I work for Idaho Health and Welfare as an Independent Contractor Intervention Specialist working with children who have developmental disabilities after working for eight and a half years with a developmental disabilities agency in Northern Idaho. My autistic son Joshua was my initial inspiration but really, all four of my children are. I have learned so much going to Joshua’s many therapy sessions with his fabulous therapists in speech/language, occupational therapy, and behavioral therapy. We have walked this road of developmental disabilities since he was diagnosed with autism in 2009. What I have learned along this journey I have been privileged to share with others on their path.

One of the services I provide for families is Family Education. I have a wealth of techniques I have learned over the years to help kids who struggle with behaviors and I have discovered a variety of resources that I have shared with families and caregivers that really help improve their child’s and family’s quality of life. What I share with parents is that the information I know now I really wish I had known when my kids were younger. There is so much that has been discovered in the last 25 years, especially in regard to behavioral interventions and helping kids do well. As Dr. Ross Greene relates in the material he presents with his Collaborative and Proactive Solutions, “Kids do well if they can and if they can’t something is getting in the way.”

That’s what I do when I work with parents, with my coaching background, we work together to discover what is getting in the way of their kid’s behavior, discover any roadblocks to address, and begin to look at their child’s behavior in a new way in order to support their development and give them a safe place to learn and grow.

One family I have been working with for several years started with the dad referring to himself as his child’s “warden” trying to do what he could to control his child’s behavior, which only got worse. Several years went by with many trials but as we continued to work on that mindset shift, understanding his child’s disability and how to support his growth, he now sees himself as his child’s mentor and simply “his dad”. It was such an honor to walk alongside this family and see how the parents have learned how best to support their son and watch him respond as he began to FEEL safe, seeing him grow and develop in countless ways!

If you are struggling with your child’s behaviors, regardless of whether they have a developmental disability or not,(there could be a history of trauma, even medical trauma, sensory issues, etc.) please contact me. Working as a consultant we can begin looking through a different set of lenses that may help you consider different approaches than what you have been trying with little success and a lot of frustration and heartache. We can explore how to maintain your values and hopes/dreams for your children while helping them become their best selves and nurturing a long-lasting healthy relationship.

“When you connect to the heart of a child, everything is possible.”

– Dr. Karyn Purvis