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Young Scholars Academy is a virtual village that helps twice-exceptional & differently-wired students to feel seen, nurtured, and happy as heck through strength-based courses, camps, and community!

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Whether you're a parent, educator, or simply passionate about supporting neurodivergent learners, this blog is your go-to resource for all things related to strength-based education and fostering a community of belonging.

Neuro-Affirming Resources for Twice-Exceptional (2e) & Gifted Kids: A Guide for Families in the Greater New York City Area
Kyla Hunte Kyla Hunte

Neuro-Affirming Resources for Twice-Exceptional (2e) & Gifted Kids: A Guide for Families in the Greater New York City Area

Finding the right support for your 2e or gifted child can be overwhelming, but it doesn't have to be. This guide offers essential resources in the Greater New York City area to help your child and family thrive. From expert therapists to specialized schools, discover the neuro-affirming professionals and programs that can make all the difference.

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When the World Wasn’t Built for Your Child: Finding Strength and Hope
Kyla Hunte Kyla Hunte

When the World Wasn’t Built for Your Child: Finding Strength and Hope

This week, parents have been sharing their worries about the challenges faced by our twice-exceptional (2e) kids. It’s a tough time, but amidst the concerns, there’s a powerful message of hope and resilience. Let’s look at how we can support our incredible kids and advocate for the inclusive spaces they deserve. Together, we can celebrate their uniqueness and foster environments where they truly thrive!

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Small is All: Embracing a New Mindset as Parents of 2e Kids
Kyla Hunte Kyla Hunte

Small is All: Embracing a New Mindset as Parents of 2e Kids

In today’s fast-paced, “go-big-or-go-home” society, it’s easy as parents to feel overwhelmed by the emphasis placed on our children’s achievement and success. This pressure is particularly acute for parents of twice-exceptional (2e) children, as we are constantly bombarded with deficit-based narratives about our kids—daily calls from schools regarding behavior, discussions about unmet IEP goals, and the feeling of constant negativity surrounding our children’s ability to meet expectations.

Like many parents, I find this constant commentary about what my child “can't do”, “isn't doing”, and “should be able to do by now” debilitating. This deficit-based narrative is dangerous because it often impacts our perception of ourselves as parents. It can leave us feeling inadequate and like failures. Even worse, we may also start seeing our children through this deficit-based lens. 

But what if we empowered ourselves to change our mindset?

What if…

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Rethinking Parenting Approaches For PDA Children

Rethinking Parenting Approaches For PDA Children

Parenting a child with Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA) can feel isolating and challenging, especially as traditional approaches often miss the mark. If you’re raising a child with a PDA profile, this article offers a fresh perspective—one centered on empathy, collaboration, and flexibility.

Through personal insights and actionable tips, you’ll explore how small adjustments can create a more harmonious home life and help your child thrive. From reducing the pressure of daily routines to prioritizing self-care, this guide will empower you to transform struggles into strengths for both you and your child.

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Transform Your Child’s School Year with a Strength-Based Approach
Sam Young Sam Young

Transform Your Child’s School Year with a Strength-Based Approach

Are you ready to transform your neurodivergent child’s school year and set them on a path to success? A strength-based approach can do just that. Instead of focusing on challenges, this method shifts attention to your child’s unique talents and strengths, empowering them to thrive academically and socially.

This article dives into the science behind why focusing on strengths can improve your child’s mental health and academic performance. Learn actionable steps to implement this approach and discover how it will positively change your family’s outlook on education and personal growth.

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Back-to-School Success: Executive Function Tips with Seth Perler
Sam Young Sam Young

Back-to-School Success: Executive Function Tips with Seth Perler

Join Seth Perler at Young Scholars Academy for expert tips on boosting executive function in twice-exceptional and differently-wired students.

Discover strategies, resources, and mindsets to help your child thrive this school year.

Get in-depth advice and support. Watch now and transform your child’s learning journey!

