The Parent Perspective: Kelly Meehan, OD
November 8, 2022
Table of Contents
One of my favorite segments of the My Child Will Thrive Podcast are the interviews I do with all parents and caregivers. While our episodes with experts are packed with invaluable information, the parent interviews on The Parent Perspective are so insightful, relatable and sometimes it’s just helpful to hear from other parents who went through similar situations with their children.
Today’s episode of The Parent Perspective is with Kelly Meehan, a parent of three and new integrative health practitioner. Kelly shared with us her story of struggling to find answers with her daughter’s physical and mental health symptoms until she was finally able to get answers (and a diagnosis) of celiac disease. Since then, going gluten free and optimising her children’s gut health has completely changed the way her children are able to show up in the world. We dive into a lot of symptoms that you might not know are associated with a gluten allergy or sensitivity and so much more.
[su_box title=”Things You Will Learn” box_color=”#84C141″ class=”nutshell_box”]
- Searching to find answers and finally finding them with a celiac diagnosis
- The brain and behavioural symptoms that can show up when children have gluten sensitivities
- How Kelly transitioned her whole family to a gluten-free lifestyle
- The hidden places that gluten is hiding that you may not know about
- What to do if your celiac or gluten sensitive child gets “glutened”
- What Kelly would’ve done differently at the beginning of her journey with her child
- And much more…[/su_box]
Show Notes for this Podcast
- Kelly’s story with her daughter’s symptoms and eventual diagnosis of celiac. (3:33)
- The changes Kelly saw in her daughter’s behaviour and mental health with getting off gluten and healing her gut. (8:26)
- Brain and behavioural symptoms that show up with celiac and gluten sensitivity that people aren’t always aware of. (11:15)
- What Kelly needed to do to optimise her children’s health after coming off of gluten. (15:05)
- Steps to make the transition to a gluten-free lifestyle. (19:14)
- One of the most surprising places Kelly found gluten hiding. (21:06)
- Why Kelly’s whole household went gluten free and what getting “glutened” means. (25:05)
- Supplements that help Kelly’s family when they’ve been glutened. (29:09)
- More about Kelly’s career as a paediatric optometrist and vision therapy.(31:42)
- The things Kelly might’ve done differently if she were back at the beginning of her journey. (34:48)
- How to connect with Kelly. (37:02)
Resources and Links
Kelly’s Website, Designed Family Wellness
Articles Related to The Parent Perspective: Kelly Meehan
Gluten-Free/Casein-Free Diet – Why It’s a Good Place to Start
How learning to cook can empower your child
More about Kelly Meehan
Kelly is a wife and busy mom of 3. She has a bachelors in Human Nutrition from Arizona State University, and a doctorate in optometry from the Illinois College of Optometry. She completed a residency in primary care with emphasis in Pediatrics at Nova Southeastern University. She most recently became an Integrative Health Practitioner in 2021 and is looking forward to helping transform your trajectory towards your best health.
0:00 Tara Hunkin:
This is My Child Will Thrive and I'm your host, Tara Hunkin, nutritional therapy practitioner, certified gaps practitioner, restorative wellness practitioner. And mother. I'm thrilled to share with you the latest information, tips, resources, and tools to help you on the path to recovery for your child with ADHD, autism, sensory processing disorder, or learning disabilities. 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 before we get started, My Child Will Thrive is not a substitute for working with a qualified healthcare practitioner.
The information provided on this podcast is not intended to diagnose or treat your child. Please consult your healthcare practitioner before implementing any information or treatments that you have learned about on this podcast. There are many gifted, passionate, and knowledgeable practitioners with hundreds if not thousands of hours of study and clinical experience available to help guide you. Part of our goal is to give you the knowledge and tools you need to effectively advocate for your child so that you don't blindly implement each new treatment that comes along. No one knows your child better than you.
No one knows your child's history like you do or can better judge what is normal or abnormal for your child. The greatest success in recovery comes from the parent being informed and asking the right questions in making the best decisions for their child in coordination with a team of qualified practitioners in different areas of specialty.
