Parenting a neurodivergent child in a system that was never designed for their brain is hard. Parenting that child while you are still healing your own school trauma is something else entirely.

In this episode of This Voice Is Mine: The Unquiet Podcast, Dr Emma Offord is joined by parenting coach and host of the Parent Unplugged podcast, Charis Halsall. A mum of three and an outspoken advocate for children and adults with dyslexia, Charis was diagnosed at seven and spent her school years collecting what she later learned to call “micro-traumas”: the red pen, the laptop that was meant to “fix” everything, the report cards that said “try harder” when she was already at her limit.

Charis shares how those experiences shaped her sense of self, the long shadow they cast over her confidence, and the moment she realised the problem was never her brain. It was the system. We explore what happens when a diagnosis is treated as the end of the story rather than the beginning of systemic change, and how many dyslexic children are still being asked to fit an environment that actively dysregulates their nervous system.

Now a neuro-affirming parent to a dyslexic son, Charis talks honestly about advocating in school, asking for small but powerful adjustments, and choosing self-esteem over “catching up”. From changing bright blue maths squares to softer grey, to switching to voice-to-text and watching his ideas finally spill onto the page, she offers real-life examples of what support can look like in practice.

We also talk about Charis’ own path to reclaiming her voice: reading over 300 parenting books as a very slow reader, turning her curiosity into the Parent Unplugged podcast, and treating those conversations as the “degree” she was once told she would never manage.

If you have ever been told to try harder, if you are parenting a child the system does not understand, or if you are still untangling your own school story, this conversation is a reminder that there is nothing wrong with your brain. It is the environment that needs to change, and there is always another way.

Follow Charis and her work on her Instagram account here.

In this emotionally rich and beautifully honest episode, Charlotte Hunt, the powerhouse behind Twin Tides & Autism Vibes, joins Dr Emma Offord to explore the hidden stories behind advocacy, identity, motherhood, and living a neurodivergent life that was never built for your wiring.

Charlotte shares her journey from being a school refuser at 14, to navigating complex family dynamics, to discovering her neurodivergent traits through her children, to becoming a voice of truth and connection for thousands online. She speaks openly about the highs and lows of SEN parenting, the toll of health anxiety, the impact of perimenopause, and the moments where her light “goes out”, the signs her needs have been unseen for too long.

Emma and Charlotte delve into:

• What happens when your early coping strategies run out
• Masking, unmasking & becoming “full-size” in midlife
• The vulnerability of online advocacy
• The fatigue of holding everything together
• Neurodivergent needs inside a neurodivergent household
• Why connection is the antidote to shame
• The power of finding your people, your scaffolding

Charlotte’s voice is raw, real, and deeply validating. She reminds us that growth lives in the uncomfortable, that our stories are never wrong, and that the magic happens when we stop trying to be perfect and start being honest.

A healing, relatable and profoundly human conversation for every parent, advocate, and neurodivergent soul figuring themselves out in real time.

Follow Charlotte on her Instagram account here.

In this deeply grounding episode of This Voice Is Mine: The Unquiet Podcast, Dr Emma Offord is joined by Will Martin, Nutritional Therapist, former teacher, and late-identified Dyslexic, Autistic ADHDer who helps children, adults and parents regulate their emotions and attention through holistic, evidence-based neurobiology.

Together, Emma and Will explore the unspoken internal world so many neurodivergent people carry: the internal chatter, the “work harder” conditioning, the cycles of anxiety and burnout, the longing for deep connection, and the quiet belief that you’re “not enough.”

Will shares:

• Growing up sensitive, misunderstood and unable to name his struggles
• Internalising everything because no one ever asked what was happening inside
• Late diagnosis of dyslexia, autism and ADHD — and the grief, clarity and identity shift that unfolded
• How chronic anxiety, indecision and burnout were downstream effects of masking
• Why neurodivergent mental health is often physiological and relational, not pathological
• The role nutrition, minerals, the gut-brain axis, hormones and lifestyle play in emotional regulation
• Why safety, not compliance, is the foundation of learning
• How understanding his neurobiology allowed him to parent, work and live more compassionately

Emma and Will unpack the misconceptions around nutrition in ND spaces, and explain why supporting the body is not about fixing, curing or erasing neurodivergence. Instead, it’s about returning safety to the system, reducing overwhelm, and helping individuals access the continuity of who they have always been.

Will also closes the episode by reading his original poem, From Struggle to Strength, a powerful reflection on identity, sensitivity and self-honouring.

This episode is essential listening for anyone navigating burnout, late identification, parenting neurodivergent children, or trying to understand their neurobiology with more compassion and less fear.

In this opening episode of This Voice Is Mine: The Unquiet Podcast, Dr Emma Offord sits down with author, illustrator and PDA/autism advocate Eliza Fricker, the creator of Missing the Mark and Sunday Times bestseller Can’t Not Won’t, to talk about what happens when life “goes nuclear” and the mask finally slips.

Eliza shares the story of her daughter’s breakdown from school, the loneliness of being disbelieved as a mother, and how drawing rooftops from a high-up flat became her way to keep going when everything else fell apart.

Emma and Eliza name what so many families live through but rarely have language for: school trauma and neurodivergent-specific trauma, and the thousands of small, accumulating hurts that never show up in a single incident report.

Together they explore:

• How Eliza’s blog Missing the Mark began as catharsis and became a lifeline for parents and professionals
• Masking, fawning and the shame of being “too much” or “too rude” when you finally speak up
• The sensory assault of institutions, strip lights, lanyards and plastic chairs, and why “school is safe” is a dangerous myth for many
• Middle age, motherhood and what it means to “grow full size” as a late-identified neurodivergent woman
• Building genuinely safe spaces where parents can say the real, messy things out loud

If you’ve ever come out of a school meeting smiling on the outside and shattered on the inside, felt like you must be the problem, or worried you’re “making a fuss”, this conversation is for you. You are not alone, and your unquiet voice matters more than you think.

Follow Eliza on her Instagram account here, and her website here.