01 IEPs and School Limits

23:20 Resources and Where to Find Daniella

24:46 Fun Question and Farewell

25:43 Host Highlights Wrap Up

 

Connect with Daniela:

Website: www.KidsUpReadingTutors.com

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/daniela-feldhausen-kidsupreadingtutors/

Facebook: www.facebook.com/KidsUpReadingTutors/

Instagram: www.instagram.com/kidsupreadingtutors/

 

Connect with Samantha Foote!
Website: https://everybrainisdifferent.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/everybrainisdifferent
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@everybrainisdifferent

Join the Neurodivergent Parenting Community: https://www.everybrainisdifferent.com/membership

Connect with Dr. Linda Silbert: https://stronglearning.com/

 

Samantha and Lauren interviews Dr. Linda Silbert of Strong Learning Incorporated about supporting neurodivergent learners and reframing bad grades as symptoms rather than reasons for punishment.

Dr. Silbert urges parents to stop blaming children or schools, become detectives about root causes (academic, social, emotional, bullying, sensory, or anxiety), and approach teachers and IEP meetings collaboratively.

She emphasizes repairing parent-child friction by apologizing, listening, and teaching practical study skills in short, effective bursts rather than long sessions, noting that stress can make students “blank” during tests.

Dr. Silbert describes gamifying reading intervention, using card-deck games, fluency activities, and plays aligned with Orton-Gillingham, to reduce anxiety, build confidence, and improve reading, and shares resources including her new book Why Good Kids Get Bad Grades.

 

00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro

00:40 Grades Are Symptoms

02:57 Homeschool and Nervous System

05:20 IEP Advocacy and Collaboration

07:11 Bullying and Emotional Fallout

11:10 Repairing Parent Child Trust

14:30 Study Smarter Not Longer

16:30 Gamified Reading Breakthrough

19:39 Play Based Learning Tools

21:13 Resources and Where to Find

22:09 Fun and Closing Reflections

23:06 Hosts Wrap Up Takeaways

28:51 Reading Counts Any Format

30:05 Final Goodbye

 

Connect with Samantha Foote!
Website: https://everybrainisdifferent.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/everybrainisdifferent
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@everybrainisdifferent

Join the Neurodivergent Parenting Community: https://www.everybrainisdifferent.com/podcast

Samantha and Lauren discuss how neurodivergent children may mask at school or other settings: suppressing stims, sensory distress, and authentic behavior to appear “typical” and then have meltdowns at home because home feels safest, a pattern also described as after-school restraint collapse.

They emphasize that these explosions are nervous system and stress responses, not manipulation, and that chronic masking drains executive functioning and can leave kids in fight-or-flight.

The episode outlines signs a child may be struggling at school (shutdowns, irritability, control-seeking, sibling conflict, isolation, increased PDA behaviors, avoiding help, and even not using the bathroom) and suggests ways to reduce nervous system load and improve safety at school through sensory-friendly routines, supportive accommodations, authenticity at home, and self-advocacy skills, while avoiding forced eye contact, dismissing concerns, over-scheduling, and rewarding extreme compliance.

 

00:00 Masking Recap

01:02 Why Home Meltdowns Happen

02:15 What Masking Looks Like

03:43 Executive Function Burnout

06:26 After School Restraint Collapse

06:59 Signs of Distress at School

09:20 Signs Your Child Masks

11:31 Reduce Load Before School

13:40 School Supports That Help

15:39 Stop Rewarding Compliance

16:47 Build Authenticity at Home

17:17 Teach Self Advocacy

17:41 What Not To Do

19:35 Connection Over Correction

 

Connect with Samantha Foote!
Website: https://everybrainisdifferent.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/everybrainisdifferent
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@everybrainisdifferent

Connect with Samantha: https://everybrainisdifferent.com/

Join the Neurodivergent Parenting Community: https://www.everybrainisdifferent.com/membership

 

Samantha and Lauren open by discussing mom guilt and the importance of giving yourself grace when you miss commitments, lose your cool, or have hard parenting moments, emphasizing that apologies and tomorrow-as-a-reset matter.

They then explain masking: children, especially neurodivergent kids, may hold it together at school and unravel at home because home is emotionally safe, not because parents are doing something wrong or the child is being manipulative.

They describe how cognitive fatigue (executive-function demands), emotional exhaustion (managing expectations, social stress, fear of trouble, rejection sensitivity), and sensory overload (noise, lights, clothing discomfort) accumulate during the day, leaving kids with no capacity for even small demands like “How was your day?” They note masking can also differ between co-parents, and suggest school accommodations (movement, no forced eye contact, IEP/504 supports) and coping skills, with next week focused on making school feel safer.

 

00:00 Welcome and Mom Guilt

01:03 Grace and Repairing Moments

03:05 What Masking Looks Like

07:17 Why Home Meltdowns Happen

09:26 School Accommodations

12:15 Safe Parent and Coparenting

14:42 The Cost of Masking

20:06 Sensory Overload Stack

22:51 You Are the Safe Place

24:22 Community Support and Wrap Up

 

Connect with Samantha Foote!
Website: https://everybrainisdifferent.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/everybrainisdifferent
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@everybrainisdifferent