Motherhood and Mental Health in Motion

Discover the extraordinary world of Amy Taylor, a single mom navigating the complexities of life with grace and determination. Amy is not just a mom; she's a social worker, podcaster, and MBA student, all while raising a talented daughter with autism. Her journey through managing bipolar disorder, anxiety, and ADHD is nothing short of inspiring. Amy's candid discussion about her personal experiences offers a profound look at the resilience required to juggle multiple roles, mental health challenges, and the triumphs of both her and her daughter's passions.

This episode highlights the invaluable importance of a supportive network. Amy sheds light on how understanding employers and a strong circle of friends and family play a critical role in her life. Her story is a testament to the power of advocacy, the courage to seek help, and the strength found in community. Tune in to hear Amy's insights on mental health management, the art of advocating for oneself, and the undeniable strength of mothers who persevere against all odds.

Find Amy Here: https://www.facebook.com/AdvancingwithAmy/

https://advancingwithamy.com/the-who-am-i-journal

www.advancingwithamy.com

Mama Mental Wellness Guide: https://www.sydneycrowe.com/mamamentalwellness589191

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, hey, mamas, welcome back to Conquering Chaos
A Mom's Guide to Self-Care andSanity.
I'm your host, sydney Crow, andtoday we have the amazing Amy
Taylor.
Amy Taylor is a mom, she's asocial worker, she's a podcaster
, she's getting her MBA.
This lady wears many, many hats.
I'm very, very excited for youguys to hear from her today and
just listen to her journey,because she's definitely had a

(00:23):
colorful one.
So welcome Amy.

Speaker 2 (00:26):
Thank you very much, Sydney.
I'm happy to be here.

Speaker 1 (00:29):
I am very happy that you're here, because we have a
lot of similarities raisingneurodivergent kiddos.
We've got very, very love, lovea podcast, so why don't you
just tell the listeners who youare and what you're all about?

Speaker 2 (00:44):
Okay, I'm a single mom and one of my kids is grown
and flown the coop and has hisown family.
And then I have my daughter,who I had at 40.
So she was my oh, my gosh, whata surprise.
And so she's 13 now and she'sthe one who has autism.

(01:08):
She is incredible.
I could not speak highly enoughof her.
She's a little actress and sheplayed Ursula in the Little
Mermaid Junior this lastsemester how cool is that?
Yeah, for her middle school,and she did amazing, so that was
great.
And she's found her tribe intheater, which was wonderful.

(01:30):
And then, as for me, I am asocial worker.
During the day, I am working onmy MBA, like you said, at night
, online, and I live withbipolar disorder, anxiety and
ADHD, and I still managed tohave a very full and fulfilling
life.

Speaker 1 (01:50):
That's amazing, and I'm so grateful that you're here
and able to shed a little bitof light onto that.
So tell, tell the listeners andtell me what is it like for you
to have to navigate all of thatand literally like to me,
you're a superhero, mom doing itall and you've got this extra

(02:12):
layer.
So how do you navigate that?

Speaker 2 (02:15):
Luckily, I have an incredibly understanding manager
and company that I work forBecause, as you know, when
you're bipolar, you have ups anddowns, and so there are times
when I literally feel like supermom and I can do everything and
fit everything in and go towork full time and overtime even

(02:38):
, and do my schooling and takecare of my kid, and everything's
going well.
And then boom.
And that happened to me abouttwo months ago and I had started
the podcast, I had went backfor my MBA all while I was high
and happy, and then it hit and Igot very depressed and

(03:00):
struggled for about a month orso before I could get my meds
right again, and so that washard.
I had to go to my college andask them to give me an
accommodation, to give me moretime to get my homework done for
that class, which they did.
They were great and I was ableto still get out of that class

(03:21):
with a B plus.
So I was happy.
And then my employer, like Isaid, is just very understanding
and through FMLA and workingwith them, I am able to take off
when I need to.

Speaker 1 (03:35):
I love that and I'm so grateful to hear that you've
been able to get the supportthat you need really and learn
how to advocate for yourself.
Right, I mean, it comes down toreally having that voice and
knowing what you need and whenyou need it and being able to
speak up and advocate for that.
That's not an easy thing to do.

Speaker 2 (03:53):
No, it's not, and I won't say I do it all on my own.
I have a very closerelationship with my parents,
who only live a couple milesaway, and I have some best
friends that I've had for Idon't even want to say how many
years since I was inkindergarten, and so they will
tell me.
Amy, I think you took on toomuch and you're having a hard
time now, have you?

(04:14):
thought about calling the schooland I'm like, oh, I didn't want
to do that, but I will.
You know that kind of thing.
So part of it is having areally good circle around you
that knows you well right.

Speaker 1 (04:26):
Yeah, I mean, and blessed to have that right.
Yes, very so.
Tell me and the listeners alittle bit.
I mean being neurodivergentyourself.
How is that raising aneurodivergent kiddo?

Speaker 2 (04:42):
It's funny.
We laugh at each other all thetime.
Luckily she's got a good senseof humor and even if it's kind
of literal, we are used to that,and so we just take a little
extra time to process thingssometimes between each other,
and we give each other spacewhen we need it.

