77. Practical Parenting Tips for Autism and ADHD with Anne Bragg of @AutismSuperMoms
In this episode of the Nourishing Autism Podcast, Brittyn welcomes Anne Bragg, the inspiring mom and educator behind the Autism Supermoms community. Anne passionately shares her personal journey raising five daughters, two of whom are diagnosed with autism and ADHD. She offers practical tips and emotional support for parents facing challenges like selective eating, sensory sensitivities, and balancing caregiving with personal well-being. Tune in for heartfelt stories, invaluable advice, and a dose of much-needed encouragement for all caregivers.
Episode Resources:
Follow Anne on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/autismsupermoms/
Keep up with Anne on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/autismsupermomsmagazine/
Join the Nourishing Autism Collective to start getting nutrition support today!
Follow @AutismDietitian on Instagram
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TRANSCRIPT
Hi, I'm Brittyn, a Registered Dietitian and autism sibling. I have a passion for helping parents of neurodivergent kids navigate nutrition and wellness for their child, one small step at a time. Here we'll explore practical nutrition tips, learn from top autism experts, break down the newest research, and share inspirational stories that will empower you to utilize nutrition to help your child feel their best and thrive.
Listen in while picking kids up from school, sitting in a therapy waiting room, taking a quick walk or wherever you find yourself, looking for some inspiration and a friend to guide you along this journey. This is Nourishing Autism.
Anne: [00:00:00] Honestly, Brittyn, there were years and years where I was tearing my hair out what to put in her packed lunch. I could
not get her to eat regular sandwiches, regular bread at all. And the
fish crackers went everywhere where we went for what seemed like years.
And now it's not perfect, but I can go out and it sounds like it's taken forever, but
I went into a Subway with her and normally I would just sit her down and kind of ask her what she wants and usually, I
couldn't get her to eat any kind of sandwich and she came up with me and she was pointing to things like tomato and lettuce and I
never thought I'd ever get her to eat lettuce...
[00:01:00]
Brittyn: Welcome back to the Nourishing Autism Podcast. Today we are joined by Anne Bragg, the incredible mom behind the Autism Supermoms community,
where she provides support and empowerment to over 150,000 parents of autistic children. Anne is an advocate,
former educator, and mother of five daughters, two of whom are diagnosed with autism and ADHD.
In today's episode, Anne shares her personal journey, offering both practical tips and emotional insights on raising
autistic children, including how she's helped her family navigate the challenges of selective eating and sensory
sensitivities around [00:02:00] food.
We'll also talk about the importance of emotional support for caregivers and how Anne's experience has shaped the encouraging inclusive space that she's built online. If you've ever struggled with finding balance, dealing with overwhelm, or just looking for real advice from someone who's been through it all, you'll definitely want to tune in.
Welcome, Anne, to the Nourishing Autism Podcast.
Brittyn: Hello, everybody. Welcome back to the Nourishing Autism Podcast. I'm sitting here with Anne. Anne, thank you so much for being here. I'm so glad you're here.
Anne: Thank you so much for welcoming me on. I feel like I'm not on social media enough to be honest with you. I just post when I feel like I have something to say.
I juggle life with my five kids. I have five daughters. Aging from 17 through to 27.
Brittyn: Well I'm impressed with you and I've loved being connected to you. Actually, your account was one of the first ones that I followed whenever I started my account back in like [00:03:00] 2016, 2017, I believe.
And you were one of the first ones, you know, when you sign up for Instagram and it's like, you should follow... and yours was right there. And I remember reading through your post and I was like, oh, this is golden. Whoever's running this account because you don't really show your face on the account. It's more of like whoever this is, who's encouraging these moms, like she has a heart of gold.
And so it's been really cool to be able to actually connect with you. And we got to meet for the first time, I mean Zoom, maybe in 2020.
Anne: Yes,
that's right. You I guess you messaged me back in, must have been before the pandemic and the lockdown. And we were Zooming, you got to meet Rebecca.
Yeah. Yeah. And that was a nice meeting and I just really felt that your information is top notch. And I really see my pages as [00:04:00] my frustrated little educational outlet and creative outlet because my background is as a primary school teacher. I was trained in the UK, but I've never taught in Canada.
