Everyone Gets a Juice Box: For Parents of Neurodivergent Kids

Alison Cho grew up in a tight-knit Korean American family where Harvard and medical school weren’t just dreams, they were expectations. Alison had undiagnosed ADHD and autism, and she often felt like she was letting her parents down. Now she’s raising two neurodivergent kids of her own. And she’s navigating the same cultural expectations she grew up with, this time as the parent. In this funny and tender interview, Alison explores what she wants to keep from her upbringing — and what she wants to leave behind.

Rae Jacobson has spent her career covering ADHD and neurodivergence. She hosts the Hyperfocus podcast and helps lead Understood’s editorial team. But even with all that knowledge, she still can’t get the school to evaluate her daughter for an IEP. Here’s how she’s supporting her daughter while they wait for school services.

Debbie Reber tried everything to make traditional schools work for her neurodivergent kid. Three schools. An IEP. Therapists. OTs. Educational consultants. But homeschooling? That was a hard pass. Then her husband got a job offer on another continent and her options got very small, very fast. What followed was six years she never planned for — and wouldn’t trade for anything.

Laura Jackson thought her daughter’s struggles with math were just a normal part of school — until tears, anxiety, and frustration revealed something more. After a long journey, Laura discovered her daughter has dyscalculia. So Laura worked closely with experts and used targeted strategies to support her learning. Today, her daughter is excelling in algebra and geometry, building confidence, and learning to become her own advocate.

After ADHD and autism diagnoses reshaped his family, Dion Chavis began looking back at how he parented his teenage daughter and forward at how he’s raising his young son. In this conversation, he shares the lessons he learned about academics, connection, anger, grace, and apologizing. It’s an honest look at how parenting evolves and what happens when you decide to grow alongside your kids. More on this topic Read: ADHD and rejection sensitive dysphoria (RSD) Listen: Navigating your child’s diagnosis (self-care tips) Listen: Emotional regulation as a mom with ADHD For a transcript and more resources, visit Everyone Gets a Juice Box on Understood.org. You can also email us at podcast@understood.org.

Some kids don’t fall apart in public. They save it for home — because it’s the one place they feel safe enough to let go. When teachers and professionals say a child is “fine,” we parents are often left questioning our instincts. They’re the experts, right? In this episode, psychologist and mom Dr. Arielle Schwartz shares how trusting her gut led her to uncover her son’s dyslexia and sensory differences, and how following that intuition ultimately changed his life.

Most of us have been there. Your kids are full tilt. You’re overstimulated, overbooked, and running on empty. Losing it happens — and so do the guilt and shame that follow. Today, Jessica sits down with therapist and mom Michelle Puster to talk about the overwhelm, guilt, and burnout behind mom rage, especially when raising neurodivergent kids. They share their own strategies (like mindfulness and self-compassion) to ease the intensity, help you reset your nervous system, and make you feel like yourself again.

Journalist and radio host Jessica Shaw is swapping celebrity interviews for a whole new beat: parenting kids who learn and think differently. As a mom of two, she knows the chaos, victories, and everyday struggles that come with the territory. Everyone Gets a Juice Box is a space for parents to laugh, vent, celebrate wins, and tackle the messy realities of neurodiverse parenting. Nothing is off-limits — from school struggles to mom rage. Join us for honest, unfiltered conversations with parents who get it. We share the tea, the struggles, and, of course… the juice.