Shows / Beautifully Complex
Beautifully Complex
Parenting a neurodivergent kid is one of the hardest things you will ever do. If you are exhausted, overwhelmed, and wondering why nothing seems to work, this is the place for you.
I am Penny Williams, parenting coach, author, and mom who's in the trenches alongside you. Each week on Beautifully Complex, I bring you honest conversations and real strategies for raising kids with ADHD, autism, anxiety, and learning differences. Our kids aren't broken, just wired differently.
My work is grounded…
Episodes
- Beautifully Complex
205: Honoring Our Kids’ Individuality, with Kayla Taylor
The challenge of raising a child with differences in a mostly intolerant world is very real. There’s both joy and heartache, as Kaylor Taylor illustrates in…
- Beautifully Complex
204: The Science of Stuck, with Britt Frank
“A brain that feels safe will not get stuck.” That’s how Britt Frank, author of “The Science of Stuck,” explains the connection between a sense of…
- Beautifully Complex
203: When to Let Kids “Fail,” with The Behavior Revolution
We’re addressing a listener question about letting kids fail in this episode of the Beautifully Complex podcast. When parents say, “Let kids fail,” they…
- Beautifully Complex
202: Success in College and Beyond for Neurodivergent Students, with Alex Gilbert
The transition into college and then out in the “real world” are challenging enough, but can be even more daunting and complex when you have ADHD, autism…
- Beautifully Complex
201: The Teen Sleep Epidemic, with Heather Turgeon and Julie Wright
Did you know that only about 10 percent of U.S. high school students get 9-10 hours of sleep a night, the amount required for healthy sleep at that age? Teens…
- Beautifully Complex
200: Lessons Learned: From Mom and Her Neurodivergent Kid, with Penny & Luke
In celebration of the 200th episode of the Beautifully Complex Podcast, I have my son Luke back on the show. It’s been 14 years since his first diagnosis of…
- Beautifully Complex
199: Internal Self-Care, with Sarah Sanders, MA, MFT
There’s a cultural misconception that self-care is treating yourself to something, like a spa day or a weekend away with friends. While that is a type of…
- Beautifully Complex
198: Setting Learning Priorities for Your Child, with Beth Liesenfeld
It can be difficult to secure accommodations and services for your child at school. It requires that many people agree on a shared vision and how to make that…
- Beautifully Complex
197: Breaking Free from Reactive Parenting, with Laura Linn Knight
Did you know that we are reactive by nature? That’s right! Our brains are wired to respond in kind for protection. But responding in kind — like yelling at…
- Beautifully Complex
196 Anxiety & Depression in Children, with Gregory Jantz, Ph.D.
Recent data shows us that anxiety and depression have spiked tremendously in kids since the pandemic. Kids are struggling more than ever and they need our help…
- Beautifully Complex
195: Supporting vs. Enabling with The Behavior Revolution,
The difference between supporting a child and enabling a child is often a very fine line when you’re talking about neurodivergent kids, who need extra support…
- Beautifully Complex
194: Helping Your Child Discover Their Greatness, with Cathy Domoney
I truly believe that we all have greatness within us. Each and every one of us. My guest for this episode, Cathay Domoney, believes this wholeheartedly as…
- Beautifully Complex
193: Keeping Your Child Safe Online with Titania Jordan
Parenting is hard. Parenting kids in this generation is even harder. Our kids today have a lot more potential pitfalls — and risks — to navigate with the…
- Beautifully Complex
192: Are You Applying Too Much Pressure? With Penny Williams
Are you pressuring your child? You may not realize when you’re adding pressure, but you are very likely doing it often and not recognizing it. Neurodivergent…
- Beautifully Complex
191: Discovering How Your Child Thinks and Feels, with Dawn K. Brown, MD
When you don’t have ADHD yourself, it’s really how to know how your child with ADHD thinks and feels. Even if you do have ADHD too, the experience is different…
- Beautifully Complex
190: Calming Techniques for Kids (and Parents)
If there’s one tool we all need for life in this world — kids and parents — it’s calming techniques. In this episode of the Parenting ADHD Podcast I explain…
- Beautifully Complex
189: When Mom or Dad is Neurodivergent Too, with Terry Matlen, MSW
Seeing that ADHD and autism can be genetic, it stands to reason that there are many neurodivergent parents raising neurodivergent kids. Terry Matlen is one of…
- Beautifully Complex
188: School Struggles Are Real — Here’s How to Help, with Penny Williams
One in five children has a learning disability or attention issue that causes school struggles. In the U.S. alone, that’s approximately 56.6 million students…
- Beautifully Complex
PAP 187: Compliance vs. Regulation, with Greg Santucci
Most of our systems that involve children are designed on the compliance model — that’s true in parenting and educating. We’ve leaned on compliance in our…
- Beautifully Complex
PAP 186: Ensuring a Smooth Start to the New School Year, with Stephanie Pitts & Rachel Kapp of Learn Smarter
Most parents look forward to the start of a new school year. Their kids no longer need to be entertained all day every day and they get a bit of a break…
- Beautifully Complex
185: The Art of Talking to Children, with Rebecca Rolland, Ed.D.
