Show Notes
For years, I thought I was just an anxious parent around water and cars. I now know I was not anxious. My neurodivergent kids were baseline less safe. That knowing changes everything.
This week's episode was originally going to be about travel. When I sat down to record, I felt compelled to talk about safety instead.
In this episode, Erica walks through what the research actually says about safety risk in neurodivergent kids, including the sobering statistics on drowning and wandering. She covers water safety and the layered system her family uses (including the pilot-style verbal handoff for supervision), sun and heat considerations including how ADHD stimulant medications affect hydration and thermoregulation, elopement and wandering protocols, and road and travel safety.
If you have ever been told you are too worried, too hyper-vigilant, too much when it comes to your neurodivergent kid, this episode is for you. Your hypervigilance is not neurosis. It is love, translated into vigilance, in a body that has learned it needs to be watching.
This is the Season 1 finale. Season 2 returns in late August with a back-to-school arc. In the meantime, the entire back catalog of Episodes 1 through 17 is available wherever you listen.
FURTHER READING
Columbia University research on wandering and injury in autism: https://www.publichealth.columbia.edu/news/individuals-autism-substantially-heightened-risk-injury-death
ADHD stimulant medications and heat regulation, clinical guidance: https://careadhd.frontkb.com/en/articles/9982338
Autism and thermoregulation research overview: https://biologyinsights.com/autism-and-temperature-regulation-key-thermosensory-insights/
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I'm joined by Fayth Caruso, who has spent 15 years working with rebounding as a tool for the body, with people of all ages and abilities, including a lot of neurodivergent kids and adults.