What does neurodivergent support look like when you don’t have a safety net?
In this episode of The NeuroSpicy MomPod, I talk openly about the gap between neurodivergent support in theory and neurodivergent survival in real life — especially for those without excess money, flexible systems, healthcare access, or generational support.
I share my lived experience as a neurodivergent single mom living paycheck to paycheck, including why I left my teaching career despite student loan debt and health insurance, and how choosing nervous system safety often comes with real material costs. We explore burnout, class, access to diagnosis and services, and why so much neurodivergent advice can quietly assume resources many people simply don’t have.
This episode also weaves in research around socioeconomic status, diagnosis, and access to support — and challenges the idea that healing should be something only available to those with money, time, or privilege.
If you’ve ever felt unseen in neurodivergent spaces, overwhelmed by advice that doesn’t fit your reality, or exhausted from surviving in systems that weren’t built for your brain — this episode is for you.
✨ Topics include:
• Neurodivergence and socioeconomic access
• Burnout and nervous system survival
• Leaving harmful careers to protect mental health
• Diagnosis barriers for kids and adults
• Why “advice without access becomes pressure”• Community as regulation
If this episode resonated, sharing it, leaving a review, or supporting the podcast helps keep this space alive. And whether you’re listening while working, resting, or just trying to get through the day — I’m really glad you’re here.
Be gentle with your nervous system today. 💖
In this episode of The NeuroSpicy MomPod, I’m sitting down with Kory Andreas for a gentle, grounding conversation about late-diagnosed autism, nervous system safety, and what it actually looks like to unmask in a world that wasn’t built for us.
We talk about the lived experience of discovering neurodivergence later in life... the realization , the relief, and the quiet joy that can come when things finally make sense. Kory shares pieces of her own journey, including parenting an autistic child, and we explore why so many neurodivergent adults are craving spaces where they don’t have to perform, explain, or push through.
This conversation weaves through:
late diagnosis and identity repair
nervous system awareness and regulation
unmasking, healing, and self-acceptance
why community matters more than “fixing yourself”
creating spaces that feel safe instead of demanding
✨ Holiday Community Preview
I’m sharing this episode as a video for all members as a small holiday offering — a reminder that rest, validation, and belonging aren’t things you have to earn. If this conversation resonates, you’re already part of what we’re building here.
If you’d like to support the podcast and help me continue creating this work, you’re welcome to join the Patreon — memberships start at $1–$5/month and directly support a neurodivergent single mama building soft, sustainable community.
Whether you’re parenting neurospicy kids, reparenting yourself, or just starting to understand your own nervous system — I’m really glad you’re here.
🎧 New episodes weekly
💖 Community over perfection. Always.
In this episode of The NeuroSpicy MomPod, we explore why neurodivergence so often goes unrecognized in families — and how genetics, normalization, and survival can quietly shape generations of nervous systems.
As we move through the holiday season, this conversation gently holds space for:
Adults who grew up undiagnosed neurodivergent
Parents reparenting themselves while raising neurospicy kids
Anyone realizing that family gatherings feel overwhelming for very real, neurological reasons
We talk about:
The science behind the genetic nature of neurodivergence
Why shared traits within families are often normalized instead of recognized
How awareness can change what we’re able to tolerate
And why choosing gentleness, boundaries, or distance can be an act of self-love — not rejection
This episode is especially for anyone navigating grief, clarity, and compassion all at once — and learning how to protect their nervous system without shame.
💖 Want more behind-the-scenes, off-script conversations and personal updates?
You can support the podcast and access bonus content by subscribing on Patreon. For less than the cost of a cup of coffee, your support helps keep this space alive and growing — and helps normalize the neurodivergent experience one gentle conversation at a time.
✨ Subscribe on Patreon (desktop is best to avoid extra app fees), and thank you for being here.
Take care of your heart. Take care of your nervous system. You’re doing better than you think. 💖
A compassionate, science-backed conversation about what happens when neurodivergent parents want to be the calm for their kids… but their own nervous system is completely overwhelmed.