Speaker 1 (05:05):
Space is a big one.
I mean I think I am undiagnosed, maybe self-diagnosed.
I definitely have some ADHDtendencies the more research
that I do, but space is a bigone for my daughter.
I can definitely say that thereare moments where we're all
like we're just going to take abreather, we'll just like.
You know, it's kind of likewhen you see a bear in the woods

(05:26):
.
You just kind of got to go like, okay, got to back up a little
bit and we can reevaluate downthe road.
And I love that you have such asense of humor about it, because
the fact that your firstresponse was it's funny, is, I
mean, you really do sometimeshave to make light of the
situations, right?
Yes, so when it comes to beingneurodivergent or raising

(05:49):
neurodivergent, what would yousay your biggest takeaways are?
Like, when you have people thatare maybe listening on the
other end of this, that aregoing through the struggles,
they are, you know, really inthe weeds with it, what would
you say your biggest tips arefor those parents, my two
biggest tips are trust your gut.

Speaker 2 (06:13):
My two biggest tips are trust your gut.
If you think there's someneurodivergent tendencies or you
think something's going on, getthem assessed as soon as you
can.
If, if that assessment comesback that they're not and you
still believe you're right, geta second assessment, because I
had to do that with my daughter.
Okay, and they and the firstpeople that assessed her said
she was too social, but she hadall the other traits, they said,

(06:38):
but she made eye contact.
So I was like, oh no, that'snot how it is for girls.
So I had to go somewhere elseand they were more up to date
and up to speed on that.
The second thing I would say iseducate yourself.
Read, listen to podcasts, talkto other parents, go to other

(06:58):
parental support groups.
Find out as much as you can.
I mean I found out aboutmasking, where girls especially
are prone to that, where theypretty much try to look like
they're not neuro.
You know diverse and so youknow I didn't know that and I
didn't know why my daughter wascoming home all upset at the end

(07:18):
of the day and it was becauseshe was exhausted, yeah, from
doing that.
And so I think, just educatingyourself, so that you don't get
mad when I mean things that myson did.
I could say you know, nick, youneed to do such and such, and
he'd be like, okay and do it.
Well, she doesn't do that, shehas to process it, she has to

(07:42):
decide that.
It's her decision.
Yeah, it's a whole ordeal.
So I think once I educatedmyself and realized that it
wasn't her trying to beobstinate, it was her just
processing and doing what kidslike her do, it made the world
of a difference to calming medown and helping me process

(08:07):
things.

Speaker 1 (08:08):
Yeah, I.
I wholeheartedly second whatyou said, because girls tend to
be quite high.
Functioning is what I call it,and it is.
You know.
My daughter would just come homebeat at the end of the day
absolutely exhausted and not somuch from masking but just
trying to keep up and andputting on this like I've got

(08:30):
this, I can do anything, andthen crumbling at home, yeah,
and so giving them that buffersome.
My daughter sometimes she justneeds like 15 minutes at home to
do something in her room,whether that's reading or just
playing with a few little toysor whatever.
Just some quiet alone time tokind of decompress, as you said.

(08:51):
Yes, podcasts and a good placeto find information, and I feel
like yours will be a really goodplace for people that are
dealing with mental health,neurodiversity, things like that
.
You guys, her podcast is calledAdvancing with Amy.
Why don't you guys, why don'tyou tell the listeners a bit
more about it?

Speaker 2 (09:09):
I just started it in the middle of January and I just
felt very drawn to it and likeI needed to spread the word that
you could live a fulfillinglife even if you had a mental
health diagnosis or you wereneurodiverse, and so I started
talking on my podcast to mainlywomen, but there's been some men

(09:30):
talking to them about theirlived experience and talking to
professionals about how they canhelp my listeners, and so it's
it's.

Speaker 1 (09:41):
I've learned something every single time I
have a guest on I love it,amazing, and I mean, and that's
what this is all about, right,it's a spreading awareness,
raising awareness.
I mean, there's so many thingsthat I've learned over the last
year and a half, like through mydaughter's diagnosis, that I
didn't even know was really athing, and that's why I'll say

(10:03):
like self-diagnosed orundiagnosed, because I've always
been very high functioning, butlike all over the place at the
same time.

Speaker 2 (10:11):
Yeah, and that's one of the great things is in the
neurodiverse community you canself-diagnose.
That's totally acceptable.

Speaker 1 (10:18):
Which is, yeah, I think it's amazing that we can
raise awareness because therehas been I want to say I'll say
it as a stigma around mentalhealth, around neurodiversity,
around medication, differenttreatments, and I think it's
just important we don't all fitin a box.
There isn't a one size fits allfor people, and so raising

(10:43):
awareness, getting specialistson that can talk about different
things that they're workingwith or seeing in the industry,
having personal experiences,saying like, hey, I tried this,
it didn't work for me, but itworked for you know my neighbor
down the street, and so justhaving those conversations and
bringing this to the forefront,kudos to you and I appreciate

(11:04):
you for doing that.
If there was one last piece ofadvice for the parents out there
or someone living withneurodiversity or mental health
issues, what would that be?

Speaker 2 (11:15):
It would be love yourself, be kind to yourself
and understand.
You are who you are for areason.

Speaker 1 (11:24):
Beautiful words.

Speaker 2 (11:26):
Really beautiful.

Speaker 1 (11:27):
Those hit home, amy.
Well, thank you so much forbeing here.
You guys, we're going to makesure that we have her show link
in the show notes.
Make sure to check that out.
And thank you, guys for tuninginto today's episode where we
help you conquer the chaos, oneday at a time.