Something's going on with your kid. Maybe you have a diagnosis, maybe you don't, but it feels like someone should be able to help you make it all easier. In this episode of Parenting with Impact, Elaine and Diane look back at what they wish they'd known when they started parenting their own neurodivergent kids: how it’s a long game, how you'll end up as the expert in your child, and why it’s so important for relationship to come first. If you're at the start of your ADHD parenting journey (or wish you could start over), hit play—then pass it along to a parent who needs it.

What to expect in this episode:

• You’ll learn why so many capable professionals feel competent at work but uncertain at home, and why that gap is understandable.
• Elaine and Diane explain how familiar workplace leadership skills, like empowering team members, building trust, and giving people agency, can transfer directly to parenting complex kids.
• You’ll hear why “onboarding your kids to adulthood” from ages 18 to 25 takes the pressure off getting everything right today.
• Elaine names asking for and accepting help as the single most important life skill for kids and adults, and shares how parents can start modeling it now.
• The episode closes with a practical mindset shift: parent from inspiration instead of desperation, and lean into hope.

Download free guide: Top 12 Tips To Help Your Complex Kids

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Ever know exactly what you’re supposed to say to your kid, and then it just doesn’t come out? Clinical child psychologist Dr. Robyn Koslowitz, author of Post-Traumatic Parenting, joins Elaine to talk about how trauma shapes the way we react as parents, and how to break the cycle. You’ll learn why yelling, freezing, and checking out don’t make you a bad parent, they’re just reactions your brain learned. And it can learn something new. If you’ve ever wanted to change how you handle tough moments, this one’s for you. Listen, then share it with another parent who needs to hear it.

What to expect in this episode:

• You’ll learn why we as parents react in ways we don’t intend, and how those reactions are coping strategies trauma taught the brain, not personal failures.
• Dr. Robyn Koslowitz explains her “trauma app” framework and how parents can reprogram learned responses like yelling, freezing or dissociating.
• You’ll hear why acknowledging “I can’t because of my trauma” is step one, and how accommodations, new skills or support from another adult can be step two.
• Elaine and Dr. Koslowitz explore the overlap between neurodiversity and psychodiversity, including Elaine’s own experience as a parent with undiagnosed ADHD.
• You’ll come away with the acknowledgement that parenting a neurodivergent child can be traumatic in its own right, and that this doesn’t mean you love your child any less.
  
  
  

Connect with Impact Parents:

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When your child gets a diagnosis, the next question for most parents comes fast: now what? Author, professor, and adoptive mom Nefertiti Austin joins Elaine Taylor-Klaus to talk about raising her spirited, neurodivergent daughter. They cover the "pinball of parenting," the expectations that didn't work out, and the moment she stopped trying to squeeze her kid into a box she'd never fit and started encouraging the person she was. They also get honest about adoptive parenting and what happens at school when race is added to neurodivergence. If you're wondering what comes after diagnosis—or if diagnosis wasn’t the fix you’d hoped it would be—this one's for you.

What to expect in this episode:

• A diagnosis is a starting point, not an endpoint. The real work begins with the question "now what?"
• Therapies and tools can help, but expecting them to change everything in a few months sets everyone up for failure.
• at your child's pace, and asking them directly "is this working for you?" builds progress that lasts.
• When adults insist a child fit into a box they'll never fit, both parent and child get hurt. Trusting your instincts and following your child's lead can change everything.
• Kids of colour with brain differences are often labeled negatively before anyone considers an assessment, so parents and educators need to give every child the benefit of the doubt.
  
  
  

About Nefertiti Austin

Nefertiti Austin is an adjunct professor of History and African American Studies, a speaker, and the author of two books exploring race, motherhood, and neurodiversity. Her newest book, She's Just Spirited, offers a lens into parenting a neurodiverse girl — navigating schools, therapists, and the emotional terrain of raising a child whose spirit is worth protecting at every turn.

Connect with Impact Parents:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/impactparents
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ImpactParents
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/impactparents