Have you noticed days where you feel sort of numb and checked out? Maybe disconnected from your body or your environment? Many of us experience this at one point or another I think, but our neurodivergent kids may experience it a lot more.
It can be a mismatch in environment or a temporary stressor that have an end with relief. Or, it could be more than a hard day or week. It could be burnout.
My guest on the podcast this week is Dr. Megan Anna Neff, who is autistic herself. We talk a bit about burnout, which is important, but we also go into what can prevent it — self-care. We're talking sensory breaks and emotional health, not eating nutritiously or reducing screens. Real life self-care for neurodivergent kids, and their caregivers.
I encourage you to carve out 10 minutes to replenish your nervous system in the next few days. Sit in nature, listen to music, take a walk, do some 4-7-8 breathing, or some yoga. Whatever feels good to your system, make time for it this week. It's not only good for you, it will have a positive impact on your family too.
With so much heart,
p.s. — Stressful situations and burnout (in our kids and in ourselves) rarely wait for a convenient moment. If you ever find yourself mid-situation, wishing you could just ask someone "Am I handling this right?", I just opened something for exactly that. It's called On-Call Coaching, and it means you can message me directly, whenever you need me, without scheduling a thing. Learn more here.
365: Autistic Burnout & Self-Care
with Dr. Megan Anna Neff
Autistic burnout doesn't look like ordinary tiredness. It shows up as exhaustion sleep won't fix, sensory sensitivities that spike, and skills that seem to vanish overnight. In this week's episode, clinical psychologist and autistic adult, Dr. Megan Anna Neff, breaks down exactly what that means for our kids.
We talk about how to tell a hard week from true burnout, why school is such a common trigger, and the difference between reassuring your child and actually validating them. For example, "you've got this" can land as dismissal. "This is really hard, and that makes sense" settles the nervous system instead, and there's research to back it up.
I've got you! Whether you're raising or educating neurodivergent kids, teens, or young adults, I can provide some relief and a path to success. Here's how:
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I help parents and teachers of neurodivergent kids trade escalation for regulation using my SIGNAL Parenting™ framework. Award-winning author of Boy Without Instructions and host of the Beautifully Complex Podcast. My core belief: behavior isn't the problem, it's the signal.