Today's podcast is sponsored by the Autism, ADHD, and Sensory Processing Disorder Summit. In order to learn more about the summit and to sign up for free, please go to mychildwillthrive.com/summit.
2:05 Tara Hunkin: Hi everyone, I wanna welcome you back to the My Child Will Thrive podcast. I'm Tara Hunkin and I am excited to have with me today Kelly Meehan for another episode of The Parent Perspective.
This is the time that we talk to other parents that have gone through challenges with their children so we can learn from each other's stories and also see where there might be opportunities for us to learn from what other people have been through. We like to talk to a lot of experts on the podcast, often parents that have gone through this with their children become experts in their own right, both from just learning on the go and then some even formalize their education and move on to become practitioners as well.
Kelly, who is here with me today, is a wife and a busy mom of three. She has a bachelor's in human nutrition from Arizona State University and a doctorate in optometry from the Illinois College of Optometry. She completed a residency in primary care with the emphasis in pediatrics at Nova's Southeastern University and she most recently became an integrative health practitioner in 2021 and is looking forward to helping transform other people's lives with her work.
So Kelly, thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us today about your journey, how you got to where you are today. Why don't we just start right there. What was life like for you and your, while you've, you just as you just mentioned to me two daughters that you've had affected by changes in their diets, but let's just talk from the very beginning. What were you noticing early on with your child?
3:46 Kelly Meehan:
Yeah, well first of all, thanks for having me here. I'm just very passionate about sharing this story. My
0:00 Tara Hunkin:
This is My Child Will Thrive and I'm your host, Tara Hunkin, nutritional therapy practitioner, certified gaps practitioner, restorative wellness practitioner. And mother. I'm thrilled to share with you the latest information, tips, resources, and tools to help you on the path to recovery for your child with ADHD, autism, sensory processing disorder, or learning disabilities. 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 before we get started, My Child Will Thrive is not a substitute for working with a qualified healthcare practitioner.
The information provided on this podcast is not intended to diagnose or treat your child. Please consult your healthcare practitioner before implementing any information or treatments that you have learned about on this podcast. There are many gifted, passionate, and knowledgeable practitioners with hundreds if not thousands of hours of study and clinical experience available to help guide you. Part of our goal is to give you the knowledge and tools you need to effectively advocate for your child so that you don't blindly implement each new treatment that comes along. No one knows your child better than you.
No one knows your child's history like you do or can better judge what is normal or abnormal for your child. The greatest success in recovery comes from the parent being informed and asking the right questions in making the best decisions for their child in coordination with a team of qualified practitioners in different areas of specialty.
Today's podcast is sponsored by the Autism, ADHD, and Sensory Processing Disorder Summit. In order to learn more about the summit and to sign up for free, please go to mychildwillthrive.com/summit.
2:05 Tara Hunkin: Hi everyone, I wanna welcome you back to the My Child Will Thrive podcast. I'm Tara Hunkin and I am excited to have with me today Kelly Meehan for another episode of The Parent Perspective.
This is the time that we talk to other parents that have gone through challenges with their children so we can learn from each other's stories and also see where there might be opportunities for us to learn from what other people have been through. We like to talk to a lot of experts on the podcast, often parents that have gone through this with their children become experts in their own right, both from just learning on the go and then some even formalize their education and move on to become practitioners as well.
Kelly, who is here with me today, is a wife and a busy mom of three. She has a bachelor's in human nutrition from Arizona State University and a doctorate in optometry from the Illinois College of Optometry. She completed a residency in primary care with the emphasis in pediatrics at Nova's Southeastern University and she most recently became an integrative health practitioner in 2021 and is looking forward to helping transform other people's lives with her work.
So Kelly, thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us today about your journey, how you got to where you are today. Why don't we just start right there. What was life like for you and your, while you've, you just as you just mentioned to me two daughters that you've had affected by changes in their diets, but let's just talk from the very beginning. What were you noticing early on with your child?
3:46 Kelly Meehan:
Yeah, well first of all, thanks for having me here. I'm just very passionate about sharing this story. My