Community Workshops

These are held for any community interest groups. Length and topics may be arranged with the speaker.

Workshop Topics Include:

neurodiversity autism richmond bc

Autistic by Nature: Bringing Autism Into the 21st Century

What exactly does the word autism mean to you?  Do you know someone who is autistic?  If not, does the
word frighten you? It neither predicts nor limits how successful a child will become.  Basically, autistic experience refers how a person’s brain and nervous system interacts with their environment.  

We will cover:

  • The paradigm shifts from the medical to the social model
  • Neurodiversity and neurodivergence
  • Autistic culture
  • Autistic traits
  • Sensory, cognitive and social processing
  • Trauma, masking, and communication
neurodiversity autism richmond bc

Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA)

This is a relatively new term for a profile of traits under the autism umbrella. Autistic children often need extra support when processing requests or demands especially for things that may be unfamiliar or unpreferred. Those with a PDA profile experience severe anxiety over similar situations but also include everyday ’ demands’ such as hygiene, eating, dressing, and attending school. Parents and educators often hear “I can’t” and interpret it as “I won’t”.

Let’s see what is really happening for these children, how they respond and how we can support them.

neurodiversity autism richmond bc

Not Another Parenting Course

Conventional parenting, backed by the science of behaviourism is what we have all been taught for many years. We have learned to positively reward the behaviors we like to see and punish or ignore those ‘challenging’ ones we want to decrease.

Has this actually worked over time? What effects has this had on our relationships with our children and in their understanding of their identities. In the past 30 years there has been new research into the brain and body. Neuroscience is showing us that it is not so simple. There is so much more going on – their bodies are telling us wonderful stories filled with actual needs that are ours to fill!

Come and see all the different ways they share these stories and how you can truly nurture your children into being the best them that they can be!