Helping parents of neurodivergent kids feel calmer, more confident, and less alone
Understand your child. Trust yourself.
Raising Orchids supports parents and carers — including foster and kinship carers — with practical strategies, honest conversations, and grounded support to help you understand your child and feel more confident in raising neurodivergent kids.
Raising Orchids exists because neurodivergent or “neurospicy” kids don’t need fixing - they need the right conditions. So do their parents.
Support is provided in Adelaide, in your home, or online across Australia.
Start with a conversation to find out how we can support you.
How I work →
When what you’ve tried isn’t working
Perhaps you’ve been told to be firmer. Hold the boundary harder. Use better consequences.
And yet things still escalate.
Often, the problem is not your parenting.
What looks like defiance may be distress.
What looks like avoidance may be protection.
What looks like behaviour is often communication.
For many families — especially those navigating PDA profiles or demand-sensitive children — lowering pressure can open up possibilities that control-based approaches never could.
Together, we make sense of what sits underneath and find responses that build safety, connection and cooperation over time.
Support for the adults raising the child
I work with parents and carers, not directly with children.
This is not therapy. It is reflective, practical support that helps you better understand your child and respond in ways that fit your family.
My work is grounded in trauma-informed, attachment-aware, neuroaffirming and low-demand principles — especially where traditional behavioural approaches have made things harder, not easier.
Warm, practical conversations. No scripts. No one-size-fits-all strategies.
Just support that makes sense in real life.
Ways We May Work Together
We might explore how to:
reduce demands without losing boundaries
respond to nervous system distress rather than escalating it
support flexibility without coercion
lower conflict and increase cooperation
create everyday conditions where your child can flourish
Because often the shift is not in “managing behaviour,” but in changing the conditions around it.
What I offer
Steady Ground — 6 Week Program
A structured one-to-one program for parents wanting a calmer, more workable daily life.
Six sessions focused on what is actually happening — mornings, meltdowns, routines, and the parts of family life that keep unravelling.
Investment from $960
Ongoing Parent Consultation
For families wanting flexible support around emerging challenges, school concerns, regulation, behaviour or day-to-day family life.
From $130/hr
No diagnosis required. All neurotypes welcome. NDIS self-managed participants welcome — see full pricing on For families
What Happens When You Book
1. Book a free 20-minute call
A chance to ask questions, share a little of what’s going on, and decide whether I’m the right fit.
2. We talk about what support might help
No intake forms. No pressure. Just a confidential conversation.
3. If I can help, I’ll tell you how
And if I’m not the right support person, I’ll help you think about who might be.
Common Questions
Do you see my child?
No — I work with parents and carers. This is parent support and capacity building, not therapy.
Do I need a diagnosis?
No diagnosis required.
What ages do you work with?
Parents of neurodivergent kids, teens and young people — any age.
Do you support autism, ADHD, AuDHD and PDA?
Yes.
If any of this sounds like you, book a free 20-minute call
Qualifications
Bachelor of Social Work (AASW-accredited)
Nearly thirty years’ experience across disability, out-of-home care, child protection and family support.
Working With Children Check and National Police Check - current
Parent capacity building and education - not therapy, or mental-health treatment.
Why Raising Orchids?
Some children are especially sensitive to their environment.
Like orchids, they need particular conditions to flourish.
Autistic children, ADHDers and other neurospicy kids often take in more, filter less, and can become overwhelmed more easily. When environments fit their needs, things can change profoundly.
Raising Orchids is about helping you create those conditions in everyday family life.