Raising neurodiverse children comes with unique challenges, especially as education policies shift and school resources become harder to access. In this episode of Ask Dr. Jodi, family special education coach Genie Dawkins shares expert insights on advocating for children with ADHD, dyslexia, and autism, securing the right IEP accommodations, and navigating executive functioning struggles. Learn how to empower your child, fight for their educational rights, and build a strong support network in an ever-changing world.
Ready to breathe a sigh of relief? Welcome to Ask Dr. Jodi, where you get trauma-informed mental health and parenting advice you won’t hear anywhere else. Today, we’re exploring how shifting education policies impact neurodiverse children and what parents can do to advocate for their needs.
Episode Summary
In this powerful episode, Dr. Jodi Aman sits down with Genie Dawkins, a family special education coach and host of The Parenting Cipher podcast, to discuss the challenges of raising neurodiverse children in today’s changing educational landscape. Genie shares her personal journey as a mother of four neurodiverse children and explains why neuropsychological evaluations are essential for children with ADHD, dyslexia, and autism. Together, they uncover the barriers parents of color face in the special education system, the importance of executive functioning skills, and why schools often overlook key learning differences. If you're struggling to get the right IEP accommodations, school support, or advocacy resources, this episode is a must-listen.
Key Takeaways
✅ Neuropsychological Testing Matters – Standard ADHD tests often miss key learning challenges. A full neuropsychological evaluation provides deeper insights into your child's attention, memory, and cognitive processing.
✅ Executive Functioning is Key – Many children struggle with organization, memory, and task management. Parents unknowingly act as their child’s executive function, which can delay independence.
✅ Parents Must Be Their Child’s Advocate – Schools often claim they’re offering enough support, but many children need customized IEP accommodations to truly thrive.
✅ Education Policy Changes Affect Special Needs Services – Potential shifts in education funding and privatization could reduce access to essential services, making parent advocacy more critical than ever.
✅ Creating a Strong Support System is Essential – Parents should connect with special education advocates, community groups, and mental health professionals to help navigate the system.
Resources Mentioned in This Episode
📌 Follow Genie Dawkins: https://www.instagram.com/geniedawkins
📌 Listen to The Parenting Cipher Podcast: https://pod.link/1525101433
📌 Get Genie’s Books: Not My Child & The Joyful Family Planner : https://parentingcipher.com/products/joyful-family-planner-connecting-me-you-and-us-1
📌 My episode on Genie's podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-to-help-empower-your-child-to-cope-with-anxiety-symptoms/id1525101433?i=1000492169984
Watch the video of this episode at the blog: https://jodiaman.com/blog/parenting-tips-in-uncertain-times/
Thank you so much for listening to
Ask Dr. Jodi
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ If you enjoyed today’s episode, please take a moment to leave a five-star review on Apple Podcasts and share it with someone who needs inspiration or help to heal!
[00:00:01] Dr. Jodi Aman: Hello and welcome to Ask Dr. Jodi. Tonight we're talking about parenting in uncertain times, and these are quite uncertain times, and I have here with me Jeannie Dawkins. She is a coach parents with kids with a family special education. and support and advocate. Let me introduce you to Jeannie and have her tell us a little bit about what she does.
[00:00:23] Dr. Jodi Aman: So we know her as a person and who's in her family and how she identifies. And let's let's learn a little bit about Jeannie.
[00:00:31] Genie Dawkins: Hello, everyone. So I'm Jeannie Dawkins. I am a family special education coach and I have a best award winning podcast called the Parenting Cipher. And
[00:00:46] Dr. Jodi Aman: That's C I P H E R.
[00:00:48] Genie Dawkins: yes.
[00:00:48] Dr. Jodi Aman: I love
[00:00:49] Genie Dawkins: The reason why I came up with the Parenting Cipher is I'm using the cipher in two ways. So you have the regular definition of a cipher, which actually means decoding. Okay. And then you have the other one, which for African Americans in hip hop, which is where I was grown up in the beginning of it b boys would get in a circle and they would form a cipher, which means someone is doing something and everyone else gets to build up off of that. And that's why I call it the cipher, because what I noticed is that parents aren't talking to each other.
[00:01:26] Genie Dawkins: Like we're like siloed in our journey with our child. So because we're not actually sharing, we're not in spaces to be talking, a lot of times other parents are missing out. And when I was on my journey, so everyone, I have four neurodiverse children. And
[00:01:46] Dr. Jodi Aman: how old are they, Jeannie?
[00:01:47] Genie Dawkins: are, oh my goodness, one is 29, One is 26 17, and 13.
