TILT Parenting: Strategies, Insights, and Connection for Parents Raising Neurodivergent Children - podcast cover

TILT Parenting: Strategies, Insights, and Connection for Parents Raising Neurodivergent Children

Debbie Rebertiltparenting.com
Feeling overwhelmed by the complexities of raising a neurodivergent child? Tilt Parenting is here to help. Hosted by parenting activist and author Debbie Reber, this podcast is your go-to resource for navigating life with ADHD, autism, PDA (Pathological Demand Avoidance), giftedness, and twice-exceptional (2e) kids. With expert interviews and candid conversations, you'll discover practical solutions for things like school challenges and refusal, therapy options, and fostering inclusion, social struggles, advocacy, intense behavior, and more — all through a strengths-based, neurodiversity-affirming lens. Whether you're struggling with advocating for your child at school or seeking ways to better support their unique needs, Debbie offers the guidance and encouragement you need to reduce overwhelm and create a thriving, joyful family environment. It's like sitting down with a trusted friend who gets it. You’ve got this, and we’ve got your back!

Episodes

TPP 070a: Family Therapist Neil Brown Talks About Parental Burnout

This week I bring back to the show Neil Brown, a licensed clinical social worker, the author of Ending the Parent-Teen Control Battle: Resolve the Power Struggle and Build Trust, Responsibility, and Respect, and host of the Healthy Family Connections Podcast. When I last had Neil on the show, we talked about control battles with teens, and if you haven’t listened to that episode, I highly encourage you to go back and check it out here. In today’s episode, we’re tackling an equally important topi...

Dec 16, 202240 min

TPP 315: Dr. Lori Desautels on Rewiring Our Perceptions of Discipline in Schools, and at Home

I found about Lori’s work recently and after reading her book Connections over Compliance: Rewiring our Perceptions of Discipline, I really wanted to bring her on as a guest because I believe the work she is doing is revolutionary. Lori’s work centers around helping educators, parents, and any adults who work with children shift the way they think about discipline by reaching for sustainable behavioral changes through brain state awareness rather than compliance and obedience. She’s actively pus...

Dec 13, 202243 min

TPP 146a: Self-Directed Learning Advocate Blake Boles on Unschooling

My guest this week is Blake Boles, the self-directed learning advocate behind Unschool Adventures and the author of several books on unschooling, including The Art of Self-Directed Learning, Better Than College, and College Without High School, as well as the host of the Off-Trail Learning podcast. Now… you may be reading this and thinking, I’m not homeschooling my child or “unschooling” isn’t my thing. But I’m going to encourage you to listen to what Blake has to say. Because regardless of your...

Dec 09, 202237 min

TPP 314: Dr. Abigail Gewirtz on Helping Kids Find Hope & Optimism in the Most Challenging Times

Since my guest for today’s episode, Dr. Abigail Gewirtz was on the show just over two years ago near the start of the COVID pandemic, the world has continued to go through increasingly complicated and challenging times. Like I’m sure all of you out there listening, I’ve struggled to find ways to help my child feel hope and optimism about the state of the world — the war in Ukraine, a spate of school shootings, a very polarized political landscape, and catastrophic weather events. So I wanted to ...

Dec 06, 202241 min

TPP 060a: A Deep Dive Into Assessments, Diagnoses, and Labels, with Melissa Neff, PhD

In this episode, I talk with Dr. Melissa Neff, a licensed clinical psychologist in private practice in Missoula, MT in the United States who specializes in conducting psychological evaluations with children (ages 6-18) and adults. A lot of Melissa’s practice focuses on helping parents figure out what’s going on with their children and diagnosing things like ADHD and autism, although she shared with me that one of her favorite aspects of her practice lately is working with girls who are on the sp...

Dec 02, 202246 min

TPP 313: Dr. Devorah Heitner on Online Safety and Internet “Rabbit Holes” and Differently Wired Kids

Today is an important conversation about online communities and internet rabbit holes. And I felt pulled to tackle this topic for the show because I know that the past few years in particularly has been a time where differently wired kids have been a) spending a LOT more time online and connecting with people they may not have even meant in real life, and b) doing their identity development largely online as a result of COVID. And I also know that this can put our kids, and us as their parents a...

