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Exceptional Girls Podcast: Helping our smart but struggling girls feel seen, supported, and celebrated
Raising girls is no joke. Add exceptionalities like giftedness, autism spectrum disorder, ADHD, learning differences, and anxiety into the mix, and you may feel like you're the only one struggling to figure it all out. You're not.
As a mom myself, I know what it's like to help your neurodivergent child navigate the challenges of school, friendships, and family dynamics. Once my kiddo and I finally figured out her unique wiring, life got so much better. But it took almost 15 years, and that’s way too long.
I created this podcast to shorten the learning curve for others and increase awareness and understanding of female neurodiversity. Join me as we learn together how we can help our exceptional girls be seen, supported, and celebrated.
Want to learn more? Visit www.exceptionalgirlspodcast.com.
Exceptional Girls Podcast: Helping our smart but struggling girls feel seen, supported, and celebrated
Episode 9: Navigating Gender Questioning & Exploration with Dr. Alexis Bitting
In this episode, you'll hear from Dr. Alexis Bitting, a licensed mental health counselor who holds a Ph.D. in clinical sexology. Dr. Alexis has extensive experience working with neurodivergent young people, as well as those who are questioning their gender identity and sexuality.
Listen in as Dr. Alexis shares her expertise and insights:
- Is this just a phase? How to know if your child's gender questioning is a special interest, if they're being influenced by their friends, or if it's "real."
- Cis and trans and nonbinary — oh my! Understanding gender vocabulary and why it's important.
- Breaking down gender identity: What gender is AND what it isn't.
Dr. Alexis also shared two resources to help understand the differences between gender identity, gender expression, sexual gender, and sexual orientation:
- https://www.itspronouncedmetrosexual.com/2018/10/the-genderbread-person-v4/
- https://www.autisticparentsuk.org/post/understanding-gender-identity-for-autistic-parents
About Dr. Alexis Bitting, Ph.D.:
A licensed mental health counselor and clinical sexologist, Dr. Alexis Bitting works with children, teens, and adults with social and developmental delays, including autism spectrum disorders, Asperger’s, ADHD, non-verbal learning, and other challenges. With extensive experience working with LGBTQ+ clients, as well as supporting young people who are questioning their gender identity and sexuality, she regularly presents on topics including gender diversity and neurodiversity, sexuality across the spectrum, and social skills development. To learn more about Dr. Alexis, visit https://www.southfloridatherapists.com/team/dr-alexis-bitting/.
About the Exceptional Girls podcast
If you know and care deeply about a girl who learns, thinks, and experiences the world differently, I invite you to journey with me as we learn how we as parents, adults, and role models can help her understand, self-advocate, accept, and love herself — just as she is. To learn more, visit www.exceptionalgirlspodcast.com.
**A Special Note about this Episode from the Host**
This episode was especially personal for me. I’ve shared a little about my own child’s gender exploration. I even took some time away from the podcast to contemplate how to proceed since my own "daughter," who inspired this podcast and is now a senior in high school, no longer identifies as female.
Where I landed is that whether my child identifies as a girl or not doesn’t change how I feel about the importance of raising awareness about the female experience of being neurodivergent. I’m also hopeful that by being transparent and sharing our experiences navigating gender identity, it will be helpful to others who are going through a similar experience.
***Some audio errors were found in the original release of this episode. Those errors were fixed, and the episode was updated on April 15, 2024.***