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Parenting challenging kids can be stressful, exhausting, and frustrating. Whether your child is strong-willed, spirited, explosive, or highly sensitive, you may feel like you’re constantly battling them. 

Today, you're in luck if you’re looking for a simple, fail-proof roadmap for parenting challenging kids. 

In this episode, I talk to Dayna Abraham, the life-changing Calm the Chaos framework founder, and creator of the Lemon Lime Adventures blog. Dayna is a parenting expert who has helped thousands of families find peace and harmony with their challenging kids.

Dayna shares her story of raising a challenging child and how she discovered the Calm the Chaos framework that transformed her whole family. She explains the five steps to calming the chaos and how they can help you build a safe home and support healthy children. She also gives practical tips and examples on how to apply the framework in different situations and scenarios.

The Fail-Proof Roadmap to Parenting Challenging Children

Dayna Abraham’s methodical approach to parenting challenging kids employs five key steps: safety, trust, calmness, proactive strategies, and defining family success. This road map ensures that parents can find peace and meet their kids where they are when conventional parenting tools have failed.

Grounding oneself, connecting with the child, understanding the catalyst and the issue at heart, and collaborating on a realistic solution suitable for a unique situation - Abraham’s model is backed by science and easy to remember, even when emotions are running high.

Dayna Abraham's Approach to Parenting Challenging Kids

Where conventional parenting tactics often lead to disconnection and mistrust, her Calm the Chaos approach liberates families from power struggles. By offering small, digestible steps, enlightening illustrations, and relatable examples, Abraham equips parents to uncover the root cause of challenging behaviors. This enables them to respond in ways that foster their child's growth and encourage family peace.

Dayna Abraham’s book "Calm the Chaos" is like a friend extending a supportive hand to parents at their wits' end. It offers a straightforward, non-judgmental understanding of even the most challenging behaviors. Her personal experiences lend an empathetic voice to parents facing similar situations. The book illuminates a clear, compassionate path towards understanding your child, honing your parenting skills, and positively moving forward.

As Dayna says, "You can do it. You got this!" Parenting challenging kids may be a daunting task, but with Abraham's five steps in her Calm the Chaos framework, it becomes manageable. Embrace the change, accept the challenges, and remember - you're not alone on this journey.

Terri Hirning serves the autism and chronic illness communities as a mentor, educator, integrative wellness coach, co-author, summit host, and motivational speaker. It is the personal story of her son’s autism recovery journey that was the inspiration and motivation to move into the integrative wellness community to support others. 

Terri has a bachelor’s degree in psychology and then went on to complete a doctorate program in traditional naturopathy. She had an integrative wellness and detox coaching practice until 2020. She currently serves as Director of Marketing for New Beginnings Nutritionals and Business Consultant for Nourishing Hope/BioIndividual Nutrition Institute. 

She is co-author of The Thinking Moms’ Revolution book, Evolution Of A Revolution: From Hope To Healing. Recently, she and her son launched a podcast called Our I’MPossible Journey to share their story of improving the symptoms of autism and making the impossible possible. She lives with her husband Eric and two of their children in the mountains of Flagstaff, Arizona.

Lenora Edwards is an ASHA Board Certified Speech Language Pathologist and Chief Knowledge Officer with Better Speech. Since obtaining her Certificate of Clinician Competence in 2010, she has worked with individuals of all ages from little ones who are learning to understand and express themselves to adults who want to improve their speaking skills and become a more fluent and effective communicator. 

Better Speech is an online speech therapy company that has been providing professional, affordable and convenient speech therapy services for more than a decade. All the Speech Language Pathologists with Better Speech are Board Certified and State Licensed with more than 10 years experience each which allows us to provide outstanding online speech therapy services nationwide and internationally. 

With more than 150 Speech Language Pathologists at BetterSpeech.com, we are experts at helping people communicate in the most efficient and affordable way possible!

A mental health trailblazer, founder of The Global Institute of Children’s Mental Health and Dr. Roseann,LLC, who is on a mission to change the way we view and treat mental health, showing people it's gonna be ok with science-backed tools that improve wellbeing. She is known for teaching how to calm the brain in order to have a happy family and giving the keys to unlock the brain’s potential. With her trademarked method, BrainBehaviorReset™, has helped thousands address the most challenging conditions such as ADHD, executive functioning, anxiety, OCD, mood, Lyme, and PANS/PANDAS using science-backed holistic therapies. She is the author of the first ever book on teletherapy activities for child and adolescent therapists, “Teletherapy Toolkit™” and It’s Gonna be OK!™ and gives parents step-by-step solutions for their struggling kids with her books, Natural Parenting Solutions FB group, and remote neurofeedback program.  A media personality, she is often featured on dozens of media outlets: Fox, CBS, NBC, PARENTS, and New York Times. 

Andrea Pollack is a mom of two young adult children, a former lawyer in New York

City, and an advocate for parents of autistic and other developmentally challenged

children. When her autistic son was not thriving at school, Andrea left her 19-year

law career to homeschool him. 

