In the final chapter of “When autistic kids grow up,” a new government grant suggests a slowly raised awareness around the need to study the lives of autistic adults, and Tempest McDonald comes through her dark period. Read the transcript. Listen to Chapters 1, 2, 3 and 4.
In Chapter 4 of “When autistic kids grow up,” Tempest McDonald’s time at Vanderbilt comes to its end, and an investigation into the autism research funding landscape shows her paper was pointing toward something true. Read the transcript. Listen to Chapters 1, 2 and 3.
In Chapter 2 of “When autistic kids grow up,” after her stint as a semi-professional pool player and the birth of her son, Tempest McDonald goes west to start her belated journey through higher education. Listen to other chapters and read the transcript.
“When autistic kids grow up” is a five-part podcast that explores how Tempest McDonald’s lived experience fueled her research and explains how she stumbled onto a problem that has been hiding in plain sight. In Chapter 1, McDonald’s turbulent childhood begins to provide some answers to the question, What leads an autism researcher to publish […]
Tempest McDonald is not your typical academic researcher. She was born in Alaska into a neurodivergent family, for one thing, and then spent her at-times chaotic youth in Atlanta. She herself is autistic. She survived a period of homelessness as a teenager and then became a semi-professional pool player, spending hours in Atlanta’s bars. She […]
📚 Big wins for New Mexico kids! This week, I signed four education bills into law, targeting literacy, math, and special education. The new laws require structured literacy instruction in K–3, early math screening, higher math standards for teacher licenses, and facebook.com
How Parents Can Inspire Their Kids by Not Giving Up on Their Passion Today’s fast-paced world is filled with screens, deadlines, and school schedules. Parenting looks very different from what it did a generation ago. We are raising digital-native kids while juggling careers, homes, aging parents, and our own personal growth. But here’s a powerful […]
Every January, the world sharpens its pencils and declares: Be more consistent.Follow through.Set firmer boundaries.Stick to the plan. But if you are raising a child with ADHD, as I am, you hear these phrases all year long. They come from friends, family members, teachers, neighbors, and strangers who see our children on their hardest days […]
Warning: this strategy is going to fly in the face of traditional recommendations to parents! If we learned anything from the 2020 pandemic, when school and home began to merge as one, it’s that we have to be open to new and different ways of doing what we’ve always done. Article continues below… Want to […]
We all have childhood memories of upsetting an adult — of knowing we’re in trouble for disappointing a grown-up in one way or another. We remember the weight of our guilt and feeling like we were bad to the core. As much as we remember the sighs, yells, and criticisms, we also remember the moments […]
If you feel like someone in your home is always shutting down, melting down, or firing back, you’re not imagining it. Reactivity takes over fast, especially in stressed or neurodiverse families. In this episode, we’ll explain why it happens, how to spot each SODA pattern, and what to do in the moment to create safety […]
A 17-year-old who excels in school but waits until the night before college applications are due to ask for recommendations. A 14-year-old team captain who fights with his younger sibling as if he were 6 himself. A 12-year-old with plenty of friends who forgets basic hygiene like brushing teeth or showering. These are just a […]
