The holidays can be magical… and completely exhausting when your child has ADHD. Late nights, travel, sugar, screens, unfamiliar beds, and heightened emotions can quickly undo even the most carefully built sleep routine. If your child’s sleep falls apart during the holidays, you are not failing. This is genuinely harder for ADHD brains. In this episode, Dr. Olivia Kessel shares practical, realistic strategies to help you protect your child’s sleep during the festive season and gently reset ro...
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The holidays can be magical… and completely exhausting when your child has ADHD. Late nights, travel, sugar, screens, unfamiliar beds, and heightened emotions can quickly undo even the most carefully built sleep routine. If your child’s sleep falls apart during the holidays, you are not failing. This is genuinely harder for ADHD brains. In this episode, Dr. Olivia Kessel shares practical, realistic strategies to help you protect your child’s sleep during the festive season and gently reset ro...
The holidays can be magical… and completely exhausting when your child has ADHD. Late nights, travel, sugar, screens, unfamiliar beds, and heightened emotions can quickly undo even the most carefully built sleep routine. If your child’s sleep falls apart during the holidays, you are not failing. This is genuinely harder for ADHD brains. In this episode, Dr. Olivia Kessel shares practical, realistic strategies to help you protect your child’s sleep during the festive season and gently reset ro...
December promises twinkly lights and cosy moments, yet many parents feel like they’re sprinting through a minefield. I open up about the invisible load that spikes stress during the holidays—noise, judgment, lost routines, sensory overload—and explain why your nervous system interprets it all as danger. When the body tips into fight, flight, or freeze, calm isn’t a choice you’re failing to make; it’s a state you can learn to access with fast, reliable tools. We unpack the zones of regulation...
If parenting your child feels like a constant battle—and every strategy you have been told to use only makes things worse—you are not alone. Many families live this struggle daily without realising there is a name for what they are seeing: Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA). In this episode, we speak with Rachel Crutcher and Sarah Stewart from the PDA Society, two experts who have walked this path both personally and professionally. Together, we uncover why everyday demands trigger such inte...
So many parents of neurodivergent children lie awake at night wondering the same thing: “What will happen when my child enters the workplace?” In this episode, Dr. Olivia sits down with Jenefer Livings, HR consultant, workplace needs assessor, and mother to a neurodivergent child, to demystify what neurodiversity at work really looks like. Together they explore how shifts in workplace culture, flexible working, and better understanding of executive functioning are transforming what is p...
You are not imagining it. Pregnancy, birth, and early parenting are more overwhelming for many neurodivergent mums — and no one tells you why. In this eye-opening episode, doula and neurodiversity advocate Alix Myers joins Dr Olivia to unpack the hidden challenges that make the perinatal journey feel so intense. If you ever wondered why you struggled more than other mums, this episode finally gives you the answers, validation, and tools you deserve. ✨ What You Will Learn 🧠 Sensory Over...
Many neurodivergent children struggle to make and keep friends — not because they do not care, but because they experience the world differently. In this episode, Dr Olivia speaks with Kirsten, founder of Uncommon, a unique online community that helps neurodiverse children build friendships and confidence through shared interests like gaming, art, and creativity. Kirsten shares her personal journey to an autism diagnosis, why traditional social spaces often fail neurodivergent kids, and how U...
What if the problem isn't your child—it's the system? If school mornings feel like a battlefield and your child is shrinking under constant pressure, this episode offers hope. Dr. Olivia sits down with Cassie Olguin—homeschooling mother of three (including neurodivergent twins) and Outschool education lead—to explore what learning looks like when you step outside the traditional classroom. Cassie's Journey: From early motor delays and night terrors to navigating autism, ADHD, OCD, and anxiety...
Half-term chaos, slammed doors, sharp words—if that sounds familiar, you are not alone. In this episode, Dr Olivia Kessel sits down with teen expert Kim McCabe to unpack why your once-snuggly child suddenly bristles at “How was your day?” and how to respond without losing your cool or your connection. From the teenage brain’s rebuild to the unique load neurodiverse teens carry, we explore what is really happening under the surface—and the simple shifts that can change everything at home. Kim ...
Burnout has a way of making even the smallest task feel impossible. We open with a lifeline for parents raising neurodivergent children, then sit down with campaigner and founder Agnes Agyepong to trace how postnatal depression and isolation became the spark for two powerful vehicles of change: the Glow Mama Awards and a research-led movement tackling maternal and SEND inequalities. Agnes shares the surprising role social media played in her recovery—authentic posts, wry humour, and micro-mo...
