Your Kid Belongs Here

A compassionate and comprehensive guide to parenting neurodivergent children. Your Kid Belongs Here is a heartfelt, practical guide to parenting children in a world not designed for them--or their parents. Combining personal stories, research, and helpful strategies, Katie Rose Guest Pryal shares her journey as a neurodivergent mother raising neurodivergent children and offers a powerful narrative of advocacy, empathy, and resilience. This book addresses the unique challenges faced by neurodiverse families while celebrating the strengths of neurodivergent children and parents alike. With a focus on building trust, fostering self-advocacy, and embracing neurodiversity, this guide:
- Provides advice on parenting children with developmental neurodivergences such as ADHD and autism; psychiatric disabilities such as anxiety and depression; and acquired neurodivergences such as post-concussion syndrome.
- Outlines strategies for supporting emotional regulation and managing children's meltdowns, anxiety, and other emotional challenges.
- Guides parents on navigating schools and advocating for their child's rights in educational settings, including securing accommodations like IEPs and 504 plans.
- Discusses the psychological impact of masking and how to create spaces where children can express their true selves.
- Offers balanced insights into medication use, addressing societal shame, and emphasizing informed, personalized choices.
- Encourages parents to support and engage with their children's special interests and passions as a pathway to growth and confidence.
- Highlights the importance of parents' self-care and well-being, with practical tips for managing stress and maintaining resilience. An empowering, empathetic resource for parents, educators, and advocates, this guide invites readers to reimagine how inclusive and supportive parenting can contribute to a more compassionate world.

Katie Rose Guest Pryal is a bipolar-autistic speaker and the author of A Light in the Tower: A New Reckoning with Mental Health in Higher Education, Life of the Mind Interrupted: Essays on Mental Health and Disability in Higher Education, and Even If You're Broken: Bodies, Boundaries, and Mental Health.