Nov 29, 202247 min

TPP 156a: Eric Lanigan Explains How to Make Peace with Video Gaming

Are you worried about your child’s video gaming habits? If so, here’s interesting conversation with Eric Lanigan about two topics that I know are relevant, and perhaps concerning, to many listeners out there — video gaming and motivation. I reached out to Eric after learning about an online course he runs for parents called Making Peace with Gaming, because I was curious to know just exactly how we do that, and what that actually means in the context of everyday life with kids who are really int...

Nov 25, 202243 min

TPP 312: Todd Adams on How Men Can Better Show Up for Their Kids and Families

This episode explores the subject of vulnerability, male culture, and parenting specifically in the context of heteronormative relationships and how men can show up as better dads to their differently wired children. And I have the perfect guest to explore this topic with — Todd Adams, half of the duo of Zen Parenting Radio, and a leadership coach for men and the executive director of the international men’s organization, Men Living. Todd and I looked at the societal norms and pressures on men t...

Nov 22, 202241 min

TPP 145a: What Coaches Need to Understand About Their Differently Wired Athletes

If you have a differently wired child who is athletic and/or is into sports, this episode is for you. My guest is Susan Stout, the founder Own Beat Athlete, a new resource aimed at helping athletic coaches understand their athletes who march to a different beat. Susan knows from personal experience as an athlete herself, a former coach, and the parent of an athletic differently wired child, that many great athletes can be challenging to coach because of their wiring—they can be easily frustrated...

Nov 18, 202241 min

TPP 311: Deb Dana on Befriending Our Nervous System Using Polyvagal Theory

If you are a regular listener of this show, you will be familiar with Polyvagal Theory, as it’s coming up in multiple interviews. But this episode is the first one dedicated solely to exploring this powerful theory. And to explore it with us, I’m thrilled to be talking with Deb Dana, a clinician, consultant, and author who is known for being a translator of Polyvagal Theory, which was developed by Dr. Stephen Porges in the mid-1990s. In this episode, Deb Dana gives us a primer of the key points ...

Nov 15, 202247 min

TPP 052a: Dietitian and Nutritionist Jill Castle with the Facts About ADHD and Nutrition

For this episode about ADHD and nutrition, I spoke with one of America’s leading experts in the field of childhood nutrition, Jill Castle. Jill is a registered dietician / nutritionist with over twenty-five years of experience working with babies, toddlers, children, and teens, in a variety of settings from private practice and consulting to author and writer. Her specialty is taking the current research in pediatric nutrition and shaping it into practical, sane advice for parents and healthcare...

Nov 11, 202241 min

TPP 310: A Conversation with Dr. Norrine Russell About Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria (RSD) & ADHD

I’m really excited to bring you this conversation with Dr. Norinne Russell on a new topic we haven’t covered before on this show and one that only came into my radar last year, and that is rejection sensitive dysphoria or RSD, a dysphoria commonly experienced by people with ADHD. We talked about what rejection sensitive dysphoria is and how it’s different from mood disorders or emotional dysregulation, what the early signs are and examples of triggers from Norrine’s own experience with her son, ...

Nov 08, 202243 min

TPP 140a: AuthorJulie Lythcott-Haims on How Parents Can Help Their Kids Successfully Launch

My guest for this episode is the brilliant Julie Lythcott-Haims., the author of the New York Times’ bestselling, and in my opinion, majorly game-changing-in-the-parenting-space book, How to Raise an Adult. She wrote it after noticing that prospective college students at Stanford University, where she was dean of admissions, were being over-parented and as a result, were lacking the resources to develop the resilience, resourcefulness, and inner determination necessary for success. In this episod...

Nov 04, 202247 min

TPP 309: Anya Kamenetz on Her Book The Stolen Year and the Impact of COVID on Children

Author and reporter, Anya Kamenetz is back on the podcast to talk about her new book The Stolen Year: How Covid Changed Children’s Lives, And Where We Go Now. The Stolen Year is a powerful look at how the pandemic disrupted children’s lives — their learning, mental health, and overall well-being. The Stolen Year isn’t written specifically for parents of differently wired children, but I thought it was important to really explore what the research and data shows the cost of the past two years has...

