Full-Tilt Parenting: Strategies, Insights, and Connection for Parents Raising Neurodivergent Children TPP 494: Lindsay Lyons on Navigating Hard School Conversations Around Inclusion, Equity, and Neurodivergence
Mar 17, 2026
Lindsay Lyons, an educational justice coach and former NYC special education teacher with a PhD, helps families and schools hold meaningful conversations about inclusion, equity, and neurodivergence. She discusses creating emotionally safe spaces, centering student voice, restorative practices, and sustaining year-long support for real change. Practical strategies for engaging families and navigating politically fraught school climates are highlighted.
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Year Long PD Beats One Off Workshops
- Schools need ongoing, year-long professional learning rather than one-off workshops to actually change practice.
- Lindsay describes outcomes-based contracting and year-long touchpoints to ensure teachers implement and sustain new approaches.
Model Curiosity Not Certainty
- Teachers don't need all the answers; model curiosity and cultivate questions instead.
- Use routines like a "100 mistakes" challenge to normalize mistakes as learning and reduce anxiety about being wrong.
Struggling Students Thrived In Discussion Class
- Lindsay taught an intersectional feminism discussion class for struggling students and saw dramatic engagement and writing gains.
- Silent or absent students became vocal and wrote five-page essays when given discussion-based, relevant content and a grace-filled classroom.
