Neurodiversity
Neurodiversity-affirming support for individuals and families navigating ADHD, autism, giftedness, sensory processing differences, burnout and overwhelm, with a focus on understanding, regulation, practical support and helping each person function more comfortably as themselves.
Understanding neurodiversity with compassion and curiosity
Being a neurodiverse individual comes with both gifts and challenges. Neurodiversity allows a different perspective on the world that can add so much colour, texture and depth to the more typical human experience but along with that beautiful contribution comes the difficulty of the realisation that living as a neurodiverse person in a world designed like plug-and-play legos for neurotypicals is often an unnatural fit for neurodiverse persons.
This results in, learning from childhood, attempting to mask, fit in and perform as most of the other persons do, often resulting in the nervous system being in a constant state of fight or flight in the attempts of trying to measure up and melting down, either visibly or by internalising, and eventually going into freeze with the inability to do simple tasks such as shower, stop scrolling or really engage anymore with even beloved interests.
Support that honours the whole person and family system
I work towards providing neurodiversity-affirming support for individuals or families navigating ADHD, autism, giftedness, and sensory processing differences. This is not a one-size-fits-all approach. As one famous quote goes: “If you have met one autistic person, you have met ONE autistic person” … this applies to all other forms of neurodiversity.
Each person is unique, there are similarities in needs and how to support them but each person needs to be understood for who they are and the family within which they function needs to be understood. It is a system; all parts are affected and affect each other, which means that the neurodiverse persons need support but so do the neurotypical persons.
Understanding needs and finding the right support
Neurodiversity can be complex in that it can have co-occurring diagnoses and conditions which need to be understood and treated by the correct professionals. This is dependent on the individual and could be in terms of neurodiversity needs along with more physical health needs or more mental health needs.
I assist by screening, referring to professionals and services trained to assess/diagnose or treat, doing psych-education to build understanding, advocacy skills, supporting sustainable daily adjustments as well as supporting the individual’s capacity, regulation and processing.
Psych Education
People are human and run out of steam, both neurodiverse and neurotypical persons burn out.
People are human and run out of steam, both neurodiverse and neurotypical persons burn out.
Supporting in this type of system is a process of psych-education, having certain necessary assessments by the correct professionals, determined by the unique needs of the individuals/family involved, to understand at times sensory, developmental, educational, emotional, trauma or medical needs along with getting the correct guidance and then learning to apply it all in a way that the system can assimilate and adapt to.
I offer psych education to assist with:
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Understanding behaviour through a nervous system lens
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Understanding what it means to experience ADHD, autism, different presentations, sensory processing differences, giftedness etc
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What practical daily adjustments could look like
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How to go about advocating
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Reducing shame and overwhelm
Neurodiversity-Affirming Support
This work is affirming, not corrective. The goal is not to change who someone is, but to help them thrive as they are.
My work focuses on:
Parent Coaching
The family within which a person functions needs to be understood. It is a system; all parts are affected and affect each other, which means that the neurodiverse persons need support but so do the neurotypical persons.
I coach parents to:
My Approach
The goal is not to change the individual, but to help them function, feel, and live more comfortably in their environment.