Nov 01, 202238 min

TPP 073a: Non-Violent Communication, Whole-Person Learning, and Neurodiverse Students

This week I’m talking with Zach Morris, the executive director and development of curriculum and instruction at LEARN Inc. LEARN Inc. is an non-for-profit school in Missoula, Montana in the United States which is approaching education in a thoughtful and alternative way, and with powerful results, especially for their neurodivergent students, which make up to 75% of the student body. Their mission is to facilitate individualized learning opportunities that honor neurodivergence, encourage social...

Oct 28, 202249 min

TPP 308: Joyfully Parenting & Experiencing Gifted and 2e Children, with Marc Smolowitz

For today’s episode, I’m bringing multi-award-winning director, producer and executive film producer, Marc Smolowitz, back on the podcast. It was four years ago that Marc first came on the show to talk about a movie he was working on called The G Word, a feature-length documentary about giftedness that asks the urgent equity question – In the 21st century, who gets to be Gifted in America and Why? Marc is currently working on the post-production of the movie so I wanted to invite him back to tal...

Oct 25, 202241 min

TPP 049a: Simone Davies on Setting Up Your Home to Support Your Child's Growth

In this episode of Tilt Parenting, I bring back to the show Simone Davies, a Montessori teacher and parent educator who runs a Montessori playgroup in Amsterdam for babies, toddlers, and preschoolers up to four years old. Through her online business, The Montessori Notebook, Simone focuses on helping parents learn how to bring Montessori into their home. Today Simone and I are talking about the “spaces” in our home—specifically how we can best design and set them up to support our differently-wi...

Oct 21, 202242 min

TPP 307: Eliza Fricker Talks Parenting a Child with PDA

On today’s episode I’m talking to Eliza Fricker about PDA or pathological demand avoidance – and in fact I know many people interpret PDA as persistent desire for autonomy. I’ve done a few episodes on PDA before but never from a parent’s perspective so after reading Eliza’s book, The Family Experience of PDA, I knew I wanted to share her perspective with the Tilt community. During this episode, we talked about how demand avoidance is more extreme in a child with a PDA profile vs. the inflexibili...

Oct 18, 202238 min

TPP 051a: Asher and Debbie Talk About Handling Parent-Child Conflict

Today’s episode is a Kid’s POV Special episode featuring another conversation with 12-year-old Asher. Our topic? Conflict. More specifically, handling parent-child conflict between the two of us. We’re tackling this topic because I’ve been getting questions from listeners who want to know a) if we even have conflicts at all and b) if so, how we handle them. The easy answer to the first part of that question is DEFINITELY. We DEFINITELY have conflict. I’m very human in that way, as is Asher. Toda...

Oct 14, 202229 min

TPP 306: Laura Vanderkam Shares How We Can Find Tranquility by Tuesday

My guest today is author, productivity guru, and mom of 5, Laura Vanderkam. Laura is the author of several time management and productivity books, including the one we are discussing today, Tranquility by Tuesday: 9 Ways to Calm the Chaos and Make Time for What Matters. She is also the host of the Before Breakfast podcast and the co-host, with Sarah Hart-Unger, of the Best of Both Worlds podcast. I’ve long been a fan of Laura’s books, and so I was excited to talk with her about Tranquility By Tu...

Oct 11, 202243 min

TPP 117a: Angela Pruess on Supporting Children's Fledgling Self-Regulation

This week’s episode features a conversation with Angela Pruess, a licensed clinical therapist and mom of three who wants to help all parents raise emotionally healthy kids that will change the world, by explaining the he(art) and science behind our child’s development and emotional regulation. For this episode, we focus on that elusive thing so many of us are trying to help develop in our kids, but can be very difficult to know exactly where to start and what we should expect over our child’s de...

Oct 07, 202244 min

TPP 305: Stuart Shanker on What Self-Regulation Is, Why It Matters, and How to Help Our Children (and Ourselves) Do It Better

We are kicking off this season with a conversation with Dr. Stuart Shanker, who I first learned about through my friend Seth Perler as he’s been part of the TEFOS Summit. I love Stuart's message and recently devoured his book Self-Reg: How to Help Your Child (and You) Break the Stress Cycle and Successfully Engage With Life, and wanted to dive deeper with Stuart about it. In this episode, we get into the ways in which the brain controls the levels of stress, the difference between self-regulatio...

