Specialist sleep support for PDA, autistic and ADHD families.

I am The Neurodivergent Sleep Specialist who takes

the sleep science,

child development and attachment principles,

neuroscience,

my intimate knowledge of PDA, autism and ADHD,

and puts it together with a trauma-informed approach to support you and your family with sleep and wellness.

I’m not going to give you basic and ignorant “advice” such as “get your child to sleep earlier”. I assume that if you could do that, you wouldn't be reaching out for support.

“Why don’t you offer sleep training advice?”:

Sleep training or any kind of behaviour modification technique looks solely at the behaviour and seeks to find ways to alter behaviour without addressing what the behaviour and emotion behind the behaviour is trying to tell us. I’m all for making things easier for parents and caregivers, but I do not believe ignoring what behaviours are communicating is the answer. Behaviour is a signal to a need. If a need is not satisfied, it will always be present, it may show up in a different behaviour, or mental health need if the original behaviour is ignored. Neuroscience, child psychology and child development have shown time and time again that behaviour modification is not conducive to emotional resiliency or the life-long mental health that we wish for our children. By asking what behaviours are communicating about our infant and children’s inner state, we find the real whys and can support what needs to be supported.

I answer your questions and give you a plan to support and change:

• Bedtime challengings.

• Struggles to fall asleep.

• Night waking with difficulty getting back to sleep.

• Early waking.

• Autistic, ADHD and PDA burnout-related sleep issues.
  

As a non-medical sleep specialist, I cannot offer medical advice but I can screen for medical indicators for sleep challenges and support sleep for the whole family to optimise what you can get while you are awaiting assessment and treatment for medical issues related to your sleep struggles.

For infants and children, we look at what is happening and find the reasons behind the behaviours and treat the root cause. It might be sensory and nervous system dysregulation, it could be dietary deficiencies and it could be issues that we can solve by supporting the environment that your infant or child sleeps in, all of which we can do while taking your child’s unique neurology into account.

Get in touch to schedule your free 15-minute call with me to see if you would like to work with me.