Coaching for Neurodiverse Families

We create custom coaching programs for Neurodiverse Families.

We often meet families at diagnosis, when a whole system needs to be built to balance the family. Canyon Coaching can help your child attain emotional regulation and a sense of purpose and mastery. Together, we will unlock your child and your family’s potential with strengths-based coaching, tailored towards the specific struggles and strengths of your family. With our compassionate and holistic coaching, your entire family can enjoy greater balance, a sense of ease, and more meaningful communication. We can work with the whole family system, just the parents, or directly with the child. 

We can help your unique family with:

Communication Challenges— neurodivergent children can have difficulty expressing their emotions, needs and ideas. This can lead to frustrations within the family. 

We can help you learn to meet your child where they are and enhance communication for the whole family. 

Emotional Regulation– Individuals with neurodivergence may have difficulty managing their emotions, leading to frequent meltdowns, anxiety, or heightened emotional responses. Family members can feel overwhelmed, anxious, or helpless in the face of these emotional fluctuations. 

We will help you create more calm and balance within your family system. Hint: emotional regulation and balance within a family starts from the top down.

Behavioral Issues and Social Adaptation- Neurodivergent children may have behavioral challenges that make it difficult for them to adapt to social norms, school environments, or family rules. This can create tension between siblings or between parents and children. 

We will help you devise systems to handle the issues as they arise and integrate these lessons for the whole family. 

Parental Guilt and Burnout-Parents of neurodivergent children may feel guilty for not being able to meet all of their child’s needs or for struggling with their own frustrations. They may also experience burnout from managing a high level of caregiving, advocacy, and emotional labor. 

This is a big one. We can help. 

Sibling Dynamics- Siblings of neurodivergent individuals may feel neglected or overwhelmed if they perceive that their neurodivergent sibling requires more attention. This can create sibling rivalry or emotional distancing. 

Balance is key and looking at the relational family dynamics is essential when assessing the wellness of a family system. We have a whole family approach and address these very common neurodivergent/neurotypical sibling dynamics holistically. 

Routine and Structure-Many neurodivergent individuals thrive on routine and structure, but this can be hard to maintain for a family, especially when other siblings or parents have different needs or schedules. Disruptions to routine may cause anxiety or meltdowns. 

We specialize in systems! Routine and structure will be your best friends, we promise. 

Self Advocacy-Neurodivergent individuals may struggle to advocate for themselves in situations where they feel misunderstood or marginalized, making it difficult for them to receive the support they need. 

Our greatest goal is to empower the kids and families we work with to advocate for themselves.

We can also work directly with high school and college age learners to help them reach their goals. 

By the time children reach high school and college, it is developmentally appropriate for parents to ease up and allow their kids more autonomy. For neurodivergent children, however, scaffolding and support can still be necessary. This is where coaching comes in. 

Coaches can help bridge the gap between intensive parenting and total independence.  Coaches support children as they grow the vital skills that they will need to be autonomous and healthy functioning adults. 

Common areas of growth are: time management and accountability, self-advocacy, confidence, social skills. 

Nutrition is often the missing puzzle piece for many neurodiverse families.

Kids with ADHD, Autism, and other neurological differences and behavioral challenges need optimal brain support. The scientific evidence on the gut brain connection has never been more robust nor more clear. Our bodies and brains are connected.

What we feed—and don’t feed—our children has a direct impact on their brain health, their stress response, their ability to learn, and their ability to regulate their behaviors. It is vital for parents to understand this and to approach the nutrition and the care of their children with this in mind.

As well as a certified Neurodiversity Coach, Malaya is a certified Master Health Coach. She specializes in nutrition and wellness with a neurodiversity lens. The core stressors of food reactions, nutrient imbalances, and gut dysbiosis can all take a toll on children and their mental and physical health—and neurodivergent children are the most vulnerable. She believes that a complete look at a family’s wellness must include nutrition. As part of her coaching program, she will work with you to create a program that will optimize the nutrition and brain health of your child and your entire family.