If you've ever found yourself having to outline the entire day's schedule before you've even had your first coffee, or negotiating bath time as a sacred non-negotiable human right, this episode might just be the one you didn't know you needed. Mark is joined by the brilliant Jo Matthews for a deep dive into what it really means to be your child's safe person.
Whether your neuroshambolic family is shaped by autism, ADHD or PDA, so many of us know the exhausting, relentless, sometimes claustrophobic experience of being the one person our child needs above all others. It's a privilege and it's hard work, but it's almost never talked about with the honesty it deserves on a neurodivergent parenting podcast.
In a Neuroshambles first, this episode also features a second guest - Dotty Matthews, Jo's 19-year-old autistic daughter - who joins Mark for a candid, funny and genuinely moving conversation about what it felt like to be that child. From the early days of demanding apple juice to command her mum's attention, through to slowly learning to find safety in other people, Dotty's perspective is the kind of lived experience that makes this show worth your time.
There's also a listener email from Lydia, whose 13-year-old daughter's intense attachment prompted this whole conversation - and both Jo and Dotty have something genuinely useful to say in response. Autistic parenting advice doesn't get much more grounded in lived experience than this.
CHAPTER TIMESTAMPS (ESTIMATED)
00:01:08 - Meet the Guest: Jo Matthews
00:03:40 - This Week's Topic: Being Your Child's Safe Person
00:04:22 - Lydia's Listener Email
00:07:06 - Dotty's Early Attachment (and the Gee Story)
00:10:25 - Transitional Objects and Starting School
00:18:58 - Co-regulation: Being Your Child's Emotional Anchor
00:25:54 - Scaffolding the Day: Structure and Predictability
00:30:54 - Being Their Executive Function
00:37:45 - Advocating for Your Child
00:43:41 - Being a Physical Safe Space (Including Co-sleeping)
00:48:05 - Being an Emotional Outlet
00:56:34 - The Guilt and Exhaustion of Being a Safe Person
01:03:12 - Attachment Theory and Building Independence
01:06:58 - When Only One Parent is the Safe Person
01:14:17 - Meet the Second Guest: Dotty Matthews
01:38:51 - It's Not All Rubbish
01:41:07 - Neurodiversity Champions
01:43:46 - Tiny Epic Wins
01:47:04 - What the Flip Moments
LINKS TO STUFF WE MENTION IN THIS EPISODE
Attachment Theory (John Bowlby) - https://www.simplypsychology.org/bowlby.html
The Loxdale Centre, Portslade - https://www.loxdale.com/
mASCot - https://www.asc-mascot.com/
Mark's talk: "How Dads Can Show Up Better For Our Neurodivergent Kids" - https://neuroshambles.com/page-gazc-3dk8-ywa8-dnly
Raising SEND kids: The Dad's Perspective (with Terry Lloyd) - https://neuroshambles.com/episode/raising-send-kids-the-dads-perspective-terry-lloyd
📣 CONTACT US
🌐 Website: www.neuroshambles.com
📧 Email: hello@neuroshambles.com
📸 Instagram: @neuroshambles
🎵 TikTok: @neuroshamblespod
📘 Facebook: Neuroshambles
🎙️ CREDITS
🎶 Theme music by Skilsel on Pixabay: pixabay.com