Tilt Parenting’s Mission
The mission of Tilt Parenting is to change the way difference is perceived and experienced in the world so these exceptional kids, and the parents raising them, can thrive in their schools, in their families, and in their lives. Being differently wired isn’t a deficit — it’s a difference. Tilt Parenting offers connection with other parents raising atypical children, roadmaps for walking through the journey, insight from trusted experts, strategies and solutions for dealing with challenging situations, tips for advocating for our children, and evidence-based resources for overwhelmed parents, as well as speaking and consulting services to schools, businesses, and organizations working to be more inclusive and neurodiversity affirming.
The revolution for parents raising differently wired™ kids.
The Tilt Parenting Story
More than 20 percent of today’s children are in some way neurologically atypical, or what Tilt founder Debbie Reber refers to as “differently wired.” And because the world isn’t set up to accommodate their unique way of being, these exceptional kids and the parents raising them, struggle to navigate their journey.
This is the situation Debbie found herself in as she raised her child Asher. She spent years figuring out how to best support him in school and in life, and struggled to find reliable, useful, and most of all optimistic, information for parents like her. Many of the websites and organizations that did exist didn’t speak to her, nor did they help her figure out a plan for getting Asher what he needed while supporting herself in the process. Her best leads came from word-of-mouth from other parents who’d been down the road before her, but even then, figuring out what to do and where to turn next was like going geocaching without a GPS.
Debbie created Tilt Parenting in early 2016 in the hopes that no parent walking this unmarked path will ever feel alone again; to help frustrated and stuck parents feel connected and grounded as they chart a path that feels positive and hopeful for the whole family.
Check out the Tilt Parenting Manifesto to learn more about Tilt’s vision for a more positive, more inclusive experience for parents raising differently wired children.
Download a high-res version of the Tilt Creed, highlighting ideas for how parents raising differently wired kids can find joy, peace, and possibility right now.
Meet Debbie Reber
Tilt Parenting Founder & CEO Debbie Reber (MA) is a parenting activist, bestselling author, podcast host, and speaker. A pioneering advocate for neurodivergent children and their families, she launched Tilt Parenting in 2016 at a time when the prevailing conversation around neurodevelopmental differences was rooted in deficits and disorder. Well before “neurodivergent” entered mainstream language, Debbie challenged the status quo, championing a strengths-based model that celebrates the inherent potential of differently wired kids. Her work has been instrumental in reframing societal perceptions, moving from a focus on “fixing” outliers to empowering families and creating inclusive, supportive systems for these exceptional children.
Debbie’s groundbreaking book, Differently Wired: A Parent’s Guide to Raising an Atypical Child with Confidence and Hope, is widely recommended by therapists, educators, and OTs and has been endorsed by top researchers in the field of neurodevelopmental disabilities. With more than 7 million downloads, the Tilt Parenting Podcast features leading experts and thought leaders in parenting, education, and child development.
Debbie is a certified life coach and Positive Discipline trainer, has been quoted in publications like The Washington Post and The New York Times, has written for Psychology Today and ADDitude Magazine, and is a regularly featured parenting expert on NewsNation’s Morning in America show. She co-created the Parenting in Place Masterclass series, hosting evidence-based virtual education events with leaders in clinical psychology, education, and neuroscience. She is also a sought-after speaker, recently featured at the prestigious Learning & the Brain Conference hosted by Harvard and MIT. A two-time TEDx speaker, Debbie’s talk Why the Future Will Be Differently Wired has resonated with audiences worldwide. Along with her small team of parent coaches and educators at Tilt, Debbie offers virtual guidance, strategies, and support to a global community of parents raising neurodivergent children.
Prior to launching Tilt, Debbie spent more than fifteen years writing inspiring books for women and teens, and frequently spoke about issues like media literacy, self-esteem, and confidence, and consulted for clients including the Girl Scouts, the Disney Channel, McGraw Hill, and Kaplan. Since 1999, Debbie has authored many books, including Doable: The Girls’ Guide to Accomplishing Just About Anything, Chill: Stress-Reducing Techniques for a More Balanced, Peaceful You, In Their Shoes: Extraordinary Women Describe Their Amazing Careers, and more than a dozen preschool books based on the series Blue’s Clues. In 2008, she had the privilege of creating and editing the first-ever series of teen-authored memoirs, Louder Than Words.
Before embarking on her own path as a solopreneur, Debbie worked in TV and video production, producing documentaries and PSAs for CARE and UNICEF, working on Blue’s Clues for Nickelodeon, and developing original series for Cartoon Network. She has an MA in Media Studies from the New School for Social Research and a BA in Communications from Pennsylvania State University. Debbie and her family have lived in Los Angeles, Seattle, Amsterdam, and most recently, Brooklyn. In the summer of 2024, Debbie, her husband, and two cats moved back to the Netherlands, while their twice-exceptional young adult started university in Scotland.
