Neurodivergent Parenting Support in Los Angeles
Parenting an autistic, ADHD, or otherwise neurodivergent child can feel like running a marathon with no finish line: the IEP meetings, the sensory needs, the daily work of translating your child to a world built for different wiring.
I work with parents of neurodivergent kids across Los Angeles and California, and my focus is the person this page is about — you.
You may be the only one who sees how hard your child is working, and how hard you are. That particular invisibility is exhausting in a way that's difficult to explain to anyone outside your house.
Your child's regulation depends on yours
Here's the piece most parenting resources skip: your child's meltdown dysregulates you too. Co-regulation is a two-way circuit, and a parent who has been in fight-or-flight since breakfast has nothing left to lend a dysregulated child at five in the afternoon.
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So a real part of this work is your nervous system. Sometimes that means practical recovery built into an unforgiving day. Sometimes it means going deeper — for parents whose reactivity traces back to a frightening birth, a medical crisis, or their own childhood, EMDR helps process what keeps the alarm system stuck on. Parents tell me afterward that they can stand inside a meltdown and stay grounded, which changes everything downstream.
When your child's sensory needs collide with yours
Many neurodivergent kids are sensory seekers. They need contact, pressure, motion, and noise to stay organized, and the parent is the equipment. If your own system runs sensitive, you know exactly where this goes: by evening you're touched out and overstimulated, and then guilty about it.
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That bind isn't anybody's fault, and it doesn't resolve by your child needing less. We build recovery that works in your actual life, and language your partner can hear without taking it personally.
The standard parenting advice was never written for your child
The advice at the park, in the Facebook groups, from relatives — it assumes a child whose wiring your child doesn't have, and following it usually makes things worse for everyone. It's easy to conclude you're failing when the manual doesn't work. The manual was written for a different child.
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My approach is neurodivergent-affirming, which means we don't treat your child as a problem to fix. We shape the environment and your parenting around your child's actual wiring, redefine what success looks like for your family, and treat your mental health as a first-class part of the plan. If you're still in the waiting period before any evaluation, all of this applies now — you don't need a label before you're allowed support.
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I'm a licensed marriage and family therapist, Perinatal Mental Health Certified through Postpartum Support International, and a large part of my practice is parents of neurodivergent children — territory I also know from the inside as a special needs parent myself. I use EMDR, CBT, ACT, psychodynamic work, and mindfulness-based approaches, fitted to the person rather than applied to them.
Frequently asked questions
What does neurodivergent-affirming support actually mean?
It means your child isn't treated as a problem to fix. We focus on making the environment and your parenting work with your child's natural wiring, and on your mental health as the primary caregiver. Your needs count as much as anyone's in the house.
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Do we need a formal diagnosis before starting?
No. If you suspect your child processes the world differently and your family is struggling, that's enough. We work with your daily lived experience rather than waiting for a label to validate it.
Can you help with the burnout from IEP meetings and school advocacy?
I'm not an educational advocate, and I'll say so plainly. The depletion those meetings cause, though, is squarely my territory. We work on boundaries, preparation, and recovery so the system stops costing you more than it gives your child.
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I'm starting to wonder if I'm neurodivergent too.
A lot of parents arrive at that question after a child's evaluation. I don't do diagnostic testing, and I'd refer you out for that if you wanted it. What I can do is work with how your particular nervous system operates, which is useful whether or not anyone ever puts a label on it.
