My Kid Is Neurodivergent. Do We Need a Formal Diagnosis?
Care and Feeding | Slate's parenting show
Slate Audio
4.4 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 5 October 2023
⏱️ 37 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On this episode: Elizabeth Newcamp is joined by Dr. Sarah Wayland, founder and owner of Guiding Exceptional Parents and co-author of Is This Autism. Together they answer a parent whose child is exhibiting neurodivergent behaviors and, as such, their pediatrician recommended an evaluation. The letter writer is nervous that an evaluation will mean that their child will be seen as a diagnosis, not for the person she is.
We also go over our week in triumphs and fails — and then, if you stick around for Slate Plus, we talk about what your kid actually means when they tell you ‘no.’
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Podcast produced by Rosemary Belson and Maura Currie.
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Transcript
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| 0:32.8 | Welcome to Mom-a-dadder fighting Slate's parenting podcast for Thursday, October 5th. |
| 0:37.4 | The, do we really need an evaluation? Addition. I'm Elizabeth Newkamp. I run the homeschool |
| 0:42.4 | and family travel blog, Dutch Dutch Goose. I'm the mom of three littles, Henry who's 11, |
| 0:46.6 | all of her who's nine, and Teddy who turns seven today. We live in Tokyo, Japan. |
| 0:51.5 | And I'm Sarah Wayland. I own guiding exceptional parents, and I have two children who are in their |
| 0:58.3 | twenties, 26 and 21, and they are Justin and all of her, and we live outside of Washington, DC. |
| 1:07.0 | Well Sarah, we are so excited to have you join us today because we have a letter that we would |
| 1:11.7 | love your expertise on. Our letter writer's child is exhibiting some neurodivergent behaviors, |
| 1:17.2 | and as such, the child's pediatrician is recommending getting an evaluation. |
| 1:21.6 | Our letter writer is nervous that getting this evaluation will mean that the child will |
| 1:25.1 | be seen as a diagnosis and not for who she is. We're also going to catch up on our |
| 1:29.5 | weekend parenting, and if you're in the Slate Plus Club, we're going to take the frustration |
| 1:34.1 | out of your kid constantly saying no. Here's what you'll hear if you have Slate Plus. |
| 1:38.9 | I had this one family I worked with and the little girl, so they'd say, for breakfast, |
| 1:43.2 | you want a meal or toast, and she'd say toast, and then they'd start making toast, and then she'd |
| 1:47.7 | say, no, and then she would have enough time to think, and then she would give the answer that |
... |
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