Parenting a Neurodivergent Child: How to Advocate at School

And we have a lot to learn from you.

You probably really resonated with this parent who got the letter from her son's teacher and the teacher's naming all of this different behavior and saying, you know, help me help your child.

And I just, you know, we resonate with her, but it made me think back to when she, I first saw some struggles maybe before or just after a diagnosis and the worry sinking feeling in my heart.

In our family, it was dyslexia and like, oh boy, you know, now what? Just a lot of thoughts around all of that.

And so I just kind of want to start our podcast right there.

And Marnie, I wonder what you would have to say if you thought way back to that time and And what was going on in your heart and how you've walked through that?

Yeah.

Well, we had, you know, kind of a different route, I guess, to parenting and our first son, we were expecting to have special needs.

He had hydrocephalus and he ended up passing before he was born.

And so I had done a deep dive already into what that might look like.

Like I started my parenting journey off looking into, you know, just all the things that he was going to need and how we were going to support him.

And I think that was kind of preparation,

you know, for what was

to

come later.

And at that time, I remember somebody giving me an article that was called your trip to Holland.

And it was all about like, you were planning for a trip.

I think it was like Disneyland, like you were planning to go to Disneyland or something.

I can't remember someplace like Hawaii someplace, you know, tropical and amazing.

And you packed your bag and everyone was talking about it.

You did all the research and you get on the plane and they say, Oh, we're going to Holland.

And that's not what you expected.

You packed the wrong kind of clothes.

You know, you just weren't expecting this trip.

And so you get up and there's beauty in Holland, right? Like there's the tulips and like, there's just windmills and there's, it has its own beauty.

And we have a lot to learn from you.

You probably really resonated with this parent who got the letter from her son's teacher and the teacher's naming all of this different behavior and saying, you know, help me help your child.

And I just, you know, we resonate with her, but it made me think back to when she, I first saw some struggles maybe before or just after a diagnosis and the worry sinking feeling in my heart.

In our family, it was dyslexia and like, oh boy, you know, now what? Just a lot of thoughts around all of that.

And so I just kind of want to start our podcast right there.

And Marnie, I wonder what you would have to say if you thought way back to that time and And what was going on in your heart and how you've walked through that?

Yeah.

Well, we had, you know, kind of a different route, I guess, to parenting and our first son, we were expecting to have special needs.

He had hydrocephalus and he ended up passing before he was born.

And so I had done a deep dive already into what that might look like.

Like I started my parenting journey off looking into, you know, just all the things that he was going to need and how we were going to support him.

And I think that was kind of preparation,

you know, for what was

to

come later.

And at that time, I remember somebody giving me an article that was called your trip to Holland.

And it was all about like, you were planning for a trip.

I think it was like Disneyland, like you were planning to go to Disneyland or something.

I can't remember someplace like Hawaii someplace, you know, tropical and amazing.

And you packed your bag and everyone was talking about it.

You did all the research and you get on the plane and they say, Oh, we're going to Holland.

And that's not what you expected.

You packed the wrong kind of clothes.

You know, you just weren't expecting this trip.

And so you get up and there's beauty in Holland, right? Like there's the tulips and like, there's just windmills and there's, it has its own beauty.