204. Do Support Groups Actually Work? The Hard Truth About Finding Your People - with Sara Intonato
Non Linear Learning - Rethinking Education for Neurodivergent LearnersShow Notes
Do support groups actually help, or do they reinforce the very mindset that keeps parents stuck? In this episode, I sit down with Sara Intonato to unpack this difficult question. Both of us (and probably you) have lived the same reality: Hypervigilance,
burnout,
the constant demand of raising a non-speaking child.
When we went looking for help, what we found in traditional support spaces was not growth or even help. Unfortunately we found: cycles of venting without direction
low expectations presented as acceptance
and a normalization of hopelessness
This is a hard but beautiful conversation, that digs deep and lets us find out what really helps. We talk about: A simple 1-minute regulation tool you can use in crisis
The HALT framework (Hungry, Angry/Anxious, Lonely, Tired)
How to think about self-care when even 5 minutes feels impossible
Sara introduces a different model: community with leadership, structure, and high expectations. Effort is great, but our kids need our regulated presence more! If you've ever felt unsupported in "support" spaces, listen to this episode now.
Links: Find more about Sara here. Sara's free podcast mini-series Autism Changemakers Dr. Vaish Sarathy: Get on the waitlist for Non Linear Education here.
More from Non Linear Learning - Rethinking Education for Neurodivergent Learners
Your child isn't choosing to melt down. By the time behavior shows up, the brain has already decided, and the thinking brain is out of the room. Dr. Lisa Riegel explains why schools most often miss this, and what to do instead.
Why spelled communication is not a guessing game:
We don't make a neurotypical kid prove they can read before we hand them a book. We just teach them to read.
You've talked to 10 therapists. Tried 20 strategies. And your child still goes from calm to crisis in 30 seconds - for reasons no-one understands. Understanding a body requires that we understand the sensory information coming in. And Dr. Dana Johnson - OT, PhD, and founder of the Spellers Center - tells us that there are not 5 but 8 senses. Dana joins Non Linear Learning for the 3rd time to talk about interoception: the eighth sense, the one almost nobody gets taught, and the one that might explain what's been happening in front of you all along. Listen along to learn: Why your child's meltdown appears so sudden
We talk a lot about what our students can't do. But something that educators have found over the years is that there is a scatter to the skills we see in our students. The wildly uneven profile that we see could actually be a blessing. Mark Talaga, counselor, speaker, and founder of the Center for Identity Potential, joins the podcast to talk about asynchronous development in gifted and twice-exceptional learners. And here's what hit me: we're working the same problem from opposite ends. Where there is a sharp strength, there is often a significant deficit, but the opposite is true as well! This conversation got under my skin in the best way. Tune in to this episode to learn: What "asynchrony" actually means in gifted and disabled learners