22q Minded

22q Minded Supporting 22q families worldwide 💙
Clinical psychologists specialising in 22q-related syndromes and related conditions. Dr Linda Campbell & Dr Sasja Duijff

Coaching, training & resources for families & professionals. Local services in Australia & the Netherlands
www.22qminded.com

After a meltdown, a shutdown, a refusal, attention naturally goes to what just happened.But what follows, how the people...
16/06/2026

After a meltdown, a shutdown, a refusal, attention naturally goes to what just happened.

But what follows, how the people around respond, what changes as a result, quietly shapes what happens next time.

This is the consequence in the ABC sequence. Not a punishment or a reward. Just what the behaviour produced.

Sometimes a meltdown means the demand gets removed. Sometimes a shutdown means the appointment is cancelled. Sometimes an outburst means someone finally stops and listens. None of this is manipulation. Most of the time it isn't even conscious. It's a nervous system learning what works.

In 22q, where cortisol can take up to 90 minutes to settle after a stress event, what happens in the window after a difficult moment matters neurologically as well as relationally. A second demand in that window doesn't land on a recovered nervous system. It lands on one that is still in the aftermath of the first.

Understanding the consequence isn't about assigning blame. It's about seeing the full sequence clearly enough to respond differently.

By the time a behaviour happens, a lot has usually already happened.In 22q, the antecedent, everything that came before,...
15/06/2026

By the time a behaviour happens, a lot has usually already happened.
In 22q, the antecedent, everything that came before, is often invisible to the people in the room. What looks like a reaction to one thing is frequently the accumulation of many.

The noise level at school all day. The three schedule changes before lunch. The effort of holding it together in a classroom that moves faster than the brain can process. The medical appointment last week that nobody has mentioned since.
None of these appear on the incident report. But they were there.

When a reaction seems out of proportion to what just triggered it, the question worth asking is: what was already in the system before this moment arrived?
That question changes everything about how you respond, and how much of the responsibility lands on the person who reacted.

There's a framework that changes how you look at behaviour. Not just in children with 22q, but across the lifespan.It's ...
14/06/2026

There's a framework that changes how you look at behaviour. Not just in children with 22q, but across the lifespan.

It's called ABC. Antecedent, Behaviour, Consequence. The sequence that surrounds every moment of difficulty.

Most of us go straight to the behaviour. The meltdown, the shutdown, the reaction that came out of nowhere. The ABC framework asks you to look at what came before and what came after instead.

That shift, from what to why, is where understanding begins.

We're spending this week on each part of the sequence. Starting here.

14/06/2026

To close Carers Week, a reflection on 25 years in this field and where the real learning has come from.

The science matters. The research matters. But lived experience can’t be fully captured in a paper. The families we work with have shaped how we understand 22q in ways that reading alone never could.

You are the foundation of 22qMinded. Thank you for trusting us with your experiences.

We’d love to hear from you in the comments — what would help most right now?

As Carers Week draws to a close, we want to acknowledge you.Over time, you have probably become one of the most knowledg...
13/06/2026

As Carers Week draws to a close, we want to acknowledge you.

Over time, you have probably become one of the most knowledgeable people in any room about your child's condition. You know the research. You know the clinical history. You know how to explain a complex genetic syndrome to a new teacher, a new GP, a new specialist, in the time it takes to walk from the waiting room to the consulting room.

That is a particular kind of expertise. It arrived without a job title or a qualification. It arrived because it had to.

This week is Carers Week. We see you.

This week's newsletter comes from Lindsey, a parent carer and long-term member of the 22q community. She writes about t...
10/06/2026

This week's newsletter comes from Lindsey, a parent carer and long-term member of the 22q community.

She writes about the years of saying "I'm fine." About the gap between what people saw — someone coping, always managing, always on top of it — and what was actually happening underneath.

About advocating fiercely for her son. And almost never for herself.

It is a very honest account, and it ends with something worth sitting with.

The full letter is in this week's newsletter. Link in the comment section to subscribe if you're not already.

Self-care has an image problem.When you post a photo from a yoga class, people say you're a great example of looking aft...
09/06/2026

Self-care has an image problem.

When you post a photo from a yoga class, people say you're a great example of looking after yourself. When you admit you're struggling, ask for help, or step back from something, then the narrative changes.

But self-care for parents of children with 22q often looks nothing like yoga. It looks like cancelling something you said yes to when you had more in the tank. It looks like asking for help even when it feels awkward. It looks like taking medication, or talking to someone, or simply saying, not right now.

Tending to your own wellbeing is one of the most generous things you can do for your child. That's not a platitude. It's physiology.

Our on-demand webinar 'Beat Parent Burnout' goes deeper into what the research tells us about stress, energy, and what actually helps. You can find the webinar on our website with all our other resources or follow the link in the comment section. You might also want to check out our 'Care4Parents' program.

This week is Carers Week.Parenting a child with 22q asks a lot. That's not in question.But alongside the hard parts, and...
08/06/2026

This week is Carers Week.

Parenting a child with 22q asks a lot. That's not in question.

But alongside the hard parts, and often woven right through them, there is also room for curiosity. For noticing what makes your child, specifically them. For the moments that catch you off guard in the best way.

This isn't about looking on the bright side. It's about holding both at once. The weight and the wonder.

Some of the most experienced 22q parents we know have told us that curiosity, staying genuinely interested in who their child is becoming, has been one of the things that has kept them going.

This week, we see you. And we mean that.

Eight weeks and a follow-up session. Your own nervous system is the starting point.Care4Parents was built for parents of...
06/06/2026

Eight weeks and a follow-up session.

Your own nervous system is the starting point.

Care4Parents was built for parents of children with 22q specifically, not for parents in general. It covers the stress, the self-compassion, the grief that doesn't have a name, and the parenting relationship itself.

If this week's posts have resonated, this is where you go deeper. Interested in joining the next live round? We are gathering expressions of interest now.

05/06/2026

Before you open the door, just stop for a second.
Feel your feet on the ground. Take one breath. Whatever happened today doesn’t have to follow you inside. Not all of it, anyway.

You get to decide what you carry in.

This one is for the pause before you walk back into your home and your people.

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