Phil: Yes. So you mentioned several emotions. Are there like stages of those emotions that they will go through?
Merriam: Absolutely
Merriam: It’s something very similar to the stages of grief because in fact what they’re grieving is the parenting experience they thought they were going to have.
Phil: Right. That’s exactly where I was going. Yeah. Right. Yeah.
Merriam: Yeah. So you know, there’s denial and anger and yeah. You know, and sadness and, and everything that you might feel when you’re grieving something.
Phil: Alright, so the parents may need therapy at that point right?
Merriam: Absolutely. Yeah. I mean, just because you might be getting parent behavior training so that you can help your child doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t think about getting some just straight on therapy for yourself as well. Because those are some really big feelings. And then people will feel guilt because they feel that way. Right? It’s like I’m supposed to just unconditionally love my child. I have a lot of parents that when I give them permission or I voice in the room that it’s possible you might not like your child, then, you know, they’ll just erupt sobbing because it’s true. And they’ve held that in and it’s embarrassing and they feel terrible. But it’s true. They love their child, but they don’t always like their child.
Get the full interview here
Is your child struggling in school?
Get your free personalized learning roadmap
You describe what you see at home. We turn it into a plan you start this week.
- Answer 5 short questionnaires about what you already notice, 30–45 minutes at your own kitchen table
- Your child sits no test and gets no score: nothing to schedule, nothing for them to dread
- You do the answering, the AI does the writing, and a person reviews it before it reaches you
- Access all 40+ courses instantly: reading, math, focus, processing and more, with new ones added regularly
Why we use AI, plainly: it writes from a knowledge base our team maintains and audits. We work through it line by line and pull anything the evidence stops supporting. The roadmap you get on Tuesday reflects what we corrected on Monday, and a human still reads it before you do.
Your school district must evaluate your child free of charge if you ask in writing, whatever your income and whatever the outcome (US, 34 CFR 300.111 and 300.301(b)). That route takes time and answers a different question than you do. This one starts today, from what you already know.
Your answers stay yours. We do not sell your personal information, and we do not hand identifiable assessment data to outside AI companies to train their models.
A screener is a starting point, not a diagnosis. If your child might need formal accommodations (an IEP or 504 plan), or you suspect a vision, hearing or medical cause, pursue a professional evaluation too. That is the only route to those supports.
