The Fringy Bit (reBoot)

In an effort to maintain social connection in this time of social distancing, the fringy bit will be posting short episodes with strategies, support, silliness, and whatever else comes out of Heather Jon's mouths and minds!  Enjoy and stay well!

The title says it all : )

In an effort to maintain social connection in this time of social distancing, the fringy bit will be posting short episodes with strategies, support, silliness, and whatever else comes out of Heather Jon's mouths and minds!  Enjoy and stay well!

In an effort to maintain social connection in this time of social distancing, the fringy bit will be posting short episodes with strategies, support, silliness, and whatever else comes out of Heather Jon's mouths and minds!  Enjoy and stay well!

In an effort to maintain social connection in this time of social distancing, the fringy bit will be posting short episodes with strategies, support, silliness, and whatever else comes out of Heather Jon's mouths and minds!  Enjoy and stay well!

In an effort to maintain social connection in this time of social distancing, the fringy bit will be posting short episodes with strategies, support, silliness, and whatever else comes out of Heather Jon's mouths and minds!  Enjoy and stay well!

In an effort to maintain social connection in this time of social distancing, the fringy bit will be posting short episodes with strategies, support, silliness, and whatever else comes out of Heather Jon's mouths and minds!  Enjoy and stay well!

In an effort to maintain social connection in this time of social distancing, the fringy bit will be posting short episodes with strategies, support, silliness, and whatever else comes out of Heather Jon's mouths and minds!  Enjoy and stay well!

Listen in on another great conversation with another great mom! Nikki talks to Heather about life as a fringy mom, the ways she's grown due to autism, the great parts and the difficult parts of this fringy life, and so much more.

In an effort to maintain social connection in this time of social distancing, the fringy bit will be posting short episodes with strategies, support, silliness, and whatever else comes out of heather Jon's mouths and minds!  Enjoy and stay well!  

People may have heard that there's this world wide recommendation for social distancing! This is difficult for typical families. For fringy families this is downright overwhelming! Join Heather and Jon as they discuss strategies to manage anxiety during the pandemic.

It is so easy to become over involved and overwhelmed, yet as gifted souls it's also damaging to be under involved and bored. How do we find the balance and help our kids find some sort of balance as well?

Heather and Jon continue exploring the spirituality realm and reflect on the impact neurodiversity has on the development of one's spiritual life.

Jon and Heather start a new three part series this week as they dive into spirituality. Be kinda and patient . . . Heather's voice is still on the mend!

This week Heather and Jon talk about loneliness as an adult. What makes us vulnerable to it and how do we feel less lonely?

According to former surgeon general, Vivek Murthy, we have an epidemic of loneliness in the United States. As fringy families, loneliness can often feel all to familiar. Join Heather and Jon as we begin a series on loneliness: where does it come from? What is it? How do we help our lonely children? How do we help our lonely selves?

Fringy kids often can struggle with risk aversion, anxiety, depression and as a parent it can be difficult to know when to ease off of expectations and when to push our kids to do things differently. Listen in as Heather and Jon try to bring some clarity to an often unclear topic.

Feeling a little crazy as you're doing all the holiday stuff while also regulating your fringy kids who are so out of routine and overloaded with excitement and mixed emotions that they bounce between cheers and tears? Yes? Grab a cuppa your beverage of choice and pull up a chair to join Heather and Jon in their holiday commiseration!

Believe it or not, Heather and Jon haven't completely fallen off the face of the earth. Being a fringy family you might be able to imagine the kind of stuff that's kept them off the airwaves. Listen in to hear their heartfelt apology and to catch up on the craziness!

Heather and Jon dive into the world of education and learning, and consider ways to prioritize personal learning over conditioned external reward.

Like every profession, some therapists are good, some are great, and some are simply not worth your time or money! Heather and Jon share some not-so-good therapy experiences and give some tips to help you identify the red flags.

Heather and Jon welcome Mark Talaga from the center for identity potential back on the show! Mark is a fellow therapist who specializes in working with adolescent and young adult gifted people and shares all sorts of wisdom about the unique needs of this population.  

Listen in as Heather and Jon chat a bit about mindset, a bit about fatigue, a bit about over inclusivity and a bit more.

What is success? What are we teaching our gifted kids about success? Listen in as Heather and Jon explore ideas about success.

In this episode Heather and Jon share the joys and exhausting challenges of raising an intensely empathic child.

In the last of this series, Heather and Jon talk about the family's role in addiction and recovery. How can we help? how can we get the support we need?  

One of the top concerns parents bring in to therapy these days is whether their Fringy kid is addicted to video games. What qualifies as addiction? When is it just really enjoying it? How do parents guide their kids in this tech-heavy world?

