Parenting Neurodiverse Children: The Parent Perspective
June 13, 2023
Table of Contents
Parenting neurodiverse children can be frustrating when you have done almost everything you know but nothing seems to work, like trying to unlock a door with the wrong key. Turns out that the conventional parenting wisdom and old-fashioned discipline techniques are just… old. And no longer applicable in today’s environment and culture.
The Expert in Parenting Neurodiverse children
Andrea Pollack, a former lawyer turned parenting coach, who specializes in parenting neurodiverse children, knows what it’s like to be in your shoes. She tried everything to help him, but nothing worked. She was feeling hopeless and helpless. But then, she discovered the one thing that changed everything for her and her son – the right key for his door and opened it.
She found a way to connect with him, to understand him, and to support him in a way that he responded to.
Proven Process For You And Your Child
In this interview, Andrea reveals her process to turn things around and have a better relationship with her child. She also shares the lessons she learned along the way that she wishes she knew at the beginning of her parenting journey.
[su_box title=”Things You Will Learn” box_color=”#84C141″ class=”nutshell_box”]
- Examples of ‘conventional parenting wisdom’ and ‘old-fashioned’ discipline techniques, why they don’t work, and how they “backfire”.
- An in depth look into Andrea’s process to parenting neurodiverse children.
- Bridging the gap of being a therapist and a mother.
- Is punishment ever appropriate and does it ever work?
- How coaching helps parents end power struggles, feel successful, and build family harmony.
- How to reduce parent stress and increase impact of therapies for better child and family outcomes with ‘parenting confidence’.
- The process to get from where you are to where you want to be.
- And much more…[/su_box]
Show Notes for this Podcast
-
- Why getting advice from therapists isn’t helping with your ‘parenting’. (06:15)
- Do’s and Don’ts’ to have the best parent-therapist relationship. (14:10)
- How to manage your child’s challenging behaviors. (17:33)
- How to avoid the trial and error of a painful and expensive parenting with Andrea’s process. (21:35)
Resources and Links
Facebook group: Autism Parent Solutions Community
https://autismparentsolutions.com/
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More about Andrea Pollack, the Parenting Neurodiverse Children Expert:
Andrea Pollack is a mom of two young adult children, a former lawyer in New York City, and an advocate for parents of autistic and other developmentally challenged children. When her autistic son was not thriving at school, Andrea left her 19-year law career to homeschool him.
She later went on to earn her Master’s in Education so that she could most effectively help parents get swift and lasting results without years of trial and error. Now, with years of experience and research under her belt, Andrea is sharing her wisdom with the world through Autism Parent Solutions.
Tara Hunkin:
This is the My Child Will Thrive podcast. And I'm your host, Tara Hunkin, certified Functional Nutritional Therapy practitioner and mother. I am here to share with you the latest research expert advice, parent perspectives, resources, and tools to help you on your path to optimizing the health and development for your child with ADHD, autism, sensory processing disorder, learning disabilities, or other neurodevelopmental disorders.
My own experiences with my daughter, combined with as much training as I can get my hands on, research I can dig into, and conferences I can attend have helped me to develop systems and tools for parents like you who feel overwhelmed trying to help their children. So, sit back as I share another great topic to help you on your journey.
A quick disclaimer, please keep in mind that the information provided is for information and educational purposes only. It is not intended to diagnose or treat your child. It is not a substitute for working with a qualified practitioner. This episode of the My Child Will Thrive podcast is brought to you by the Autism, ADHD and Sensory Processing Disorder Summit. You can sign up for free to watch 10 days of expert interviews and masterclass at mychildwillthrive.com/summit.
Now on with the show. Hi everyone, welcome back to the My Child Will Thrive podcast. I am excited to have with me today Andrea Pollack. Andrea is a mom of two young adult children, a former lawyer in New York City, and an advocate for parents of autistic and other developmentally challenged children. When her autistic son was not thriving in school, Andrea left her 19 year law career to homeschool him.
She later went on to earn her Master’s in Education so she could most effectively help parents get swift and lasting results without years of trial and error. Now with years of experience and research under her belt, Andrea is sharing her wisdom with the world through Autism Parent Solutions.
And I'm really happy to have you here today on another episode of what we like to call The Parent Perspective because as we know, parents that have been through these challenges with their children are hearing everybody's perspective on that journey with their child. It can be so helpful to others that are going through it right now. So you've been at this for quite a while, so you have quite a journey I'm sure to share with everybody here today. And so I thank you for taking the time to do that.
02:34 Andrea Pollack:
Thank you so much for having me. It's a pleasure to be here.
02:36 Tara Hunkin:
So let's, let's start with that. You are, you've been at this now for quite a while, so obviously with your child and, and now working with others. Can you go back to when, what it looked like for your child and when you started to realize that you were going to have to leave your, your, your career and take that big step to do that and also homeschool him when he wasn't thriving in school?
03:01 Andrea Pollack:
Sure. Well, he was diagnosed, he was just over two and I continued to pursue my career at the time and, you know, we did all the research, like all the parents and tried to find a place where he could fit in and he just was withdrawing further and further into himself.
