If your child has ever been called "too much," "too distracted," or "too sensitive" — if you're the parent who tenses up every time the school's number lights up your phone — this episode is for you.

Laurie sits down with Jori Broidy, director of the new Milwaukee campus of Open Wings Learning Community, a school designed around neurodivergent kids, alongside Stacey Glasenapp, MS LPC, a child therapist at Shoreside Therapies. Together they get into what school looks like when it's built to believe in kids instead of manage them: six students to two teachers, learning partners matched by where a child actually is (not their birth year), zones of regulation woven into every morning, twice-daily outdoor time, and a culture where a meltdown is part of learning — not a reason to call home.

You'll also leave with tools that work at any school: mirroring the classroom routine at home, the parent–teacher notebook, and the "frustration bag" — a simple, mirrored calm-down kit for the cubby, the house, and the car.

Resources & links:

• Open Wings Learning Community (Milwaukee & Kenosha): openwingslearning.org — tour requests and enrollment questions (tuition and financial questions: contact the school directly)
• Work with Stacey Glasenapp, MS LPC — child therapy and support for moms of kids with special needs: shoresidetherapies.com
• St. Francis Children's Center (speech & OT partnership mentioned in-episode)
• Zones of Regulation (framework mentioned in-episode)

For most of her life, Laurie had a private word for herself: stupid. She's a therapist with a master's degree who has spent twenty years teaching other people to speak to themselves more kindly — and she never once caught it in herself.

Then, in her forties, the actual answer showed up: ADHD. Late diagnosed, like so many women.

This is the relaunch of the show, under a new name and a new focus. Laurie explains why the Wisconsin Wellness Podcast became Without the Couch, what changed, who this show is for — and why she calls it an anti-shame project.

This podcast is for educational purposes only. It is not therapy, and listening does not create a therapeutic relationship. If you're in Wisconsin, Illinois, or Colorado and want real support, reach out at shoresidetherapies.com.

Find Laurie: Shoreside Therapies — therapy in Wisconsin, Illinois, and Colorado: shoresidetherapies.com. The show, plus a place to send questions: withoutthecouch.com