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Ep. 260: How Dyslexia Impacts Mental Health (Episode 212 Re-Air)

Release Date: 05/19/2026

Ep. 268: Teaching Kids to Manage Big Emotions: DBT Skills for Elementary Schools with Dr. Elizabeth Dexter-Mazza

Diverse Thinking Different Learning

We are happy to warmly welcome Dr. Elizabeth Dexter-Mazza to the show for this episode. Dr. Dexter-Mazza is a licensed clinical psychologist and certified DBT therapist with more than 25 years of experience in clinical practice, training, and consultation. She co-authored DBT-based social-emotional learning curricula for elementary and secondary students and co-owns Mazza Consulting & Psychological Services and DBT in Schools with her husband, Jim Mazza. She also provides DBT treatment and professional training internationally, working with adolescents, adults, families, mental health...

Ep. 267: When School Accommodations Aren’t Enough: Why Neurodivergent Students Need Skill-Building Too

Diverse Thinking Different Learning

Dr. Wilson brings us another solo episode this time, opening up about how accommodations can make an enormous difference for students who learn and process information differently. Extended time, audiobooks, speech-to-text, movement breaks, preferential seating, and other means of support can truly reduce barriers and help students participate more successfully in school, but what happens when those supports improve performance but do very little to address the underlying skills a student still needs to develop? Dr. Wilson touches upon the distinction between accommodations, interventions,...

Ep. 266: The Myth of the Resilient Child: When “Pushing Through” Becomes Harmful

Diverse Thinking Different Learning

This week, Dr. Karen Wilson is touching upon resilience and how our definition of it can sometimes be part of the problem. She challenges the idea that resilience means pushing through stress, staying quiet, or succeeding no matter the emotional cost. After all, a child who appears to be thriving on the outside may actually be running on empty. After a recent conversation with a parent, Dr. Wilson felt inspired to explain why good grades, athletic success, and responsible behavior don't always reflect a child's well-being, and she explores the important difference between coping and genuinely...

Ep. 265: Back-to-School Anxiety in Neurodivergent Kids: Why the Transition Is So Hard and How to Help

Diverse Thinking Different Learning

Transitioning back to school after summer vacation can be challenging for many children, especially those who are neurodivergent. Continuing the Summer Solo Series, Dr. Karen Wilson shares seven practical, actionable strategies to help make the transition smoother. Dr. Wilson explains why even children who are genuinely excited to return to school may still experience significant anxiety. Changes in routine, increased cognitive and sensory demands, unfamiliar environments, and shifting social expectations can create overwhelming stress before classes even begin. Understanding these challenges...

Ep. 264: What an Assessment Can and Cannot Tell You

Diverse Thinking Different Learning

Dr. Karen Wilson continues the Summer Solo Series to address assessments and how they can be informative yet also have their fair share of shortcomings. They can be life-changing but are often misunderstood, and Dr. Wilson unpacks what psychological and educational evaluations can actually tell us, where their limitations lie, and why they should be viewed as tools for understanding rather than crystal balls that predict a child’s future. Dr. Wilson explores why so many mental health and neurodevelopmental diagnoses rely on behavioral patterns instead of definitive medical tests and how...

Ep. 263: Summer, Screens, and Sanity: Helping Kids Find Balance When School’s Out

Diverse Thinking Different Learning

Dr. Karen Wilson takes on an important topic solo this episode - screen use during the summertime when kids are out of school. With routines loosened and independence increased, many tweens and teens drift toward longer, more frequent device use, and what often begins as “just a little YouTube” can quietly stretch into hours of electronic usage, whether it be gaming, scrolling, and/or late-night screen time, often negatively impacting sleep, mood, and motivation along the way. This podcast, however, isn't here to frame screens as a simple matter of discipline or “too much time online.”...

Ep. 262: Balancing Summer Rest and Learning Support for Diverse Learners with Ashley Harding

Diverse Thinking Different Learning

For this episode, we are replaying another episode of Diverse Thinking, Different Learning, this time episode 239, in which we sat down with to discuss why it’s so important to allow students time for rest, rejuvenation, and exploration of their interests outside of academics, especially during the summer months. As a reminder, Ashley is a fourth-generation educator and is deeply committed to educational equity. She holds degrees from USC and Tufts University in Child Development, and her career spans more than a decade, during which she has supported students and families in private and...