The way we talk to our child matters. Not only does it become the little voice inside their heads and influence how they feel about themselves, but it can…
- Beautifully Complex
PAP 184: How to Be a Conscious Parent, with Lauren Pace
Parents are human beings, nowhere near perfect. Often that means that we bring baggage from our childhood, our experiences, our own parents and let it color…
- Beautifully Complex
PAP 183: How to Foster Connection with Neurodivergent Kids, The Behavior Revolution
One of the most impactful and transformative aspects of parenting is your relationship with your child (this is also true of the teacher-child relationship). A…
- Beautifully Complex
PAP 182: The Disruptors, with Nancy Armstrong
The new documentary film, The Disruptors, hears from many game-changing people about their ADHD and the vital role it has played in their success, and takes an…
- Beautifully Complex
PAP 181: Growing Up Feeling ”Other,” Part 2, with Jonathan Joly
This is Part 2 of my conversation with Jonathan Joly. If you haven’t yet, listen to Part 1, episode 180. There’s still so much for parents of neurodivergent…
- Beautifully Complex
PAP 180: Growing Up Feeling ”Other,” Part 1, with Jonothan Joly
Our culture has come a long way with acceptance, but there’s still so much further to go. We’re still very much a society based on conformity and normalizing…
- Beautifully Complex
PAP 179: How Sensory Impacts Learning & Behavior, with Laura Petix, OTR/L
Parents often ask, “Is it sensory or is it behavior?” The truth is, sensory challenges cause behavior. Knowing that helps you determine a child’s intent and…
- Beautifully Complex
PAP 178: No-Guilt, No-Yelling Parenting Strategies for Neurodivergent Kids, with Amy McCready
No parent wants to yell at their kids, but it happens. We are emotional, complex, imperfect creatures, just like our kids, so we are going to make mistakes…
- Beautifully Complex
BONUS Upcoming Free Webinar + Tips for Successful Summer
This short bonus episode shares a couple announcements — including a free webinar — and the Behavior Revolution's best tips for handling the unpredictability…
- Beautifully Complex
PAP 177: Tips for Vacationing with Neurodivergent Kids, with The Behavior Revolution
For most children with ADHD, autism, or anxiety, one of the biggest stressors can be the unknown — unknown place, unknown schedule, unknown future. For this…
- Beautifully Complex
PAP 176: Limitations of Children’s Mental Healthcare, with Jason Kahn, Ph.D.
We are in a crisis when it comes to children’s mental health and the healthcare needed to address it. We’re seeing a spike in anxiety and depression in kids…
- Beautifully Complex
175: We are All Beautifully Complex — Parenting ADHD Has a New Name
I am excited to announce that the Parenting ADHD podcast is now the Beautifully Complex podcast. I’ll still be sharing the same content on neurodiversity…
- Beautifully Complex
PAP 174: Securing the School Accommodations & Services Your Child Deserves, with Liz Capone
One of the most challenging aspects of raising a neurodivergent child is school and learning. In the U.S., our schools are built on a compliance and conformity…
- Beautifully Complex
PAP 173: How to Help Kids Feel Loved and Lovable, with Deborah Farmer Kris
The one thing all of us want for children is for them to feel loved, important, and special. As much as we want that, we don’t always succeed at it — life gets…
- Beautifully Complex
PAP 172: Sensory Processing Differences, with Carol Stock Kranowitz
Sensory challenges are common with both ADHD and autism. Often, the way sensory input is processed by an individual can explain behavior. In this episode of…
- Beautifully Complex
PAP 171: Regulation, Dysregulation & Co-Regulation, with The Behavior Revolution
The concept of self-regulation is well-known among parents of kids with ADHD or autism. Especially since our kids often struggle to self-regulate. But there’s…
- Beautifully Complex
PAP 170: Finding Success with ADHD, with Isaac Eaves
Success with ADHD is absolutely possible, though that can be hard to hope for while watching your child struggle in school. That’s why I love to share ADHD…
- Beautifully Complex
PAP 169: Innovative Ways to Improve Executive Functions with Randy Kulman, Ph.D.
Many neurodivergent kids love video games. They’re stimulating, rewarding, and often a less intimidating social environment. However, parents worry about how…
- Beautifully Complex
PAP 168: Why Kids with ADHD Lie & What We Can Do About It, with Norrine Russell, Ph.D.
