Behind the Impact: Hilla Katki helps parents and their neurodivergent kids thrive

Treatment for neurodivergence can be challenging. Parents often find that their child’s treatment plan focuses almost exclusively on addressing academic issues related to learning and thinking differences. Parents may feel unprepared to deal with some of the more nuanced emotional challenges faced by neurodivergent kids.

It’s not just schoolwork. Neurodivergent kids, including kids with ADHD and dyslexia, often experience emotions with greater intensity. Their feelings may be harder to manage — or may last much longer.

As the parent of a kid with ADHD, Understood product designer Hilla Katki knows what it’s like to feel overwhelmed by a child’s outburst. “I know my child isn’t being defiant,” Hilla says. “Their brain just works differently. But that doesn't make parenting through intense moments any less challenging day after day.”

Instead of learning to manage kids’ meltdowns, what if parents could prevent them? That question led Understood to create an internal team whose sole purpose would be to give parents a simple way to learn what triggers their child’s emotional outbursts. 

As part of the team, Hilla worked with researchers, experts in childhood behavior, and content creators to design a free, simple-to-use Behavior Tracker. The tracker can spot patterns that are common on days when a child has an outburst. For many parents, it can be a huge unlock for the entire family when the tracker helps them finally pinpoint what’s triggering their child’s meltdowns. 

Hilla and the team wanted to be sure parents would take action on these insights. So they paired key steps in the tracker with short, self-guided lessons. The more parents track their child’s behaviors, the more insights they receive — and the more equipped they are to use those insights. “It’s exciting to see how it’s helping families thrive,” Hilla says. “Early on, we studied parents who used the tracker. Eighty percent of those who used it five times said it helped them feel more confident handling their child’s challenging behavior. Imagine how confident they feel when they start receiving the insights generated after tracking their child’s behaviors over longer periods.”

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