Full-Tilt Parenting: Strategies, Insights, and Connection for Parents Raising Neurodivergent Children

Author, podcaster, and mental performance coach Kirsten Jones joins us to talk about youth sports, and how something that should offer kids opportunities for play, connection, movement, and growth has increasingly become a high-pressure world focused on performance, specialization, and achievement. We look at how youth sports culture has changed, why kids are being pushed to specialize and compete at younger and younger ages, and what that pressure can mean for their mental health, identity, and relationship with sports. We also talk about the role we play as parents, how easily our own hopes and investment can become tangled up with our child’s athletic experience, and what we can do to protect their joy, keep sports developmentally appropriate, and help them build an identity that extends far beyond their performance on the field or court.



About Kirsten Jones

Kirsten (Keer-stin) is a Hall of Fame NCAA Division I volleyball player, 15-year NIKE executive, motivational speaker, Mental Performance Coach, author of the best-selling book, Raising Empowered Athletes, and host of the award winning podcast, “Raising Athletes” (#5 on Feedspot in Youth Sports).

She works with athletes, parents, coaches and administrators, helping them identify their pain points, amplify their strengths and reach their individual and collective team and leadership goals. Kirsten’s super power is getting people out of their heads and into their bodies, allowing them to feel their best and perform beyond what they believed possible.

Kirsten and her husband, Evan, have raised three athletes (ages, 25, 22 and 20). Two sons, who became DI basketball players and a daughter who played volleyball through high school. Kirsten understands the pressure, excitement and oftentimes anguish that comes with the roller coaster ride that is youth sports. Buckle up!

Things you'll learn from this episode

How youth sports have become increasingly intense, with early specialization, travel teams, and a pro-sports mindset filtering down to younger kids

Why the real value of sports lies in building resilience, self-regulation, confidence, and the ability to handle setbacks

How pressure, over-scheduling, and a focus on rankings and achievement can contribute to burnout and kids leaving sports altogether

Why parents can become overinvested in their child’s athletic path and how fear, identity, and financial investment can make stepping back difficult

How neurodivergent athletes benefit from flexible, inclusive coaching that recognizes different ways of learning, communicating, and moving

Why focusing on friends, fun, and fundamentals can help families choose programs that keep kids wanting to come back season after season

Resources mentioned

Kirsten Jones’ website

Raising Empowered Athletes: A Youth Sports Parenting Guide for Raising Happy, Brave, and Resilient Kids by Kirsten Jones

Kirsten on Instagram

Kirsten on LinkedIn

Raising Good Athletes on Apple Podcasts

Mattering: The Secret to a Life of Deep Connection and Purpose by Jennifer Wallace

A Conversation with Dr. Peter Gray About Restoring Childhood (Tilt Parenting podcast)

Restoring Childhood: How to Set Kids Free in the Age of Anxiety by Dr. Peter Gray

Parents are turning one of the best things for kids’ mental health into one of the worst (CNN article)

Revenge of the Tipping Point: Overstories, Superspreaders, and the Rise of Social Engineering by Malcolm Gladwell

Dr. Özgür Bolat on Why Rewards Backfire and the Real Science of Motivating Kids (Tilt Parenting podcast)

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I was thrilled to have the chance to talk with Alfie Kohn about parenting and differently wired kids and dig into the concepts that many consider highly provocative and controversial because in many ways they are a radical departure from more traditional approaches to parenting, praise, rewards, punishments, discipline, and motivation.

If you haven’t been exposed to Alfie’s work before, I encourage you to listen with an open mind and curiosity. Some of the concepts he shares today may challenge your ideas about raising kids, but if you know me, I deeply believe there is value is reconsidering everything we thought we knew about parenting. After having this conversation with Alfie, I became even more aware of things I was doing that I wanted to tweak as a way to better support Asher’s growth, and I’ve already noticed a difference in what’s happening in my family dynamic. I hope you get out a lot out of our conversation.



Alfie Kohn writes and speaks widely on human behavior, education, and parenting. The author of fourteen books and scores of articles, he lectures at education conferences and universities as well as to parent groups and corporations. Kohn’s criticisms of competition and rewards have been widely discussed and debated, and he has been described in Time magazine as “perhaps the country’s most outspoken critic of education’s fixation on grades [and] test scores.”



Things you’ll learn from this episode

What “unconditional parenting” looks like

Why Alfie believes a goal of raising compliant kids is misguided

What the science says about rewards and punishments and why they tend to lead to the opposite result we’re going for

The potential downsides of positive reinforcement and “praise” in relation to supporting our children’s development and personal growth

The difference between love and unconditional love, and why the latter is what we want our children to feel

The importance of focusing on long-term versus short-term goals for our children

Alfie’s advice for where parents can start today when it comes to working toward a more unconditional parenting approach

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Debbie talks with education reporter Anya Kamenetz about her six-episode limited podcast series produced in collaboration with Understood, Zero Reject, and why special education is at a crossroads in the US. They trace how special education evolved from exclusion and institutionalization into a civil rights framework, and how underfunding, staffing shortages, and policy shifts shape families’ experiences today.

About Anya Kamenetz

Anya Kamenetz is an award-winning journalist, author and podcaster. She covered education for many years including for NPR, where she co-created the podcast “Life Kit:Parenting.” Her last book was The Stolen Year: How COVID Changed Children’s Lives, and Where We Go Now. Kamenetz is currently an advisor to the Climate Mental Health Network, working on new initiatives at the intersection of children, well-being, education and climate change.Her next book, forthcoming from Bloomsbury in 2027, is about mental health and emotional resilience in a world of crisis. Her newsletter on these topics is “The Golden Hour.”

Things you'll learn from this episode

Why special education is a civil rights issue and how disability rights protections affect millions of students and families

How family-led advocacy and legal challenges led to the creation of IDEA and the rights students have today

Why staffing shortages, limited placements, and inadequate resources can prevent schools from meeting students’ needs

How the Office for Civil Rights helps families address disability discrimination and why changes in federal oversight matter

Why teachers are often caught between wanting to support students and lacking the training, resources, and support to do so

How universal design for learning, evidence-based instruction, accessible technology, and better teacher support can create more inclusive schools

Resources mentioned

Zero Reject Podcast

Anya Kamenetz’s website

Anya on Twitter

The Stolen Year: How Covid Changed Children’s Lives, and Where We Go Now by Anya Kamenetz

Anya Kamenetz Talks About Her Book, The Art of Screentime (Tilt Parenting podcast)

NPR Ed Blog

The Art of Screen Time: How Your Family Can Balance Digital Media and Real Life by Anya Kamenetz

Education Attorney Catherine Michael on IEPs, 504s, and Accommodations (Tilt Parenting podcast)

Dismantling Ableism in Schools and Shifting Toward Universal Design for Learning, with Heather Clarke (Tilt Parenting podcast)

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In a world overflowing with information and complexity, critical thinking isn't just a useful skill; it's an essential life raft. From navigating complex interactions to making informed decisions, our children need the ability to think critically now more than ever. But what does that really mean? And how can we as parents nurture this skill in our children? I invited author and Brave Writer founder Julie Bogart back to the show to help us answer these questions and to talk about her new book, Becoming a Critical Thinker: A Workbook to Help Students Think Well in an Age of Disinformation.

In this conversation, we got into so many things. And as you’ll hear, I could have talked to Julie for hours. But for this episode, you can expect to hear Julie’s thoughts on how and why we can foster critical thinking in our children, how considering multiple perspectives and incorporating diverse viewpoints leads to better problem-solving, what parents can do to encourage self-awareness, open-mindedness, and curiosity, and much more.

Things you'll learn from this episode

Why critical thinking is essential to navigate complex issues and make informed decisions

How considering multiple perspectives and incorporating diverse viewpoints leads to better problem-solving and policy-making

How parents can play a crucial role in fostering critical thinking skills in their children by encouraging self-awareness, open-mindedness, and curiosity

Why traditional models of authority and obedience in parenting are being replaced by a more collaborative and respectful approach that values children's reasoning and autonomy

How the Becoming a Critical Thinker workbook helps students develop skills such as vetting sources, analyzing data, and considering multiple perspectives

Why engaging in perspective-taking and tolerance can help neurodivergent kids deconstruct ideas and accept other points of view

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Functional nutrition practitioner and ADHD life coach Amy Jones joins me to talk about something that can be surprisingly complicated in neurodivergent families: feeding ourselves and our kids. Amy explains why the challenge for so many neurodivergent people isn’t knowing what we’re “supposed” to eat, but figuring out how to actually make nourishment happen when executive function, sensory preferences, appetite changes, decision fatigue, and low-capacity days are part of the picture. We also talk about supporting blood sugar, making food more visible and accessible, reducing mealtime stress, and creating simple, low-friction systems that make eating more doable for both kids and adults.



About Amy Jones

Amy Jones is a Certified Functional Nutrition Practitioner, Certified ADHD Life Coach, and Certified Teacher who spent nearly 20 years in education before moving into functional nutrition and ADHD coaching. She supports neurodivergent adults, parents, and overwhelmed families who are struggling with food, energy, executive function, and daily functioning. Amy is also a late-diagnosed ADHD adult and a mom of two neurodivergent kids, including a son with ASD and ADHD, which shapes her understanding of food, routines, capacity, and family life.

Her work focuses on the gap between what people know would support them and what they can actually access in daily life. Through functional nutrition, ADHD-informed coaching, and practical food systems, Amy helps families understand why feeding themselves and their kids can become harder when ADHD, decision fatigue, sensory load, appetite changes, and low-capacity days affect daily functioning. Amy is the creator of the Accessible Nourishment Framework and WTF’s for Dinner, a food system designed to reduce food-related decision load and make nourishment more manageable.

Things you'll learn from this episode

How ADHD, dulled interoception, and stimulant medication can make hunger cues easy to miss until irritability, brain fog, or dysregulation shows up

Why combining protein, fat, and fiber can support steadier blood sugar and more consistent energy throughout the day

How standard nutrition advice can create too much executive function load for neurodivergent people and families

Why micro shifts, meal assembly, and pairing new habits with existing routines can make nourishing ourselves more doable

How respecting sensory preferences and safe foods reduces mealtime pressure and supports a healthier relationship with food

Why making food visible and accessible and using shortcuts like standing grocery orders, meal kits, and planned takeout can provide essential scaffolding on low-capacity days

Resources mentioned

Amy Jones website

Your Guide to What To Do When Food Feels Like Too Much

Amy Jones on Instagram

Amy Jones on Facebook

Amy Jones on Threads

Amy Jones on LinkedIn

Amy Jones on Pinterest

Amy Jones on YouTube

Amy Jones on TikTok

The Joy of Cooking

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