in it.

But I let him apply.

And he got in.

He actually got off a waiting list, got into the school.

He went to the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

He lived in a dorm.

We had an outside consulting company called Canobie College Counseling help him with life skills and provide virtual tutoring and meetings.

So I just want to ask, what emotional challenges can neurodivergent young adults experience when they are trying to find their place in the world?

Now can you tell us how parents can balance providing support while at the same time encourage independence and self-confidence? So I'm asking how can parents balance providing support And at the same time, still encourage independence and self-confidence.

Oh, yeah, that is so important.

You know, so Andrew is the oldest of three.

It's interesting because.

He, when he, especially in high school, we really, like he would get up and make his own lunch and make his breakfast.

And we really wanted him to be independent, you know, set his own alarm clock.

It was a work in progress, but we felt like if he knew, we knew he wanted to go off to college one day.

Now, what advice would you give to parents who have just received an autism diagnosis for their child and they feel very uncertain about the future? So what advice do you have for these type of parents?

You know, I'm also curious to ask you, what practical steps do you think the ordinary public can take, even if they're not exposed to neurodivergence or inclusion on an everyday basis? What steps do you want the public to know that they can take in support of neurodivergent individuals? And what advice would you have for parents going through the same process you went through with Andrew, my friend?

Yeah, I mean, I think, you know, once they start in school, it's tricky because, you know, groups start and you find, you know, are you included in birthday parties? Are you included in the social groups? A lot of times I found that parents were afraid.

You know, they might have Andrew over for a little bit.

They loved him.

They were so sweet.

But they weren't sure what if he had a tantrum or what to do.

And so either I was invited or it was very short play dates.

I wanted to ask you specifically, what practical questions do you think parents should ask themselves before their kids enter adulthood if they're neurodivergent?

I'm really happy to have you on our podcast.

I'm so happy to be here.

I'm happy to talk about my journey.

So as mentioned, I'm Carol Waldman.

I'm a founder of The Waldman Way, and I'm a parent advocate and neurodiversity champion.

My work started over 20 years ago when my son was born.

He's 24 years old, and he was diagnosed with, um, developmental delays in the beginning, and so eventually autism, and I had to navigate through all the IEPs, all the medical appointments, all the therapies, and we were fortunate to have some social groups, the school, the disappointments, the challenges, and the rewards.

When he got the diagnosis, how did you feel at that time?