I live in Toronto right now. And I just had a real desire to connect with mothers like myself, but especially younger moms, because Rebecca is going to be 21, my middle daughter, this December. And I remember, you know, she was born in 2003. And I
remember in the old days, I kind of felt, even though I was the mom with many kids and kids at various locations,
various schools, I really felt very isolated at times and I really wanted to sort of have something to reach out and offer a little bit of a educational sort of sharing reputable [00:05:00] knowledge.
Also, I honestly believe a hundred percent that emotional support, is totally
transformative for caregiving moms and dads and grandmas and everyone
else who's sort of dealing with it day in, day out and I feel that we're
really stronger together and we're all dealing with maybe different challenges, different
journeys, but a lot of things still that bind us and that we
have in common. And I'm sure even like yourself, having your passion and your career, all sort of wrapped up into supporting families
like you have the experience of being a sibling and sort of day in day out, you witnessed a lot of the challenges and a lot of the issues.
So your work is a huge gift to families because you're steering them in the right direction with support and it's [00:06:00] realistic support. It's not
a crazy kind of all or nothing approach. Which I really loved when I looked into your work a little bit more.
Brittyn: Thank you so much. And I mean, I have the same to say about you because the
information that you share, I mean, you brought up a fantastic point that, you know,
parents need this kind of emotional support and I think that it's really common to get so
wrapped up in all the referrals and therapies that you're just go, go, go all the time and all you're thinking about is your kid.
And so at the end of the day, when it comes back to you and your emotional state and
your support, I think that it's really special that you can say, hey, I've been there, like I've
been there and in it, and I can see it now from a different lens. And you're able to give that kind of encouragement and to support the
other parents are really needing and looking for, and I wish you would have had when you were in the midst of it too, so.
Anne: Definitely. And yeah, so I [00:07:00] started all of this kind of by accident, like back in 2015, my oldest was going off to university or last year of high school.
And I got a smartphone probably much later than the average person. And I just wanted to really connect, stay in touch with kids that were sort of moving out and then I realized
that, oh, I can start with Facebook and start finding caregiving moms like myself. And so it was just a little bit of a connection that I found that was just really just changed your day.
You know, like you can share a little bit, vent a little bit. Now that I've got the public Instagram, which kind of happened by
accident also, it was a younger mom friend. She said, Oh wow, you need to reach out more, find the younger moms. She got me started on [00:08:00] Instagram suggesting that.
And so sometimes I worry that I might come across a little, you know, bossy boots kind of, like I don't have all the
answers, but I'm really passionate about education and I'm really careful with what I will share and I really care
about the families and there is so much information out there and unfortunately so many people that don't have the
best intentions online, as you know, so I sort of have that kind of love/hate relationship with social media at times, and so I'm just
doing my own thing where I want to discuss topics and hopefully offer a little bit of comfort and support.
Brittyn: I think you do a great job with it. Like you said, I mean, I have a love/hate with social media too. And it's such a great tool to be able to share so much information. But at the same time, it's like you [00:09:00] are opening yourself up to criticism and all of these people online who sometimes don't have the best intentions.
And especially in my field, it's unfortunate that there's a lot of people who kind of prey on that very vulnerable parent. And so that makes me really sad to see some of that. And so it's filtering through who is a genuine person who's there trying to help, that genuinely cares.
And I think there's a network of people who kind of just naturally come together and are able to see like, okay, this person is genuinely, you know, caring about the parents and the kids. And so that's what I've always gotten from you. So it was really cool to be able to connect. I was like, okay, here it is, you know, It's fun when you meet those people and you're like, okay, here's the people I'm looking for on social media to connect and really be connected with.
Well, thanks so much for sharing that. I would love to hear your personal story [00:10:00] and you and I have connected in the past about how nutrition was also a struggle for your family. Would you mind sharing that a little bit? And where you started and then where you are right now with nutrition?
Anne: Well, basically with my middle daughter, Rebecca, it started out with a lot of very limited foods, I guess, like the blonde
foods or the beige foods. Rebecca is very social, very funky. She's very much hyperactive and sensory seeking, so
she's that kid who sort of would be moving non stop, moving quickly, bouncing off the walls a little bit of the sensory processing differences come into part as well.