Tilt Parenting Team
Lindsay McFadden, Advocacy Program Coordinator
With a versatile degree in communications from The University of Texas at Austin and several stints living and traveling abroad, Lindsay McFadden has accumulated a diverse plethora of experience ranging from public affairs to human resources, from writing to accounting, and from boardrooms and leadership to entrepreneurship. Her favorite role is witnessing her children experience life and being there for them as best as she can. They have gifted Lindsay with her greatest education in life and developed her passion for mental health, neurodiversity, and out-of-the-box learning and personal growth. Tilt Parenting gave me support, knowledge, and community when she needed it the most and she is beyond honored and committed to assist Tilt in its dedicated outreach.
Andrea Curtis-Amezquita, Podcast Producer & Editor
Andrea Curtis-Amezquita is a lover of the word AND. She is a multi-passionate person who has worked in many different industries in different capacities, including working as a royalty analyst in the music industry, an after-school instructor in a non-profit, and a creative director and podcast producer for entrepreneurs. Andrea’s mission is to amplify messages that can change the world; when the opportunity to work with Debbie on the Tilt Podcast presented itself, she knew she wanted to use her skills to help Tilt’s mission reach more families. When she’s not working, you can find her taking long walks in nature, drawing, singing, eating mangoes, or traveling with her husband.
Margaret Webb, Lead Parent Coach, Facilitator, and Community Manager
Margaret Webb is the mom of a eighteen-year-old son who is on the autism spectrum, a former elementary school educator who taught kindergarten and third grade for nine years, and for the past ten years, has been a certified master life and parenting coach (including nature-based coaching and equus coaching). She weaves together her professional and personal experience with the coaching tools, educational expertise, and parenting strategies she has in her toolbox in order to help parents shift from feeling isolated, anxious, and controlling to feeling more content, confident, and empowered. Learn more about Margaret here.
Zach Morris, Parent Coach & Facilitator
Zach Morris is a thought leader in education and is committed to helping people increase compassion, collaboration, and learning. Zach supports individuals, families, and organizations who aim to develop a greater sense of safety and empowerment in themselves, in their relationships, and in their communities. He is inspired by the science of how people learn and change, and he aims to translate this to help individuals and communities improve awareness, communication, and structural support. Zach has 10+ years experience in the classroom, ranging from inner-city public school to rural therapeutic boarding school, and from non-traditional private school to individual co-op homeschool. Zach now serves as a learning consultant and communication coach, and he is most at home in the mountains of Montana, where he lives and works. Learn more about Zach here.
Sheryl Stoller, Parent Coach & Facilitator
Dive in to Tilt Parenting
Tilt Parenting’s Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
I designed Tilt Parenting to be part of the revolution to shift the paradigm for how neurodifferences are perceived and experienced in the world. If you’ve read the Tilt Manifesto, you know this means tackling broken systems, traditional education models, and more. I deeply believe our kids are here to do big things and that together, our community is fostering true acceptance for who our kids inherently are. This has to actively include Black and brown children, whom we know are especially marginalized, even within our community of atypical kids.
In leading Tilt Parenting, I am fully committed to creating a community in which Black, Indigenous, and people of color feel seen, supported, and represented within the Tilt-verse, and to diversity, inclusion, equity, and anti-racism. In working toward these goals, I am continuing to:
- Continue investing in DEI training to help me lead Tilt in an anti-racist way, as well as grow my intercultural competency
- Seek out and amplify the voices of parenting experts (and parents) of color on the Tilt Parenting Podcast
- Leverage Tilt’s visibility to be a vocal ally to causes and issues affecting differently wired kids of color surrounding education, gifted identification, the school-to-prison pipeline, etc.
Thank you for being a part of this community. I know that together we are going to do great things—for our kids, and for the world.
Connect with Tilt & Join the Community
Join the thriving community on Facebook and stay up to date on news and the podcast
Connect with Tilt in (nearly) real-time…the quickest / easiest way to engage and converse
Follow Tilt on Instagram for podcast audiograms, inspirational quotes, events, and more
Learn more about Debbie Reber’s background, read my business profile, and get in touch
Join the Differently Wired™ revolution
Changing things for our kids is going to take all of us. Sign up below to get my weekly newsletter featuring personal messages, upcoming events, must-read articles, and more.
TILT PARENTING
Tilt Parenting, LLC is an educational resource, podcast, consultancy, and community with a focus on positively shifting the way neurodifferences in children are perceived, experienced, and supported, and supporting parents raising differently wired™ kids so these exceptional kids can thrive in their schools, in their families, and in their lives. It was founded by Debbie Reber in 2016.
© 2016 Deborah Reber
TILT PARENTING
FOLLOW TILT