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Finding Heroes in the Cubing Community: Importance Of Neurodivergent Mentors For Your Child
Parent Support Malikai Bass Parent Support Malikai Bass

Finding Heroes in the Cubing Community: Importance Of Neurodivergent Mentors For Your Child

Who are your child’s heroes? What adults do they see as examples of the possibilities in their future? Speedcubing, or the hobby of solving twisty puzzles like the Rubik’s Cube, is a gold mine of twice-exceptional adults and peers. Solving the cube alone gave me confidence that I could do hard things and as I joined the community. Through virtual competitions, discussion boards, and meet-ups I looked around the room and saw people like me. I met people who were going to college, exploring their passions, starting businesses, and who had support needs and challenges like mine. Speedcubing wasn’t the only place I found my people, as I grew, I’d find them in card shops, hockey rinks, and video game servers, but it was the first and maybe it’ll be the first for your child too.

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“I Don’t Know My Passion” Unlocking Your Child’s Passion With Talent
Sam Young Sam Young

“I Don’t Know My Passion” Unlocking Your Child’s Passion With Talent

Is your child struggling to find their passion or unsure about what they want to do in the future? You’re not alone. Many parents face the challenge of helping their children discover what truly excites them. What if the key to unlocking their potential lies not in directly searching for passion, but in nurturing their inherent talents first?

Discovering one’s passion often feels like a monumental task, especially for twice-exceptional children. They might have unique asynchronies that make finding a single interest overwhelming. However, understanding that talent often comes before passion can change everything

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Unraveling Child Struggles Beyond Observation with Dr. Karen Wilson
Erin Tee Erin Tee

Unraveling Child Struggles Beyond Observation with Dr. Karen Wilson

Unlock the potential of differently-wired learners with insights from Dr. Karen Wilson, Clinical Neuropsychologist, as she uncovers essential strategies for ensuring their success.

Learn about:

Root Cause Understanding: Delve deeper into why children struggle instead of merely observing.

Validation and Communication: Validate concerns and communicate with teachers to gain insights.

Observation to Intervention: Pause before intervening; validate, understand, and consider

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Letting Go: Parenting 2e Kids With Freedom, Flexibility, and Autonomy
Amber K Willburn Amber K Willburn

Letting Go: Parenting 2e Kids With Freedom, Flexibility, and Autonomy

Parenting is amazing and wonderful and hard. It is almost never what we think it will be. Having neurodivergent kids can make the journey even more adventurous because there are few guideposts for their spikey profiles. The social scripting that we were given by our families almost never fits our kids.

Our 2e children often meet growth metrics in very different ways. They can be light years ahead in some places, and seemingly behind in others. They are asynchronous with the world around them, and as parents, we have to develop asynchronous support strategies. 

You may have a 12 year old that can do calculus, but can’t tie their shoes. Or perhaps you have a 6 year old going through an existential crisis about the sun blowing up, but they still need their favorite stuffed unicorn at night. Few parenting books talk about…

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Lessons From The River Nile
Sam Young Sam Young

Lessons From The River Nile

Sending you an email from a boat on the River Nile in Egypt.

As we sail down this sacred, life-giving river, I can't help but contemplate ancient civilizations, present-day cultures, and humanity, at large.

As the sun drops below the tree line, I'm sipping date juice, hearing the call to prayer ring out from the minarets as it echos off the banks of the river, all while the ever-changing fragrance from the vegetation shifts with every gust of the warm Sahara winds.

As we drift along, red and white sail thrown to the wind, my mind keeps going back to our little virtual village.

The River Nile was, and is, a source of…

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Deliberate Practice – Growing as a Parent
Parent Support Amber K Willburn Parent Support Amber K Willburn

Deliberate Practice – Growing as a Parent

This is all well and good for learning a musical instrument or growing in a new field, but how does deliberate practice look for families and parents?  While parenting may not come with a manual, it does come with a mountain of expectations and familial and social scripts. Many parents when they find out they are expecting read all of the books, but then once that child arrives, much of that information goes out the window. So, how do we get better?