Oct 04, 202251 min

TPP 072a: A Conversation with Debbie About About Her Homeschooling Curriculum and Schedule

This is the third installment in a series of solocasts specifically about homeschooling 2e children. I know many families of 2e and differently wired kids end up going down the homeschooling road, whether they’re reluctant homeschoolers and they felt “forced” into the decision because they ran out of other options or whether they knew they would homeschool from the moment their child was born. Whatever the case, this episode is for you. In this episode, I share how Asher and I structure our scho...

Sep 02, 202246 min

TPP 304: Special Episode on Updated College Vetting & Admissions Process for Differently Wired Students

To close out this Summer season I’m bringing you a special double episode all about college, specifically, how families can navigate the application process and what’s changed since Covid, as well as understanding the ways in which colleges may, or may not, support their neurodivergent students and what families should be looking for when exploring potential schools. In the first half of this episode, you’ll hear me talking with Eric Karlan, the co-founder of Ivy Experience, a company providing ...

Aug 30, 20221 hr 26 min

TPP 039a: A Conversation with 12-year-old Asher About Goal Setting

In this special kid’s POV edition, Asher and I talk about having ADHD and goal setting, a topic near and dear to my heart, but also an issue we hear from parents about a lot. Asher is someone who always seems to have a lot of projects he’s working on and he sets often ambitious goals centered around those projects. Yet because of the way Ash is wired, he can often get distracted or derailed, which results in him being frustrated with himself. I know a thing or two about goal setting — it’s actua...

Aug 26, 202231 min

TPP 303: Dr. Joseph Lee Talks About the Importance of SEL / Social and Emotional Learning

Have you ever wondered if SEL (social and emotional learning) in school and classrooms really matters? I’ve been exploring this question a lot about over the past year, as well trying to understand the recent increase in parental and political pushback in the US specifically that is putting the future of SEL in schools at risk. I wanted to get into a deep conversation about SEL for the show, and so I reached out Dr. Joseph Lee, a psychiatrist with a special interest in social and emotional learn...

Aug 23, 202246 min

TPP 038a: Dr. Jenna Flowers on How to Practice Conscious Coparenting

In this episode of the Tilt Parenting Podcast, I sit down with Dr. Jenna Flowers, a licensed marriage and family therapist, author, and speaker, and the woman behind the fantastic new book, The Conscious Parent’s Guide to Coparenting: A Mindful Approach to Creating a Collaborative, Positive Parenting Plan. Dr. Jenna’s book is aimed at helping parents who are no longer together design a healthy alliance and share their parenting responsibilities in a way that best supports their children. In our ...

Aug 19, 202240 min

TPP 302: Online Learning & the Future of Education with Outschool Founder Amir Nathoo

In this conversation with Outschool co-founder and CEO Amir Nathoo, we discuss alternative education models and why they’re so critical in preparing all kids for the future, as well as get an inside look into the mission and vision for Outschool, learn more about they successfully create community through virtual classes, ways in which classes are designed to support students with different learning styles and much more. If this conversation sparks you to explore and enroll in classs at Outschoo...

Aug 16, 202235 min

TPP 088a: Jessica Lahey Talks About the Gifts of Failure for Our Kids

My guest is Jessica Lahey, an educator, writer, and speaker, and the author of one of my favorite parenting books, The Gift of Failure: How the Best Parents Learn to Let Go So Their Children Can Succeed. Jess shares her insights about how we can best prepare our kids for an independent, successful adulthood in the way we practice autonomy supportive parenting versus overparenting, what it means to let our kids “fail” to help them thrive, how we can help our kids learn how to “sit with frustratio...

Aug 12, 202247 min

TPP 301: Navigating Big Life Transitions with Differently Wired Children (a Solocast)

I haven’t done a solocast in a while, but when you talk, I listen, and this topic has been requested by many of you, so I decided to dedicate this episode to talk about navigating big life transitions with differently wired kids. Our family has gone through our fair share of big changes, which you’ll hear all about in this episode, so this is something that I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about. Especially as a parent of a differently wired kid, I know that there are some extra challenges that...

Aug 09, 202236 min