You Don’t Want a Hug, Right? The Hilarity and the Hard of Raising Humans with Neurodiversity

May 09 2024 2
You Don’t Want a Hug, Right? The Hilarity and the Hard of Raising Humans with Neurodiversity Podcast artwork

Join Gwen & Kristen on their proverbial couch (the most INCLUSIVE of couches) as they share irreverently honest stories and wisdom gained through a collective 35 years of parenting FIERCELY EPIC neurodiverse humans.  

These friends have spent eons talking together about the hilarity and the hard of their parenting journeys and they want to invite you into those conversations too.  Thanks for tuning in. They already think you're rather fantastic. To get more of Gwen & Kristen, join our newsletter:  https://www.youdontwantahug.com/

RSS feed Share
Copy RSS


Subscribe on Podcast Addict


Ep 24: It’s Our Birthaversary: A Look Back and the Future of the Podcast

May 09 2024 30 mins  
One year!! Can you believe we made it this far, friends? Because we sure can’t. You Don’t Want a Hug has officially been published for a year, and it has been a wild ride.In today’s episode, we’re sharing joy, frustration, hope, and gratitude as we look back on this last year of podcasting. We’ll be discussing the many lessons we’ve learned, reading notes sent to us by

Ep 23: Puberty & Autism Don’t Mix: Navigating Puberty with Our Neurodivergent Kids

Apr 25 2024 44 mins  
And we’re not going to sugar coat it friends: navigating puberty with neurodivergent kids is rough. And it’s not just because we have to explain to our kids the importance of showering and explaining the function of certain parts of their anatomy in great and uncomfortable detail.Puberty also brings with it some intense emotional and personality changes. The little kids that we

Ep 22: Flipping the Lens: the Autistic Experience with Becca Lory Hector

Apr 11 2024 71 mins  
Burnout. It’s a word that comes up often in society and is often synonymous with being tired and needing a vacation. But when it comes to neurodivergent folks, autistic burnout can look radically different and have long-lasting effects.In today’s episode, Becca Lory Hector shares her experience of being diagnosed with autism as an adult after an extensive bout of autistic burno

Neurodiverse Families and the Many Faces of Isolation [Replay]

Mar 29 2024 45 mins  
Isolation and loneliness are realities for parenting raising humans with neurodiversity. We’ve experienced both and know how difficult it can be through the many ages and stages of our kids’ lives.In today’s episode, we talk all about isolation and loneliness and their impact on neurodiverse families. We go into the data behind it, share stories related to feelings of isolati

Ep 21: The Purgatory of the Therapy Waiting Room

Mar 08 2024 34 mins  
Therapy plays an important role in our neurodiverse children’s lives… But let’s be real: the act of constantly driving all over to drag our kids into dingy, uncomfortable waiting rooms multiple times a week is not fun. In this episode, Gwen and Kristen dive into this phenomenon: why parents of neurodiverse kids end up in this situation, how to make the process and experience

Ep 20: Inclusion over Ego: How the Special Olympics Organization Embraced Universal Design with Jen VanSkiver

Feb 22 2024 47 mins  
Sports can be critically important to a child’s development and even their family’s place in the community. That’s why our kids, regardless of ability, deserve more than a church basement to hone those social connections and their skills as athletes!In today’s episode, we’re interviewing Jen VanSkiver, Chief Officer of Strategic Growth for Special Olympics of Michigan and

Ep 19: Universal Design for Classroom Spaces with Virginia Tech

Feb 08 2024 45 mins  
The classroom is the essential component across every school from K-12 to higher education. So why is it that physical space is often overlooked as being a central player in the learning experience? If you’re a parent to a child with a disability, then you know that their environment can make all the difference!In today’s episode, we’re interviewing Dr. Elif Tural and Dr. Dav

Ep 18: Autism, Unconscious Bias, and the Intersection of Race and Disability With Jackie Bess

Jan 23 2024 54 mins  
Being a parent of neurodivergent children is challenging enough for most of us. But what does that look like when you introduce racial bias into the mix? How does that affect the way parents and children with disabilities are perceived by their schools and their providers?In today’s episode, we’re interviewing Jackie Bess, a wife and mom of three boys with autism whose story is

Ep 17: Neurodivergence and Paving the Way for a More Equitable Healthcare System With Robin Ennis

Jan 12 2024 45 mins  
Few things are more important to us as humans, especially to neurodivergent children, than access to quality healthcare. But did you know that Black and Hispanic children are less likely to be identified with autism than white children? This simple fact invites a closer look into the social currency that many of us take for granted and why the healthcare system looks vastly differe

Ep 16: Legos, Alone Time, and Adjusted Expectations: How to Survive the Holidays with Neurodiverse Kids

Nov 22 2023 40 mins  
As parents of neurodiverse kids, navigating the holidays can be…. a lot. Trying to get our kids to tolerate all the events, all the activities, and all the routine changes on top of everything else is exhausting, frustrating, and quite frankly, maybe not worth it for us and our kids. And who says we actually have to do all of this stuff anyway?In today’s episode, we’re sharin