[00:01:57] Dr. Jodi Aman: Oh, bless you.
[00:01:58] Genie Dawkins: And my two oldest, those are my stepchildren. And I have always been an advocate of educational equity. With that being said, my two oldest children were my test children. So I put them in predominantly white schools. and top tier private schools so I could make sure that one, they were being challenged. Two, so that they learn, how to work around in the world. As well as the fact that when you put children in settings above, above where they are, so for instance, I'm middle class, but they are going to school with wealthy families with mansions. So that shows them. that this is not a far and in between dream.
[00:02:45] Genie Dawkins: So what happened was my daughter went to a top tier private school, all girls, and she was doing okay till she wasn't. And they were like, we don't know what's going on. We don't know what's going on. And I would say can you tell me what to do? And they would say, we don't do that. And she, in Anchorage, she started to fail. And here's the thing, when she started to fail, I got on WebMD and started putting in symptoms.
[00:03:14] Genie Dawkins: They pointed to, pointed me to where I needed to start getting her tested. And we ended up just getting one testing for audio processing, and then we ended up, and that, people are so nice, and then that tech person told me, you should just get her a neuropsychological evaluation. I did. And you get what you pay for, but her school said they can't offer her a seat and they paid for her to have the test. So my daughter had ADHD and she also had dysgraphia.
[00:03:43] Dr. Jodi Aman: Can you tell us what dysgraphia is
[00:03:45] Dr. Jodi Aman: Some people who don't know?
[00:03:47] Genie Dawkins: so dysgraphia could also be called stealth, dyslexia, I just think it's cute. So what happens is what they hear and what they write are two different things.
[00:03:57] Genie Dawkins: So if she has to take notes and then she's studying those notes, she's not gonna do well.
[00:04:04] Dr. Jodi Aman: Okay.
[00:04:04] Genie Dawkins: And literally she could be reading the book right now and you would ask her like what did you hear and it's something different. As a parent I noticed it but I was like Why are you making stuff up? Like, why are you making, why are you making stuff up?
[00:04:19] Genie Dawkins: But she started my second journey into special education. And for my now 17 year old, I had to fight. Like I would ask questions. So instead of me leading, I was waiting for someone to support me. And what I discovered is School systems are overwhelmed and they don't want to support you. They want to say, I'm already supporting you.
[00:04:41] Genie Dawkins: You don't need anything else. So when I got my son's neuropsychological evaluation, and that's for anyone who's listening, if you have doubts or thoughts about your child might have dyslexia, they might have ADHD, always ask for a neuropsychological evaluation. You don't just want What the diagnosis is, you want to know how it's affecting their ability to learn.
[00:05:08] Dr. Jodi Aman: Okay. So that's what that does. That evaluation describes or trans like it's transparent how they are processing. You're mean, right?
[00:05:20] Genie Dawkins: Yes.
[00:05:20] Dr. Jodi Aman: How their brain processes.
[00:05:22] Genie Dawkins: they, so what's their memory index? What's their attention span? Where are they currently? So for instance, my daughter has ADHD. Her attention span is short. Her memory index is short. Memory index also has recall. So if you have a child who, you just told them something, and you're like, what did I say?
[00:05:42] Genie Dawkins: Okay. And they're like, I don't know. That means that they might have issues with their memory index, which means what kind of support do they need? And this is beyond a child just having ADHD. You can have a child that has ADHD, but their memory index might not be severe. It might not be to the fact that they can't remember.
[00:06:02] Dr. Jodi Aman: can imagine that schools and parents get really frustrated when it's a limitation that's not. Them being abstinent or something. I can imagine a school and a parent thinking that child is just being oppositional.
[00:06:18] Genie Dawkins: Yes.
[00:06:19] Dr. Jodi Aman: When they're like, I don't know what you just said. That sounds that sounds rude, right?
[00:06:24] Genie Dawkins: Exactly. But it's so much. I always warn parents that if your school tells you, we think they have ADHD and you're like, my God, you're helping me. What do we need to do? And they say, Oh, we're going to test them for ADHD. Say, no, say I want a neuropsychological evaluation because once your child is only being tested, I like to say a silo, then. It sets your child up to fail. So what happens is ADHD, what people focus on is a behavioral. They don't focus on the cognitive,
[00:07:00] Dr. Jodi Aman: Yeah.
[00:07:02] Genie Dawkins: right? You have the neuropsychological evaluation, then you're focused on both. You're seeing how it's affecting the child. So
[00:07:11] Dr. Jodi Aman: Would you recommend I'm thinking, my kids are adults now, and I'm like, can we still do that?
