Clarity Call

Investment: $150 per hour CAD

This is for you if you have questions about PDA, especially if it relates to bedtime, sleep or daytime activation of your child’s threat response or stress behaviours. These clarity sessions are held via Zoom. These sessions are perfect for you if you are new to finding out about PDA, your child or teen has had recent changes or events in their life that have adversely affected their ability to sleep, or you just feel lost as a parent to a PDAer and bedtime and sleep are an issue.

These calls do not include the completion of assessment questionnaires, so I will not have the in-depth knowledge base of your situation that would enable me to screen for underlying causes of sleep difficulties and disturbance.

I understand that your situation may feel desperate, so if you want a session earlier than my current availability, please book in for the next available slot and email me at familysleepspecialist@gmail.com to request to be placed on the cancellation list.

Assessment, Initial Consultation and Support Set-Up

Investment: $750CAD

If there is more than one child in the same household that needs assessment and there is no available funding, please contact me to discuss a possible sliding scale rate. Intake forms will need to be completed for each child. If there are additional children that need their own supports, there is an additional fee. This fee is needs-based and is set by the amount of additional work involved.

This service is designed to set you up with a clear plan of action, your questions answered, parents and caregivers on the same page and most importantly, it is designed to leave you feeling empowered to make meaningful changes to what is often a challenging and exhausting situation that leaves many parents feeling at a loss.

Here’s what happens:

• The first step is to book a Meet and Greet call with me, it is around 15-20 minutes and is your opportunity to have a chat with me and check if you feel we would be a good team. After our call, if you wish to book in, simply click on the link that comes through after our call to schedule your first assessment meeting.

• At the time of booking, you will be asked a series of questions regarding your child’s sleep, temperament, challenges, daytime activities, sensory support needs, and a screening of potential indicators of co-occurring conditions that may be affecting sleep.

• The assessment and consultation is split into two meetings. In the first meeting (around 60-90 minutes), we discuss anything of note from the intake forms and chat through what types of support might fit your child, your family and your capacity. Here, we discuss your concerns and if you have any questions or need to talk through specific challenging behaviours to help investigate what the root causes may be and potential ways to help support your child in the moment and to prevent these challenging behaviours.

• We discuss how their needs and sleep are impacting you and your family and look at ways to optimize everyone’s sleep, rest, and mental health with the resources you have available.  

• After the initial meeting, I put together my recommendations and any customized supports you and your child may need such as visuals, a bedtime sensory diet and recommendations for equipment including sleep aids.

• During the second meeting, we talk through my recommendations, discuss any concerns you have and make tweaks if needed.

• Email support is included to clarify the recommendations for the following two weeks.

• Follow-up consults are advised for complex and ongoing sleep challenges. The frequency and duration are for you to decide.

  Follow-up sessions for support

  Investment: $150CAD per 60 minute session, $225 for 90 minutes.

• Email support between sessions.

• 60 or 90-minute virtual follow-up session to continue with assessing needs, troubleshoot any issues, assess the plan as needs change, and to provide space for caregivers to discuss concerns and experiences.

Many times, we need someone with us to guide us through the situation. As the situation develops, it may change in ways that require different kinds of support. Or simply, as we make respectful and gentle transitions we need someone with knowledge and experience to help us to understand how to make these transitions, or if now is indeed the right time. Maybe your child isn’t ready for a change. Maybe they have things going on in their lives and their own healing journeys that require safety through sameness and connection. If this is where your child’s and your needs clash, I can support you with ways to help your sleep, rest, and mental health and happiness.

We will work together to get to the root of sleep issues to try to allow you and your child to get the sleep they need.  We can discuss how their needs and sleep are impacting you and your family and look at ways to optimize your sleep, rest and mental health with the resources you have available.  

About my services

I have the flexibility that neurodivergent families need. Payments are required prior to service and there is no penalty for rescheduling.

With virtual appointments, they do not require you to leave your home and, if something happens and our child needs you, I will happily stop that meeting to complete the appointment at another day and/or time. I work flexibly to try to allow as much accessibility as I can.

If your child is over 6 years old and has an autism diagnosis with related funding, you may be able to be reimbursed for my services through your child’s autism funding. I currently have direct billing set up with the BC Autism Funding Unit and am happy to send you Request To Pay forms for you to submit to the AFU.

I have knowledge and lived-experience of Pathological Demand Avoidance and understand the issues that this expression of autism presents for families.

Group Speaker

If you would like to discuss hiring me to speak at your group or event, please contact me via email at familysleepspecialist@gmail.com. My rates are subject to time, travel distance if in-person and your group’s status.