Sorcha Rice is an occupational therapist and the clinical manager of Neurodiversity Ireland, who I met at their 1st conference last year. She identifies as AuDHD and PDA and spoke with me about how she understands and experiences PDA, what her childhood and teen years were like before she was diagnosed, going through burnout and recovery, how she manages her nervous system now, and some of the practices she incorporates to support her PDA occupational therapy clients.

It was wonderful to connect with Sorcha and hear her insights and so much of her story!

I hope you enjoy it too.

Xoxo,

Casey

PS - You can find more about Sorcha on instagram at both @ot_sorcharice and @neurodiversityireland

And in our conversation she also recommended a resource for other OTs - Kim Barthel.

In this episode I speak with a mom of a six-year-old PDAer who wouldn't eat or drink and was extremely dysregulated during a holiday because of a loose tooth.

We discussed:

1 - how internal demands and losses of autonomy like losing a tooth matter as much as external demands.

2 - the importance of understanding PDA as a fluctuating nervous system disability.

3 - creative ideas for deepening accommodations the next time there is a loose tooth.

I hope you find the episode helpful. It's from the show we stream live on our social media on Fridays, Parenting PDA Your Way.

xo,

Casey

Here's part 2 of my episode on the 10 hardest lessons I learned in 2025. They include:

6 - Your PDA child can go into burnout even if you're fully accommodating them.

7 - Burnout can feel like you are making no progress, especially with an internalizer.

8 - Screens can be a wonderful thing.

9 - Your kids will surprise you.

10 - Spirituality sustained me.

xoxo,

Casey