[00:07:16] Genie Dawkins: yes,
[00:07:17] Dr. Jodi Aman: They still might need that.
[00:07:19] Genie Dawkins: I had a psychologist who does the testing tell me there's three periods in your lifetime That you should get the test. And she was like, six, 16 and 60.
[00:07:30] Dr. Jodi Aman: Oh. Sixty. Okay.
[00:07:34] Genie Dawkins: Listen, Jodi, I'm going to tell you why this is so mind blowing. So we said 60, because then you are able to see how your mind, your cognitive skills are either decreasing or stabilized.
[00:07:50] Genie Dawkins: So later on, let's say, God forbid you get dementia, If you have that neuropsychological evaluation, they can compare the results. What? She was like, yeah, people don't know. She was like, everyone, six, 16 and 60. 16 is important
[00:08:09] Dr. Jodi Aman: What about 25?
[00:08:10] Genie Dawkins: you can do it at any time. But she's those are your benchmarks.
[00:08:14] Genie Dawkins: Six, because you're just developing. 16, because if you do have a diagnosis, that diagnosis goes with you to college. So you can get accommodations. At 60, because You have dementia and no one, basically if you have dementia, let's say you get it at 75 and they're like, oh, this is where you are. We don't know how long it's going to take for you to get to the worst because they don't have anything showing.
[00:08:41] Dr. Jodi Aman: no benchmark, but if you get it at 60, there's a benchmark. That's great. That's great. So understanding, so that must have changed not only how you approached and advocated for them in the education system, but also how you parented.
[00:08:58] Genie Dawkins: Yes. So before, everybody, I had to get rid of my parental guilt. It took me a couple of years. So with my youngest daughter, I would say she would be writing, she would be doing her work, and she would freeze. She would just stop and freeze. And I would be like, why are you having these Barbie moments?
[00:09:15] Genie Dawkins: I would say stuff like that to her. Why are you
[00:09:18] Dr. Jodi Aman: Do you say Barbie
[00:09:19] Genie Dawkins: Barbie moments? Like a Barbie doll how they freeze? And I look back, I was like, Oh my God. And I would say stuff like, what are you not understanding? What are you, why are you making stuff up? I would tell her like, why are you making stuff up? And even though I noticed little things like, she would write a sentence and I would read the sentence and I was like, what is happening?
[00:09:40] Genie Dawkins: And I would say, tell me what you wrote. And she would tell me something totally different. I felt bad about that. Now, one of her other diagnoses was anxiety. I felt guilty about that because one thing I learned about anxiety was the fact that sometimes as a parent, the things that we say that we think is affirming actually comes across to her as though I'm brushing her, her anxiousness away.
[00:10:11] Genie Dawkins: I'm saying it's not a big deal because I'm not going there with her. And I felt bad about that. So I, so everybody, I'm the type of person, anytime I get a report, I'm looking for how can I make it better? If you say my child has anxiety, let me go learn about that. If you say my child has dyslexia, let me learn about that.
[00:10:28] Genie Dawkins: I dealt with my guilt. We got to move forward. So I am
[00:10:32] Dr. Jodi Aman: How did you? How did you deal with your guilt? A lot.
[00:10:35] Genie Dawkins: I, I have, so I have the 13, the 17 13 year old. And we came to a moment with her when she got diagnosed, she made a decision. She was like, I can't pivot. I can't pivot. I don't want to leave this school. I think I'm gonna go live with my stepmom.
[00:10:53] Genie Dawkins: And I realized now with my supporting myself that I actually had a little mini breakdown, but I also knew that she was using her agency
[00:11:05] Genie Dawkins: That she had made a decision and I was to respect that. So when I had my other two, what I started to do is listen more. And my, so for everyone that knows, my younger children have dyslexia.
[00:11:18] Genie Dawkins: and autism and my 13 year old has an audio processing diagnosis. So once I fought for them, that's when I really started digging it. And I parent differently with them is because I actually listen, Jodi. I actually listen.
[00:11:37] Dr. Jodi Aman: like we, I feel like our culture doesn't train us to listen. And it might, maybe, I know,
[00:11:43] Genie Dawkins: No, I think American culture, we're not taught to listen to our kids.
[00:11:47] Dr. Jodi Aman: We were taught to fix or be afraid so you have to fix it or tell them what to do or.