What if the problem was never your child—but the system itself? In this powerful conversation, Dr. Olivia sits down with Esther Jones, mindfulness teacher, mother of three, and author of The Parent’s Handbook to Unschooling Yourself, to explore what happens when we let go of the ‘shoulds’ that weigh parents down. From daily battles over school refusal to the pressure of academic milestones, Esther shares her family’s journey into unschooling—a path that focuses on curiosity, connection...
✨ Click here for SENsory Mother - Laura Ellis ✨ Click here for 30-day Guide to Better Sleep 👉 Join ADHD Warrior Mum: The Recharge Station What if the meltdown in your hallway isn’t defiance at all, but a terrified nervous system asking for help? We go straight to the heart of “challenging behaviour” with Laura, a teacher and mum of neurodivergent twins, who moved from daily crisis to a calmer, kinder home by changing how she understood panic, overload, and connection. Her story spans pr...
Dr Olivia Kessel welcomes back co-authors Georgina Benger and Karen Price to discuss restorative justice as a compassionate, relationship-based approach that helps children understand the impact of their actions and repair harm. • Georgina's research at Cambridge University revealed schools still use the same punishment methods from 1846 despite their ineffectiveness • Traditional punishments fail to teach accountability and create patterns where children accept consequences without understa...
If you're exhausted from daily battles with a child who seems to resist everything – even things they used to enjoy – this episode will change how you see their behaviour forever. Karen Price and Georgina Benger, leading PDA experts who've supported thousands of families, reveal why Pathological Demand Avoidance isn't defiance or manipulation – it's anxiety. Using the heartwarming children's book "Olive's Day" as their guide, they brilliantly illustrate how your child literally "can't, not wo...
The postcode lottery in UK's SEND system isn't just frustrating—it's devastating families. This raw, eye-opening conversation with Rebecca Harrison reveals the shocking truth about educational inequality across neighboring boroughs. Rebecca brings a uniquely powerful perspective as both a former SENCO and mother to two neurodivergent children. Despite her professional background and intimate understanding of the educational system, she's been unable to secure appropriate schooling for her au...
Education systems often fail neurodivergent children, but the right support can transform their learning journey. Julia Silver, founder of Qualified Tutors and mother to five neurodivergent children, shares how tutoring can rebuild confidence and love of learning for children struggling in traditional education. • Understanding that schools can't meet every child's needs – even with the most dedicated teachers • How tutoring offers personalized support that goes to where the student is • The...
Ever felt like your child's emotions are too big for their body? In this tender final episode of our Alexandra ADHD En Masse series, my 13-year-old daughter Alexandra opens her heart about one of the most challenging aspects of living with ADHD – emotional regulation and friendship struggles. With remarkable self-awareness, Alexandra shares how overwhelming emotions can suddenly explode, leaving her feeling misunderstood and sometimes excluded from friendship groups. "They might judge you......
Click here for the ADHD Sleep Guide - 30 days to better sleep Sleep deprivation became our unwelcome companion for eleven long years. My daughter Alexandra would lie awake for hours, plagued by anxious thoughts that seemed to intensify as darkness fell. When sleep finally came, it was fragmented – she'd wake repeatedly, finding her way to my bed most nights seeking reassurance. For families navigating ADHD, this scenario might sound painfully familiar. In this deeply personal conversation, A...
FREE GUIDE: ADHD Medication Made Simple 💊 Understand how ADHD medication works, the different options available, and how to talk to your child about it with confidence. 👉 Download your free guide here What's it really like to take ADHD medication as a teenager? Forget the clinical explanations—today my daughter Alexandra bravely takes us behind the curtain of her medication journey with refreshing honesty that only a young person living the experience can provide. The journey begins w...
Ever wondered what ADHD actually feels like from the inside? In this intimate first episode of our special summer series, I'm joined by my daughter Alexandra who courageously opens up about her experience living with ADHD before and after diagnosis. The morning battlefields we once faced will sound painfully familiar to many parents – shouted instructions, missed cues, and escalating frustration on both sides. Alexandra brilliantly articulates why seemingly simple tasks like "get ready for s...
What if your child's meltdowns or shutdowns aren't actually about behavior, but biology? Nicola McAllister, education consultant with 30+ years of experience and mother to an autistic son, reveals the science behind self-regulation that transforms how we support our neurodivergent children. Through her compassionate lens, we discover that what looks like "difficult behavior" is actually a stress response—our children's bodies responding to perceived threats with the only tools they cur...
The holidays can be magical… and completely exhausting when your child has ADHD. Late nights, travel, sugar, screens, unfamiliar beds, and heightened emotions can quickly undo even the most carefully built sleep routine. If your child’s sleep falls apart during the holidays, you are not failing. This is genuinely harder for ADHD brains. In this episode, Dr. Olivia Kessel shares practical, realistic strategies to help you protect your child’s sleep during the festive season and gently reset ro...
