Everyone Gets a Juice Box: For Parents of Neurodivergent Kids

In 1975, a federal law promised every child with a disability a free appropriate public education. Fifty years later, that promise is on shaky ground. Jessica talks with education reporter Anya Kamenetz, host of Understood’s podcast series Zero Reject, about cuts at the Office for Civil Rights, the roughly 25,000 complaints left in limbo, and why meetings for Individualized Education Programs, or IEPs, feel like a battle. Plus: the parents who built special education, and what gives Anya hope.
For more on this topic
Listen: Zero Reject: The Uncertain Future of Special Education
Read: What is the Office for Civil Rights (OCR), and what’s its role in special education?
Read: What is HHS, and what does it have to do with special education?
For a transcript and more resources, visit Everyone Gets a Juice Box on Understood.org. You can also email us at podcast@understood.org.



Getting your child the support they need at school shouldn’t feel like a fight. But for millions of families, it does. In Zero Reject, an investigative podcast from Understood.org, award-winning journalist Anya Kamenetz looks at how changing federal policies are reshaping special education — and what’s at stake for families trying to access the support their children are legally entitled to. Start listening now.
Understood is a nonprofit where millions of people who are navigating neurodivergence find clear guidance, practical tools, and people who get it. To help us continue this work, donate at u.org/give

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Tehrima Rai spent years being told her son was “just picky.” Relatives blamed her parenting, and she struggled to get help. But Tehrima, a pediatrician herself, trusted her instincts and kept searching until she found the real answer: ARFID, an extreme fear of food that’s more common in neurodivergent kids. Through feeding therapy, logbooks, and her own experimentation, she helped her son eat — and finally healed deep wounds of her own.
For more on this topic
Listen: Why I stopped hiding my kid’s neurodivergence
Watch: Guiding a neurodivergent kid through grief (by breaking all the rules)

For a transcript and more resources, visit Everyone Gets a Juice Box on Understood.org. You can also email us at podcast@understood.org.

Getting your child the support they need at school shouldn’t feel like a fight. But for millions of families, it does. In Zero Reject, an investigative podcast from Understood.org, award-winning journalist Anya Kamenetz looks at how changing federal policies are reshaping special education — and what’s at stake for families trying to access the support their children are legally entitled to. Start listening now.
Understood is a nonprofit where millions of people who are navigating neurodivergence find clear guidance, practical tools, and people who get it. To help us continue this work, donate at u.org/give

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Psychotherapist and ADHD expert Merriam Saunders spent years locked in daily battles with her strong-willed daughter. No form of discipline worked. Then one ordinary blowup led to an unexpected realization: The problem wasn’t defiance, it was an ADHD skills gap. And, crucially, she realized it wasn’t her daughter’s job to fix it.
Merriam shares what happened the moment she chose connection over control, and how that choice reshaped their relationship for good.
For more on this topic
Watch: Why I stopped hiding my kid’s neurodivergence
Read: 7 discipline tips when your child has ADHD
For a transcript and more resources, visit Everyone Gets a Juice Box on Understood.org. You can also email us at podcast@understood.org.



Getting your child the support they need at school shouldn’t feel like a fight. But for millions of families, it does. In Zero Reject, an investigative podcast from Understood.org, award-winning journalist Anya Kamenetz looks at how changing federal policies are reshaping special education — and what’s at stake for families trying to access the support their children are legally entitled to. Start listening now.
Understood is a nonprofit where millions of people who are navigating neurodivergence find clear guidance, practical tools, and people who get it. To help us continue this work, donate at u.org/give

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Jessica is off this week, but we didn’t want to leave you without something great to listen to. So, in honor of back-to-school, we’re sharing an episode about school refusal from another Understood podcast, called In It.

Why do kids sometimes refuse to go to school? And what can families do about it, both in the moment and to avoid it in the future?

In this episode, hosts Gretchen Vierstra and Rachel Bozek hear from Erin, a returning guest whose family has struggled with school refusal challenges for years.

The hosts also talk with psychologist and Understood Expert Dr. Andrew Kahn, who shares some of the reasons that could be behind a child’s school refusal. He offers tips and strategies for turning the situation around.

For more on this topic

Read: Why kids refuse to go to school, and how to help them feel ready to return

Watch: Why I stopped hiding my kid’s neurodivergence

For a transcript and more resources, visit Everyone Gets a Juice Box on Understood.org. You can also email us at podcast@understood.org.



Getting your child the support they need at school shouldn’t feel like a fight. But for millions of families, it does. In Zero Reject, an investigative podcast from Understood.org, award-winning journalist Anya Kamenetz looks at how changing federal policies are reshaping special education — and what’s at stake for families trying to access the support their children are legally entitled to. Start listening now.
Understood is a nonprofit where millions of people who are navigating neurodivergence find clear guidance, practical tools, and people who get it. To help us continue this work, donate at u.org/give

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

For years, Margaret Ables believed the kindest thing she could do for her autistic child was to help them blend in. Then a single article reframed everything she thought she knew about acceptance and disclosure, and what her kid actually needed from her. She and host Jessica Shaw dig into the messy, evolving work of showing up as yourself in a world that isn't always built for you. This is a candid, funny, occasionally heartbreaking conversation about shame, self-advocacy, and belonging.

For more on this topic: 

Watch: Guiding a neurodivergent kid through grief (by breaking all the rules)

Listen: No dyslexia tutors, so this mom became one

For a transcript and more resources, visit Everyone Gets a Juice Box on Understood.org. You can also email us at podcast@understood.org.

Getting your child the support they need at school shouldn’t feel like a fight. But for millions of families, it does. In Zero Reject, an investigative podcast from Understood.org, award-winning journalist Anya Kamenetz looks at how changing federal policies are reshaping special education — and what’s at stake for families trying to access the support their children are legally entitled to. Start listening now.
Understood is a nonprofit where millions of people who are navigating neurodivergence find clear guidance, practical tools, and people who get it. To help us continue this work, donate at u.org/give

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.