Laura Petix, author of A Kids Book About Neurodiversity, talks about the importance of celebrating the unique ways in which our brains help us learn, feel, and experience life.
Laura Petix, author of A Kids Book About Neurodiversity, talks about the importance of celebrating the unique ways in which our brains help us learn, feel, and experience life.
A Kids Book About Neurodiversity (view book)
Full Book Description:
Everything we do is because of the ways our brains work, and everyone’s brain is different. Seriously! But our world doesn’t operate in a way that is accepting of each brain type. Neurodiversity is what makes our world beautiful, and this author teaches us the importance of celebrating the unique ways in which our brains help us learn, feel, and experience life!
About the Author:
Laura Petix, MS OTR/L (she/her), is a southern Californian, Disney-loving Enneagram 6, pediatric OT, and mom to a neurodivergent daughter. She dedicates her life’s work to teaching people about the way that sensory processing impacts learning and behavior.
*If you want to be on a future episode of A Kids Book About: The Podcast or if you have a question you’d like us to consider, have a grownup email us at listen@akidsco.com and we’ll send you the details.
A Kids Book About: The Podcast
Laura Talks About Neurodiversity
[INTRODUCTION]
Matthew: What is neurodiversity?
Julia: No, I do not know.
Liliana: Neurodiversity is different brains.
Laura: I like to start by talking about the idea that all of our brains have wiring with neurons. And so those neurons can have so many different ways that they connect to our body. So as all of us, all humans, every single person collectively, all of us together as a human species, we are considered neurodiverse as a human species, meaning we are all different from one another.
Matthew: Welcome to A Kids Book About: The Podcast! I’m Matthew. I’m a teacher, a librarian, and I’m your host.
The voices you heard just a moment ago were from Liliana, Julia, and Laura.
Each week we talk about the big things going on in your world with a different author from our A Kids Book About series.
Laura: Hi, my name is Laura Petix. I am a Filipino American wife and sister and daughter and mom to a neurodivergent daughter. And I am also a pediatric occupational therapist, which means I help kids learn and play and communicate in ways that make them feel comfortable and allow them to enjoy life with the skills that they have. And sometimes I teach them new skills as well.
And I wrote the book A Kids Book About Neurodiversity.
[TOPIC FOUNDATION]
Matthew: So, I’m guessing you’ve heard of diversity before. Diversity means a representation of differences, or that things are not all the same.
Neurodiversity is related to that. And the “Neuro” prefix means having to do with nerves or the nervous system, that part of your body that includes your brain and all of the internal wiring that makes you feel.
Laura: It's what makes us who we are. It gives us our personality. It gives us things that we, that make us feel good. It gives us things that make us not feel good. It helps us use certain language and see things a certain way, all of that. So we are considered neurodiverse as a whole, as a species.
Now, there are certain brain wiring that have similar patterns to one another. And so there's a larger part of the human population that follow a more typical pattern of wiring, which means they tend to communicate, experience the world, play, and learn more in a similar way. And those are called neurotypical neurotypes.
So when we're talking about neurotypical or neurodivergent, those are neurotypes. So you might ask someone, “What is your neurotype?” Or you might talk about someone, “They have a neurotype that is neurotypical or neurodivergent.”
So neurotypical, again, is for people who follow more of a common pattern of brain wiring and follow a more common style of learning, communicating, experiencing the world.
There is also another part of the population not as common as neurotypical, but there's still a lot of the population that follow this pattern. And they're called neurodivergent. So their brain wiring is even more unique than how different we are from each other. And their unique brain wiring gives them a very unique perspective of the world. They learn differently than the majority of others. They might communicate differently than the majority of of others. They might play differently than the majority of others. They might express emotions differently than the majority of others.
And that is the neurodivergent population.
[PERSONAL CONNECTION TO TOPIC]
Matthew: I wonder, listeners, how you identify. Why don’t we take a moment to think about it. Laura has written an exercise into A Kids Book About Neurodiversity that is perfect for this, so I’m just going to read it to you and give you a chance to think about how you would respond. Feel free to share your responses with whomever is listening with you. You can also share them with me. I may not be able to hear you, but I promise I am always listening.
Oh! And Liliana, Julia, and Laura will also be responding.
Here we go…
“Let’s pause and think about how your brain works. What do you need in order to learn? When you experience feelings, how do you like to share them? What are some things that make your body feel calm?”
Let me repeat those one-at-a-time and give you a chance to respond.
First question: What do you need in order to learn?
Liliana: My body needs to like, um, like when the teacher's saying something, when I need to focus, um, then I just need to pay attention to what she's saying.
Julia: My body needs to sit in the front, like near the teacher so I can like see very well because I have to use glasses.
Laura: Yes. Oh, okay. So, what I need to learn these days… learn and focus. So I'm learning a lot for my work every day. I read a lot. I listen to a lot of podcasts. I am always looking at books. I need quiet to learn and I also need some sort of space, a desk space and something to write with. I'm not quite a doodler, but I do like to write down certain words that stick out, and I circle them a lot and I underline them a lot. So I like to also be using my hands when I'm learning something new.
Matthew: Next question. When you experience feelings, how do you like to share them?
Liliana: Sometimes when I'm feeling mad and we kinda like, um, like do deep breathing, then I tell you, then sometimes I think I tell you that I'm feeling mad or like sad.
Julia: Um, for an example, if I was sad, I would just tell my friends that, like, “I feel sad because blah, blah, blah.”
Laura: When I have certain feelings and emotions that come up, one habit that I've gotten into before I even share them out loud with the world is, first, think about them myself and making sure I understand where in my body I have or notice that feeling.
That is a sensory experience with your feelings. So one of the common feelings I have is I feel worried a lot and I notice worry in my chest and sometimes in my stomach. So when I notice a feeling, I like to sit and think about it and maybe touch or think about that part of my body and see if I can think about it and maybe, you know, slow down my heart rate or make my chest feel less tight or breathe through my tummy so it feels less tight. Whatever the feeling in my body is, the sensation or how that, uh, “My tummy feels tight”, that's, that's what a sensation is. I notice that first. And then, sometimes if it's a really big feeling, I will say it out loud and I will say, “I am so worried right now.” Or, “Oh, I'm so frustrated.” I really just say what the feeling is.
There are times when I will talk about more about why I feel a certain way with someone that I trust or feel safe with. Usually it's my husband, my partner. Sometimes it's my mom and sometimes it's one of my best friends. And there are times when I. Still let out some really big emotions by crying. Crying actually can make the body feel good and release some of those things. So I still cry as an adult, even as a mom. It still feels good to me to let out some of those big emotions.
Matthew: Last one. What are some things that make your body feel calm?
Liliana: Breathing with you, I guess?
Julia: By maybe, like, reading a book or doing art?
Laura: I really like more dim, kind of darker spaces and more quiet spaces. I have a brain that gets overwhelmed easily from a lot of sounds and from a lot of bright lights and a lot of busyness, so sometimes I will even take a few minutes to myself in a closet or in a bathroom when I'm feeling very overwhelmed, and that easily calms me down. I also really like chewing gum, because chewing on things helps my body feel calm. And then sipping ice, cold water, and some breathing. All of those things are my favorite calming techniques.
Matthew: Let’s take a quick break. And when we return, Laura talks about gaining a better understanding of ourselves and how we learn, and then using that knowledge to challenge how most of our world is designed.
Laura: I talk a lot. I help parents explain neurodiversity to their kids because one thing that I think is so important is for all kids to understand how their brains and bodies work so that you can use, you can work with your strengths and not feel bad about the things that are harder for you compared to someone else who doesn't have that challenge.
I want kids to understand that the reason why you might need extra help with something is because the way that your brain is wired and so it's nothing you're doing wrong or there's nothing wrong with you. It's just a different way.
Matthew: We’ll be back in just a moment.
[BREAK]
Matthew: Welcome back to A Kids Book About: The Podcast. On today’s episode we’re talking about neurodiversity with A Kids Book About author Laura Petix.
So, I want to ask you a challenging question. One that you might not be able to answer right away.
Is there anything that you experience in your day-to-day or from one week to the next, whether at school or at home or some other time, that makes you feel overwhelmed or confused or frustrated? Maybe it’s the noise of the cafeteria. Maybe it’s the disorganization of the math supplies. Maybe it’s the unpredictability or inconsistency of how a new concept is taught in your class.
Let me read to you another passage from A Kids Book About Neurodiversity.
“The truth is, society is designed for neurotypical brains and behaviors. And this excludes neurodivergent individuals. But we can change that!”
What do you think Laura means when she says that society is designed for neurotypical brains and behaviors?
