Autistic therapy, developmental delays therapy, intellectual delays therapy doesn't look the same. I have spent three decades around autistic and ADHD people, in classrooms, in homes, in independent living and vocational settings, and as an advocate when the system was not listening. That history shapes the room.

Sessions can be quiet or loud, still or moving, spoken or written. Stimming is welcome. Eye contact is optional. The goal is never to make you appear less autistic. It is to make life more workable.

Autism

I work with autistic clients across the lifespan, and with parents who are trying to understand what their child is telling them. The work usually gathers around a few things: regulation, transitions and sensory load; communication on your terms; self-advocacy at school, at work and in independent living; and autistic burnout, where the skills that used to be automatic stop working. That last one frightens people most, and it is often the reason someone finally calls.

Masking costs something. A lot of adults arrive having spent decades managing themselves so other people stay comfortable, and that is usually where we start.

ADHD

ADHD work here has two halves. One is practical: initiation, follow-through, time, transitions, sleep, the paperwork that never gets sent. The other is what most people arrive carrying, which is a long history of being called lazy, careless or too much, and the shame that grew underneath it.

You are not disorganized because you never tried. You have probably tried harder than most people you know, at things they never had to think about.

ADHD does not end with childhood. I work with children whose behavior at school is being misread, teens losing confidence under six teachers and one planner, and adults recognizing themselves for the first time in midlife, often after a child's own difficulties made something click.

Late recognition

Being identified as autistic or ADHD in adulthood can explain forty years in an afternoon. Then you have to decide what to do with everything that came before it. There is relief in that, and usually anger too, and both belong in the room.

What I do not do

I do not assess or diagnose autism or ADHD, and I am not a prescriber, so I do not give medical advice or comment on medication. If you came looking for an evaluation, I would rather say so in the first line than the last. What I can do is help you understand what you are seeing, work with you or your child directly, and help you ask a school or an employer for what is reasonable.

Practical details

• Autistic and ADHD children from age four, teens, adults and seniors
• Parent and caregiver sessions, with or without your child present
• In person at 132 E Broadway Suite 303 in Eugene, or telehealth anywhere in Oregon
• Wednesday through Friday, plus Saturday appointments
• Individual sessions $180, with a limited number of reduced-fee spots from $130
• Private pay only; superbills provided for out-of-network reimbursement

Start with a free 30-minute call. You say roughly what is going on, I say honestly whether I am the right person for it.