How to Build a Supportive Mental Health Network | Ep. 173
Autistic and ADHD Kids Parenting Strategies: Every Brain is DifferentShow Notes
Samantha and Lauren discuss why building a supportive network matters for mental health and how to do it, drawing from Samantha’s postpartum psychosis and breakdown in 2016 and the challenges of parenting children with medical needs.
They outline key benefits of support, which include emotional encouragement, practical help, accountability, perspective when “your brain is lying to you,” and connection.
They describe four types of support: personal (friends, family, faith/community), professional (primary care, therapists, psychiatrists, coaches, support groups), peer (special-interest and parenting/disability communities), and practical (cleaning, childcare, meal services, assistants).
They offer steps to build support without shame: start small, be specific about needs, allow imperfect help while avoiding toxic relationships, and find aligned communities, ending with a one-step takeaway and available resources.
More from Autistic and ADHD Kids Parenting Strategies: Every Brain is Different
Samantha and Lauren discuss why children may struggle with tasks they seemed able to do the day before (like getting dressed, brushing teeth, or doing homework) and how parents can respond without assuming laziness or defiance.
Samantha and Lauren discuss Samantha’s son’s years-long struggle with chronic, debilitating pain (legs, back, migraines) and how a pain clinic evaluation led to a new explanation: sensory processing disorder with heightened interoception. After extensive normal test results, a multidisciplinary team suggested his internal body-signal sense may be “turned up,” intensifying pain perception.
Samantha and Lauren interview Susan Minor, a certified relationship coach trained in the Laura Doyle method, about rebuilding connection in marriage, especially for parents under the stress of raising neurodivergent children.
Samantha and Lauren interview Dalisse, an autistic author and mom of two autistic boys, living in Barcelona, Spain, who wrote the five-book Loving Pieces series. Dalisse shares her family’s journey since her oldest son's diagnosis at 17 months, discussing early challenges such as meltdowns, guilt, grief, and uncertainty, and advises parents to give themselves time, take things one day at a time, and not treat bleak predictions as fixed outcomes.
Samantha and Lauren discuss out-of-the-box ways to teach neurodivergent kids kitchen skills. They share practical strategies to include kids without overwhelm by breaking cooking into clear steps, assigning specific tasks, and using visuals, play kitchens, and practice activities like pouring between measuring cups or “mud pie” measuring. They cover progressive knife and cutting practice with kid-safe tools, softer foods, and Play-Doh, while emphasizing safety routines.