Episode 030 - Neurodivergent Kids and Building Community

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On this episode of Shit We Don’t Talk About, Mia chats with V.R. Maddox about her experience raising a neurodivergent child and building community.

Episode 30 Podcast Transcript

Click to Listen: Blog Audio Reading

Raising A Neurodivergent Child

Vee’s son was diagnosed on the neurodivergent spectrum with a condition called “hyperlexia”. A hyperlexic child will learn to read extremely quickly and will read well beyond the level expected for his or her age. Alongside hyperlexia, Vee’s son exhibited speech problems.

Vee and her family were fortunate enough to get tuned into her son’s issues very early on, and had the presence of mind to get him extra help educationally and developmentally starting at 2 years old. This made a HUGE difference in his life.

Vee made it her business to stay intimately involved with her son’s education. She maintained a presence on multiple school committees and was often present in the school. Remaining actively engaged with the system helped Vee’s son avoid many of the pitfalls that many neurodivergent children face as they move through the school system.

Vee’s son had to navigate through social difficulties. His challenges were not intellectual, but relational. Struggling to read social cues, to communicate, and to understand social context can be difficult enough. For a 6’3” autistic black child these problems can take on additional dimensions given the current racial environment. Vee had to spend additional time teaching, guiding, and instructing her son with respect to how to stay safe and stay clear of the tenuous situations that black Americans can face on a daily basis.

Building Community

When Vee decided she had to build a community around her to help her raise her family, she really meant it! Building a 3000 member community nationwide revealed some important points about women:

Women will stab each other in the back repeatedly. This is not good.
Lack of confidence and low self-esteem pits women against each other all the damn time. Competition trumps collaboration. This is also not good.
Women CAN collaborate, cheer for each other, and be genuinely happy when others succeed. It’s not happening near often enough, but it is possible and Vee has seen it.
It takes ALL kinds of women to work together. Mothers. Women without children. Married women. Single women. Everyone has value and everyone has something to contribute to the success of the village!

How’s THIS for exciting? Vee is taking her talents and passions to television! Vee’s Facebook show – Tips From A Recruiter – is headed to TV. To find Vee and her infinite wisdom and humor online, follow any of these links: