Full-Tilt Parenting: Strategies, Insights, and Connection for Parents Raising Neurodivergent Children

Full-Tilt Parenting: Strategies, Insights, and Connection for Parents Raising Neurodivergent Children

Feeling overwhelmed by the complexities of raising a neurodivergent child? Full-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, learning disabilities, 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

February 20, 2026 42 mins
Dr. Christine Koh joins me for a conversation about vulnerability, boundary setting, leaning into discomfort, and making big, messy, life pivots. Christine is a music and brain scientist turned multimedia creative. She is a fierce believer in the power of humans, small moments and actions, and vulnerable, authentic storytelling. She communicates on these beliefs through her work as a writer (she is a contributor at the Washington P...
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Today we’re exploring something so many of us wrestle with but don’t always name out loud — the impact of our own fear and anxiety on our kids. I was actually about to record a solo episode when my friend and colleague Sheryl Stoller sent me an email, and the sentiment behind it stayed with me because it put into such simple, clear language the real impact our fears about their future, their potential, their lives, can have o...
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This episode digs into the evolving understanding of ADHD and what it really means to parent with collaboration, connection, and support at the center. My guest is Cindy Goldrich, an internationally recognized expert in ADHD and executive function support and the author of 8 Keys to Parenting Kids & Teens with ADHD, a compassionate, research-informed guide that she’s just updated for today’s families. In our conversation, Cindy and...
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Dr. Kristin Neff, pioneering self-compassion researcher, author, and teacher, talks about the power and benefits of practicing self-compassion as parents to differently wired children. In our conversation, Kristin shares what she has learned about self-compassion, both through her research and her own experiences parenting an autistic child. She goes deep into what self-compassion really looks like,  why we are often more compassi...
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Today’s episode is a deep dive into tactile defensiveness and sensory distress, especially around clothing. My guest is Kathryn Hamlin-Pacheco, an occupational therapist who helps kids and families understand their brains and bodies through everyday neuroscience. Kathryn will break down what’s actually happening in the brain and nervous system when children experience tactile defensiveness, and why clothing can feel so overwhelming...
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This is one of only a few solocast episodes I’ve made over the past several years, but I wanted to talk one-on-one with you about self-care. If you’ve read my book or regularly listen to this show, you know I am a big proponent of self-care—I don’t think it’s even close to optional for parents raising neurodivergent kids. And, I also recognize that it can be a hard thing to make time for and prioritize. I get asked a lot about what...
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Today’s show is all about navigating the school system when your child has disabilities—and how to do that with clarity, confidence, and a whole lot more support. My guest is Stacey Shubitz, author of the new book Make the School System Work for Your Child with Disabilities: Empowering Kids for the Future. In this episode, Stacey shares her journey as both an educator and a parent, and we dig into what parents really need to unders...
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Picture this. You’re sitting in the neuropsych’s office after you just got your kid’s diagnosis. You’re relieved to have some information on how to help them but have no clue how to explain their neurodivergence to them. Do you talk about the science? Do you wait until they are a certain age where they might understand more about their brains? Or maybe you think about waiting for them to start asking the questions. If you can relat...
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Today we’re taking a fresh, much-needed look at screen time—one that moves beyond fear, shame, and power struggles and into something far more nuanced and humane. My guest is Ash Brandin, also known as TheGamerEducator, and the author of the new book, Power On: Managing Screen Time to Benefit the Whole Family. In this episode, Ash and I talk about screen time through the lenses of social equity and moral neutrality, and why empower...
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I know that there are concerns among many families that their child’s self-esteem can be negatively impacted by a label, or that others, including teachers may treat a child differently if they know they have one or more diagnoses, especially because of the stigma associated with neurodifferences. So this is what Dr. Karen Wilson and I get into — demystifying the process and offering suggestions for approaching these important conv...
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Today’s episode is a little different—it’s just me, revisiting the Tilt Manifesto I wrote back in 2015 as part of my development of Tilt Parenting. In this solocast, I share the context in which that manifesto was born, what was happening in my own life as a parent of a neurodivergent child at the time, and why there felt like such an urgent need to challenge the dominant parenting narratives around compliance, productivity, ...
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Today we’re exploring unschooling—not just as an educational choice, but as a deeply personal and often healing journey for parents themselves. My guest is Esther Jones, an unschooling mother of three, the founder of The Unschool Space podcast, and the author of The Parent’s Handbook to Unschooling Yourself. Esther was led into unschooling by her own children, who challenged her to unravel long-held beliefs about parenting, learnin...
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This week I’m talking with Dr. Lynyetta Willis about navigating the journey when a child is newly diagnosed with a neurodifference. A psychologist turned family coach, Lynyetta specializes in empowering women in their relationships, as well as combines her foundation in psychology and trauma healing with best practices in empowerment coaching to help her clients strengthen their parenting, partnerships, and personal growth to creat...
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Today we’re digging into executive function — what it really is, why it matters so much for neurodivergent kids (and adults!), and how we can better support these skills without judgment or overwhelm. Sarah and I talk about how awareness around executive function has evolved, why self-regulation is foundational, and how different skills — emotional, cognitive, and behavioral — are all interconnected. She shares her supportive, nonj...
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This week I’m bringing back to the podcast Dr. Devon MacEachron, a New York-based psychologist specializing in assessment and educational planning for gifted and twice-exceptional learners. The last time Devon was on the show, we talked about the assessment process for 2e learners, but today we’re moving on to the next natural step of this conversation, and actually, the next step for a parent whose child has been identified as ha...
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Today’s conversation is all about shifting from a mindset of limitation to one of empowerment and possibility. My guest is Dr. Scott Barry Kaufman, a psychologist, professor, and bestselling author whose work focuses on helping all kinds of minds live creative, fulfilling, and self-actualized lives. In our conversation, Scott shares insights from his latest book, Rise Above, which explores the concept of the victim mindset and how ...
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The neuropsych assessment process can be daunting and complicated to navigate, especially in recent years as a result of COVID,  so I’m excited to share my conversation with pediatric and adolescent young adult neuropsychologist, Dr. Jonine Nazar-Biesman. Jonine’s work is about taking into consideration the whole child and the big picture when assessments are being done.  In this episode, we talk about what parents should think ab...
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Today’s episode is an expert visit with leadership coach, author, and podcast host Heather Chauvin about navigating life’s unexpected detours, especially the ones that knock the wind out of you and make you question everything. Heather shares how her stage 4 cancer diagnosis reshaped the way she thinks about “resilience,” why so many capable, responsible women end up running on fumes, and what it looks like to stop powering t...
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Cathy and Todd Adams, the husband and wife team behind Zen Parenting Radio, talk about showing up in partnership for our children, the gifts of growth and vulnerability, and how to foster deeper alignment with our parenting partners, even in the face of challenges. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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Today’s episode an expert visit with Dr. Mel Houser—family physician, autistic PDAer, and founder of All Brains Belong—about the realities of navigating healthcare systems with neurodivergent kids and teens. Mel shares how their clinical work and lived experience have revealed predictable patterns in the “constellation” of intertwined neuro-immune conditions many autistic and ADHD people experience, why traditional medicine o...
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