Laura: Yes. I love this. So what I wanna start with is thinking that when I'm talking about “this world was created for neurotypical individuals”, it was created by neurotypical people. So they did not understand that there were people who had different brains, probably even among them. But they created the world in a way that was neurotypical, so for neurotypical people, so everything that you see. I like to think about the community, right?
So I recently, I go to Disneyland a lot. And when I am getting on board for a ride, there are sounds, there's a lot of people, there's a lot of motions, there's smells, there's a lot of sensory things my body's noticing around me. And then when someone gives me an instruction and they say, “Go to row five. When you get to row five, take off your backpack and then slide in after the next party ahead of you.” There's, like, three steps, three or four steps in that instruction that I (1) need to understand what she's saying, (2) need to remember what she's saying, and then (3) need to actually do it. And they say it very quickly.
And if I can't do it, then someone might think I'm not following the rules without giving me a different way of explaining it, maybe with a visual card. Maybe pictures might help. Maybe using their hands to gesture might help. Maybe slowing down might help. Right?
Another example: When we go to the library, or if you're thinking about this and you're thinking about your classroom, and a lot of, a lot of places expect you to sit still with your hands in your lap and face forward to the speaker. That is an expectation of a neurotypical brain and body because some brains and bodies can easily sit still with their hands in their lap and face forward. But there's a lot of neurotypes that have a hard time listening to words while keeping their bodies still, and they really need to stand and move. And because maybe the rest of the people in that room are neurotypical, or a lot of them are, they may not understand that that person's need to move around and fidget and not look at the person, they might not realize that that's best for their body. And they might think, “Ugh. They're not doing what everyone else is supposed to be doing, so they're not listening. They should be listening. Why aren't they doing that?”
And so, when we think of all of those expectations in the world, not just the design of places, but the rules that we follow in public, standing in line, sitting, still being quiet, making eye contact with someone when we talk. Those are all things that we expect of neurotypical people. And we forget that there are some brains and bodies, um, some neurodivergent neurotypes, that have a really hard time with that. And so we need to be more compassionate, um, and understanding that there are different ways to interact with the community.
Matthew: It is important that we work hard every day to help ensure that spaces we enter are spaces for all. That classrooms welcome learners of all types, and that all types of learners can thrive. That we see ourselves as different, and that we embrace that diversity as a strength that can bring us together.
And Laura’s got a couple of ideas on how we can get started.
Laura: Yeah. So the easiest, no effort thing that everybody can do is really take time to observe your community, your classroom, your neighborhood, the shows you watch. Any kind of time you see someone maybe behave differently or do something that makes you think, “Huh. That's different. I've never seen that before.”
I think sometimes we're very quick to say, “That's weird” or “I don't know what they're doing” or “Why is their voice so loud” or “Why aren't they looking at me?” And we kind of are quick to label it as something when it doesn't… When it doesn't feel like something we do.
So instead of that, if we can just come at it from a place of curiosity and think specifically, “What is that action that that person is doing? What purpose is that serving?” Which means are they doing that thing? Like, let's say someone is flapping their hands or spinning around or making really loud sounds with their voice. I would think, “Huh? What purpose is that serving? Is that action giving their body and brain something that feels good to them? Is that making them feel calm? Is their body needing something? Or is their body having too much of something and they're expressing an emotion that way?”
You don't even really need to say anything, but just noticing it goes a long way as the first step. And then if you're ready to make the next step, I would encourage you to make friends with somebody who maybe behaves differently, learns differently, plays differently. Someone that you're curious about to get into the world and try to notice how they view the world and just, uh, make a friend.
[CLOSING]
Matthew: Thank you to Laura Petix, author of A Kids Book About Neurodiversity, for joining us today. And special thanks to Liliana and to Julia for lending their voices to this episode.
Liliana: Hi, my name is Liliana. I'm six years old and I'm from Cal and I'm from California. My favorite thing is learning in school.
Julia: Hi, my name is Julia. I am eight years old and I live in Maryland. My favorite thing is to play with my dog.
Matthew: A Kids Book About: The Podcast is written, edited, and produced by me, Matthew Winner. Our executive producer is Jelani Memory.
And this show was brought to you by A Kids Co.
Follow the show wherever podcasts are found and check out other podcasts made for kids just like you by visiting akidsco.com.
Join us next time for a conversation about nervous system regulation with A Kids Book About author Dr. Joy Malik-Hasbrook.