Neurodiversity Podcast Emily Kircher-Morris

Living an authentic life is a goal we all have. In the neurodiversity world, that can be a tricky concept. Masking has often become a habit born of self-preservation, and letting go of that can be difficult, and sometimes unsafe. On episode 174 we’re joined by Dr. Rebecca Jackson, a neurodivergent coach who uses her experiences to support her clients with a positive psychology approach. She and Emily talk about how acceptance is the key to being authentic and full of life. Self-regulation can be the key to motivation, and personal interests can be harnessed to help develop coping skills.
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Dr. Rebecca Jackson is a positive psychology coaching research practitioner. She researches best practice in safely, effectively and inclusively coaching autistic and ADHD adults. She is autistic and ADHD, and so combines research, practice and lived experience in pursuit of neuro-friendly coaching. Rebecca's coaching specialism is helping clients self-regulate to promote their wellbeing and zest. When she's not eating, sleeping and breathing coaching, Rebecca can be found hiking with her dog or planning her next travel adventure.
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Burnout is something everyone occasionally deals with, but it manifests very differently in the world of neurodiversity. Today we talk about the burnout experienced by twice-exceptional and gifted kids. Emily Kircher-Morris talks with Brian Housand and Andi McNair, and it’s a conversation all gifted people, and parents of gifted kids, need to hear.
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Dr. Brian Housand is the coordinator of the Academically or Intellectually Gifted program at University of North Carolina Wilmington, and creator of Gifted360.com. He is also a published author and speaker, and has worked in education as a classroom teacher, gifted ed teacher, and university professor for over 20 years.
Andi McNair is a passionate educator, author and speaker. Andi taught in the gen-ed classroom for 16 years, and then switched to serving gifted learners where she found her calling. She enjoys sharing her passion for innovative education through her books for educators, speaking nationally, and finding meaningful ways to use technology. Andi currently works as the Digital Innovation Specialist in a Waco, Texas school district.
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There’s a pressure on parents to allow more technology into the lives of their kids. Gaming and social media have positive and negative aspects, and neurodivergent kids often have a unique relationship to technology. Emily Kircher-Morris talks about it with Debbie Steinberg Kuntz, and they discuss the upcoming Screen Time and Mental Health summit, which starts May 15, and is available free of charge through the following Friday.
To take part in the summit, get registered here, or find the link on the episode page of our website.
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Debbie Steinberg Kuntz, LMFT is a licensed marriage and family therapist and is the founder of Bright & Quirky. She specializes in helping bright kids and families with learning, social, emotional and behavioral challenges optimize their lives in order to thrive.
Debbie has interviewed over 300 of the top psychologists and educators, and together with the Bright & Quirky team, has served over 100,000 parents in 150 countries through the Bright & Quirky Child Online Summit, the IdeaLab parent learning community, and a variety of Bright & Quirky programs and services. Debbie lives near Seattle with her husband and two sons.
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Are kids really unmotivated, or are you just misinterpreting the signs? Dr. Ellen Braaten talks with Emily Kircher-Morris about the importance of understanding signs of a lack of motivation in neurodivergent children. They delve into the connection between motivation and executive functioning, and explore strengths-based interventions and ways to integrate them into our interactions with neurodivergent kids. They also touch on the controversial question of whether there’s any real value to extrinsic motivators. A meeting of the minds about motivation, on episode 171.
Here’s the link for the summer camp program at Young Scholars Academy. Please use promo code YSANDP10 for 10% off, and to let them know you heard it on the Neurodiversity Podcast.
For information about our SPACE Program, and to get registered, go here.
Dr. Ellen Braaten is the Executive Director of Learning and Emotional Assessment Program at Massachusetts General hospital, and the Kessler Family Chair in Pediatric Neuropsychological Assessment. She also holds an Associate Professorship at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Braaten is also an experienced and prominent psychologist, researcher, speaker, and author of the upcoming book, Bright Kids Who Couldn’t Care Less. She received her Master’s from the University of Colorado, and her Ph.D. from Colorado State University.
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Is the neurodiversity movement a social justice issue? How can we convince the world that differences aren’t deficits? Many of our widely-held beliefs are grounded in fairly obvious ableism. Dr. Bibi Pirayesh is a learning specialist and educational therapist, and founder of the Differences Are Not Deficits Project. She speaks out with Emily Kircher-Morris on episode 170.
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Dr. Bibi Pirayesh works with children in grades 1-12 with a wide range of learning difficulties, including dyslexia, ADHD, and spectrum disorders. Her work as a learning specialist and educational therapist in private practice emphasizes on remediating learning disabilities in a one-on-one setting. Dr. Pirayesh is also a speaker and community advocate for children and families around learning rights. In 2020, Dr. Pirayesh launched The Different is Not Deficit Project to promote the importance of seeing learning disabilities as a social justice issue.
In addition to her private practice and advocacy work, she is also adjunct faculty at Pepperdine University’s Graduate School of Education and Psychology. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Neuroscience and Education from the University of Pittsburgh, and a Master’s Degree in Developmental Psychology from Columbia University.

As Autism Acceptance Month continues, we present a visit with Casey Ehrlich. Casey talks with Emily Kircher-Morris about the relationship between autism and PDA, and about her experience raising her PDA autistic son. She has a different approach that works for her, but is met with a measure of skepticism from some. It’s all ahead, in episode 169.
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Casey Ehrlich, Ph.D., is the founder of At Peace Parents, LLC, an organization that gives parents and therapists tools to support kids with PDA. She’s also the co-founder of the PDA Parents community and podcast. With a background in social science, methodology, and research, Casey takes an objective and non-judgmental approach to supporting families. She’s conducted original research on conflict, peace, and non-violence in areas impacted by civil war in Colombia, and brings those insights to her work with families raising PDA children and teens, or those with hyper-sensitive nervous systems, fight, flight, and freeze behaviors, and trauma. She is also raising two sons, one of whom is PDA Autistic.
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