Ep. 175: Back to School Pep Talk

When you're raising an autistic child, some of the most difficult decisions involve their future. Choosing a school, changing medications, evaluating treatment options, or considering a residential placement can feel enormously consequential. And when you can't predict how things will turn out, the pressure to make the "right" decision can leave you stuck in endless research, second-guessing, or avoiding the decision altogether. In this episode, Lisa Candera, The Autism Mom Coach, kicks off her four-part Future Planning Series with a practical framework for making decisions about your autistic child's future. Drawing on her experience parenting her 19-year-old son and coaching autism moms, Lisa shares how she approaches high-stakes decisions, why even well-informed choices don't guarantee the outcomes we want, and how to move forward when you're working with imperfect information. In this episode, you'll learn: How to separate the decision you actually need to make from all the future outcomes you're trying to control. Why identifying your non-negotiables can help you narrow your options and make more informed decisions. How to determine what information you really need instead of getting stuck in endless research or other people's opinions. Why making a decision also means knowing when to reassess, adjust your approach, or move in a different direction.

Autism Parenting in Crisis: What Needs Your Attention and What Can Wait When your autistic child is in crisis, the rest of your life doesn't stop. You still have work deadlines, family responsibilities, appointments, and commitments. But when you're spending hours on the phone with doctors, providers, and school teams trying to manage an urgent situation, something has to give. In this episode, Lisa Candera, The Autism Mom Coach, shares why she missed a week of podcasting while managing a crisis involving her autistic son. She explains how years of autism parenting have changed her approach to balancing responsibilities, managing expectations, and deciding what actually needs to get done when circumstances change. In this episode, you'll learn: Why trying to fit an autism parenting crisis into an already full schedule creates unnecessary pressure. How to distinguish between what must happen, what needs your attention, and what can wait. Why being capable of doing something doesn't necessarily mean it's the right use of your time and energy. How to reconsider commitments, ask for help, and adjust expectations when your autistic child's needs suddenly take priority.

Your autistic child comes home from school yelling, disappears into their bedroom, or follows you around asking the same question repeatedly. Each situation requires a different response, but your automatic reactions may be making those difficult after-school hours even harder. In this episode, Lisa Candera, The Autism Mom Coach, explains how to respond to three common after-school patterns: the Collider, the Cocooner, and the Clinger. Drawing on her personal parenting experience and coaching work, Lisa introduces opposite action, a skill she learned during her son's OCD therapy, to help autism moms interrupt their automatic reactions and decide what needs immediate attention and what can wait. In this episode, you'll learn: How to respond when your autistic child comes home angry, argumentative, withdrawn, or demanding constant attention. Why providing more attention, asking more questions, or offering repeated reassurance can sometimes make after-school dysregulation worse. How to recognize your own reactions and use opposite action to determine when to engage, when to establish boundaries, and what can wait.

After-school meltdowns don't always look like meltdowns. Some autistic children come home yelling, arguing, or provoking their siblings. Others head straight to their bedrooms and refuse to talk. And some follow Mom from room to room, asking repeated questions or needing constant reassurance. In this episode, Lisa Candera, The Autism Mom Coach, introduces three after-school patterns: the Collider, the Cocooner, and the Clinger. She explains how these patterns can change as autistic children grow into teenagers and young adults, and why understanding your child's pattern can help you recognize your own reactions before the afternoon goes off the rails. In this episode, you'll learn: How to recognize the three after-school patterns and what they may tell you about your child's dysregulation. Why after-school dysregulation can look like defiance, withdrawal, or excessive reassurance-seeking, particularly as autistic children enter adolescence. How to identify your own predictable responses to your child's behavior, whether that means correcting, pursuing, or repeatedly reassuring them.

You get the call, the email, or the communication log, and now you are holding information about your autistic child's school day that they do not know you have. The question is whether to bring it up at home, and if you do, when and how. In this episode, Lisa Candera, The Autism Mom Coach, walks through the three-part decision tree she uses to make that call, with examples from her own experience with her son and from clients parenting kids in elementary school through high school. In this episode, you'll learn: How to decide whether the information you received is actually a problem, or just information about an ordinary school day. Why your own regulation comes before your child's in deciding when to have the conversation. What changes when you stop trying to let your child know that you know and start trying to understand the behavior.