[00:11:52] Genie Dawkins: ask questions, and I remember they would always say, it started with my 17 year old, they would say stuff like we think he should stay back in kindergarten. It's not anything, cognitive. We just think he's immature. By the time we get to second grade and we, he was in the Chinese immersion and he could speak Chinese,
[00:12:12] Genie Dawkins: But he was withdrawn.
[00:12:14] Genie Dawkins: He started to eat more. He wouldn't talk often
[00:12:19] Genie Dawkins: And he was getting bullied. And I started having concerns because education is my thing and I had to really fight to get him tested. And even once we had the results, they wanted to brush him off. And one person I spoke to, she said something to me and she was like, if your child ever has a diagnosis for reading, you don't go in there saying that diagnosis, you go in there saying dyslexia.
[00:12:47] Genie Dawkins: And The other thing she told me was like, if they tell you this, then go do that. I went and got additional testing. I took him to a psychologist. She looked at his testing. So for everyone who doesn't know, a lot of times with children with autism, there's a deviation. When a deviation for him looked like a child who couldn't read, but his reading comprehension was like fifth grade and he was at second grade, that deviation is too wide.
[00:13:13] Genie Dawkins: She was like, I want you to go get him additional testing. Come back. He's autistic. Now it took me a minute to embrace that because I merely thought of social media. Social media is better now, but back then, I don't know if you remember, Jodi, if when they talked about autistic people, it was always the person rocking back and forth, banging their head, like the worst image possible.
[00:13:37] Genie Dawkins: And I was looking at my kid like, nah, they don't have it. But I dug deeper and I actually came across another parent's blog, A Day in the Life. And I was like, wow, that's fun.
[00:13:51] Dr. Jodi Aman: You were in a silo, basically, and you never saw autism presented this way before, and it was hard to imagine and were these like, white people telling you that your child was autistic? That probably is a whole other layer
[00:14:09] Genie Dawkins: yes.
[00:14:10] Dr. Jodi Aman: of of complications to the pro the inner protest, right?
[00:14:15] Genie Dawkins: Yep. But I was like, okay, we got to go. I don't have time to be in denial. I like the very first book I wrote was called Not My Child. I did it for a reason because Ashley, my 29 year old, He was in a high tier private school and they kept telling me he can do more. We think that he should be tested.
[00:14:38] Genie Dawkins: And unfortunately, a lot of times in my community, we look at report cards and if they're not failing, then they're fine. Like, why are you trying to tell me that my child needs to be tested for something? He's not failing. He wasn't failing. He was a BC student. So I didn't get it. However I was like, no, not my child.
[00:15:02] Genie Dawkins: However, when he went to college, he got accepted to 15 schools, SAT scores off the chart, he didn't make it. He had executive functioning disorder. I was acting as his executive functioning and I didn't know it. So that understanding that we move on to my younger kids.
[00:15:21] Dr. Jodi Aman: Could you say more about that? Because I think a lot of parents could relate to what you're saying, and they're probably all what? That, is that me? And in, the penny's dropping for some. Could you talk about how parents could be the kid's executive skills and not realize it?
[00:15:38] Genie Dawkins: So
[00:15:39] Dr. Jodi Aman: either a kid's not developing them, or they have limitations because of some processing issue. It could be either one, right?
[00:15:47] Genie Dawkins: could be either one. So in a classroom setting, it's the kid that. Their notebook is disordered. They don't have, they never bring, they always lose their homework, right? They're always losing their homework. Teachers are always saying that they're late. From a parent's perspective, being his executive functioning meant I had a clipboard, everybody.
[00:16:09] Genie Dawkins: I had a clipboard and I would go in and I would print out all the homework that was due for the week and I would have on a clipboard and I would say, okay, did you do it? Oh, let me see it. Let me see it. Put it in your, put it in this folder right here. I just put you. Oh, okay. Let me see you put it in the bag, put it in the bag, put it in the bag.
[00:16:28] Genie Dawkins: Okay. Now next, I would do this with him every day. Now, Let's be clear, at this time he is 15, 16, 17. I'm acting his executive functioning. I'm waking him up at particular times. I'm making sure he needs to be where he needs to be. But at the age of 16, 17, and 18, and they are moving on to
[00:16:50] Dr. Jodi Aman: they need to be, they need to be doing that themselves.
[00:16:53] Genie Dawkins: they need to be doing it themselves.
[00:16:54] Genie Dawkins: Another way right now for my 13 year old We were trying to get him into a private school. So my 17 year old does go to a private school for special education and there are two different kinds of special education schools. You have special education schools that are medically based and then you have them that are education based.
