AUTISM
Your child isn't a collection of autism symptoms.
They're a person.
They have their own way of communicating, their own motivations, their own sensory system, their own sense of humor, their own frustrations—and their own reasons for doing the things they do.
I've spent my career working with children and young adults with autism and their families.
My job isn't to make your child fit somebody else's idea of what they should be.
It's to help you understand what's getting in the way and figure out practical ways to make life work better for your child and your family.
The diagnosis doesn't tell you what to do Tuesday morning.
Knowing your child has autism can explain a lot.
But it doesn't necessarily tell you how to get them out the door for school.
Or why they suddenly stopped doing something they could do six months ago.
Or what to do when every conversation becomes an argument.
Or how to help them make a friend.
Or why a seemingly insignificant change can derail an entire day.
Or how much help to give your 20-year-old when you're also trying to help them become more independent.
Those are individual problems.
And individual problems require individual solutions.
Behavior is information.
When something isn't working, I want to understand why.
A meltdown may look like a behavior problem.
But what's underneath it?
Sensory overload?
A communication breakdown?
An unexpected change?
Anxiety?
A demand the person doesn't know how to manage?
Frustration because everyone thinks they understand something that they actually don't?
A skill that works in one situation but hasn't generalized to another?
The same behavior can have completely different causes in different people.
If we get the reason wrong, there's a good chance we'll get the strategy wrong too.
Bring me the thing that's not working.
Parents don't usually contact me because everything is going great.
They contact me because something has become difficult.
Communication
Meltdowns and emotional regulation
School
Social relationships
Sensory challenges
Routines and transitions
Motivation
Executive functioning
Screens
Hygiene and self-care
Sleep routines
Sibling relationships
Family conflict
Independence
Preparing for adulthood
College or work
Something nobody has been able to explain yet
You don't have to decide which category your problem belongs in before we talk.
Tell me what's happening.
We'll figure out where to start.
How Online Autism Parent Coaching Works
We meet by video and talk through the situations that are causing difficulty.
I'll ask questions.
Probably a lot of them.
I'm looking for details that help us understand what your child may be experiencing and why the current approach isn't working.
Then we develop something practical to try.
It might mean changing how a demand is presented.
Changing the environment.
Finding a better motivator.
Teaching a skill differently.
Changing the timing.
Backing off temporarily.
Increasing expectations.
Or realizing we've been trying to solve the wrong problem.
You try the strategy in real life and see what happens.
Then we adjust.
We're not trying to prove a theory. We're trying to help your family.
I don't believe in making a child adapt to a program. I adapt to the child.
Over the course of my career, I've drawn from many established approaches, including Pivotal Response Training, DIR/Floortime, Applied Behavior Analysis, Functional Communication, Sensory Integration and Executive Function Training.
I've also developed approaches of my own.
I use what makes sense for the individual.
I discard what doesn't.
The methodology serves the person.
The person doesn't serve the methodology.
Trust changes what becomes possible.
I've found that people learn, communicate and take risks differently when they trust the person working with them.
That's why relationship has always been central to my work.
I follow the person's interests.
I look for genuine motivation.
I use humor and playfulness.
I challenge without deliberately frustrating.
I pay attention when something isn't working and change what I'm doing.
Respect isn't something that comes after progress.
Validation and respect is part of how progress happens.
What about older kids and young adults?
The problems change as children get older.
Eventually the questions may become:
How much should I still be doing for them?
How do we build independence without pulling away support too quickly?
What happens after high school?
Are they ready for college?
Could they work?
How do we handle money, transportation, relationships, appointments or living skills?
What if my adult child seems stuck?
I've worked with neurodivergent people across ages and developmental levels.
The objective isn't independence at any cost.
It's figuring out what greater independence can realistically look like for this particular person and helping them move toward it.
Let's start with what's happening now.
You don't need to solve the whole future today.
Bring me the problem that's making life difficult right now.
We'll start there.