She later went on to earn her Master’s in Education  so that she could most effectively help parents get swift and lasting results without years of trial and error. Now, with years of experience and research under her belt, Andrea is sharing her wisdom with the world through Autism Parent Solutions.

What you can expect to learn from this special Summit sneak peek episode:

• Why is understanding the balance between the hemispheres of the brain so important?
• Big misconception that most experts don’t dare to reveal: It’s not genetics, it’s epigenetics!
• What a functional disconnection looks like from a symptom and parent’s perspective and how to spot it before it causes irreversible damage.
• Sneaky compounds in your child’s food that trigger meltdowns, tantrums, and aggression.
• A chemical in the brain triggering chemicals that leads to brain inflammation.
• Is your child simply acting out, or are they silently grappling with anxiety? Find out the signs you need to look out for and how to help them cope and thrive with natural solutions.
• How poor posture can contribute to symptoms of autism, ADHD, or even sensory processing challenges?
• And much more…

More info about the guests:
They are not your typical experts. They are well respected pioneers in their fields who have helped thousands of children with neurodevelopmental disorders. They are:

Dr. Robert Melillo created Brain Balance Achievement Centers which has approximately 150 centers and has helped tens of thousands of families and has also written 5 best-selling books including his best known Disconnected Kids which has been translated into 8 languages.

Julie Matthews is a Certified Nutrition Consultant specializing in autism and related disorders for 15 years. Her work and award winning book, Nourishing Hope for Autism, have helped people around the world to make food and nutrition choices that aid the health, learning, and behavior of those with autism, ADHD, and other developmental delays.

Dr. Darin Ingels, a naturopathic doctor with 30 years of experience who has overcome Lyme disease and helped many children with allergies and brain inflammation. He has been published extensively and is the author of The Lyme Solution: A 5-Part Plan to Fight the Inflammatory Auto-Immune Response and Beat Lyme Disease (Avery, 2018)

Trudy Scott, a food mood expert and author who has helped thousands of people with anxiety and depression using natural solutions. She was the recipient of the 2012 Impact Award and the author of The Antianxiety Food Solution: How the Foods You Eat Can Help You Calm Your Anxious Mind, Improve Your Mood and End Cravings (New Harbinger 2011) and host of The Anxiety Summit.

Dr. Krista Burns is the founder of the American Posture Institute, author of the textbook The Posture Principles, and TEDx Speaker. Dr. Krista has two doctorate degrees and is leading the charge against postural decline.  She has been featured on Fox News Radio and Global Woman Magazine.I hope you enjoy this special episode!

Madiha M. Saeed, MD, also known as HolisticMom, MD, on social media, is a practicing board-certified family physician in the USA, health influencer, international speaker, and author of The Holistic Rx: Your Guide to Healing Chronic Inflammation and Disease and the children’s functional medicine book series, Adam’s Healing Adventures and to other international books, empowering the world towards healthier living. Her current online platforms reach millions of people.

Dr. Saeed is the director of education for Documenting Hope and KnoWEwell. She sits on multiple medical advisory boards including Wellness Mama. Dr. Saeed and her children speak internationally at the most prestigious holistic conferences, summits, radio, podcasts (including Mind Body Green), newspapers and the United Nations recently published her paper on religion and the food system. She is a regular on the international Emmy-winning medical talk show the Dr. Nandi Show. Dr Saeed's children host "The Holistic Kids' Show" podcast, interviewing the biggest names in the functional, holistic, and integrative medicine world, and helping kids empower and educate other kids.

Dr. Izabella Wentz is a compassionate, innovative, solution-focused integrative pharmacist dedicated to finding the root causes of chronic health conditions. Her passion stems from her own diagnosis with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis in 2009, following a decade of debilitating symptoms.

As an accomplished author, Dr. Wentz has written several best-selling books, including the New York Times best seller Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis: Lifestyle Interventions for Finding and Treating the Root Cause, the protocol-based #1 New York Times best seller Hashimoto’s Protocol: A 90-Day Plan for Reversing Thyroid Symptoms and Getting Your Life Back, and the Wall Street Journal best seller Hashimoto’s Food Pharmacology: Nutrition Protocols and Healing Recipes to Take Charge of Your Thyroid Health.

Her latest book, Adrenal Transformation Protocol, is set to be released on April 18th, 2023. The book focuses on resetting the body’s stress response through targeted safety signals and features a 4-week program that has already helped over 3,500 individuals. The program has an impressive success rate, with over 80% of participants improving their brain fog, fatigue, anxiety, irritability, sleep issues, and libido.

Kelly is a wife and busy mom of three children. She has a bachelors in Human Nutrition from Arizona State University, and a doctorate in optometry from the Illinois College of Optometry. She completed a residency in primary care with emphasis in Pediatrics at Nova Southeastern University. She most recently became an Integrative Health Practitioner in 2021 and is looking forward to helping transform your trajectory towards your best health.

Dr. Emily Levy is the founder and director of EBL Coaching, a specialized tutoring program that offers individualised one-on-one home, virtual, and on-site instruction using research-based, multi-sensory techniques. Dr. Levy graduated from Brown University and received her Masters Degree in Special Education from Nova University in Florida. She also completed her Doctorate Degree in Education from Nova University.

Dr. Levy is the author of Strategies for Study Success, a 17-part student workbook series that teaches students strategies for test taking, note taking, reading comprehension, writing, summarizing, and executive functioning and the author of Flags and Stars Orton Gillingham student workbook series, which helps students develop their fundamental decoding and spelling skills. Additionally, she is the author of Flags and Stars Multi-Sensory Math, a multi-sensory math program that helps students develop a stronger understanding of core math concepts, including addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and fractions. These workbooks are currently used at schools nationwide.

Peter Scire DC is the owner and clinical Director of Scire Integrative Health Center/Scire Functional Neurology Center and Co-Owner of Brain Balance Centers of Atlanta.  

As a child, Dr.Scire was diagnosed with a learning disability and Dyslexia. Frustrated with traditional treatment results, his parents brought him to a chiropractor specializing in neurological therapies and functional nutrition.  The combination of traditional academic remediation and these neurological approaches has led to his recovery. Although the process was slow and costly, Dr. Scire went from a struggling student to graduating at the top of his high school class and becoming an award-winning collegiate scholar. Through his personal struggles and recovery, he discovered that helping people was his calling and so made this his vocation. 

While in graduate school he took a special interest in functional neurology which led him to study under Dr. Robert Melillo who developed recovery protocols for children suffering from ADHD, Dyslexia, Learning Disorders, Tourette’s, and autism spectrum disorders. This collaboration has led to Dr. Scire establishing the first three Brain Balance Centers ever built in 2007-2008. Since 2010, Dr. Scire has been a co-instructor with Dr. Melillo in his Childhood & Adult Neurodevelopmental Disorder program. Dr. Scire has over 18 plus years of clinical experience working with children and adults utilizing the developmental neurology applications created by Dr. Melillo.

Ever the learner, Dr. Scire has completed post-graduate studies in the areas of Traumatic Brain Injury/Concussion Rehabilitation, Vestibular Rehabilitation, Neuroimmunology, Low-Level Laser Therapy and Functional Endocrinology. Currently, he is enrolled in the three-year Clinical Mastership Program at the Kharrazian Institute while simultaneously completing the Functional Immunology program through Cogence.

Dr.Scire has a private practice in Newnan, Georgia where he attends to patients of all ages with complex medical histories. His goal is to provide a personalized integrative clinical approach that incorporates the latest evidence-based transitional science.

Dr. Peter J. Scire, known as the “Brain Doctor”, has examined and treated thousands of children with neurodevelopmental disorders since establishing his first practice in 2005 combined with his 8 years of running his Balance Centers.

Dr. Scire received his Dr Chiropractic from Life University in Atlanta and has completed graduate studies in clinical neurology, nutrition and vestibular rehabilitation at the Carrick Institute of Graduate Studies. He is a board-eligible Chiropractic Neurologist. 

He is the past President of the International Association for Functional Neurology and Rehabilitation (IAFNR).

He is a frequent lecturer to health care providers, educators and support groups on Functional Disconnection Syndrome and its applications for adults and children with childhood developmental disorders. Dr. Scire has been co-teaching with his mentor Dr. Robert Melillo (author of Disconnected Kids) since 2008.

Dr. Scire currently practices at his private practice Scire Integrative Health in Newnan, Georgia where he uses a multimodal approach to neuro-rehab combined with functional medicine to treat patients around the world.

Tara Hunkin, Functional Nutritional Therapy Practitioner, Certified GAPS Practitioner, mother and founder of My Child Will Thrive (website and podcast)  author and host of the Autism, ADHD and SPD Summit. 

My Child Will Thrive was founded out of the frustration Tara felt when searching for explanations and solutions for her daughter.  Doctor visits left her with more questions than answers and she was forced to do the research and find her own way to help her child.  Tara’s daughter is now a thriving 18-year-old, succeeding in and out of school.

Tara now supports parents of children with neurodevelopmental disorders struggling to find the right combination of treatments and therapies through educating and coaching them so that they can get the best results for their children while saving time, money and effort.  

Tara continues to expand her knowledge by attending and speaking at conferences and is a member of the Medical Academy of Pediatric Special Needs, International Association of Functional Neurology and Rehabilitation, and Nutritional Therapy Association.

Full episode show notes & transcript: https://www.mychildwillthrive.com/toolkit-tuesday-a-simple-tool-to-help-you-get-the-most-out-of-your-lab-tests/

Sharik Peck, PT, MRC and Founder/CEO of Rezzimax, has advanced degrees in physical therapy and rehabilitation counseling and over 28 years helping people eliminate pain from their lives. Sharik experienced several disabling accidents, including a broken neck and back, a stroke, a dislocated shoulder, and years of chronic pain. His wife suffered from chronic neck pain. Out of these experiences and an intense desire to help many others in chronic pain, it drove him to figure out a natural solution for pain. His research focused on resonance and its effect on the human nervous system. The Pain Tuner Pro is the result of over 10 years of research and development. He's also been awarded 3 US patents and 1 China patent.

Show notes & Transcript: https://www.mychildwillthrive.com/energizing-the-brain-and-body-connections-for-your-child