And just really wanting crackers and a lot of carbohydrates, very sort of limited, basic. And
so it was a very long journey in terms of expanding the diet. And [00:11:00] what I didn't
know back then, and of course, she was diagnosed with autism at age three and two months.
Before that she was sort of characterized as having global developmental delay. I guess they were waiting for her to hit more
milestones and see how she would do with walking, like she was very late walking, didn't really babble much, very late talking and
minimally verbal today, but she's definitely a young adult who knows what she likes and has the functional language and likes to make decisions over her life.
And so like the younger years were really tough. Because you were dealing not just with someone who's really driven by issues with
ADHD, so you had a child that you were sort of trying to slow them down with the eating, not chewing food, like being a kind of choking
hazard risk. And I spent a lot of time sort of following her around with little [00:12:00] bowls of pasta and things like that just to make sure that she did eat.
Appropriately, we had years and years I think when it was almost impossible to get her to sit for what seemed like more than two
minutes at the dining room table with siblings but the other struggles, I would say is difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep.
Definitely a wandering risk and a lack of safety awareness in every respect. And then gut health issues. A lot of really grainy, sludgy poops, if I'm allowed to say that. Oh yeah, we talk about poop freely here. It's such a huge part of my career. Yeah. So, yeah, I'm not scared to say, tell it how it is.
Very difficult years, in terms of the contrast of dealing with one extreme to the next and dealing with constipation issues as
well, struggling to drink enough water, and other things like [00:13:00] that. And I think honestly for a long time that the only vegetable she would really eat would be corn.
And I started with that, I remember her being a little toddler up in the high chair and I would involve her with trying to do
basic food prep and I noticed also that I guess like sensory processing differences. I didn't realize until I had a child like her that
there's a lot more involved with eating and nourishing yourself than taste and flavor.
I really had very limited knowledge about the sensory processing differences, and what I noticed with someone like Rebecca is I could actually get her to eat basic little yogurts and I started with freezing them. So little, you know, pudding, like little raspberry flavored or strawberry flavored.
And I'd find a hot day, we're all in the backyard and just oh, we're just going to have little popsicles. [00:14:00] And so I did a lot of that and it
wasn't always homemade. At times it would be just me getting the plastic sticks and just putting them in the little kids yogurt.
And so that was how I started getting her more interested in eating fruit and had some success with that.
And now today I've got to say we're kind of at a stage where berries are her thing, she loves to shop for berries. I've worked
really hard on trying to manage the environment when I take her out in the community. Although she's very
extroverted, there are supermarkets that are way too huge, too overwhelming, she can't really walk distances, and sometimes I use a
special stroller if I have to to control her safety and deal with difficulties with transitions.
But I remember in the early years, what really helped me as well [00:15:00] was sitting at the dining room table and doing activities with her that involved flyers. It drove me a little insane because I have a lot of flyers on the table, but I taught her how to use scissors and we'd make visual shopping lists.
Very basic and obviously we went through phases where I'd hear the verbal stimming for Pepsi and all these things that I didn't really want to purchase. But that wasn't
the point. The point is we had a little cardboard cereal box side of a cereal box and we had glued like a few little things from a flyer.
And this is like, you know, offer some kind of predictability and I noticed early on that she was just such a visual person and so I started with the visual side of things
and just keeping everything, shopping small, and trying to find places where the things that are really distracting aren't right at the entrance of the store.
There were a lot of stores where I live, [00:16:00] where the cakes and all of that is really near the entrance. And I was finding different stores that are smaller, where the berries would be the first thing you would see. And focus on that and just do one zone at a time.
So that you don't have a situation where she's too overwhelmed. So it's a lot, I know I'm going all over the place, but it was troubling a
lot and in the early days it was like seeing a naturopathic doctor because I noticed she would get a lot of frequent runny noses and a
lot of rashes and it was really, really a problem at certain points.
And we discovered that there's lactose intolerance. And so we went through, in those days it was like rice milk and it was, you know, supplementing. And I feel that's another message too. Supplementation isn't a bad thing, if it's necessary, it is what the word means, you know, you're supplementing, filling in the gaps and it's [00:17:00] just a question of finding
the right ones and the best ones. I need your opinion on that, but I don't feel like we should feel guilty about that.
