Ep 6: Frequently Asked Questions

00:00 - Welcome to the Incremental Shift, the podcast where small, intentional changes create meaningful impact. I'm Alison, a neurodiverse parent of twice-exceptional children, four of them, advocate and support for families navigating the beautiful and challenging path of ADHD, ASD and twice-exceptionals. Here on the podcast, we explore the power of gradual shifts in parenting, personal growth and everyday family life, designed to help you build deeper connections, embrace authenticity and thrive one step at a time. Whether you're looking for actionable strategies, heartfelt stories or just a moment of inspiration, you're in the right place. So take a deep breath, settle in and let's make incremental shifts together. Welcome back to the Incremental Shift, podcast.

Today I thought it's probably actually going to be a short one, but I thought that I would cover some frequently asked questions. So number one, what is neurodiversity and how does it affect family dynamics? So neurodiversity refers to the natural variations in how our brain works. It includes conditions like ADHD, ASD and in families, neurodiversity can impact communication, routines and relationships. So then often I get when people hear about neurodiversity and my own personal experience, they say, well, what is twice-exceptional? So twice-exceptional or 2E refers to children who are both gifted and have a learning difference or disability or neurodivergence, such as ADHD, autism, dyslexia or anxiety, et cetera. These children have incredible strengths, but may also face unique challenges in areas like executive function, emotional regulation or social skills. And supporting a 2E child requires a deep understanding of both their exceptional abilities and the areas of difficulty to help them thrive. The next question, I'm feeling overwhelmed. How can the incremental shift help me? We get you. We so get you. We've been there too. And here at the Mental Shift, we believe in the power of small, consistent changes. Our approach is all about helping you find practical strategies that work for your unique and possibly neurodiverse ADHD family. We'll support you in building resilience, improving communication and creating a home environment where everyone can have opportunities for success. We're here to walk alongside you as a parent. And often people say, wait a minute, so what, what do you do? What services do you offer at the incremental shift? So our main ones are The Village and The Oasis. And The Village offers practical, easy to implement routines, resources and programs designed to help you build awareness and solutions through parenting, neurodiversity, profiling, stress management and relationships, and so much more to build a strong, intentional, flourishing family unit. The Village is the core means of receiving personalised support from me because I don't offer one-on-ones freely anymore. I still offer them just not as free as openly. The Oasis, on the other hand, is a growing library of self-paced content designed to empower you with the knowledge, the understanding and the strategies to parent with confidence, clarity and authenticity.

03:58  - Often people will say, I just, I can't, I don't have the capacity for the community aspect. I just need the knowledge and the content. So that's why we've split it up as well, but ultimately they're the perfect pair. They mesh together really well. We also offer Pause and Reflect, which is a deeply personal and heartfelt course, which was created during a very emotional time under uncharted waters, with my young family when our young cat passed away really suddenly. And we hadn't done this before. So Pause and Reflect is a course that can help any family really, neurodiverse or neurotypical through that grieving process. And I also offer a course on called Beyond Tired, Parenting on Empty. So this isn't just another, just take care of yourself kind of course, but it is a detailed, very detailed, comprehensive and thorough six module program designed specifically for parents of neurodiverse kids. And it's about realistic self-care, practical energy management, sustainable support systems. And it's only $97. And the content, the amount of content, resources, information that is in there is mind blowing. It's the only course you will need on how to get out of parental burnout. So what can I do as a parent if you are exhausted or tired and there is, well, you just want more answers. There's questions and there's not enough answers. So there's so much that you can do. And reaching out for support is a positive step. We do offer a weekly newsletter, which keeps you up to date with all the things that we're doing here, a weekly blog, which is called the Weekly Wins, which is Practical Parenting Tips. We have the podcast, which you're listening to. We have a freebies page and we also have, you can email us. So the freebies page is www.theincrementalshift.com forward slash freebies. And you can check them all out there.

06:20 - Another question that I get is how can I support my child whilst waiting for an ADHD or an ASD assessment, which is an incredibly, stressful time. And it can feel like it, it goes on forever. But my advice there would be to focus on creating a structured environment, establishing consistent routines and using visual aids to support your child's daily activities, implement strategies to improve communication and manage potential sensory sensitivities, and also remembering that every child is unique. So observe what works best for your child. And if you have any questions, feel free to ask them in the Q&A. And of course, you can consider joining our village or the Oasis. Next question, next frequently asked question is how can I improve communication during family dinner time? So we believe that family dinners are a great opportunity for connection. So start by creating a calm environment and establishing a no devices rule. Use open-ended questions to encourage conversation, and we also have a free guide on family dinner conversations. And it provides you more tips, obviously, than I just mentioned, and some conversation starters to make these moments meaningful for everyone. Next question is, I'm looking for support, but I'm a time poor parent, how can the incremental shift support me? Yeah, we get it. We understand how overwhelming and time pressure, time cooking, parenting can be, especially when raising a neurodiverse child, or and if you are neurodivergent as well. And that's why we created the Oasis. It's the flexible, the online, sorry, on-demand learning, it's also online, that fits into your life. So you'll find the comprehensive practical courses, guidance, supportive resources, all designed for busy parents just like you who need the real life support. So if you're a time poor parent, you can find the information that you need to be a time poor parent. And I'm going to jump into the next question here. too, leading into the next question, people say that they're feeling alone and isolated. What can I do? And parenting can absolutely feel isolating, but you don't ever have to do it alone. And the village is our supportive community where you can connect with other parents who do get it. You'll find encouragement, shared knowledge, and a space where you can be safe, and you can talk to people, and supported without judgment always next question that i get then is can we trial it uh is can we is there a trial period we actually don't currently offer trials for the village or the oasis as we believe in providing high quality valuable resources from day one you are welcome to explore our freebies page of which there's lots of stuff on it and if you have any questions about the membership options we are happy to help you determine if it's the right fit for your family.

09:38 - And finally one other question that we get is my child is struggling in school or in child care what is one thing that i can do to help and a great first step is validation acknowledging your child's struggles let them know their feelings are valid the then smoke us on one small change to reduce stress such as adjusting their routine to include downtime before or after school or child care creating a simple predictable morning routine or using a safe word your child can say when they're feeling overwhelmed and need a break or even a safe action so something that they know that if they do then that's an indicator to you that they're overwhelmed and that they need a break so i just thought i'd jump in today with these uh quick little faqs that that i also have on the website but if you wanted to hear them in your ears then you've done that too and i will see you next week i will you will hear me next week on another episode of the incremental shift podcast reach out if you have any questions or need any support bye guys thank you for joining me on the incremental shift i hope today's episode gave you something to reflect on or a practical step to move forward with remember it's not about giant leaps and total overhauls it's about starting with small intentional shifts that add up to a big difference over time if you enjoyed this episode please be sure to subscribe leave a review or share it with someone who might need it and if you'd like to connect further visit me at the incremental shift.com or follow along on social media at the incremental shift until next time take care team.

Find out more about The Incremental Shift here: 

www.theincrementalshift.com
www.instagram.com/theincrementalshift 



Listen To Us On:

YouTube

Spotify

Apple Podcasts