One question in September can be the difference between a two-week pause and a lost semester. Two weeks into the school year, a conversation happens that sounds something like this: let’s give it a little more time, kids need to adjust, let’s not jump to conclusions yet. It sounds reasonable. It often is reasonable. And
The Question to Ask Before “Let’s Wait and See” Becomes Months Read More »
Every school year, the same scene plays out in classrooms everywhere. A child walks in not knowing this teacher yet. A teacher meets a room full of kids they don’t know yet either. And a parent sends their child into the hands of someone new, hoping this year is the year it goes right. Most
Back to School Transitions for Students, Teachers, and Parents Read More »
Summer looks expansive on paper – longer days, flexible schedules, “more time.” But for military and neurodivergent families, summer capacity often shrinks, not expands it. Summer is sold to parents as the season of freedom. More daylight. Fewer schedules. Room to breathe. But if you’re raising a neurodivergent child, solo parenting through a deployment, mid-PCS
The Truth About Summer Capacity: Why It Shrinks Faster Than You Think Read More »
This is the final article in our June PTSD Awareness Month series. All month we have named things that do not get named often enough. Secondary traumatic stress in military spouses. PTSD in parents of autistic children. The trauma that military kids carry without anyone calling it trauma. Caregiver fatigue that goes so deep it
There is a version of this story that gets told often. The service member comes home changed. The family adjusts. Time passes. Things get better – or they do not. Either way, the story centers the veteran, the diagnosis, the individual who served. What that story leaves out is everyone else in the house. The
When Service Follows You Home: Understanding Secondary Trauma in Military Families Read More »
When I returned to an office role this spring, we reached out to the daycare our youngest had attended for a full year before the pandemic disruptions, before essential academics became our rhythm. We hadn’t re-enrolled back then because he was aging out of the pull-up-friendly classrooms and wasn’t yet fully potty trained. But now,
The Childcare Exclusion Crisis No One Is Talking About Read More »
As Autism Awareness and Acceptance Month comes to a close, many communities proudly highlight their “sensory-friendly” events – spaces meant to welcome autistic children, neurodivergent families, and anyone who benefits from reduced sensory load. But too often, what’s advertised as sensory-friendly ends up looking like the scene so many families know too well: booming speakers,
When Sensory-friendly Isn’t Sensory-friendly: A Call for Better Community Planning Read More »