Ep 8: The Sensory World Nobody Talks About

Ep 9: Dads Who Show Up

Content note: includes a brief, lightly veiled reference to a difficult childhood moment involving suicidal thoughts. He'd get two scoops of butter pecan in a sugar cone. I'd get lemon custard. He always finished first. I never understood how. This episode is about my Daddio. About what it means to have one steady, present, reliable person when everything else is uncertain. About how one person being truly there can be the difference. He's 86. He's still here, and I am so grateful. Late to Everything Except Puberty with Melina Episode 9: Dads Who Show Up

Ep 8: The Sensory World Nobody Talks About

Your nervous system is not being dramatic. I promise. This episode is about sensory processing differences...what's actually happening neurologically, why it gets mistaken for trauma or personality, and what it looks like when two kids in the same house have completely different reactions to the same MIDI music toy. Also: why I always had an earbud in at every office job I ever had, and why that was never actually about the music. Late to Everything Except Puberty with Melina Episode 8: The Sensory World Nobody Talks About

Ep. 7: Routine Without Rigidity

Too little routine and everything feels like freefall. Too much and it starts to feel like a cage. Somewhere in between is the sweet spot, and finding it is a daily negotiation. This episode is about what it actually looks like to hold structure loosely when you're ND, homeschooling twin boys, and standing in a hotel room at vacation while someone cries about socks. The socks were never about the socks. Late to Everything Except Puberty with Melina Episode 7: Routine Without Rigidity

Ep. 6: Accommodations Aren't Just for Broken People

When someone says accommodations are "special treatment," I want to ask special treatment compared to what? This episode is about the curb cut effect, why designing for the people who struggle most makes things better for everyone, and what I learned from years of taking zeros on homework I had actually done. Late to Everything Except Puberty with Melina Episode 6: Accommodations Aren't Just For Broken People

Ep. 5: The Late Diagnosis Grief

Getting a late diagnosis is supposed to feel like relief, and it does... Then the grief hits. This episode is about what nobody tells you comes after the answer. The friendships that didn't work because nobody taught you the skills you needed. The therapy that helped but never quite got to the root. The fawn response, and why you spent so many years making yourself easy to keep for people who weren't worth keeping. Late to Everything Except Puberty with Melina Episode 5: The Late Diagnosis Grief