[00:17:16] Genie Dawkins: My 13 year old went to one who was So we did a bunch of remediation outside of the school. So we applied to his older brother's school and they tell me, Oh, we need him to be more independent. He ain't independent. I don't understand. What does that mean? What does that mean? When he started at another school, he, he, we did leave, but it was nothing about academics.
[00:17:41] Genie Dawkins: It was social things. And then he's doing micro schooling now. I realized what they were talking about when they said independent learner. So independent learner means that the teacher is assigning them something. They are listening. They get it and they know what they need to do and they do it.
[00:18:01] Dr. Jodi Aman: Okay.
[00:18:02] Genie Dawkins: A non independent learner, they get everything and they will say, hey mom, hey dad, can you tell me the answer to this? Hey mom, hey dad, I have homework, can you help me? What do you need help with? I don't know. They just told me to do this and pause to support them with being independent learner.
[00:18:26] Genie Dawkins: It should be, Hey mom. Hey dad. I want to help you. Hey mom. Hey dad. I want you to help me. Okay. What do you want me to help you with? I have an assignment, but you haven't told me what you want me to help you with. What's the assignment? Oh, I didn't read it. You need to go and read the assignment. Look it over, come back and tell me how do I, how can I support you?
[00:18:46] Genie Dawkins: Now you have an independent learner.
[00:18:49] Dr. Jodi Aman: Okay.
[00:18:50] Genie Dawkins: You had to learn that one. I just learned that one.
[00:18:53] Dr. Jodi Aman: Okay. So tell us about, so you've written how many books? Six? Oh,
[00:18:58] Genie Dawkins: So I've written two books. So I have the Not My Child, which is really short book to help any parent who doubts their child needs a diagnosis to requesting it. Understanding the neuropsychological evaluation and going in a meeting and getting what you need. But then I also have the Joyful Family Planner, which is different.
[00:19:18] Genie Dawkins: So it is the one stop shop for parents, meaning that it's space for your goals, your child's goals. Right throughout every day, but the thing that I love the most about the journal is that it has quotes But every week I have a challenge. I have a challenge for parents and then I have family challenge The challenge for parents is for you to look at yourself in your child, right?
[00:19:45] Genie Dawkins: I like to call it seeing to me which means Nine times out of ten your child is just a mini you But we're so busy adulting, we cannot remember the younger version of ourselves. And so I have prompts for you to remember the younger versions of
[00:20:01] Dr. Jodi Aman: Can you give me an example?
[00:20:03] Genie Dawkins: So for example, I have a prompt that says when people say mean things to me, I used to feel this way.
[00:20:11] Genie Dawkins: When my child, when people say mean things to my child, this is how they feel. One thing as parents, which I learned. And my journey was that as parents, we forget our child is with us, but they are really with us on our journeys without any context at all. So that means, and remember, kids are always about themselves.
[00:20:32] Genie Dawkins: So when mommy and dad get in a divorce, it's because of me. If my mom is super tired, it's because of me. Oh, we don't have any money. It's because of me. However you can in your journey with your kids is always take time to explain things to them. They'll understand it, but it needs to be said because as they get older, that's when they have, I'm not going to, I don't want to use the word trauma, but that's when they just, they get little things.
[00:20:59] Genie Dawkins: Like I have a money. Issue. I have a credit card issue. I have a credit card issue because my parents, I'll never forget when I was a kid I answered the phone and there was a creditor on the phone and he threatened me. He was like, yeah, you're gonna lose, your parents gonna lose their house and they're gonna, and ever since then, I'm real tentative, I have credit cards, but I'm real tentative with using them as an adult who's done the work.
[00:21:23] Genie Dawkins: And when I say done the work, everybody, I means I got a therapist. To really work through a lot of things that as children we have this perception on things based on our parents journey without context. One of the
[00:21:36] Dr. Jodi Aman: we think everything's our fault. We take over responsibility for things that go on in their life or for their behaviors. Yeah, I see it all the time with my clients. Absolutely.
[00:21:47] Genie Dawkins: It's a thing but the other part is it has family parts. So like for instance, one of my favorite ones is the dance challenge and in the dance challenge You pick your music and then you let the kids pick their music and you just dance So each little prompt is supposed to one For you to take time to relearn who you are not as a parent.
[00:22:11] Genie Dawkins: We move You who we are up under the parent role a lot of times. And if you're,
[00:22:17] Dr. Jodi Aman: I know.
[00:22:18] Genie Dawkins: but as a neuro, if you have neurodiverse children too, it really is just like you just, it can be overwhelming and you can find yourself in this cycle of just, You're just doing. It wasn't until my son, he kept apologizing to me.
