About the Episode:
When kids move out of toddlerhood, many parents expect things to get easier. More sleep. More independence. Fewer meltdowns. But for many families, the opposite happens.
In this episode, Dr. Whitney Casares talks with Alyssa Campbell, founder of Seed and Sow and author of Big Kids, Bigger Feelings, about why the elementary and middle school years bring new emotional challenges, especially for neurodivergent kids.
Together, they explore:
- Why adults often fall into the “they’re old enough to know better” trap and why it backfires
- How identity, belonging, and social awareness shift around age 7 (drawing on research often discussed by Brené Brown)
- The difference between neurotypical and neurodivergent nervous systems and why comparison doesn’t help
- Why sensory regulation must come before connection, behavior, or learning
- How two kids in the same family can need completely different responses in the same moment
- Why meltdowns aren’t failures and why repair matters more than perfection
- How schools can reduce behavior issues dramatically by supporting regulation first
- Letting go of the myth that doing everything “right” leads to calm, compliant kids
Alyssa also shares concrete examples of how understanding a child’s sensory profile can transform parenting, teaching, and family dynamics—and why the goal is not constant calm, but access to regulation when it matters most.
This episode is especially meaningful for parents of kids with ADHD, autism, sensory sensitivities, or big emotions and for any caregiver who’s tired of feeling like they’re doing it wrong.
About Our Guest:
Alyssa Campbell is a teacher, emotional development expert, and the founder and CEO of Seed & Sew, an organization dedicated to helping parents, caregivers, and educators understand and meet the needs of unique nervous systems so that humans—young and old—can regulate, connect, and thrive. At the heart of her work is a simple but transformative idea: regulation comes before behavior, learning, and connection.
Alyssa holds a master’s degree in early childhood education and co-created the Collaborative Emotion Processing method, an approach she has researched and shared nationally. Her mission is to change the way adults experience children’s emotions so we can respond with intention and help raise emotionally intelligent humans.
She is the author of Big Kids, Bigger Feelings and Tiny Humans, Big Emotions, and she brings research-backed tools, compassionate insight, and real-world stories to parents and professionals through books, speaking, workshops, and her popular Voices of Your Village podcast.
Through Seed & Sew’s work—whether it’s one-on-one coaching, school partnerships, or free resources like the Regulation Questionnaire—Alyssa equips families and educators with practical strategies to support better emotional regulation, deeper connection, and more resilient communities.
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