10 Tilts for Parenting During the Coronavirus Pandemic
We're all going through what we're going through. And I know for many in our community, these disruptions to routines and schooling and activities and LIFE can be especially challenging. I thought I'd share some ideas and resources that you might find helpful as you...
10 Podcast Episodes That Are Guaranteed to Tilt Your Thinking
Since launching TiLT Parenting nearly 4 years ago, I've had conversations with close to 200 guests, all centered around finding more joy, purpose, and confidence in raising and supporting differently wired children. Looking back at this body of work, there are many...
Why Love and Intention is the Only Guidepost We Need
This picture was taken exactly 5 years ago, while Asher, Derin and I were staying with friends in Vancouver for the weekend so our realtor could hold an open house for our Seattle home, fresh on the market. Less than 4 weeks later, we would arrive jet-lagged and...
Fingers Crossed: A Post From the Anonymous Blog That Led to TILT
When Asher was 7 years old, I kept an anonymous blog that I shared only with my immediate family. The year was 2011 and as a parent, let’s just say I was not in a good place. I kept the blog anonymous because I wanted to share and needed to write about what was going...
Presenting the Top 10 TiLT Parenting Podcast Episodes of 2017!
1: Dr. Ross Greene Explains How Collaborative and Proactive Solutions Benefits Differently-Wired Kids Dr. Ross Greene, author of the The Explosive Child: A New Approach for Understanding and Parenting Easily Frustrated, Chronically Inflexible...
What the Movie “Speed” Taught Me About Navigating Tough Moments
In the 1994 action movie Speed, Annie (played by Sandra Bullock) sits behind the wheel of a city bus in Los Angeles, desperately trying to keep its speed limit above 50 mph so the bomb placed on it by a madman (Dennis Hopper) doesn't go off (#TotalHollywoodPlot). As...
Slow Processing Speed: What It Is and How to Support Kids Who Have It
The following is a conversation I had with Dr. Ellen Braaten, where she explains to us exactly what slow processing speed is, describes how it shows up in kids, and gives her insights on how parents (and teachers) can best support kids for whom this is a challenge....
Anatomy of a Bad Day Turned Good with My Differently-Wired Boy
As part of my research for writing the Differently Wired book, I've been going back to old journal entries and other writing from years past to reflect on what was especially hard, what worked, what bombed, and how far we've come. When I uncover something I think...
Asher Talks About Strategies and Challenges Surrounding His Social Life
The following is a conversation with Asher in which he answers questions from listeners about his social life. In our conversation, Asher opens up about not only what’s challenging for him in relationship to other kids, but what strategies he’s using to get through...
How One Mother Uses Nature to Help Her Daughter Live with Anxiety
The following is a conversation I had with Jill Emmelhainz, the mother of a 14-year-old daughter with anxiety who's taken extraordinary measures to support her daughter. Jill offers a beautiful example of what it looks like when a parent commits to becoming fluent in...
Have You Ever Wished Your Kid Would Just Grow Up Already? I Have…
The other day I was poking around on Pinterest and stumbled across a parenting quote that said simply, “Let them be little.” (I’ve since learned this is also the name of a 2004 song by American country music singer Billy Dean. Who knew?) When Asher was younger,...
Understanding and Navigating the Often Tricky Parent-Teacher Dynamic
Following is a conversation I had with Becca Wertheim, a second grade teacher at an inclusion school in North Carolina. Becca absolutely loves what she does, especially the role she has of learning how to meet the unique needs and learning styles of the differently...
A 4-Step Process to Pushing the “Reset” Button After a Difficult Parenting Moment
I was talking with a friend over coffee last weekend about the zigzag nature of parenting differently-wired kids. You know, the whole idea that growth and development isn’t linear but rather a series of stops and starts. I know that parents raising neurotypical kids...
Debbie and Asher Share Their Best Travel and Vacation Strategies
Following is a conversation I had with my (then) 11-year-old son Asher (ADHD, Asperger’s, giftedness) about our best tips and strategies for making travel and vacations run more smoothly. We talk about what we’ve learned over the years when it comes to making sure...
The Books That Have Been Leading Me Through My Off-Road Parenting Journey
In my TiLT Manifesto, I encourage parents like me to Question Everything, writing that: "There is no one way this parenting journey has to look for any of us, and especially those of us raising children with neurological differences." I think one of the most...
Parent Coach Margit Luria Talks About the Myths and Realities of ADHD / ADD
Following is a conversation I had with ADHD Coach Margit Luria of Blocked to Brilliant. Margit, who has ADHD herself, brings a powerful perspective as a passionate advocate for children and teens with ADHD. Her mission? To change the way ADHD and ADD is perceived by...
3 Reminders About Honoring Our Kids’ Emotional Experiences
This morning Asher had to get pricked for an allergy test. He’s still fairly traumatized by the blood test he’d had several months ago, so the unknowns about this further poking were kind of a big deal. Last night at bedtime when he remembered what the morning...
