Executive Functioning, Shame, and the Shift to Self-Advocacy

Your kid doesn’t need you to fix everything. They need support building the skills to handle challenges themselves.
 
Join hosts Julie Ross and Dr. Elizabeth Cohen as they speak with Dr. Tara Williams, an educator, tenured professor, and expert in executive functioning and neurodiversity in higher education. The conversation focuses on what happens when neurodivergent kids leave the K-12 world and move into college, where support systems change and self-advocacy becomes essential.They explore the line between scaffolding and over-controlling, how shame can block help-seeking, and why universal design benefits every student, not just neurodivergent ones.
If you’re parenting a neurodivergent teen or college student, you’ve probably asked yourself: How do I help without doing too much? That balance can feel especially tricky when your child has ADHD, autism, or other executive functioning challenges and is suddenly expected to manage classes, deadlines, roommates, and daily life on their own. The big takeaway is simple: your job isn’t to eliminate every struggle—it’s to help your child build skills to handle them.