No surprise, Neurodivergent people are the ones who discuss and debate Neurodivergent experiences and needs more than anyone. But, who outside those communities is most interested?
It’s got to be parents of Neurodivergent minors, again for really obvious reasons. What they want to know is How do I understand my child’s needs? and How do I parent my child effectively and help them thrive?
Good questions. Important questions.
And we have answers.
More specifically, as Neurodivergent parents of Neurodivergent kids, we have experience from both sides, and access to collected community wisdom plus a wealth of literature that’s built on those experiences and subjected to real-life testing.
Only the best gets through, because our own families’ welfare comes first.
What emerges is a range of perspectives and approaches, techniques and strategies that actually work. And they work not by ‘building resilience’ and ‘teaching good behaviours’ but by assisting our younger generations to be self-aware, dignified, respectful, compassionate to others and themselves, and proud of who they are.
But kids don’t get there alone. How we parent is as much about how we, the adults, see ourselves and our relationship with society, our responsibilities and our rights. Time and again you’ll hear us say “you can’t drink from an empty cup” or hear us use the “oxygen mask” analogy – self care, pacing, and self-compassion is at the core of how we discuss parenting.
By caring for ourselves we can care for others; by being respectful and dignified we model good living; through compassion, patience and flexibility we empower the next generation. By providing a safe environment we enable the next generation to thrive, climb on our shoulders and reach for the sky.
This is what lies at the heart of our Cothú training and other parent-directed courses.
At Minding Autistic Minds 2025, the wonderful Gillian Kearns will explore this and more in their presentation on Neurodivergent Parenting.
You can find out more by signing up for Day 2 of the conference here, either as an in-person attendee or as one of the many online attendees who join us worldwide.
