Raising a child with a neuro-biological diagnosis can bring unique challenges to a family. Mary Wangerin’s son, George, was given a diagnosis of Asperger’s Syndrome with characteristics of ADD and OCD as a young boy.  She shares, from personal experience, tools that you can learn to help your child thrive and express themself effectively.

“When he’s tired, you don’t take the battle – you just let it go. But they do become different. Whereas he could not express himself as much when he was younger. I think that’s why the meltdowns happen like they did; the screaming, the kicking, getting violent at times, etc.”

“George can express himself a lot more. I think that makes it easier, but then sometimes when you try to express it and he’s done, he doesn’t want to hear what you have to say and that’s very difficult too.”

It’s important to gauge your child’s emotional level to determine if a conversation needs to continue or subside for the time being. This precautionary step will be beneficial to both the parent and the child.

Does your child get distracted easily? Mary says that encouraging them to write down their thoughts on paper would be a good exercise to help them move forward and regain their focus.

“Their heads get stuck and that’s why they can’t move on to things emotionally sometimes. You need to just hand a piece of paper and a pencil or crayon over to them.”

“George used to do that. We had to go to a city council meeting and George was more caught up on the way the boys were sitting in chairs that he thought was inappropriate, than he was on the city council meeting.”

“I handed a piece of paper and pencil I said, write down everything that’s bugging you and you and I will discuss this. I would say within about seven minutes after him writing, he completely forgot about it and got engrossed in what was going on in the city council meeting.”

Mary says that unlocking your child to focus on something else is the best way to get their attention and help them to stay focused on the topic at hand. She shares tips for families with young children,

“It could be a book, it can be music, it can be even watching a video, something that allows them to basically get off their mind. A lot of times it’s a matter of just playing with Legos, or Play Dough, something like that because maybe they can express it with pictures, or they can express it with building something, and share with you what they’re doing.”

Raising a child with a neuro-biological diagnosis can bring unique challenges to a family. But there are helpful tips and tools that you can learn to help your child thrive and become who God created them to be.


Mary Wangerin is a businesswoman, wife, support group leader, and advocate on behalf of families with children diagnosed with autism or other Neuro-Biological diagnoses. She provides education seminars to teach and train special parents of special kids, and works to bring people together in schools, churches, and civic groups with resources and understanding.

Mary is an advocate for those children and young adults who don’t fit in because they display characteristics of NBD (Neuro-biological Diagnoses), and she never wants any child or parent to go through what she and her son did when he was younger.

Helping your child thrive