This is PEDYACAST.

Welcome to Pediacast, a pediatric podcast for parents.

And now, direct from the campus of nationwide children's, here is your host, Dr. Mike.

Hello everyone and welcome.

Once again to Pediacast.

It is a pediatric podcast for moms and dads.

This is Dr. Mike coming to you from nationwide at Children's Hospital.

We're in Columbus, Ohio.

It's episode 537 for May 10th, 2023.

We're calling this one Supporting Children and Teenagers with Developmental Differences.

I want to welcome all of you to the program.

So we have a topic for you today that is important really for every single person who is listening.

And that is because all of us at one time or another, at one place or another, will surely

engage with children, teenagers, and families who are impacted by developmental

differences. However, and this is really important, these folks are not defined by their differences.

Their differences make them unique, sure, but we can also discover lots of similarities in the

people we meet, shared hobbies and favorite books, music or movies, shared recreational experiences, favorite foods,

and really getting to know someone, you know, understanding their experiences, their interests, their challenges.

That sort of engagement promotes relationships and empathy, which is a really important thing for families, neighborhoods, and communities.

And it's not only important that we as adults and parents develop relationships and empathy with those impacted by developmental differences.

It's also important we teach our children to do the same thing as they engage with classmates and friends and become the adults and parents of tomorrow.

So what exactly do we mean by developmental differences? Well, first we have to talk about typical development, which defines the physical and emotional

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