The Climb: A Mother & Son’s Journey to Acceptance

with Julie Lythcott-Haims and Sawyer Lythcott-Haims

The Climb: A Mother & Son’s Journey to Acceptance

Episode 19, Season 2 | February 2, 2022

Show Notes

Parenting expert, author and educator, Julie Lythcott-Haims is well-known for her words of wisdom and encouragement. But in today’s podcast episode — for the first time — we are invited to listen in on a heart-to-heart conversation between Julie and her 22-year-old son Sawyer, about his journey with ADHD and their family’s road to acceptance. Sawyer bravely shares stories of his diagnosis, his anxiety, his decision to take a year off from college and the importance of his parents’ understanding. We hear Julie, not just as an expert, but as a mom in the moment, discussing the mistakes she’s made along the way, what she’s learned and how she and her partner are finally becoming the “parents their son deserves.” This is one you won’t want to miss — it’s special from start to finish.

Guest Info
Julie Lithcott-Haims headshot

Julie Lythcott-Haims believes in humans and is deeply interested in what gets in our way. Her work encompasses writing, speaking, teaching, mentoring, and activism.

 

She is the New York Times bestselling author of How to Raise an Adult which gave rise to a popular TED Talk. Her second book is the critically-acclaimed and award-winning prose poetry memoir Real American, which illustrates her experience as a Black and biracial person in white spaces. Her third book, Your Turn: How to Be an Adult, has been called a “groundbreakingly frank” guide to adulthood.

 

Julie holds degrees from Stanford, Harvard Law, and California College of the Arts. She currently serves on the boards of Common Sense Media, Black Women’s Health Imperative, Narrative Magazine, and on the Board of Trustees at California College of the Arts. She serves on the advisory boards of LeanIn.Org, Parents magazine and Baldwin For the Arts.

 

She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her partner of over thirty years, their itinerant young adults, and her mother.


Sawyer Lithcott-Haims headshot

Sawyer Lythcott-Haims is a 2017 graduate of Gunn High School in Palo Alto. He currently works in the Palo Alto Unified School District as an elementary school special education aide. His hobbies include reading and playing video games.