In this episode, we explore:
✨ why ND parents reach their limits faster
✨ the physiology, psychology, neurology, and biology behind dysregulation
✨ why losing your calm isn’t failure, it’s a nervous system asking for support
✨ the power of repair, honesty, and self-compassion
We’re also featuring our Small Biz Shoutout of the week!
This episode spotlights the beautiful children’s book “I’ve Got You,” created to help kids understand big feelings through connection, safety, and emotional modeling.
✨ Follow on Instagram: @ive_got_you_childrens_book
✨ Find the book on Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1036905918?ref=cm_sw_r_ffobk_cso_cp_apin_dp_T00K4KJ2T7BT28MBSDB5
And at the end of the episode, you’ll find a gentle journaling prompt to help you reflect with softness instead of shame.
Whether this is your first time listening or you’ve been here from the beginning... I’m so grateful you’re here. 💛✨
If the episode resonates, I’d love if you subscribed, shared, or left a review to help the podcast reach more neurodivergent families.
This week on The NeuroSpicy MomPod, we’re diving into something almost every neurodivergent parent (and reparenting adult) is feeling right now: why the holiday season quietly turns our nervous systems inside out.
From unpredictable school routines, sensory chaos, dark mornings, social pressure, emotional expectations, family dynamics, and the general overstimulation of this time of year — it’s no wonder our kids are extra sensitive… and so are we.
In this cozy, compassionate episode, Austen breaks down:
✨ Why neurodivergent kids struggle more this time of year
✨ How constant schedule changes disrupt emotional regulation
✨ Why adults feel irritable, tired, overwhelmed, or “not themselves”
✨ The biology behind seasonal dysregulation
✨ How to support your child — and yourself — with gentle nervous-system tools
✨ What co-regulation actually looks like during chaotic seasons
✨ Simple ways to bring calm back into your home
If you and your child have been feeling “off,” more emotional, more sensitive, or just done, you are not imagining it — and you are definitely not alone. Your nervous system is responding exactly the way it was designed to.
This episode is your reminder that nothing’s wrong with you. Nothing’s wrong with your child. This season is simply loud, chaotic, unpredictable, and biologically mismatched… and you deserve compassion as you move through it.
🌿 Stay till the end for our weekly journaling prompt — a grounding little moment you can bring into your real life immediately.
If you’re a late-diagnosed adult, a neurodivergent parent, or someone raising neurospicy kids while healing your own childhood wounds in real time, this episode is especially for you.
Grab something warm to drink, take a deep breath, and settle into this cozy conversation. 💖
Hey friends — today we’re untangling one of the biggest misconceptions in parenting advice: the idea that neurodivergent kids should respond to “normal” discipline and behavior strategies the same way neurotypical kids do. Spoiler alert: they don’t. Because their brains don’t.
In this episode, we walk through the developmental science, the nervous system responses, the missed educational gaps, and the cultural misconceptions that leave ND parents feeling judged, misunderstood, and alone.
This episode is especially for parents who’ve ever been told they’re “too soft,” “too sensitive,” or “enabling” their child — when really, you’re the only one actually parenting from neuroscience instead of outdated beliefs.
If this episode resonates with you, here’s how you can support this single neurodivergent mama and help me keep this podcast going:
💖 Join the NeuroSpicy Squad on Patreon
You’ll get video episodes, life updates, the full journaling library, and access to our cozy ND community where you never have to mask.
(And remember — signing up on desktop avoids Apple’s mobile fee!)
🛒 Shop my Etsy store this holiday season: TheNeuroSpicyMama.Etsy.com
Every purchase helps support me and my boys while I continue building this safe corner of the internet for our community.
Your support literally keeps this podcast alive, and I’m endlessly grateful for each and every one of you.
In today’s episode, we’re diving into something so many late-identified neurodivergent adults know all too well — the feeling of having two versions of yourself living inside the same body.