Everybody lies to some degree (remember when you told your friend she looked beautiful when wearing a dress you hated?). Lying is part of growing up. And kids…
- Beautifully Complex
PAP 167: How to Manage Meltdowns, with The Behavior Revolution
Did you know that meltdowns are different from tantrums? While a tantrum can devolve into a meltdown, a meltdown is very different. A child is not in control…
- Beautifully Complex
PAP 166: The Nervous System and Your Child’s Behavior, with Irene Lyon
The autonomic nervous system governs the majority of our responses and reactions because behavior is biological. Fight, flight and freeze are all states of the…
- Beautifully Complex
PAP 165: Helping Kids Accept Their ADHD and Be Their True Selves, with Mallory Band
An ADHD diagnosis can come with a lot of emotions, especially shame. So many kids and adults feel ashamed of their ADHD and lack confidence to be their true…
- Beautifully Complex
PAP 164: Helping Teens with Stress & Anxiety at School, with Natalie Borrell & Alison Grant
It has always been tough to be a teenager, which has been exacerbated by the COVID pandemic and schooling at home for long periods. Teens are struggling more…
- Beautifully Complex
PAP 163: Helping Kids Build Emotional Skills, with Nadine Levitt
Emotional intelligence is a learned skill set. We must teach our kids about feelings — what they are and what they mean — as well as how to manage them and…
- Beautifully Complex
PAP 162: Let’s Talk About Control! with Penny Williams
American culture implies that if you are in control of your child’s behavior, you are a “good parent.” But that is extremely flawed logic. Our job as parents…
- Beautifully Complex
PAP 161: The Benefits of Affirmations for Kids and Parents, with Jaeden Schafer
Scientific research shows us that affirmations are a powerful tool to combat negative limiting beliefs and reshape our neural pathways in the brain for the…
- Beautifully Complex
PAP 160: What Do Your Reactions Say About You?, with Penny Williams
We don’t naturally think about how much of our parenting is actually about our kids and their needs, and how much of it is actually about ourselves. Yet, it’s…
- Beautifully Complex
PAP 159: Supporting a Transgender Journey, with Wynne Nowland
Gender diversity is more common among neurodiverse kids and teens, especially those on the autism spectrum. People who do not identify with the sex they were…
- Beautifully Complex
PAP 158: What We Learned from 27 Experts on Behavior, with Sarah Wayland, Ph.D. & Penny Williams (The Behavior Revolution)
We’re working on our next free online Parenting ADHD & Autism Summit — Decoding Behavior Summit February 11-13, 2022. In interviewing all these experts on…
- Beautifully Complex
PAP 157: REPLAY! Strategies to Help Your Anxious Child with Dawn Huebner, Ph.D.
Many individuals with ADHD struggle with anxiety as well, wether it be an additional condition or the result of the challenges that come with ADHD. Anxiety is…
- Beautifully Complex
PAP 156: New Year, New Parenting Mindset
Your parenting mindset is the #1 most important aspect of parenting kids with ADHD, autism, or other neurobehavioral disorders. Being the best parent you can…
- Beautifully Complex
PAP 155: Using Strengths to Find Success with ADHD, with Ari Sokolov
Ari Sokolov grew up with ADHD, but she didn’t let her struggles in school define her. Instead, she found ways to make her strengths of creativity and…
- Beautifully Complex
PAP 154: The Necessity of Radical Self-Care, with Shelly Tygielski
Self-care is a necessity, not a luxury. Even more so for parents raising neurodiverse kids, like those with ADHD or autism. And yet, self-care is the first…
- Beautifully Complex
PAP 153: How Creative Parenting Helps Neurodiverse Kids, with Nina Meehan
Creative parenting not only helps you create moments of magic, but it also fosters trust and independence, emotional expression, out-of-the-box thinking…
- Beautifully Complex
PAP 152: Post-Traumatic Thriving, with Randall Bell, Ph.D.
By college age, 66-85 percent of all people have been impacted by trauma. And marginalized populations — including those with disabilities like ADHD, autism…
- Beautifully Complex
PAP 151: What to Do When Your Child Gets in Trouble at School, with Robert Tudisco, Esq.
Kids with special needs get in trouble at school — both disciplinary action and involvement of law enforcement — far more than neurotypical students. Kids with…
- Beautifully Complex
PAP 150: Behavior Charts, Rewards & Punishments, with Sarah Wayland, Ph.D. & Penny Williams
The common advice from many clinicians for parenting kids with ADHD is to start a behavior chart and reward system to create external motivation. The problem…
- Beautifully Complex
PAP 149: Using Play to Support Learning, with Sivanne Lieber
We only encourage play up to age five in our culture, but play should be lifelong, because curiosity, learning, and growth should be lifelong. We need to trust…
- Beautifully Complex
PAP 148: Your Child’s Brain Is Not Broken, with Tamara Rosier, Ph.D.
When we choose to view ADHD as a difference, we show our kids that they’re not broken and help them harness their strengths. As ADHD Coach, Tamara Rosier…
- Beautifully Complex
PAP 147: School Avoidance and Refusal
Does your child avoid or flat-out refuse to go to school sometimes? School avoidance and refusal is the most stressful and upsetting thing I’ve gone through as…