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Intentionally Opening the World of Twice Exceptionality for  Culturally Diverse Learners
Parent Support, inclusion, twice-exceptional Dr. Joy Lawson Davis Parent Support, inclusion, twice-exceptional Dr. Joy Lawson Davis

Intentionally Opening the World of Twice Exceptionality for  Culturally Diverse Learners

Several years ago, as I continued to engage with school leaders and advocates to close the gaps in gifted education services, particularly as related to meeting the needs of our most underserved populations, I discovered another population of students that was gravely underserved in gifted and advanced learner services.

This discovery came about from multiple contexts, including but not limited to—conversations with colleagues and culturally diverse parents, meetings with school personnel, a review of the literature, and continuously keeping track of online services that were erupting across the nation designed to draw attention to the needs of twice-exceptional learners.

Across all these groups what became evident was that once again, culturally diverse learners—in particular Black, Brown, and low-income gifted learners were being overlooked. As a lifetime advocate and scholar representing underrepresented gifted learners, I felt compelled to speak up.

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Your Child’s Big Leap: A Framework For Unleashing Your Kiddo’s Strengths
Parent Support, strenghts Sam Young Parent Support, strenghts Sam Young

Your Child’s Big Leap: A Framework For Unleashing Your Kiddo’s Strengths

Is your child a vibrant ray of sunshine in your world, radiating unique interests, creativity, and curiosity at home, but seems to be dimmed by the demands of school and other “social norms”?

Much of life can have both us and our kiddos wondering, "What am I doing wrong?

Let’s be clear, it doesn’t mean there is anything wrong with you or your child! Quite the contrary…

The problem that you’re facing is simply a challenge of alignment- your kiddo may be out of alignment with their strengths and the tasks that they’re being asked to do.

Would you like to know how to help your kiddo break free from this cycle? It starts by….

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Creating Healthy Family Scripts When There’s No Manual

Creating Healthy Family Scripts When There’s No Manual

What do you do when your parent’s advice for raising your neurodivergent kiddo doesn’t work?

We learn a lot of things from our parents. We develop familial scripts, ways of talking and connecting that are often generational and unique to a family. Have you ever had the words your parents said to you fall out of your mouth?

What happens, though, when these scripts no longer work? We learn many things from our families, but even in the best of circumstances, what we learn may not fit the situation we have. We may not follow the cultural life scripts of our families. We may have children that no previous family script prepares us for.

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Creating A Strength-Based Life  With Intentions, Not Resolutions
Parent Support Amber K Willburn Parent Support Amber K Willburn

Creating A Strength-Based Life With Intentions, Not Resolutions

Happy New Year! For many people, the new year means a chance to create a resolution. The thing is, resolutions can often include a lot of shame.

Intentions, on the other hand, are built on affirmations and goals. Instead of making a resolution this year, I invite you to set intentions around building strength-based opportunities in your child’s life.

Here are a few tips on setting intentions:

1. Focus on the present. When setting intentions, framing the intention in the present tense is important. Doing things you already believe you can do is way easier than trying to achieve something in which you doubt yourself...

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How To Make This New Year Your Child’s Best Ever!
Sam Young Sam Young

How To Make This New Year Your Child’s Best Ever!

Real life can be really hard and raising a neurodivergent child certainly presents no shortage of challenges.

While our minds can often shift to the negative, it's important that we make a conscious effort to look for the positive. This doesn't always come easy and might take real work for you to get the hang of it, but it's worth it!

Just as you would want with your kids, our goal as adults is to aim to be strength-based and talent-focused as possible.

As we pivot into the New Year, this is an important time…

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Rudolph The Twice-Exceptional Reindeer
Sam Young Sam Young

Rudolph The Twice-Exceptional Reindeer

I always know it's December when the flood of Christmas movies on TV swells to a tidal high. This year, I can't help but watch these classics through a different lens; a strength-based, positive psychology lens.

After watching the 1964 classic, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, I can't help but feel like Rudolph is totally 2e!

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