There’s the younger you who survived life without language for your neurodivergence…
and the current you who’s finally beginning to understand your wiring, your needs, and your nervous system.
This episode explores:
🌿 Growing up misunderstood or undiagnosed
🌿 The identity you built from shame, masking, and misinterpretation
🌿 The moment everything “clicks” after late identification
🌿 The imposter syndrome of discovering your ND identity as an adult
🌿 Rebuilding who you are with compassion, softness, and nervous-system awareness
🌿 How parenting ND kids often becomes a mirror for healing your own inner child
If you’re navigating identity, unmasking, late diagnosis, emotional regulation, or the grief of realizing you were never the problem — this episode is for you.
💖 Want the video version, the journal prompt library, cozy community message boards, and weekly life updates?
Join the NeuroSpicy Squad on Patreon for the full experience:
✨ patreon.com/TheNeuroSpicyMomPod ✨
(Plus an insider tip: sign up on desktop to avoid Apple’s extra in-app fee.)
Thank you for listening, sharing, and being part of this tender, sparkly community.
Let’s heal together — one nervous system moment at a time. 💖✨
This week’s episode cracked my heart open in the best way. 💞 “What Our Children Wish We Knew” is a love letter to the kids we’re raising and the little ones still living inside us.
In this exclusive video episode, I’m sharing not just the full podcast recording — but also an off-script, heart-to-heart life update about what’s been happening behind the scenes lately. (Because we know healing, parenting, and surviving life as a neurodivergent human rarely go according to plan 🫠💫).
We’ll explore:
✨ What our kids wish we understood about their daily sensory world
✨ The neuroscience of safety, regulation, and emotional growth
✨ How reparenting ourselves transforms how we parent our children
✨ Why compassion — not compliance — rewires the nervous system for trust
💖 Thank you for being here and supporting this growing community. Your Patreon support makes this possible — every pledge helps keep this cozy corner of the internet shining.
🛍️ Use code MOMPODSQUAD for 25% off your entire order at TheNeuroSpicyMama.Etsy.com 💕
Because when you shop small, you’re supporting real families and dreams.
🎧 Full-length public version also streaming on Spotify, Apple Podcasts & YouTube!
#NeuroSpicyMomPod #NeurodivergentParent #GentleParenting #ConsciousParenting #CycleBreaker #HealingJourney #Neuroscience #NervousSystemRegulation #Reparenting #ParentingPodcast #NeuroSpicyCommunity #TraumaInformedParenting #theneurospicymompod
Why do some kids seem unable to go to school—no matter how much we encourage, reward, or reason with them? In this episode of The NeuroSpicy MomPod, we unpack school refusal through a neurodivergent and trauma-informed lens. 🌻
You’ll learn how emotional distress, sensory overload, and chronic stress create a physiological response that the brain interprets as danger—and why forcing attendance without addressing safety often makes things worse.
We’ll also explore how these patterns show up in adulthood as work avoidance, burnout, or social anxiety—and how healing begins when we stop asking “what’s wrong with me?” and start asking “what is my body protecting me from?”
✨ Listen in for:
The difference between defiance and distress
How stress conditioning shapes the nervous system
Polyvagal theory & emotional safety explained simply
Tools for co-regulation and self-regulation
A guided grounding moment to help you reset
💖 If this episode helped you feel seen, please share it and follow the show! Supporting this work—by leaving a review, joining Patreon, or shopping small at TheNeuroSpicyMama.Etsy.com—helps keep this safe space thriving.
Keywords:
neurodivergent parenting, school refusal, trauma-informed, nervous system regulation, gentle parenting, anxiety, ADHD, autism, burnout, co-regulation, reparenting, nervous system healing
✨ S3E7: The Hidden Cost of Neurodivergence ✨
Let’s talk about the price of existing in a neurotypical world — the emotional labor, the job instability, the financial strain, and the silent burnout so many neurodivergent adults and parents face.