[00:22:36] Genie Dawkins: He'd be like, I'm sorry, mommy. I'm like, what you apologizing for? I'm sorry, mommy. And I'm like, what's he apologizing for? And then I realized. The reason why he kept telling me,
[00:22:45] Dr. Jodi Aman: And
[00:22:48] Genie Dawkins: my kids had so many different therapies on Fridays and I would literally be falling asleep in the room.
[00:22:56] Genie Dawkins: My son was going to a tutor five days a week. I live in D. C. We were going to Montgomery County every day. I was exhausted and I was going through a divorce. So I was just exhausted. But to him, all he sees that mommy is tired. And that just made me, reflect. So that's why I made the journal.
[00:23:16] Genie Dawkins: I was just
[00:23:17] Dr. Jodi Aman: you probably had the guilt over the divorce too.
[00:23:20] Genie Dawkins: that too? But, talk to your kids. Any brief way you can do it, no matter what their age is, reaffirm to them that this is not your fault, right? And once they get older and it's about money, talk to them about money. Read about money mindset, I tell my kids we're never broke. We never broke. We
[00:23:41] Dr. Jodi Aman: That's a good next book.
[00:23:43] Genie Dawkins: I should write a book about
[00:23:45] Dr. Jodi Aman: Like, how do parents or your kids don't have money issues? I wanted to ask a couple more questions. One is, what kind of, what do you usually, when you're serving your clients, what are you usually helping them with? What do they come to you for?
[00:23:58] Genie Dawkins: Well,
[00:23:59] Dr. Jodi Aman: of their journey are you like the perfect person to show up for them and really help guide them?
[00:24:04] Genie Dawkins: so when they come to me, usually they know something's missing in the IEP, right? They know something's missing and the school keeps telling them this is all we can do. When I come on and see, I review neuropsychological evaluations and guess what? If you don't have one, that's okay. I'm going to fight the school to make them pay for you to get one, right?
[00:24:26] Genie Dawkins: I'm looking at grades. I'm looking at all these things and then I figure out how to make it better to serve them. But in the meantime, I'm also supporting the parents because as a parent, someone, you have a report and they say, here you go. This is what your kid has. All right. And you're like, okay, you put it to the side.
[00:24:46] Genie Dawkins: So because I have neurodiverse children I basically coach them. So your child has ADHD and you're like, yeah, they just belligerent. They don't want to do what I tell them to do. And I'm like, Let's be, wait a minute now, let's remember that they're not being belligerent. They can't remember what you said.
[00:25:04] Genie Dawkins: And they're like, yeah, it's not that hard. I said, tell me what you told them. It's too many steps. They were like, no it's not. I said, they cannot remember what you're talking about. I said, it's too many steps. I said, let's do one and two for now and then see what happens. But I also give them resources.
[00:25:22] Genie Dawkins: The very best thing that I had with my daughter was I went to chat and I took an autism parent class.
[00:25:29] Dr. Jodi Aman: So that's like the cipher, right? You share stuff and you're bit you're greater together.
[00:25:34] Genie Dawkins: Yes.
[00:25:35] Dr. Jodi Aman: You're greater together.
[00:25:37] Dr. Jodi Aman: And is, are most of your clients people of color or is that you specialize because it's a particularly difficult situation if you're, if you have kids who are struggling in school and you're a person of color, is it, is there extra struggles?
[00:25:55] Genie Dawkins: There are extra struggles. There are extra struggles just because you're navigating the space. I'm biased sometimes, but, and I'm going to say bias as far as race and education. So you have studies that state this is the norm. So don't expect anything more, like this, they're going to just throw your child, in within the data.
[00:26:18] Genie Dawkins: So most of my clients are parents of color because they don't know how to ask. They don't know what to ask. Most often it's a conversation. So if y'all don't know, I am very personal and anytime people come to me. And they're talking to me. All I hear is solutions. So I think in solutions. So I'm telling them what to do and they're like Yeah, how much do you charge?
[00:26:45] Genie Dawkins: Like assist is too much. I don't think I can do it. That's usually a thing but also Offering a place of security where you're seen and you're heard I'm always making sure that I hear what they're saying, but I'm also conveying to them how the child is feeling. And that's the most important part.
[00:27:06] Genie Dawkins: I remember when you were on my podcast, the most important thing you talked about was agency. So I always talk to my, my, my families from that standpoint, when it comes to their kids, even for my children. Agency. My son has shown more agency. In the last two years that blow my mind. I like to the moment that I'm like, whoa, you're teaching me because I've given him that space.