The Gifts of Seizing on Little Moments for Encouraging Our Kids’ Personal Growth
This week I've been rereading Jessica Lahey's book The Gift of Failure, which is about learning to let go (and let our kids fail) so they can ultimately succeed. Jessica talks a lot about the need for our kids to do more for themselves, something I firmly believe in,...
A Conversation with Asher About Managing and Tracking Screen Time
Following is a conversation I had with my (then) 11-year-old son (ADHD, Asperger’s, giftedness) about our how we deal with all the aspects of SCREEN TIME in our world—the good, the bad, and the not-so bad. This is an edited transcription of Episode 12 of the TiLT...
Why We Should Ditch the Parenting Goals (and Set Intentions Instead)
It’s the time of year when everyone seems to be setting resolutions, about everything from fostering better fitness and nutrition to ditching habits like obsessively checking social media or sleeping with a smart phone within arm’s reach. And while I’m a big fan of...
Helping Our Kids Reach Their Potential Has Never Mattered More
It's been a year, hasn't it? I can't remember a time in recent history where the level of unrest and difficult news coming from so many parts of the planet on an almost daily basis rivals the current state of the world. It can make us feel like what's going on in our...
How to Support Kids With Dyslexia in Tapping Into Its Gifts
Following is a conversation I had with former teacher, reading specialist, teacher and parent educator, and coach, Heidi Nord about dyslexia. Heidi is incredibly knowledgeable about dyslexia, and she’s spent many years coaching not only children with dyslexia, but...
A Thought On Our Kids and Their Energy (a Post-Election Post)
A quick note. While we have a very international community here at TiLT, the majority of our families are based in the US, where many people are experiencing an emotional upheaval as a result of November's divisive election. I wanted to take a moment to encourage...
How Children Can Learn Social and Emotional Skills Through Preschool TV
Following is a conversation I had with children’s TV show creator and writer Angela Santomero. Angela created the preschool phenomenon Blue’s Clues for Nickelodeon, as well as Super Why and Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood for PBS and Creative Galaxy and Wishenpoof for...
5 Questions That Can Turn Challenges Into an Opportunity for Growth
It was just like any other Monday night. Derin had just gotten home from work, sopping wet from a rainy bike commute. I was tending to a giant pot of chili on the stove while simultaneously cleaning out the refrigerator. And Asher was plopped on the couch, furiously...
A Conversation with 11-year-Asher About His Game Changing Morning Routine
Following is a conversation I had with my (then) 11-year-old son (ADHD, Asperger’s, giftedness) about our special Morning Routine, a six-step routine we’ve been doing since January 2016 in the hopes that it would help our days be more productive, happy, energetic, and...
The Power of Empathy and Staying Calm in Difficult Situations with Our Kids
Following is a conversation I had with Simone Davies, a Montessori educator who runs Jacaranda Tree Montessori in Amsterdam and founder of the online home The Montessori Notebook, which helps people apply Montessori principles in daily live through free articles,...
A Conversation with 11-Year-Old Asher About Frustration
Following is a conversation I had with my 11-year-old son (ADHD, Asperger’s, giftedness) about Frustration. Being easily frustrated is an issue many differently-wired kids deal with on a regular basis, and it can lead to challenging situations in the classroom and at...
How to Support Atypical Kids in Developing Executive Functioning
Following is a conversation I had with Julie George, a behavior and education consultant who works with twice-exceptional and gifted kids, as well as girls on the autism spectrum. Julie is an expert on executive functioning, and in our conversation, I asked Julie to...
What Mindfulness Can Do for Kids and How to Get Started
Following is a conversation I had with Kate Berger, a child and adolescent psychologist, Mindfulness instructor, and owner of the Netherlands-based therapy practice, Expat Kids' Club, for a conversation about the benefits of mindfulness in kids and ideas for how to...
It‘s Never Too Early to Get Kids Invested in Their Own Personal Growth
When I first made the switch to homeschooling my twice-exceptional son Asher three years ago when he was nine years old, my curriculum guru encouraged me to engage his natural curiosity by sharing with him what I was learning with regards to brain science and ADHD,...
A Conversation with 11-Year-Old Asher About Distraction
Following is a conversation I had with my 11-year-old son (ADHD, Asperger's, giftedness) about Distraction, something that has been a significant challenge for us as a family, and more recently, has become increasingly frustrating for Asher himself. In our short...
When School Isn’t a Fit: What It Looks Like & How to Handle It
Following is a conversation I had with educator and parent coach Alison Bower. As former teacher and school administrator, as well as the mother of several differently-wired kids herself, Alison offers extraordinary perspective from both sides of the table about the...
Finding Peace in Parenting the Child You Didn’t Expect While You Were Expecting
Following is a conversation I had with Margaret Webb, a life and parent coach whose primary focuses is helping parents find more peace and joy in parenting a child they didn’t expect while expecting. I’m a big fan of the work Margaret does because as I’ve experienced...
Raising a Differently-Wired Kid?
If so, we invite you to join the TiLT Community of like-minded parents raising atypical kids. We promise not to flood your inbox with a bunch of emails…just monthly or so check-ins with quick tips, inspirational bursts, and updates relevant to parents like us.