In this week’s episode, Austen Marie opens up about her own journey navigating career loss, chronic overwhelm, and rebuilding from the ground up while parenting two neurospicy kiddos.
🎧 Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and everywhere you stream.
💖 Support the pod on Patreon to unlock bonus video content & behind-the-scenes updates!
SEO Keywords:
The NeuroSpicy MomPod, hidden cost of neurodivergence, autism burnout recovery, ADHD money struggles, neurodivergent parenting podcast, trauma healing for moms, CPTSD stories, reparenting podcast
In this week’s episode of The NeuroSpicy MomPod, host Austen Marie chats with Kecia Nelson (@wholehearted_parenting)—a licensed clinical social worker and mom—about the messy, beautiful process of reparenting yourself while parenting your kids.
They dive deep into healing generational trauma, understanding the nervous system, and creating homes rooted in emotional safety and compassion. Kecia offers grounded, practical tools for parents who are learning to show up differently for their children—and themselves.
💫 Listen in for:
Real talk on breaking cycles and finding balance
The 4 S’s of secure attachment
How to regulate when you’re triggered
Why emotional safety matters more than perfection
Follow Kecia on Instagram at @wholehearted_parenting and learn more about her work at wholeheartedlives.com
In this week’s episode of The NeuroSpicy MomPod, we’re talking about something so many of us live without realizing it — being trained to tolerate. From toxic workplaces to unhealthy relationships, many of us learned early on to shrink, stay quiet, and settle.
Let’s unpack where that pattern comes from, how it shows up in our nervous systems, and how to start recognizing the difference between tolerance and alignment.
✨ Want early access to video episodes and bonus content? Join the Patreon community at patreon.com/theneurospicymompod 💖
🎙️ Today I’m joined by Bry Bryan (@brythetherapist)—a licensed trauma therapist who works with neurodivergent kids, overwhelmed parents, and adults navigating trauma. Her own lived experiences with addiction and survival shaped the way she shows up in therapy—with compassion, honesty, and hope.
Together we explore:✨ How trauma and neurodivergence overlap in complicated ways✨ What parents can do when they feel overwhelmed✨ Why teens deserve more understanding than they usually get✨ The most common “lightbulb moments” adults have when discovering their own ND identity
💖 Connect with Bry:
TikTok: @brythetherapist
Trauma Therapy Company
👉 If you loved this episode, don’t forget—there’s a video version of this interview exclusively on Patreon, along with bonus content and behind-the-scenes extras. Support the show and subscribe here: Patreon.com/NeuroSpicyMomPod
This week on The NeuroSpicy MomPod, we zoom out and trace the history of how society has seen neurodivergence. From myths of “divine madness,” to the rise of asylums, to the Disability Rights and Neurodiversity movements — this episode explores how far we’ve come, and why it matters right now.
You’ll hear about:
How ancient cultures framed differences in behavior
The grim legacy of asylums & treatments like ECT and lobotomy
Rosemary Kennedy’s tragic story and its modern echoes
The rise of disability rights, IEPs, and the word neurodiversity
Practical supports & why community is essential today
✨ If this resonates, share the episode with a friend — and if you’d like to support me & join a safe ND community, check out my Patreon where I post bonus episodes, conversation boards, and our upcoming book club.
SEO Keywords: neurodivergence podcast, ADHD podcast, autism podcast, disability rights history, neurodiversity, Rosemary Kennedy, mental health podcast
In this episode of The NeuroSpicy MomPod, Austen Marie sits down with educator and advocate Olivia Couch to explore love, autonomy, and the power of unlearning in education. Together, they dive into the role of teachers as ethnographers, the challenges of burnout, and how community and play can transform learning. Olivia also shares her journey creating the Punk Philosophers Garage Cafe—a safe, nurturing space for kids and parents to grow together.
