What I do
I work with parents of neurodiverse children between the ages of 2 and 18 who have behavioural and/or sleep challenges. I use a holistic approach which means that:
– I see the child as much more than a relation between antecedents, behaviour and consequences. Factors like their relationships, emotional wellbeing and skills are also assessed and part of the intervention.
– I integrate my knowledge of different approaches to challenging behaviour; disciplines such as Speech and Language Therapy and Psychology as well as research findings to design a personalised plan.
– It uses and builds on the existing relationship between child and the parent/carer rather than the child having to build a relationship with a therapist (effectively a stranger to the child) from 0. This speeds everything up as building a trusting enough relationship with a child can take several months and it will never be as trusting or as close as the one with the parent. We also need to consider that a therapist will typically spend an hour a week or every fortnight, while the parents spend a lot more time with the child, which puts them at a much better position to put interventions in place.
How I work
I work 100% online with the child’s parents or carers. This involves videocalls and parent-led assessments and interventions. This means that you will be the one carrying out assessments and putting the intervention we design into practice. This may sound daunting (shouldn’t a qualified therapist be doing this?), but the truth is that there is plenty of evidence that supports the effectiveness of parent-led interventions under the guidance of a professional (please see references below). These are some of the advantages of parent-led interventions:
– It uses and builds on the existing relationship between child and the parent/carer rather than the child having to build a relationship with a therapist (effectively a stranger to the child) from 0. This speeds everything up as building a trusting enough relationship with a child can take several months and it will never be as trusting or as close as the one with the parent. We also need to consider that a therapist will typically spend an hour a week or every fortnight, while the parents spend a lot more time with the child, which puts them at a much better position to put interventions in place.
– It empowers families. My aim is to guide parents to better understand their child’s needs and how to help them through any challenges. This means that after I stop working with the family they are able to continue the work independently and use what they learned to navigate similar difficulties in the future.
– They are more cost-effective. Neurodivergent children can work with therapists for many years. While in some cases this is very beneficial, not every family can afford to pay for this and not every local authority will fund it either. Because my aim is to empower and guide parents, there isn’t a need for me to be working with a family for more than a few months. Also, the online format eliminates travelling costs for both the family and myself (which means I can offer lower fees).
Evidence on the effectiveness of parent-led interventions:
Aldred, C., Green, J., & Adams, C. (2004). A new social communication intervention for children with autism: Pilot randomised controlled treatment study suggesting effectiveness. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 45(8), 1420–1430. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7610.2004.00338.x
Byrne, G., Ghráda, Á. N., & O’Mahony, T. (2023). Parent-Led Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Children with Autism Spectrum Conditions. A Pilot Study. Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 53(1), 263–274. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-022-05424-2
Day C, Michelson D, Thomson S, Penney C, Draper L. Evaluation of a peer led parenting intervention for disruptive behaviour problems in children: community based randomised controlled trial BMJ 2012; 344 :e1107 doi:10.1136/bmj.e1107
Ferguson, J., Craig, E. A., & Dounavi, K. (2019). Telehealth as a Model for Providing Behaviour Analytic Interventions to Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Systematic Review. Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 49(2), 582–616. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-018-3724-5
Pickles, A., Le Couteur, A., Leadbitter, K., Salomone, E., Cole-Fletcher, R., Tobin, H., Gammer, I., Lowry, J., Vamvakas, G., Byford, S., Aldred, C., Slonims, V., McConachie, H., Howlin, P., Parr, J. R., Charman, T., & Green, J. (2016). Parent-mediated social communication therapy for young children with autism (PACT): long-term follow-up of a randomised controlled trial. Lancet (London, England), 388(10059), 2501–2509. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(16)31229-6
Vismara, L. A., Young, G. S., & Rogers, S. J. (2012). Telehealth for expanding the reach of early autism training to parents. Autism research and treatment, 2012, 121878. https://doi.org/10.1155/2012/121878
To learn more about my services, please click on the links below: