parent workshop

Raising Orchids: Practical Strategies for Parents of Neurodiverse Children Online Class

July 6, 2021

This guest post is written by Jen Dryer who is a mother to two children and has previously written an informative piece for Beltway Bambinos which helps parents navigate early intervention resources. She will be co-leading a class again called Raising Orchid Kids: Practical Strategies for Parents of Neurodiverse Children beginning July 22. She will lead the class alongside Gabriele Nicolet, MA, CCC-SLP, a family communication specialist and parent coach and founder of SpeechKids Therapy.

We took the plunge and brought our “orchid child,” who requires many specific conditions (like orchids do to thrive) to stay happy and self-regulated, to the Nats game over Memorial Day weekend. Miraculously, we made it all the way to the bottom of the 8th inning before my son, Max, started emphatically expressing his desire to leave. For any 9 year old child, getting to the 8^th inning is a solid showing, but for Max, who is autistic, it was a fantastic accomplishment. He thoroughly enjoyed the experience, including the tour on which he led me of all the available elevators, and he even asked lots of questions about all the stats. While the Nats ended up losing, we definitely won!

For most families, the thought of taking their child to a professional baseball game evokes an image of a fun, exciting, and positive shared experience. For those of us raising kids whose brains work differently than their typically developing peers, you know the struggle and the stress of worrying about taking your child to an unfamiliar place with all kinds of new sounds, sights, smells and crowds. The image of you and your neurodiverse child at a baseball game might evoke images of meltdowns and overwhelm, and can seem a far cry from the fun, exciting and joy filled image parents of neurotypical children might envision in the same scenario. For those parents who are navigating the challenge of raising a neurodiverse child in a neurotypical world, hopefully our personal win at the game feels inspiring.

Our successful experience at the Nats game did not happen magically. We put a lot of specific preparation and supports into place beforehand to help Max prepare for the experience of going to what, for so many kids, is a simple, fun outing. We planned for Plan B, C and D, and had a slew of strategies at the ready in case Max started to get agitated or melt down. These are exactly the supports and preparation tools that experienced speech and communication therapist Gabriele Nicolet and I teach in our Raising Orchid Kids: Practical Strategies for Parents of Neurodiverse Children class, with the goal of making life less stressful and more joyful for those families, and to help parents find effective avenues to help their neurodiverse child thrive.

I can personally attest to how incredibly helpful it is to find your parenting tribe and get support from experts and others who are on that same path. The work that we have been doing to support parents of neurodiverse kids has been so inspiring to witness, as we’ve helped guide parents toward strategies and insights into how to better support their challenging child and help them thrive and become more independent.

Our next 6-week session of the online livestream Raising Orchids: Practical Strategies for Parents of Neurodiverse Children course starts Thursday, July 22, and runs for 6 consecutive Thursdays from 8:30-9:45pm. For more information or to register, click here. We also offer regular parent support groups for young children, elementary age kids, and teens/tweens run by veteran Orchid Raiser moms for those who just want to connect and find community. For more information or to register for our support groups, click here.

Raising Orchids: Practical Strategies for Parents of Higher Needs Children 6 Week Class

June 30, 2020

This post is written by Jen Dryer who is a mother to two children and has previously written an informative piece for Beltway Bambinos which helps parents navigate early intervention resources. She will be co-leading a class again called Raising Orchids: Practical Strategies for Parents With Higher Needs Children beginning July 8. She will lead the class along-side speech therapist, Gabriele Nicolet in addition to some guest speakers.

As my mother always said, parenting is not for the faint of heart, nor the short of patience. Parenting a higher needs child, those children with developmental differences, learning and/or behavioral challenges, special needs and/or all the anxiety that often co-presents with other issues, can take those “regular” challenges up to a whole new level, especially in the era of Coronavirus! Besides all the usual challenges, like bedtimes, schedules, potty training, discipline, tantrums, homework, and school, to name a few, parents of “neurodiverse” children (those whose brains are wired differently than those who are typically developing) have a whole other list of concerns: Why is my child so sensitive and hard to parent? What can I do to change challenging behaviors? What therapies does my child need? How do I take care of myself and my other family members when my needy child takes up so much time and energy? How do I nurture my child and understand their differences, while also pushing them to be their best selves? How can I manage being in charge of their learning and development at home in this social distancing situation?

As the parent of a rising third grader with autism and ADHD and a rising fifth grader with ADHD, I know firsthand how hard it is and how much energy it can take just to get simple things done. The tremendously helpful strategies that my family has found and developed are an amalgam of ideas and structures I’ve gathered from myriad sources, including, most importantly, many of my younger son’s many incredible therapists. In order to share these practical strategies that have greatly improved my family’s quality of life and my sons’ feelings of confidence and competence, I teamed up with Gabriele Nicolet, a long-time Speech and Language Pathologist/Family Communication Specialist and owner and founder of SpeechKids Therapy, to help other parents address the questions listed above and generate practical solutions tailored to their family’s and child(ren)’s needs.

We’re offering a 6-session online class, called “Raising Orchids: Practical Strategies for Parents of Higher Needs Children,” on Wednesday evenings from 8:30-9:30pm on Zoom, starting Wednesday, July 8. Participants will work together with other parents of children aged 3-12, and with Gabriele and me, to create practical solutions to everyday challenges that arise when raising high needs children, and to the particular challenges of this new normal. The goal is for participants to come away from the class with concrete ideas and strategies adapted to their own child’s profile that they will plan and try out, in order to make their life easier and to help their child increase their confidence and competence in daily tasks, which will reduce anxiety and help them experience success at home and beyond. The other side bonus, of course, is finding community with a group of parents who have similar challenges and a place to share ideas and resources.

For more information, contact Jen or to register, click here.

Here’s what recent participants had to say about Raising Orchids:

“I want to thank you both for the Raising Orchids class. I found the class to be extremely helpful. One of the things I have found most difficult about having an orchid child is feeling like I am alone in my journey. Sure, there are teachers and therapists who provide support, but even though I know it is not the case, when I look around, it seems like other families have it so easy. The opportunity to meet and hear from other parents of orchid children was really valuable.

I am happy to hear you are planning to offer the class again. I would definitely recommend it to other parents. Both of you offered such great feedback and helped everyone think through things.

I really appreciate all the support you both provided!” – Rachel S.

“Thanks again for this class. I felt truly heard and supported through this caring and thoughtful group. I was choked up at the end of last night’s session as I realized I’ll be on my own again!

I think it’s hard to address the challenges of parents with kids of very different ages, and facing so many different physical, emotional, and developmental challenges. You guys did a great job of giving everyone a chance to be heard and facilitate some personalized problem solving from your various professional perches.

This group was perfect for me in that the leaders had such diverse professional frameworks, the participants were so supportive, and it was convenient, affordable, and small enough to feel comfortable.” – Amy H.

Raising Orchids: Practical Strategies for Parents of Children with Learning Differences and Special Needs; 6 Week Class

February 26, 2020

This post is written by Jen Dryer who is a mother to two children and has written an informative piece for Beltway Bambinos which helps parents navigate early intervention resources. She will be co-leading a class called Raising Orchids: Practical Strategies for Parents of Children with Learning Differences and Special Needs beginning Sunday. She will lead the class along-side speech therapist, Gabriele Nicolet in addition to some guest speakers.

As my mother always said, parenting is not for the faint of heart, nor the short of patience. Parenting a high needs child, those children with developmental differences, learning challenges, special needs and/or all the anxiety that often co-presents with other issues, can take those “regular” challenges up to a whole new level. Besides all the usual challenges, like bedtimes, schedules, potty training, discipline, tantrums, homework, and school, to name a few, parents of “neurodiverse” children (those whose brains are wired differently than those who are typically developing) have a whole other list of concerns: Why is my child so sensitive and hard to parent? What can I do to change challenging behaviors? What therapies does my child need? How do I take care of myself and my other family members when my needy child takes up so much time and energy? How do I nurture my child and understand their differences, while also pushing them to be their best selves?

As the parent of an autistic second grader and a fourth grader with ADHD, I know firsthand how hard it is and how much energy it can take just to get simple things done. The strategies my family has found that have helped us tremendously are an amalgam of ideas and structures I’ve gathered from myriad sources, including, most importantly, many of Max’s many incredible therapists. In order to share these practical strategies that have greatly improved my family’s quality of life and my sons’ feelings of confidence and competence, I teamed up with Gabriele Nicolet, a long-time Speech and Language Pathologist and owner and founder of SpeechKids Therapy, to help other parents address the questions listed above and generate practical solutions tailored to their family’s and child(ren)’s needs.

We’re offering a 6-session class, called “Raising Orchids: Practical Strategies for Parents of High Needs Children,” on Sunday evenings from 7-8:30pm in NWDC, near American University, starting Sunday, March 1. Participants will work together with other parents of children aged 3-12, and with Gabriele and me, along with a fantastic and highly experienced behavioral therapist, Maria Stangherlin, who will co-lead two of the sessions, and special needs parent coach, Magüi Moreno, who will co-lead one of the classes, to create practical solutions to everyday challenges that arise when raising high needs children. The goal is for participants to come away from the class with concrete ideas and strategies adapted to their own child’s profile that they will plan and try out, in order to make their life easier and to help their child increase their confidence and competence in daily tasks, which will reduce anxiety and help them experience success at home and beyond. The other side bonus, of course, is finding community with a group of parents who have similar challenges and a place to share ideas and resources.

For more information or to register, contact Jen here.