Is there a difference between being obsessed with something and being addicted to it? How do we know when to draw the line, especially with our gifted kids who are known to deep dive into interests? Join Heather and Jon as they introduce the Fringy bit's next topic: addictions and obsessions.

We're back after a couple of weeks of overloaded Fringy schedules! join us as we dive into a discussion of current events and thoughtful ponderings!

Against all odds, Heather, Jon, and family survived the Spectrum family camp! Listen in as they discuss the value of camps, connecting with others, and ways to help it be successful. They also chat about shipping the Fringy ones off to camp on their own!

Heather and Jon welcome Jess, author of Riley the Brave and founder of BraveBrains, to the Fringy bit! She is a skilled counselor who understands the neuroscience of trauma and anxiety and finds amazing ways to explain it to kids in language they can understand.

Ahh….Summer. Days of lazy hammock laying, sunny beach days, and rest. Unless you have a fringy kids. Join Heather and Jon as they talk about how summer looks different, feels different, and often triggers grief.

So here it is . . . . Summer :( summer and Fringy families don't always mesh well. Listen in as Heather and Jon talk about their summer beginnings, attempts to keep these months moving successfully, and a few delirious rabbit trails sprinkled throughout.

With our second mom2mom chat Heather spends the hour with Linda, talking all things fringy mom. Listen in as we talk about parents experience when school isn't quite fitting right, the decision to homeschool, and how to feed your own wellness as a gifted adult with fringy kids.

Heather and Jon continue chatting about relationships and this week they talk all things friends . . . extroverted friends, virtual friends, all the friends!

Heather and Jon continue chatting about relationships and this week they tackle sibling relationships. If you have more than one child, you are well aware that nurturing and navigating sibling relationships is not for the faint of heart. Listen in as Heather and Jon talk about siblings, strategies, and trail off into a few random rabbit trails, too!

It's time for a new monthly topic! In this episode, Heather and Jon begin talking about Fringy relationships. It's so important and so difficult to maintain healthy adult relationships, but Heather and Jon are going to try to give you some tips and commiseration!

The whole Boorman family recently took a trip to Orlando, did the parks, did the airports, and all went surprisingly well! With some prior preparation they had great Fringy accommodations and are sharing them with you in this episode.

Listen in as Jon welcomes the first Fringy dad to the show to hear just what life is like from the perspective of the men in the Fringy universe!

Heather and Jon are taking a brief hiatus to regroup and produce more great Fringy content for you! We'll be back with full episodes on May 3rd, but in the meantime, enjoy this audio version of one of the Fringy Bit blogs!

Heather and Jon are taking a brief hiatus to regroup and produce more great Fringy content for you! We'll be back with full episodes on May 3rd, but in the meantime, enjoy this audio version of one of the Fringy Bit blogs!  

Heather and Jon are taking a brief hiatus to regroup and produce more great Fringy content for you! We'll be back with full episodes on May 3rd, but in the meantime, enjoy this audio version of one of the Fringy Bit blogs!

Listen in as Heather and Jon chat with award-winning film maker Marc Smolowitz about his upcoming film "The G Word". As most conversations with gifted, creative folks go, this episode covers a plethora of topics, including the upcoming film, anti-intellectualism, generational theory, and who gets to be gifted in the American system.

Listen in on our first mom2mom chat as Heather welcomes Katie to the Fringy Bit! Heather and Katie chat about the particular pressures put on moms of differently wired kids, the day to day realities of Katie's life, and the challenges of parenting other kids in addition to our Fringy ones.

Heather and Jon have talked about the why's, what's, and who's of trauma and the impact of trauma, and in this episode they share strategies on how to address it when trauma is triggered.  

Heather and Jon continue this month's topic by considering the lasting impact of trauma.

Heather and Jon kick off the topic of the month by discussing just what, exactly, trauma is. In this episode we explore big T traumas, little t traumas, and trauma particular to our differently wired community.

Ok so a lot of it is basically going to be the same stuff you've grown to love, or at least tolerate, but we have decided it was time to make a few changes. Listen up as Heather ad Jon fill you in on all the great newness and also chat a tiny bit about trauma.

So often we try to make decisions or solve problems without talking to our kids. In this episode, Heather and Jon chat about the whys and ways to include the kids in the conversations about their lives. And, in true Fringy style, they veer off down a few rabbit trails that include Nazi Germany and food stories from their childhoods.

Spend some time with Heather and Jon as they talk about what happens when the predictable becomes unpredictable and consider the importance of teaching our Fringy kids wellness habits.

In today's episode, Heather and Jon take on a topic of masculinity. What messages do men and boys get about who they are supposed to be and how can we raise them to be comfortable in their own identities and be allies with those around them.