Why your child knows what to do but still struggles to get started
Your child understands the math. They’ve completed similar assignments before. They know their homework needs to be finished. Yet they’re still sitting at the table, staring at a blank page. You’ve reminded them several times. You’ve explained the instructions. You’ve even offered to help them get started. So why does something they already know how […]
Helping Kids Face Back to School Anxiety With Courage
Back to school season can stir up worry long before the first day arrives. Your child may start asking the same questions repeatedly. Who will my teacher be? Will my friends be in my class? What if I don’t know what to do? Then come the stomach aches, tears, trouble separating, or outright refusal to […]
Back-to-School Anxiety: How to Help Without Reinforcing Avoidance
Back-to-school anxiety can start long before the first day. It can show up as stomach aches, headaches, trouble sleeping, irritability, tears, repeated questions, or a sudden insistence that school simply isn’t happening this year. And when a child is distressed, our instinct is usually immediate: make it better. We reassure them. We change plans. We […]
Why Mindfulness Doesn’t Work During a Meltdown and What to Do Instead
Mindfulness during a meltdown rarely works the way parents hope it will. When children become emotionally overwhelmed, their brains are focused on survival rather than learning new skills. That’s why reminding a child to “take a deep breath” often doesn’t help in the moment. The key isn’t abandoning mindfulness—it’s teaching and practising it long before […]
Healthy Habits That Help Children Regulate Big Emotions
When children struggle with emotional regulation, it’s easy to focus on what happened just before the meltdown. We look for the trigger, search for the right calming strategy, or wonder why they didn’t use the coping skills they’ve already learned. Many times, the answer starts much earlier. A brain that hasn’t had enough fuel, water, […]
Why Your Child’s Behaviour Isn’t The Problem
When a child is yelling, refusing, hitting, or completely overwhelmed, our instinct is often to stop the behaviour. We want the meltdown to end and for everyone to calm down. We search for the right consequence, the right words, or the perfect strategy. But what if we’re asking the wrong question? Behaviour happens when children […]
ADHD, Psychoeducational, or Autism Assessment: Which One Does My Child Need?
One of the most common questions parents ask is: Which assessment am I supposed to book? The answer depends less on the label you suspect and more on the questions you need answered. Choose an ADHD Assessment When the Main Questions Involve: An ADHD assessment examines developmental history, symptoms across settings, impairment, executive functioning, and […]
Can an ADHD Assessment Help My Child Access Medication?
Parents are sometimes told to “get an ADHD assessment” before speaking with a physician about medication. This can create confusion about who diagnoses ADHD and who prescribes treatment. A psychologist can assess and diagnose ADHD when this falls within their training and professional competence. Psychologists do not prescribe medication. Medication decisions are made by an […]
ADHD or Autism? How Can You Tell the Difference?
ADHD and autism can look remarkably similar from the outside. A child with either diagnosis might: Many children are also both autistic and have ADHD. The goal of an assessment is therefore not to force every behaviour into one category. It is to understand the mechanisms beneath the behaviour. The Same Behaviour Can Have Different […]
Could My Daughter Be Autistic? Why Autism Is Often Missed in Girls
Some autistic girls are identified early. Others move through childhood appearing socially capable, verbally skilled, and academically successful while working extraordinarily hard to manage everyday life. Their difficulties may first be described as: These descriptions may capture part of what is happening without explaining the full developmental pattern. Why Autism Can Be Harder to Recognize […]