Brittyn: Not at all. No, one of the first steps that I have people do when they're working with me and they're starting and
needing support with their child's selective eating, One of the first things I actually have them do is get on a solid multivitamin because
it really helps us fill in those gaps while we're working on expanding the diet.
So it can help kids start getting those nutrients because we know expanding the diet takes a while. And so I would love to
get all of our nutrients from food. That sounds ideal. That sounds amazing. But in reality, being able to get that off the bat so
quickly is nearly impossible. So I'm with you.
I think supplements, they fill a really important nutritional gap. And I think that we need to view them in that way. And we have to
remember, this is a tool to help bridge to get me to where I want to be. It's not a replacement, you [00:18:00] know, but I'm with you. I
think supplements are fantastic, especially correctly.
We want to make sure that we're not just grabbing everything off the shelf or grabbing what everyone else is telling us to or what
worked for one person. You know, it's all so individualized. And one thing, I'm backtracking a little bit, but what you were
saying about the grocery store, I think is just really helpful tips for parents. I definitely have some sensory sensitivities and I think maybe everyone has some to some degree, but when
we get into sensory processing disorder and actually understanding what your child is experiencing, I think a lot of us, we don't fully get how overwhelming an experience like the grocery store could be.
You're thinking through the visual experience that she's having, like, what's in front of her, trying to stick to a predictable routine, that's
just such an amazing tip for getting kids out, and I don't think that we think through those details often times because we
don't experience that same reality that [00:19:00] our children do.
So I just wanted to say that was a fantastic tip that you had sprinkled in there. And the other thing I was going to say, do you all have Caroline's Carts? Do you have those in Canada?
Anne: Oh, I have not looked. I haven't used them. I don't know. I gotta say, Target used to be in Canada and I really miss it because it was my go to place for children's clothing and housewares and all that kind of stuff.
So, yeah.
Brittyn: Target has them. They are so great and I've seen them at a lot of grocery stores. Like I see them in Sprouts, this is, can you see it? Oh, yes. Yeah. Brilliant. Brilliant. So great. And it makes grocery stores so much more accessible for older children and adults, you were talking about using those.
Anne: It's everything.
Accessibility is everything. And when you're an autism parent, sometimes you feel that every day is the same and things
aren't really progressing and life isn't changing, but you [00:20:00] realize that it is, and you need these things, and it's
really interesting that what I've learned from you, like, recently, the whole learning plate, that's been really helpful because what I
often do with Rebecca is I know she's really into a lot of sensory input.
She's a real girly girl. It's not a kind of less is more. It's like a lot of color, bright colors, you know? And so I've kind of learned to sort of
play out to her strengths and what her interests are. So what I've been doing with the learning plate...
you've got coloring books, you've got like way too many coloring books out, way too many, like it's not less is more.
And I don't worry about that anymore. I don't worry about the mess. It's just deal with it later. So you'll have like lunch
where it's sort of something that's preferred. Like I've managed to get her onto whole grain bread and a little bit of peanut butter and I'll do less of it.
And then to the side, I'll put another plate [00:21:00] and it will be like chopped up apple. Like I've been trying to work on getting more fiber in
her diet and there'll be a day when it's totally disastrous and it's like, no, you know, I'm not ignoring it and you know,
apple browns and then I end up eating it and then I don't, how can I put it, I don't view that as a failure anymore because it's not the
toddler who's sort of plastic plates flying across the room kind of situation.
It's like, she's tolerating it being on the table and so I see success differently and I'm not, I don't take stuff personally and I don't see
things as personal, which is really hard for me because I have my own issues with food and and so with the apple, I find myself
really sort of doing a lot of poker face and playing it cool, walking away, you know, just leaving it.
And then bringing the same thing [00:22:00] back the next day, and sometimes a different day, and just completely change it, and they will
just go for it and try it. And it's really, it's fascinating how you can't underestimate them, but the irony of not being able to predict that progress is always possible.
And I'm sure you hear those stories all the time from your caregivers and parents, you know.
Brittyn: It's interesting. It's so important because what you're doing is co regulating with her, and so food is something that it can be really
overstimulating for a lot of kids, especially or anyone. I mean, if you see something new in front of you that doesn't feel familiar, that starts scaling up that sensory overwhelm.
And so, yeah. When you as the caregiver are remaining calm, we're not having an emotional reaction, and saying,
it's okay to leave it or, you know, that's all right. These calm responses are helping kids [00:23:00] co regulate. And so when, I mean, which is
important in so many different areas of life, but especially around food, what you're doing is taking this negative initial reaction that they're having, I mean, it's this visceral response.
Yeah. It's okay. And it's safe. And so he did approach to that and changing your mindset too and saying, I'm not a bad parent. I'm doing things to the best of my ability. And it's not
emotional. It's not about me. I think having that internal dialogue. also, is co regulating your child because that shows up on the outside too.
So I recommend to the families I work with, but sometimes it's just nice to be able to hear it. Like what that actually looks like. And sometimes meals still look chaotic and it's just saying, okay, try again next time. And that's the response. And I think that makes a difference.
Anne: And you can [00:24:00] have you know, an extroverted child or an introverted child, and you can be trying to go out shopping, and you can have a
lot of successful days where it goes really well, but you still have the meltdowns and the, you know, the hard times. Difficult times don't have to mean a bad one, you know?
They're just moments in time and I think where we get stuck as caregivers, and moms especially, is if we are on our own, not
doing too much, and maybe we don't have the support, and then that's, when it becomes more emotionally
charged and really, so it's really difficult. So I think it's important to try and sort of delegate a little bit to and not be scared to ask for help.
And it's just the food journey is a really complex and fascinating journey, [00:25:00] but it's not all bad, and I think that we
may have our own food issues and body image issues that like dealing with other teenagers, you know, and the social media that
I kind of have a love hate relationship from that kind of perspective as well with sort of comparison and the perfectionism and all of that.
But what I've really been trying really hard to do myself is not to talk negatively about any food and not even talk necessarily
positively about... Like say if there's like a type of bread that is more nutritious than another type of bread, I will have both
available, but I will offer one more than the other, but I won't, I kind of try and like speak more
mutually about things, if that makes any sense.
Brittyn: Oh, yeah, which is so good. So I actually, I just was a part of a summit for educators to help teach teachers how to support kids in the
classroom. And one of the big [00:26:00] points that I hit on for them, which is also applicable to parents, but is not labeling foods as good or
bad, because what could happen with kids who have a really limited diet, and let's say that they eat five foods and all of those
foods are foods that our culture would label bad or unhealthy Well, now we're telling them that what they're eating is bad and unhealthy.
And if they start to drop those foods, well, what foods do we have left also? And we don't want to be able to, you know, some kids will also internalize that and say, well, I only eat foods that are bad and unhealthy. What does that mean about me? And so I think as a parent, it's hard because, you know, growing up in a time where foods were really demonized and
Anne: so hard. So hard, right? And the whole diet culture, like just all the, everything that we're being exposed to and very difficult. And what I found with Rebecca, what really has been a [00:27:00] saving grace is her love of color. And so I can, you know, if you're out shopping, it's like, oh, like try narrow down the choices.
It's like, what color pepper do you want? Or what color berries? We've had some really funny moments, like during the lockdown, the pandemic. There was one day where she wanted to dress in a, like a raspberry and she was like, she can't say raspberry. She said, raspberry, it's like head to toe.
And literally we'd go for walks, you know, we'd go out to try and keep busy, have a routine when all the schools were locked down. It was you know, going to the park, going to the beach, feeding the birds, like, just trying to keep it busy. And just doing the whole thing. It's like, it was just so hilarious at some points where I had to find a mask.
That was the same color as the rest of her outfit. Like, everything had to be, I'll find the photo. It's hilarious. And I kind of thought, well,
this is going to keep me on my toes. But then I thought, yes, this is success that we [00:28:00] are opening up and we're no longer just like
meat or potatoes or, you know, pork and rice and crackers and just that whole thing
transition. Like honestly, Brittyn, there were years and years where I was tearing my hair out what to put in her packed lunch. I could
not get her to eat regular sandwiches, regular bread at all. And the
fish crackers went everywhere where we went for what seemed like years.
And now it's not perfect, but I can go out and it sounds like it's taken forever, but
I went into a Subway with her and normally I would just sit her down and kind of like ask her what she wants and usually, I
couldn't get her to eat any kind of sandwich and she came up with me and she was pointing to things like tomato and lettuce and I
never thought I'd ever get her to eat lettuce...
