Real-life support for parents of neurodivergent kids
Practical guidance and support for the mornings, the meltdowns, and everything in between
Support focused on clarity, calm, and connection for parents raising neurodivergent kids — from a psychologist who understands these challenges.
Let’s look for more calm in the chaos, together
- You love your child deeply — and some days everything feels harder than it should.
- The mornings. The meltdowns.
- The advice that doesn’t fit your family.
- You’re trying to make sense of what’s happening and you’re looking for support you can use in real life.
How I can support your family
Every family’s starting point looks different. These are the main ways I help parents make sense of what’s happening for their child and bring that understanding into everyday life.
Progress in Practice
A family-centred support process that helps you understand what’s happening beneath your child’s behaviour and turn that insight into everyday strategies that fit your family. Together, we create a personalised Family Support Map showing what to focus on, how the pieces fit together, and clear steps for moving forward.
It’s about turning understanding into ideas you can try in daily life.
Paper to Practice
We bring together assessments, recommendations, and insights to create an Everyday Support Guide — eryday Support Guide — written in plain language, with practical ideas for home, school, and the community.
It’s about bridging the gap between information and everyday life, so support can be considered in the context of your family’s day-to-day and what matters most to you right now.
Book a Parent Session
A one-on-one consultation for parents who want to make sense of what’s happening for their child or aren’t sure where to begin. Together, we unpack patterns, priorities to identify options and the type of support that may suit your family at this time.
It’s a focused space to clarify what’s going on and consider the next practical step.
Free Resources
Kangaroo in the Bushfire
A short, easy-to-watch video that explains what’s happening in your child’s brain when everything blows up — and what helps them come back to calm.
You’ll gain a clearer understanding of those high-stress moments and simple ways to respond that rebuild safety, regulation, and connection.
Understanding Neurodivergent Kids: What to Notice, What to Nurture
A 23-minute on-demand webinar for parents, teachers, and support professionals about recognising neurodivergence in everyday life and understanding what’s underneath behaviour.
You’ll leave with a fresh lens for noticing patterns, responding with compassion, and supporting confidence, identity, and connection — both at home and in the classroom.
Meet Emma
I’m Emma Richards, a psychologist and mum of three neurodivergent kids. I bring professional insight and lived experience to help bring understanding into everyday.
You want to understand what’s really happening for your child — and find practical ways to help that don’t make life harder.
That’s what this work is about. Together we look at the real moments — the mornings, the meltdowns, the mealtimes — and explore what may be underneath. From there, we look for calm, confidence-building ways forward that are shaped around your family.
The Messy Moments Memo
Reflections and stories about parenting in practice, and everyday life for neurodivergent families – grounded in real life, written from the heart, and focused on the moments where growth and connection really happen.
You’ll get a Memo once a fortnight with little reflections, real moments from home and from practice, and the kinds of reflections many parents find helpful when raising neurodivergent kids in the real world. It’s the good bits, the hard bits, and the “oh thank God it’s not just us” bits …a tiny pause in the middle of the meltdowns, the sibling clashes, the afternoon crashes, and the hundred tiny moments no one else sees.
The Messy Moments Approach
The Messy Moments Approach is designed to help families better understand what may be happening beneath behaviour, and to explore ways of supporting calm, connection, and confidence in everyday moments.
Instead of adding more strategies to your plate, it helps you notice what matters, make sense of what’s underneath the struggle, and respond in ways that fit for your child and your family.
It’s a practical, family-centred framework that combines psychological insight with your lived experience — to help support makes sense in the car, at the dinner table, and after school, not just in theory.
The focus is on building a clearer understanding of your child, support that fits your life, and small, steady shifts that support day-to-day family life.
Let’s explore things, one small step at a time.
If you’re ready to make sense of what’s been happening and explore clear, practical ways forward, choose the next step that feels right for your family.