[00:27:34] Dr. Jodi Aman: Yeah. Yeah.
[00:27:36] Genie Dawkins: And a lot of times parents are so busy, they don't have time to break things down. And they really just want someone to tell them.
[00:27:44] Dr. Jodi Aman: Yeah. Yeah. We're not supposed to do any of this in a vacuum. We're not supposed to parent in a vacuum. We're not supposed to exist in a vacuum. We're social beings. So I love the work you're doing and the mission behind it to share. It's sharing resources. I think that's what, when I was studying.
[00:28:01] Dr. Jodi Aman: Sometimes that's what, people of color don't have as much access to those resources, even educational resources, or this is what you do if this happens here. And so to be a light in this area is really beautiful. And Jeannie and I have known each other for a while. We've been on each other's podcasts I don't know how many years, but.
[00:28:20] Dr. Jodi Aman: It's a couple different times, but and always a lovely conversation with you. Are you nervous about education and how are you feeling? I, that's a dumb question.
[00:28:33] Genie Dawkins: I am nervous.
[00:28:34] Genie Dawkins: Yeah, I am nervous about education. Before, new administration I researched. So I researched, what was coming out. What were the next things that were moving forward. And for neurodiverse children I'm really concerned with the possible idea of breaking down the Department of Education.
[00:28:53] Genie Dawkins: It is going to be a horror for parents because instead of you being able to get everything that you need from your school, you might have to go to four or five or seven different departments or agencies. That's a horror for a parent. We already have issues and we're just in one place.
[00:29:11] Genie Dawkins: Children who are transitioning to high school now, they'll probably have to go to three different places to get the services to support them.
[00:29:18] Dr. Jodi Aman: If they can do that,
[00:29:20] Genie Dawkins: if they can do
[00:29:21] Dr. Jodi Aman: there might not be, there might not be access where they are to any services and,
[00:29:26] Genie Dawkins: Now, as far as a person of color, I'm looking at, the privatization of schools. Now, I'm privileged, I'm going to, I ain't gonna lie to anybody. Okay, so my kids go to private school. And they go there on scholarship. They got there, on their academic graces and they're still there.
[00:29:44] Genie Dawkins: However, When I look at public school, the privatization of private schools, basically a lot of times for even when I was a kid, we always have moved to other schools because they offer better education. So that means that the neighboring school might not have that many students.
[00:30:04] Genie Dawkins: When they do the privatization of schools, that means that those schools will close. All parents don't have the means. to move their child to other places, right? But how many schools are going to lose funding? And then let's even think about it. Okay, so they lose funding, you close the school, where are those kids going to go?
[00:30:24] Genie Dawkins: So now you're going to have an overflow of students. That's going to be a teacher student ratio concern.
[00:30:32] Dr. Jodi Aman: Yeah.
[00:30:32] Genie Dawkins: Classes are already big.
[00:30:35] Dr. Jodi Aman: In the service, in the, you know what services are going to drop? Any extras that,
[00:30:40] Genie Dawkins: Yeah.
[00:30:41] Dr. Jodi Aman: are needed to support kids. Those are gonna fall away. Any mental health supports or SEL stuff are gonna fall away. Any special ed funding is probably gonna drop.
[00:30:53] Genie Dawkins: Yep. Yep, that's going to be the first thing that gets touched in these
[00:30:57] Dr. Jodi Aman: Or music and art too, which is also a really great place for some kids to to learn and process,
[00:31:04] Genie Dawkins: what I love about music and art, I just feel like I want to say it, is that increased spatial reasoning.
[00:31:10] Dr. Jodi Aman: Yeah.
[00:31:11] Genie Dawkins: one of the things that you can always tell of a
[00:31:13] Dr. Jodi Aman: there's smarter kids when they're exposed to art and music. Kids are better, are more holistic, and they're smarter, and they're better skilled at a lot of things. So I hope, yeah,
[00:31:25] Genie Dawkins: yeah, I'm concerned. I don't like these words, scared, right? Because If we go into a place of being scared, then we're just responding. We're not being proactive. So we need to look at the changes. If I was to tell parents who have neurodiverse kids right now to prepare themselves, the very first thing you need to do is make sure that your IEP is And when I say tight, if you have a high school student, they should have a a plan.
[00:31:54] Genie Dawkins: They should have a plan that's attached to rehabilitation services that are basically puts them on track with college or high school. Because if you have it now, you don't have to worry about if this happens, then now you have to figure out where to go to get it.
[00:32:10] Genie Dawkins: So just make sure that your IP is really tight, especially high school students.