Brittyn: [00:29:00] She's getting to choose for herself, too.
Getting the opportunity to also make her own, engage socially, like, I mean, there's so many wins wrapped up in that one...
Anne: Yeah, it's interesting because sometimes
you can get really fixed in just doing what is safest and most convenient for you. Which is, you know, having her in her special stroller,
sitting her very close to where I can see her, going up and ordering for her.
And it's really interesting how life progresses and we honestly were that family where it was whatever she
would eat, you know, in the early days. And it was like chicken nuggets and a lot of kind of over processed things. Now, it's like,
honestly, she'll eat anything, I will say.
Brittyn: I know that that's going to give so much hope to so many parents who sometimes it's hard to just see out of where you are at this exact
[00:30:00] moment and feel like things are never going to change. This is our forever. And I think that it's helpful to hear from parents who have been
through it before and say, hey, we were there too, and we made it through and we're at a place now.
And so I just appreciate you sharing that. And I think you and I could probably talk forever about this topic, but I want
to make sure that people know where to find you so that they can continue these kinds of conversations, continue to get this empowerment and encouragement from your site.
So could you share with us where people can find you online?
Anne: Oh, thank you so much for asking. So I'm Anne Gregg and my page is Autism Supermoms, and I try and post consistently. I can't always
post every single day, but I'm always trying to engage. At this point, I don't know how you feel, Brittyn,
I can't answer everyone. I want to acknowledge as many people as [00:31:00] possible, but I can't answer everyone. So all the emails and direct messages you know, you do what you can.
Brittyn: It's hard to keep up with all of it for sure. I was looking, yeah, you have a hundred, almost 130, 000 followers and it's just, we just got to do our best to stay afloat.
And I think sometimes people don't realize we're all doing social media for free, you know, we're there because we enjoy it. We enjoy
educating others. We enjoy encouraging others, but it's not like a job that you just show up to and get paid for being online for, you
know, an hour. So to be able to stay on top of it and post and put out this free information.
I mean, it's a lot. It's like a second full time job sometimes. But I think that you do a fantastic job and I'll be sure to link your account below, I know you do both Facebook and Instagram. Those are your main two social media.
Anne: They're my main ones. Yeah. I've honestly, [00:32:00] I just find just having the life I have with the kids.
I want to do more, but I'm not there yet in terms of balancing my life and time balance. It's going to change as time goes on,
but it's just the life we're in and just as you know, like being a mom yourself and on your way to having more than one child,
congratulations on that. It changes your life and you have to really learn to balance your time.
And I think we never have enough time for all the things we want to do. But I really hope that publicly if I can primarily offer
emotional support and whatever things I feel are helpful from an education standpoint, like education is my true passion and that's what I want to do.
I want to continue working with professionals like yourself because I really I feel strongly about sharing information that is [00:33:00]
helpful and not, you know I guess like misleading information. There's just too much information out there and we don't have a ton of time.
Brittyn: Absolutely. Yes, that's the truth for sure.
Well, thank you so much, Anne, for being with us and talking through so many different things. I mean, you gave so many fantastic tips that I know are really going to help a lot of families, and I think that you're giving a lot of hope and encouragement too. So thank you so much for being here and spending the time with us, and thanks everyone for tuning in and listening to this episode.
Anne: Yeah, take care, everyone, and I hope you all had a safe wonderful summer.
Brittyn: Take care.
[00:34:00]
Transcribed by Descript
About Brittyn Coleman, MS, RDN/LD
Brittyn Coleman, MS, RDN/LD, is a distinguished Registered Dietitian and Autism Nutrition Expert, known for her innovative, sensory-friendly feeding approach to nutrition for children on the autism spectrum. As the founder of the Nourishing Autism Collective, and as an autism sibling herself, Brittyn brings both professional expertise and personal understanding to her work. She empowers families with her expert guidance, helping children receive essential nutrients for optimal health and development. Her strategies are tailored to the unique dietary needs and sensory preferences of each child.
Brittyn's influence extends beyond her membership site through her active social media presence and her popular podcast, 'Nourishing Autism'. Her educational content on Instagram, YouTube, and other platforms has established her as a leading voice in autism nutrition, providing valuable resources, practical advice, and a supportive community for parents and professionals.
