Ep. 22 | The Unique Grief Affecting Parents of Neurodivergent Kids

SUMMARY - There is a universal grief that affects parents of neurodivergent kids that often goes unrecognized, leaving parents feeling alone in a difficult emotional experience. This episode takes listeners through what this unique grief looks like and why it's so unique to parents of neurodivergent kids and how to begin to move through it so healing can begin.TAKEAWAYS:Grief, while such a common experience for parents of neurodivergent kids, is often unacknowledged, which leads to additional suffering for parents. This is why it's so important to talk about it.Grief is defined by Dr. Brene Brown in three ways: loss, longing, and feeling lostGrief can show up for parents in many ways, like feelings of resentment, guilt, self-judgement or jealousyIt is an understandable that for many parents, they try to keep grief at arms length because of the darkness it can bring.Disenfranchised grief is grief that is unrecognized and unacknowledged by society and is the type of grief many parents experience making it even more difficult to healThere are steps parents can take so that they do not get stuck in their feelings of grief, but instead can move through it and begin to healRESOURCES: Blog post: Grappling with GriefThe Resilience Room Membership Community=======================If you appreciated this episode, and would like to receive a weekly note from Eileen about the Brain First Parenting journey every Monday, you can subscribe to her free newsletter HERE!You can also check out all the FREE resources Eileen offers for parents, and learn more about all things Brain First at her website: eileendevine.comAnd of course, find and follow Eileen on social media:FacebookInstagramYouTubePinterest