How Can We Support Diversity?

Supporting Neurodivergent and Racially Diverse Children with Self-Compassion

Hello friends,

I am passionate about self-compassion for youth because it can help children and caregivers suffer less. Suffering can have many sources, including life events, our internal experiences, and external oppression. Today I’d like to unpack the topic of suffering as it relates to diversity and self-compassion. And in next week’s newsletter, I will share more about what we can DO to help.

Supporting Children with Neurodiversity

My colleague Kate Lynch is the mom of a neurodiverse child, author, and the host of the Atypical Kids, Mindful Parents Podcast. Kate and I had a phenomenal conversation about how self-compassion can help us to raise neurodivergent youth with resilience. You can listen to our interview on this topic on Youtube or Apple podcasts or your favorite podcast app to discover ways to help yourself and youth with neurodiversity (including ADHD, autism, learning, and sensory differences) grow this important resource.

https://youtu.be/i9MA4OGpwSI

Want to Help Neurodivergent Kids THRIVE? Watch This Now (https://youtu.be/i9MA4OGpwSI)

“You will never know what it’s like”

In next week’s newsletter, I will be addressing the topic of linguistic and racial diversity.

I was talking to a dear friend the other day who was sharing her concerns relating to anti-diversity executive orders and rhetoric propagated by our current administration. “I understand,” I said to my friend.

“No you don’t,” she responded. “You will never understand. You will never know what it is like to be a woman of color living through this.”

I paused to soak in the truth of her words. “You are right.” I responded. And I listened.

Cultural Humility

It is with deep humility that I write this blog and share next week’s podcast episode on diversity and self-compassion. As a female, I have been on the receiving end of sexism (see my podcast episode on countering gender stereotypes), but I do not know what it is like to live with racial and linguistic discrimination. So I listen, I learn, and I care deeply.

Attending a small Catholic K-8 school in Green Bay, my early years were devoid of the enrichment of diversity. My horizons broadened somewhat when I went to high school, and they broadened even further when I went to college. It’s in college that I truly learned the value of diversity, including linguistic and ethnic diversity. I will share more about this journey next week.

In college I also took classes on anti-racism. This is where I learned to see many of my own unconscious biases. And this is why I try to follow the lead of individuals from diverse groups when it comes to justice movements.

Diversity in My Work with Kids

I frequently teach in Milwaukee Public Schools with children of diverse backgrounds, and when I created the Mindfulness and Self-Compassion Workbook for Kids, Volumes 1 & 2, I was intentional about including diverse voices.

I asked children from diverse backgrounds to help me create and edit the book, which made my book richer for everyone!

Here’s a picture of the kids who helped to shape and share their personal experiences in the book:

Jamie-Lynn with kids who helped to shape and share their personal experiences in the book: Mindfulness and Self-Compassion Workbook for Kids, Volumes 1 & 2.

And here are the delightful characters that appear in the comics:

Delightful characters from the book: Mindfulness and Self-Compassion Workbook for Kids, Volumes 1 & 2.

I tried to incorporate racial diversity, gender diversity, and a diversity of feeling and thinking habits into my characters so that as many children as possible could see their own experience reflected in the book (see this article on feelings habits). I wish for all children to see and sense that self-compassion is for them!

What we can DO

Something I love about my community of readers is that we are all deeply committed to helping children suffer less through the power of self-compassion. Next week, I will unpack more about about how self-compassion can help us respond to diversity-related oppression, and also what we can ALL do to help. I can barely wait!

Thank you for being on team compassion and self-compassion with me, especially for the most vulnerable of our youth.

Wishing you light and love,

Jamie Lynn

P.S. Last weekend I got to go up North and spend time with my family. This was special for two reasons: