Meet Harold: The Brain Running Your Child's Behavior - Dr Lisa Riegel

Your child has a data manager in their brain named Harold. He can't tell time, can't reason, and has been making decisions about their behavior before you even walk into the room. When Harold decides there's a threat, he calls in Bob, the security manager, and Bob hits the panic button. At that point, the CEO of your brain gets sent out for coffee. Everything you say after that, every calm voice, every consequence, every "look at me," you're not talking to your child. You're talking to Harold and Bob. Dr. Lisa Riegel explains what to do instead.About Dr. Lisa RiegelDr. Lisa Riegel holds a PhD from Ohio State University, where her research focused on leadership and the human system. She spent nine years as a classroom teacher, went on to become a school administrator, and has spent the last 15 years working with families of children with special needs on stress, executive function, and home environment design. She's the author of NeuroWell and Aspirations to Operations, and sits on the board of Human Program, an adaptive learning platform where she leads parent education.What you'll learn- Why meltdowns are a biological response, not a character flaw, and what Harold is doing before your child can weigh in- How to find the underlying fear behind a meltdown instead of reacting to the behavior itself- A 30-second technique you can do every half hour that trains your body to automatically relax over time- What "fizzy or flat" is and how to give a dysregulated child language before the explosion happens- Why self-care isn't about escape, and what builds your actual capacity to co-regulate with your childChapters0:00 Introduction: why parent regulation comes first1:45 Meet Dr. Lisa Riegel4:30 Behavior Is Biology Times Context9:00 Meet Harold and Bob: your brain's data manager and security center15:00 How the brain filters reality (the banana analogy)20:30 Reading the fear behind a meltdown25:00 What PTSD and a toddler tantrum have in common29:00 Fizzy or flat: vocabulary for dysregulation33:00 Name it, own it, control it37:00 The half-hour timer and vagus nerve reset41:30 Using smell to interrupt a stress response44:00 Pity and praise: a two-minute reset ritual47:00 Training Harold to notice the gorillas50:00 The dinner jar: tell me two good things53:00 Why self-care is self-control, not escape57:00 5 minutes of quiet and the WonderwallResourcesMendability: https://mendability.comDr. Lisa Riegel: https://lisariegel.comDinner jar prompts PDF: [link when available]#AutismParenting #ParentSelfRegulation #NeuroscienceForParents