✨ Connect with Olivia:
🌐 punkphilosophers.com
📧 Olivia@punkphilosophers.com
💖 Want more? Subscribe to my Patreon for just $5/month to access the video version of this episode, behind-the-scenes content, and bonus conversations: patreon.com/TheNeuroSpicyMomPod
In this kickoff episode, I’m sharing the story behind the mic:💖 Growing up with cPTSD, undiagnosed ADHD + autism💖 How teaching TK kids helped me rewire my own nervous system💖 The breaking point that led me to walk away from my marriage & career💖 Why this podcast exists and where we’re going this season
This season we’re diving into masking, sensory struggles, hyperfocus, RSD, hormones, PDA parenting, relationships, and even neurospicy spirituality—with incredible guests and a whole lot of sparkle.
👉 Want more? There’s a video version of this episode + exclusive content waiting for you on Patreon. Support the pod and join the NeuroSpicy Squad here: Patreon.com/TheNeuroSpicyMomPod 💖
You’re not broken. You’re building. And you’re not alone.
Season 2 Finale! 💖 We’ve officially wrapped up 20 episodes this season, and I just want to say thank you to every single listener who’s been part of this NeuroSpicy journey. From deep dives into advocacy, to raw conversations about parenting, healing, and being ND in a world that wasn’t built for us - we’ve grown so much together this season.
✨ Season 3 is already on the horizon, and it’s only getting better. Make sure you’re following so you don’t miss what’s next!
👉 If you want to support this podcast and get bonus episodes (like The NeuroSpicy Files), join the Patreon here: patreon.com/TheNeuroSpicyMomPod
👉 Shop affirmation coloring books & NeuroSpicy merch at TheNeuroSpicyMama.Etsy.com
💖 Thank you for making Season 2 possible. See you in Season 3!
AI can feel like magic for ADHD, autistic, and dyslexic brains, helping with emotional regulation, executive function, and communication...but what’s the hidden cost? 🤔 In this episode of The NeuroSpicy MomPod, we dig into the neuroscience, environmental impact, and mind–body connection so you can decide if AI is your ultimate accessibility tool or a shiny distraction.
💖 Support the show for just $5/month at patreon.com/TheNeuroSpicyMomPod and get bonus episodes, video versions, and our private NeuroSpicy Squad community.
Transitions are hard—especially when your neurodivergent brain is already screaming, “TOO MUCH, TOO FAST.” In this episode, we unpack why seasonal shifts and new routines can send our nervous systems into overdrive, how to support our kids (and ourselves) through change without shame or burnout, and practical ways to reparent the younger parts of us who never got the help we needed.
If you’ve ever felt like you’re “bad at transitions,” this is your permission slip to stop blaming yourself and start building safety instead. 💖
🎧 Want even more cozy, nervous-system-safe conversations like this? Join the NeuroSpicy Squad on Patreon for just $5/month and get exclusive bonus episodes, behind-the-scenes content, and deeper dives into the topics we cover here. Your support keeps this podcast independent, ad-free, and community-rooted.
👉 Join here: patreon.com/TheNeuroSpicyMomPod
Why does trying anything new feel like your brain is short-circuiting? Why do school transitions make our kids fall apart—and why do we spiral right along with them?
In this episode of The NeuroSpicy MomPod, we’re breaking down the real neuroscience behind why our bodies react to change like it’s danger. We’ll talk about intolerance of uncertainty, the freeze response, Polyvagal Theory (with a healthy dose of nuance), and how executive dysfunction, sensory overwhelm, and PDA all play a role. And of course—we’ll dive into what actually helps. For you. For your kids. For your inner child who never got the support they needed.
If this episode resonates, please share it, rate it, or send it to a friend who might need this language too. And if you want to go deeper and be part of the conversations happening off-mic, come join the NeuroSpicy Squad over on Patreon 💖
🎧 Support the show + access bonus content at patreon.com/theneurospicymompod
✨ New episodes every Thursday — subscribe so you don’t miss out!