Beautifully Complex

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365: Autistic Burnout & Self-Care, with Dr. Megan Anna Neff

July 09, 2026

Autistic burnout doesn't look like ordinary tiredness, and treating it that way can make everything harder for your child and for you. It shows up as exhaustion that sleep doesn't fix, sensory sensitivities that suddenly spike, and skills that seem to disappear overnight. In this episode, I sit down with clinical psychologist Dr. Megan Anna Neff, founder of Neurodivergent Insights and an autistic and ADHD adult herself, to talk about what autistic burnout really is, how it shows up differentl...

364: PDA Through a Problem-Solving Lens: Moving from Power Struggles to Partnership, with Stacey Curnow, LCMHC

June 25, 2026

"It wasn't a demand, it was just a request. What's so hard about this?" If you’ve thought that about your own kid, you’re not alone, and your nervous system reaction makes complete sense.In this episode, I sit down with Stacey Curnow, LCMHC, founder of Asheville Family Counseling, to talk about PDA: what it is, what it isn't, and why she reframes it as a persistent desire for autonomy rather than a pathology. We get into why even a gentle request can register as a threat to a PDA kid's nervou...

363: Raising Problem-Solvers: Lessons from the Co-Creator of Blue's Clues & Daniel Tiger, with Angela Santomero

June 18, 2026

There is research behind that four-beat pause on Blue's Clues. It wasn’t a creative choice or a lucky accident . It was Angela Santomero, co-creator of Blue's Clues, Super Why!, and Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, standing on set and asking herself how long it actually takes a child to formulate a real answer. That pause — the one your kids leaned toward the screen for — is the same pause that can change everything about how you talk to your neurodivergent kid.In this episode, I sat down with An...