Ep. 261: When Helping Becomes Overhelping: Helping Neurodivergent Kids Build Independence

Diverse Thinking Different Learning

This week on Diverse Thinking Different Learning, we are discussing the crucial challenge of supporting neurodivergent children without doing so in a way that hinders them from independence. Joining us to take on this topic is , founder of . Dr. William is also a tenured Chemistry professor at College of the Canyons in California, and has spent more than ten years supporting neurodivergent students as they transition from K-12 systems, helping them build confidence and independence in academic settings. Dr. Williams helps us understand why “helicopter parenting” is not a simple label...

Ep. 260: How Dyslexia Impacts Mental Health (Episode 212 Re-Air)

Diverse Thinking Different Learning

This month, we are replaying episode 212 of Diverse Thinking, Different Learning, in which Dr. Karen Wilson discusses the ways in which dyslexia can affect a child’s mental wellbeing. Even though dyslexia is commonly associated with reading and language difficulties, the emotional implications are far too often overlooked, and Dr. Wilson unpacks some of the harmful myths that have shaped the public understanding of dyslexia for decades, including the assumption that reading struggles are tied to intelligence. She explains how those misconceptions can affect self-esteem, delay diagnosis, and...

Ep. 259: Autism and ADHD Masking: The Signs & Hidden Costs with Dr. Deanna Dow

Diverse Thinking Different Learning

We warmly welcome Dr. Deanna Dow to the podcast. Dr. Dow is a licensed clinical psychologist with over two decades of experience supporting neurodivergent individuals and families. She is the founder and CEO of Spectrum Psych LA, a multidisciplinary clinic that provides assessment, therapy, occupational therapy, medication management, and community-based support, and she has trained and worked in autism clinics and research centers at major institutions including the University of Michigan, the University of North Carolina, Florida State University, and UCLA where her research has...

More Episodes

This month, we are replaying episode 212 of Diverse Thinking, Different Learning, in which Dr. Karen Wilson discusses the ways in which dyslexia can affect a child’s mental wellbeing.

Even though dyslexia is commonly associated with reading and language difficulties, the emotional implications are far too often overlooked, and Dr. Wilson unpacks some of the harmful myths that have shaped the public understanding of dyslexia for decades, including the assumption that reading struggles are tied to intelligence. She explains how those misconceptions can affect self-esteem, delay diagnosis, and leave children feeling isolated or incapable.

Drawing from research and real-world examples, Dr. Wilson explores the connection between dyslexia, anxiety, depression, and social withdrawal, especially during critical school years when children are forming their sense of self. She also highlights how exhausting reading can feel for students with dyslexia, both mentally and emotionally, and why that exhausting effort is so often misunderstood. Dr. Wilson goes into the additional challenges that many children face when dyslexia overlaps with ADHD or anxiety disorders, along with the unfortunate stigma that can come from being pulled out for specialized instruction.

At the same time, however, this episode offers hope. Dr. Wilson stresses the importance of early identification, evidence-based support, and environments that help children recognize their strengths. She also shares encouraging research on resilience and self-advocacy, reminding listeners that dyslexia is only one part of a person’s story, so whether you’re a parent, educator, advocate, or someone living with dyslexia yourself, this episode is sure to offer research-backed insight, compassion, and a broader understanding of what support truly looks like!

Show Notes:

[0:00] - May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and Dr. Wilson is re-airing an episode about children with dyslexia.
[1:43] - Dr. Wilson explores dyslexia myths and their damaging effects on self-esteem and mental health.
[3:56] - Hear how reading struggles, stigma, and other coexisting disorders can heighten anxiety, depression, and feelings of inadequacy.
[6:39] - There is hope - early intervention, emotional support, and resilience-building help children with dyslexia thrive beyond academics.
[8:58] - It's important to remember that compassionate support and evidence-based interventions can help people with dyslexia succeed emotionally and socially.

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