Welcome to Different Learners Los Angeles!

Welcome to Different Learners Los Angeles the podcast and the website. If you listen to the podcast you probably know a little about me.

Listen to "Welcome To Different Learners Los Angeles" on Spreaker.

I’m Martha, a mom of two neurodiverse kids in Los Angeles. When my kids were diagnosed I struggled to know what to do. I felt like I walked out of our first neuropsychological assessment feeling devastated. My kids were preschool aged and already I was so worried. Would they make it through school? Can they be educated in a public school? What are all these issues my kids are having and how will I make it through this?  We attended all kinds of therapy -  occupational therapy, physical therapy,  we did applied behavioral analysis and social skills classes. 


​As my kids reached school age things changed. Now we were dealing with the school system and IEPs, or Individualized Education Plans. It took me about two whole IEP meetings to even fully understand the process. In that first meeting, I wished I had a friend who had been there before to turn to and ask questions.

This website and the podcast are my attempt to demystify some of this process. Let me be clear: I’m no expert. I’m a mom on this journey trying to help my family find our way through this mess of a system. Maybe my experiences can help you and your family. 

Sometime in my kids' second year at our school, I was introduced to a group organized by a fellow parent called Parents of Different Learners. I was reluctant to join. 

Did I want other people to know my kids were different and struggling? 

Did I want to join a group openly discussing their kids’ differences? 

The answer to both of those questions is yes. 

I struggled alone for years. Joining this group was a revelation; part therapy session, part anger management, and part sharing of resources as I came to understand that I was not alone. I learned so much from these other parents. Each and every one of them was kind and honest with their struggles and generous with what had and had not worked in school, with their different resources or in their IEP meetings.  

My goal with the podcast and with the website is to share the collective knowledge that I learned in the hope that my information will help someone else feel less alone. But I also want you to go out and start a group of Parents of Different Learners (PDL) at your school. 

In my opinion the IEP process has one big flaw. It’s individualized. Hear me out on this.

Your school cannot share your information with other families because it’s against the law.

And we all have different diagnoses and different needs based on those diagnoses.

But the IEP process also stops us from sharing information and helping each other effectively. And if you’re already in the IEP process you know it is a struggle to get everything your child needs.  My hope is to change that. We are more powerful if we come together, and fight together to change the system. Now is a good time to remind you that I’m just a mom trying to make a difference. I never considered myself an organizer. But this system (which is national) is broken. I want to inspire you to listen to the podcast and think  -  I want a group like Parents of Different Learners at my school  -  and then go out and create that group. I want groups of Parents of Different Learners all over the city with us all coming together using our voices to advocate for better services, to share resources in our local community and to collectively help our kids. To quote the wisdom of an African proverb, it takes a village to raise a child.

Los Angeles is a vast city but you can make it feel more connected by talking to other parents at your school, by coming together and making a difference.