Compassionate guidance for parents of neurodivergent children and teens navigating autistic burnout
Beyond Authoritative Parenting: A More Human Way to Raise Neurodivergent Children Rehumanising Parenting is a response to a culture that has slowly reduced parenting to technique, compliance, and optimisation. It is a return to relationship, nervous system awareness, and shared humanity. To understand why this matters, we need to look at the models many of […] Read more…
Rewriting the Rules When Your Neurodivergent Child is Struggling When my children were little, I saw a Facebook meme that nearly broke me. It said: On the surface, it felt so positive. So aspirational.And to a mother who had already done significant healing from her own childhood, it felt like a dream come true. Without […] Read more…
Why Friendships Unravel When Your Neurodivergent Child is in Burnout I was recently reading a Substack post by The Autism Doctor about how many women are not diagnosed as autistic simply because they“have friends.” In the post, she explains that the outward presence of friendships does not necessarily mean those relationships foster genuine connection or […] Read more…
(And Why There Isn’t Anything Wrong With You) When my neurodivergent teen went into burnout, my world fell apart, and in its place, a smaller, more constricted reality emerged. It was like having a newborn in the family again, except this time, the stakes felt terrifyingly high. Her needs were loud, all-consuming, and urgent. I […] Read more…
How Self-Help Culture Can Harm Neurodivergent Parents and Cause Burnout There was a moment early in my career that fundamentally changed the direction of my life. At the time, I didn’t have language for it. I only knew that something had cracked open, and something else had quietly fractured. I was a centre manager in […] Read more…
The wayfinder’s guide for parents going off-grid from behaviourism, control, and inherited narratives I have always enjoyed creating. Art, crafts, poetry and gardening have always been the way that I have enjoyed expressing myself and experiencing joy in the world. The process is always the same, and if you’re an artist or a creative soul, […] Read more…
What the Pikler Approach Teaches Us About Connection, Sovereignty, and Burnout Recovery I began my career serving families as a teacher more than 25 years ago.Like many teachers of that time, I was trained in the behaviourist approach, a model inspired more by dog training than by human development. As a young teacher in my […] Read more…
A Collaboration Between Tanya Valentin and Laura Hellfeld Has your neurodivergent child ever said things like, “I hate you,” “I hate myself,” “I wish you would die,” or “I want to die” during a meltdown? Or perhaps they make unintelligible sounds, repeat the same words, cry, laugh, or say things that seem ‘inappropriate’ when they’re […] Read more…
For parents who don’t know where to begin You’re Exhausted, Unsure, and Wondering, “Why isn’t my child recovering from burnout? What am I missing?” If you’re here, you’ve probably already tried to lower demands, read the advice, maybe even fought your way through countless professional appointments—yet your child still seems stuck in burnout. And underneath […] Read more…
For parents overwhelmed by everyday meltdowns, shutdowns, and reactivity Does this sound like you? If this is your reality, you are not failing.You simply may not have the tools you need yet. Parent-to-Parent Reflection: “I used to feel so guilty every time my child melted down, like I was doing something wrong. Now I know […] Read more…