TILT Parenting: Strategies, Insights, and Connection for Parents Raising Neurodivergent Children - TPP 068a: Video Games and Your Child's Physical, Social, and Psychological Well-Being

TPP 068a: Video Games and Your Child's Physical, Social, and Psychological Well-Being

12/15/23 • 47 min

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TILT Parenting: Strategies, Insights, and Connection for Parents Raising Neurodivergent Children

Video game researcher Dr. Rachel Kowert talks about the impact of video games in differently-wired kids' lives and busts some myths about the potential harms and benefits of gaming.

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Video game researcher Dr. Rachel Kowert talks about the impact of video games in differently-wired kids' lives and busts some myths about the potential harms and benefits of gaming.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Previous Episode

TPP 353: Ginger Whitson on Bullying — What it Looks Like, How to Handle It, and How to Protect Our Kids from Being Targets

I get a lot of requests for different topics to cover on this show, and bullying is a theme that has come up multiple times. And understandably, since we know that children and teens with learning disabilities, ADHD, autism, are much more likely to experience bullying and social rejection. And we know that being on the receiving end of bullying can be traumatic and have long-lasting negative impacts.

So I reached out to Ginger Whitson, an author, mental health professional, educator, and expert educator on bullying, crisis intervention, and child and adolescent emotional and behavioral health and invited her to join me on the show. Because the concept of bullying evokes such strong feelings and likely a lot of misunderstanding about what even qualifies as bullying, that’s where I asked Ginger to start — what exactly IS bullying? And does the bullying today’s kids and teens experience look and feel different from back when we were in school? I mean, with the addition of technology, it just feels like a completely different ball game. I also asked Ginger to guide us on how we should best respond if our child tells us they’re being bullied, if there are ways we can “bully proof” our kids, and how we can preemptively prepare them so they feel they have a plan for dealing with negative behavior from other kids.

In addition to her important work with children and her books, including Friendship & Other Weapons: Group Activities to Help Young Girls Aged 5-11 to Cope with Bullying and The 8 Keys to End Bullying Activity Program Workbook, Ginger, whose work can be found under the name Signe Whitson, is also the C.O.O. of the Life Space Crisis Intervention (LSCI) Institute, an international training program that helps adults turn problem situations into learning opportunities for young people who exhibit challenging behaviors.

About Signe Whitson (Ginger)

Signe Whitson (Ginger) is an author, educator, and mental health professional with 25 years of experience working with children, adolescents, and families. She is also the C.O.O. of the Life Space Crisis Intervention (LSCI) Institute, an international training program that helps adults turn problem situations into learning opportunities for young people who exhibit challenging behaviors.

Things you'll learn:

What bullying looks like today, taking into consideration the technology our kids use and other changes society has gone through in past decades
A definition of bullying and what’s at stake for a child experiencing bullying
Essential strategies parents should follow if their child has been or is being bullied
Characteristics or traits that make kids more likely to be bullied
How to talk with kids who have a heightened sense of rejection about bullying and social rejection
Ways to bully-proof our kids and resources we can share with them
How we can all contribute to raising more empathetic kids

Resources mentioned:

Signe Whitson’s website
8 Keys to End Bullying on Facebook
8 Keys to End Bullying: Strategies for Parents & Schools by Signe Whitson
The 8 Keys to End Bullying Activity Book for Kids & Tweens: Worksheets, Quizzes, Games, & Skills for Putting the Keys Into Action by Signe Whitson
How to Be Angry: Strategies to Help Kids Express Anger Constructively by Signe Whitson
Odd Girl Out, Revised and Updated: The Hidden Culture of Aggression in Girls by Rachel Simmons
Rosalind Wiseman
Queen Bees and Wannabes, 3rd Edition: Helping Your Daughter Survive Cliques, Gossip, Boys, and the New Realities of Girl World by Rosalind Wiseman
Dr. Robyn Silverman Explains How to Talk to Kids About Anything (Tilt Parenting podcast)

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Next Episode

TPP 354: Strategic Parenting Expert Heather Chauvin on Beating Parenting Overwhelm

I’m happy to share a rich conversation with strategic parenting coach Heather Chauvin about the plight many mothers of neurodivergent kids find themselves in — prioritizing everyone else’s needs over their own and why it’s so critical that we get out of this pattern.

This is a deeply personal topic for Heather. The way she describes it, by living in survival mode as a parent to her three kids, she was robbing herself of joy, robbing her kids of joy by not being a present parent, and robbing her loved ones of fulfilling relationships. And then in 2013, the universe got her attention when Heather was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. Going through that unexpected journey pushed Heather to take a deeper stand for change and explore how cultural expectations sabotage our dreams.

I wanted to bring Heather on the show for this conversation because I hear from so many mothers who are in various states of struggle in their parenting lives — pouring everything into their kids, running on fumes, sacrificing so much, putting incredible pressure on ourselves to do it all and do it well. Yet, as much as we love our kids and want to be their safe place, we can’t do that unless we are being that for ourselves first.

During this conversation, we talked about what dying to be a good mother syndrome is and why so many mothers suffer from it, why trusting yourself can be the best ally in parenting, and how to approach choosing yourself when you think you don’t have time.

Even though this episode is framed for mothers, it’s a good listen for anyone who is a caregiver, especially if you’ve been feeling like your energy is low or frantic, and that has become the norm.

About Heather Chauvin

Heather Chauvin is a leadership coach who helps ‘successful’ women courageously and authentically live, work, and parent on their own terms.

Heather started her career as a social worker helping adults understand children’s behavior. But it wasn’t until 2013 when a stage 4 cancer diagnosis pushed her to take a deeper stand for change, uncovering how cultural expectations sabotage our dreams. She has been featured in Forbes, Entrepreneur, Real Simple Magazine, Mind Body Green, Google, and more.

When Heather isn’t working, you will find her living out what she teaches which may include kayaking Alaska, snowboarding, hiking, or anything else that challenges what she believes is possible for herself (and inviting her children along the journey). Life is full of opportunities. It’s time to feel alive.

Things you'll learn from this episode

How motherhood and one’s priorities change as our kids get older
How trusting in yourself and your intuition can be a powerful ally in motherhood
What “dying to be a good mother syndrome” is and why so many mothers are living in that space
How Heather helps moms take the first steps toward choosing themselves and what it actually looks like
How to approach choosing yourself if you don’t think you have the time