About this episode

This episode discusses the challenges of co-parenting a neurodivergent child and how to navigate differing parenting approaches.

Parenting a neurodivergent kid is already one of the most demanding roles a person can hold. Add a co-parent with a completely different approach, a different upbringing, and a different nervous system, and the friction can feel relentless. Whether you are parenting side by side under the same roof or navigating two separate households, those differences in how we each show up as parents can create real strain, and in families raising neurodivergent kids, the stakes feel even higher. In this episode, I sit down with Martina Nova, a registered clinical counselor, co-parent, and author of Same Page Parenting, a book of conversation starters designed to help partners understand each other more deeply before, during, and long after having kids. Martina brings both professional expertise and lived experience. We explore what actually drives those differences in parenting approaches, hint: it goes way deeper than personality. We talk about the invisible mental load that so many parents are quietly carrying, often alone, and why one parent becoming the default parent happens gradually, without anyone choosing it. Martina walks through how to have the conversations that actually get…

People in this episode

Host: Penny Williams

Guest: Martina Nova

Topics covered

• co-parenting
• neurodivergent kids
• parenting approaches
• mental load
• communication

Keywords

• co-parenting
• neurodivergent
• parenting differences
• mental load
• communication strategies

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Same Page Parenting

More episodes of Beautifully Complex

• 360: Giftedness and Identity: What We Get Wrong About Smart Kids, with Mark Talaga · May 27, 2026 · 29 min
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• 358: The Real Work of Parenting ND Young Adults (Part 4), with Debbie Reber · May 13, 2026 · 50 min

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