Personal
Biting Nails
A really common sensory question that I get is “How can I stop my kid from biting/picking their nails or skin around their nails?” or sometimes even, “How can I stop doing it?” Ever since […]
Other
At Home
Learning to Argue
A story of mediating conflict between young siblings, rather than solving it for them. My then-2yo “Summer” was lying on the ground in the middle of the living room floor, playing with toys underneath her […]
Recordings & Media
Once Upon An Upset – Podcast Interview
About a year ago, I had the honor and delight of being on the podcast, Once Upon an Upset. We talked about several things in parenting and professional spheres, because when I speak out loud […]
Autism
Sensory Profiles
“Sensory” is one of those buzzwords these days in parenting groups, on Pinterest, and in relation to different diagnoses. I’ve seen people use it to mean pretty much everything. When I talk about sensory processing, […]
Autism
Pervasively Autistic
This is what it means to say that autism is a neurodivergence (as opposed to, i.e., a disease). I think, if I were writing this quote, I would probably put quotes around the word ‘normal’ — […]
Humor
Restaurant Review
This morning my kids invited me to a restaurant. Let’s start with the positive. The owners are clearly passionate about this restaurant, and even about personalizing it to their customers—as soon as I stepped up […]
Autism
Social Skills for Neurotypicals
When you start to frame autism, ADHD, or other neurodivergences as really and truly just a difference instead of a disorder… It leaves space for realizing things like how the “social skills” that we teach […]
Autism
Autism Self-Diagnosis is Valid
In the Autistic community, self-diagnosis is accepted as a valid journey to diagnosis. There might be reasons to pursue medical diagnosis, which could include the affirmation of hearing it from an external provider/professional; needing medical […]
Personal
Crunchy Needs
I noticed that I was struggling with eating the food that I had available for myself for lunch. When I thought about needing to get up and get my lunch, I would think of excuses […]
Personal
Wouldn’t It Be More Fun…?
A few days ago, I was holding one of my children, who was distressed and melting down. We were sitting together on the couch while they sobbed, and then settled down, and then would remind […]