And I could see so much potential, but I couldn't access it. And I felt like he was showing me every way that he knew how that this was not working for him. And it felt like a big risk 'cause I had no idea what I was doing. Zero. But I thought, you know what, let's pull him out.
Let's just connect and calm down. 'Cause he is a very sensitive sensory system. So being in a school full of other autistic children was very difficult for him. And I thought, let's bring him into the filter that was our home and let's figure it out together. So that's where we started.
03:53 Tara Hunkin:
Yes. So what did that, like, what, what was going through your mind? I mean, obviously you felt that that was the, the only choice, but it's a really big decision to both quit a career, which, you know, 19 years in, in law to homeschool him.
How did you come to that like, conclusion? Obviously he wasn't thriving, but but were there, was there a certain tipping point specifically that pushed you to that point?
04:20 Andrea Pollack:
Yes, it's a great question. I think part of it was when I saw what they were trying to teach him in school, they were trying to teach him, you know, academic material letters and numbers and, you know, vocabulary. And I thought this child can't relate and communicate. So I felt like I, you know, that's what I wanted.
I felt like that was the foundation that was missing and the more we tried to push into him without that foundation, the more he was withdrawing. So I felt like, you know, I
Tara Hunkin:
This is the My Child Will Thrive podcast. And I'm your host, Tara Hunkin, certified Functional Nutritional Therapy practitioner and mother. I am here to share with you the latest research expert advice, parent perspectives, resources, and tools to help you on your path to optimizing the health and development for your child with ADHD, autism, sensory processing disorder, learning disabilities, or other neurodevelopmental disorders.
My own experiences with my daughter, combined with as much training as I can get my hands on, research I can dig into, and conferences I can attend have helped me to develop systems and tools for parents like you who feel overwhelmed trying to help their children. So, sit back as I share another great topic to help you on your journey.
A quick disclaimer, please keep in mind that the information provided is for information and educational purposes only. It is not intended to diagnose or treat your child. It is not a substitute for working with a qualified practitioner. This episode of the My Child Will Thrive podcast is brought to you by the Autism, ADHD and Sensory Processing Disorder Summit. You can sign up for free to watch 10 days of expert interviews and masterclass at mychildwillthrive.com/summit.
Now on with the show. Hi everyone, welcome back to the My Child Will Thrive podcast. I am excited to have with me today Andrea Pollack. Andrea is a mom of two young adult children, a former lawyer in New York City, and an advocate for parents of autistic and other developmentally challenged children. When her autistic son was not thriving in school, Andrea left her 19 year law career to homeschool him.
She later went on to earn her Master’s in Education so she could most effectively help parents get swift and lasting results without years of trial and error. Now with years of experience and research under her belt, Andrea is sharing her wisdom with the world through Autism Parent Solutions.
And I'm really happy to have you here today on another episode of what we like to call The Parent Perspective because as we know, parents that have been through these challenges with their children are hearing everybody's perspective on that journey with their child. It can be so helpful to others that are going through it right now. So you've been at this for quite a while, so you have quite a journey I'm sure to share with everybody here today. And so I thank you for taking the time to do that.
02:34 Andrea Pollack:
Thank you so much for having me. It's a pleasure to be here.
02:36 Tara Hunkin:
So let's, let's start with that. You are, you've been at this now for quite a while, so obviously with your child and, and now working with others. Can you go back to when, what it looked like for your child and when you started to realize that you were going to have to leave your, your, your career and take that big step to do that and also homeschool him when he wasn't thriving in school?
03:01 Andrea Pollack:
Sure. Well, he was diagnosed, he was just over two and I continued to pursue my career at the time and, you know, we did all the research, like all the parents and tried to find a place where he could fit in and he just was withdrawing further and further into himself.
And I could see so much potential, but I couldn't access it. And I felt like he was showing me every way that he knew how that this was not working for him. And it felt like a big risk 'cause I had no idea what I was doing. Zero. But I thought, you know what, let's pull him out.
Let's just connect and calm down. 'Cause he is a very sensitive sensory system. So being in a school full of other autistic children was very difficult for him. And I thought, let's bring him into the filter that was our home and let's figure it out together. So that's where we started.
03:53 Tara Hunkin:
Yes. So what did that, like, what, what was going through your mind? I mean, obviously you felt that that was the, the only choice, but it's a really big decision to both quit a career, which, you know, 19 years in, in law to homeschool him.
How did you come to that like, conclusion? Obviously he wasn't thriving, but but were there, was there a certain tipping point specifically that pushed you to that point?
04:20 Andrea Pollack:
Yes, it's a great question. I think part of it was when I saw what they were trying to teach him in school, they were trying to teach him, you know, academic material letters and numbers and, you know, vocabulary. And I thought this child can't relate and communicate. So I felt like I, you know, that's what I wanted.
I felt like that was the foundation that was missing and the more we tried to push into him without that foundation, the more he was withdrawing. So I felt like, you know, I