All Posts

Written By: Dr. Lauren Pammer, DrOT, MOT, OTR/L Winter can feel heavy for many people. The shorter days, colder weather, disrupted routines, and post-holiday emotional crash often bring fatigue, low motivation, and overwhelm. But for neurodivergent teens and adults… especially those with ADHD, autism, sensory processing differences, trauma histories, and executive functioning challenges. Winter can hit much harder. What often gets labeled as “laziness,” “lack of motivation,”

Written by Lauren Pammer, DrOT, MOT, OTR/L Valentine’s Day is meant to be about love, connection, and feeling valued... yet for many neurodivergent teens, adults, and individuals with intellectual disabilities, getting out into the community on a holiday like this can feel anything but easy. Crowded restaurants. Loud music. Long waits. Unspoken social expectations. Sensory overload. Anxiety about unfamiliar spaces. For families and caregivers, there’s often another layer: fin

Written by Dr. Lauren, DrOT, MOT, OTR/L If you’re an adult with ADHD, you may have spent years wondering why “simple things” feel so complicated. Starting a load of laundry. Replying to a text. Making that dentist appointment. Getting out of bed on time. Sorting mail. Tackling the dishes in the sink. Other people seem to do these things without thinking — meanwhile, you’re staring at the same task for hours feeling like you’re trying to push your body through wet cement. You’

Written by Dr. Lauren, DrOT, MOT, OTR/L If you’re an autistic adult (or the parent of an autistic teen) there’s a good chance you know this feeling: You were functioning fine for a while, maybe even thriving... and then out of nowhere, everything becomes too overwhelming. Things that used to feel manageable suddenly take all your energy. The smallest task feels impossible. Noise feels louder. Lights feel brighter. Your body feels heavier. Your emotions feel closer to the surf

By Dr. Lauren, DrOT, MOT, OTR/L When parents walk into their child’s first IEP meeting, almost every single one tells me the same thing afterward: “I had no idea what to expect.” “I didn’t know what I was allowed to say.” “I felt overwhelmed and afraid of getting it wrong.” And here is what I tell them every time: You are not supposed to know how to do this. IEPs are complicated, emotional, and full of educational language that most people never encounter until they are sudde