Great neurodiversity podcasts for parents (and interested teens.)
These are for a parenting perspective, but if you have a teen or tween who loves learning about neurodiversity, they may enjoy tuning in with you.
- Parenting Footprint– Dr. Dan Peters. Parenting, with a strong focus on neurodiversity and gifted families. This podcast has recently come to an end, but there are years of awesome episodes just waiting for you. I suggest you start at the beginning and work your way through.
- Tilt Parenting– Deborah Reber. Focused on parenting 2e children. This is another podcast with years of helpful, past episodes archived and ready.
- Sold a Story– Dyslexia focus.
- The Neurodiversity Podcast
Neurodiversity Books for Parents. My teens have read most of these, as well. Note- many of them have good audiobook options. Don’t let the long list overwhelm you. I suggest you start with Differently Wired, Living with Intensity and The Explosive Child. Those three were life-changing for me and none of them are huge books. Then take your time and pick and choose through the rest of the list, according to your needs.
- Differently Wired, by Deborah Reber. Gifted, Twice Exceptional, Homeschooling, Navigating Parenthood. A Must-Read!
- Living with Intensity, by Susan Daniels and Michael M. Piechowski. A Must-Read. This is a wonderful introduction to the gifted overexcitabilities.
- Normal Sucks, by Jonathan Mooney. Mooney didn’t learn to read until he was 12. His elementary school education experience was pretty terrible. Yet, he grew up to graduate from Brown with an Honors English degree, and he is a prolific author and advocate for neurodiverse kids. If you need to be infused with a little hope or feel like you are not alone, this is your guy.
- The Dyslexic Advantage, by Brock and Fernette Eide. Around dyslexia or reading struggles, this book is extremely important. It will help you begin to see the strengths of the dyslexic learning profile. They also introduce the idea of “stealth dyslexia” and will help you understand how to advocate for your child.
- The Explosive Child, by Dr. Ross Greene. A Must-Read! This book is crucial if you have a kid who is unhappy in school (or home, or anywhere else) or who misbehaves and regular parenting books don’t solve the issues. Perhaps it is the book I quote the most often. It will help you see problem behavior as communication of an unmet need, and help you understand how to pinpoint the unmet need or lagging skill. This really flips the script from “my child is a problem” to “my child has a problem.” Read it!
- Calm, by Susan Cain. Do you have any introverted kiddos? Are you an introvert? If so, this book is a must-read.
- Ungifted, by Dr. Scott Barry Kaufman. Gosh, this is another good one. My teens enjoyed reading it, too. Dr. Kaufman does so much in this book. If you have twice exceptional, gifted, or outside-the-box kids, I really recommend you take time to read it at some point. It will help you understand that 1. IQ is just a number and not a label. 2. What healthy pursuit of excellence looks like vs unhealthy or obsessive pursuits. 3. Dr. Kaufman tells his own personal story of flying under the radar as a child, with his gifts going unrecognized. There’s more. It is especially valuable for artists and musicians because of his personal musician’s perspective.
- Rainforest Mind, by Paula Prober. Read this one for yourself as well as for your kids down the road. An affirming look at the mind of gifted people.
- Being Twice Exceptional, by Dr. Melanie Hayes. The focus of this book is twice exceptional autistic people. It is focused towards adults, but parents will find it very insightful for the long-haul support of their kids.
- Make Your Worrier a Warrior, by Dr. Dan Peters. Do you have anxious kids? If so, definitely read this book.
- Why Will No One Play With Me?, by Caroline Maguire. Maguire’s book is part personal narrative (which I always appreciate) and part prescriptive advice on helping young children improve their social skills. It is a neuro-affirming, collaborative perspective.
- Thrivers, by Dr. Michele Borba. Thrivers gives tips on helping your kids have and sustain grit.
- Neurotribes, by Steve Silberman. Honestly, I’m reading this one right now, so I’ll update with more information. It came highly recommended and I’m excited to work my way through it.
Magazines for Parents. Again, my teens read these, too!
- Additude magazine Paper or online option
- Monitor on Psychology Check it out online or call them to start a subscription. (On the website the subscription offered is part of a membership only offered to psychologists. But over the phone you can order the magazine subscription separate from the other membership.)
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