[00:32:14] Genie Dawkins: All kids need it, but it's more important for high school students because this is what helps them transition to college
[00:32:21] Dr. Jodi Aman: okay.
[00:32:21] Genie Dawkins: high school, but that would be my main tip for neurodiverse children. For everyone else, read your news, pay attention, right? If you are in a school that you don't, you already have low attendance, everyone needs to start creating community.
[00:32:36] Genie Dawkins: Everyone needs to start really participating in their schools. Just because funding stops or is limited doesn't mean that the school has to stop. The best schools that I found that do so well are the ones where the parents are driving
[00:32:53] Dr. Jodi Aman: Yeah.
[00:32:54] Genie Dawkins: the funding.
[00:32:55] Dr. Jodi Aman: Or driving, or just participating and being available to, to help being a resource for the school.
[00:33:02] Genie Dawkins: resource for the school.
[00:33:04] Dr. Jodi Aman: Yeah. Instead of when people are stressed out, they go us versus them. So there's parents against the teachers, the kids are against the teachers, the parents are against the kids and the, I, you see that
[00:33:15] Genie Dawkins: and mad.
[00:33:16] Dr. Jodi Aman: we're all in the same, we're all want the same thing, we all want our kids to thrive and be good citizens and have, a life that they love. And, when you're stressed, we lash out at each other. And so that, that's really the problem in the world right now is when we're stressed out or when we're afraid, or when we feel powerless, we lash out at somebody else or try to get power over somebody else.
[00:33:41] Dr. Jodi Aman: And So we really have to come together as a community, be together, like each other, get to know each other. My uncle always said, my uncle just passed in December and he said, and I love this so much. He said, once you know someone's story, you can't help but love them. And if we spend more time together, I'm advocating for spending time in person, but even if it's like you and me, we haven't talked in a really long time.
[00:34:05] Dr. Jodi Aman: Our last podcast was like two years ago, I
[00:34:07] Genie Dawkins: Yep.
[00:34:08] Dr. Jodi Aman: And if we spent time together and we learned, I didn't, we, I didn't, I think in other conversations, we weren't talking about your kids so much, I get to know you a little bit more and a little bit more. We have to keep doing this and getting the message out there that, yeah.
[00:34:24] Dr. Jodi Aman: Connecting
[00:34:25] Genie Dawkins: It's important.
[00:34:26] Dr. Jodi Aman: is the way that you feel secure
[00:34:28] Genie Dawkins: Yep.
[00:34:29] Dr. Jodi Aman: and then you don't try to get power over somebody. And then we, that's how we create that equity and equality and. Kindness.
[00:34:38] Genie Dawkins: Yes, we can't let it. We can't let it overcome us. Because let me tell you last week was a lot. And I was mentally blaming certain people. I'm blaming my, my my sibling because I heard that they said such and all in my head, everybody, all in my head. And I was like, oh, see, you're dead.
[00:34:57] Genie Dawkins: Why are you doing this? I was like you, you're scared so you're trying to figure out someone to catch the backlash. So you need to calm down and really focus on what you can focus on. And that's one thing I want to say to everybody during these times. Focus on one thing. Just focus on the one thing and you'll be okay.
[00:35:19] Dr. Jodi Aman: Yeah, that's beautiful. Thank you so much, Jeannie. I really loved having this conversation. We're going to keep doing this, having more conversations, but I think it's really important to, to think about, people who are mostly at the margins in that, includes several, you're young, you're a person of color, you have some learning learning difference, let's say.
[00:35:44] Dr. Jodi Aman: And it's that's, we need to stand together with everybody. Yeah, so everybody, I'm on every Monday at 8 PM. Thank you so much for watching this show at Dr. Jodi. We're talking about parenting and uncertain times with Jeannie Dawkins. Go check out what our website below. It's all her Instagram and her website and her podcast.
[00:36:04] Dr. Jodi Aman: You can find them all down there. You also could text. Jodi to 833 485 3845. Get on my text list. I text the whole group. You could text me back privately, ask me your questions. So you better get on that list to be part of the show's community. So I'm so glad. Thank you so much for watching. Anything to say to people as they take off tonight, Jeannie?
[00:36:28] Genie Dawkins: All right, parents, listen. Be patient with yourself and be patient with your child. Y'all on this journey together for however long.
[00:36:35] Dr. Jodi Aman: You, as parents, are so much more than you think you are. Parents are so much more wonderful than they see themselves as, and so I'm really glad that you said that. Alright thanks everybody! Here we go!