Parent coaching for
the parents of
neurodivergent kids.
For when the most useful work happens with the adults in the room, not the child. No homework folder. No clinical scripts to perform at home.
Sometimes the work is for you, not for the kid
Most speech pathology assumes the kid is the client. For families of autistic and neurodivergent kids, that often isn't the right shape. The child might be too young, too dysregulated, too burnt out, or just not ready to engage with another professional. Sometimes they're doing fine on their own and the parent is the one carrying the weight. Sometimes the work is teaching the parent what was never explained: what gestalt language is, why scripting matters, how to model AAC without quizzing, why the after-school meltdown isn't bad behaviour.
Parent coaching at Speech Sprout is its own service. It's just you and Hannah, telehealth or in-clinic, working on whatever is actually useful in your family right now.
Who books parent coaching
- Parents of newly identified autistic kids who want to understand what comes next
- Parents whose kid won't engage in direct therapy (yet)
- Co-parents trying to get on the same page about communication and regulation
- Parents who've left a compliance-based program and want a different way forward
- Parents preparing for a hard conversation — school, paediatrician, family
- Parents in burnout who need a thinking partner who actually understands the wiring
- Autistic parents of autistic kids, who want a coach who doesn't pathologise either of them
What we work on
- Communication-rich routines — where the language opportunities already are in your day
- Co-regulation tools — what it actually looks like, not "stay calm"
- Translating behaviour back into communication — the muscle of asking "what is this telling me?"
- Advocacy — drafting emails, prepping for IEPs and plan meetings, scripts for paediatricians
- Sibling dynamics — especially when one kid is ND and others aren't, or are differently
- Burnout-aware planning — what's sustainable for the actual humans involved
- Recovering from earlier compliance-based therapy — for parents and kids alike
What we won't do
No homework folder. No flashcards. No "do these activities for 15 minutes a night". No recording yourself for review. No grading your parent performance. The clinical model that turns parents into part-time SLPs is a model we don't believe in — it makes parents anxious and rarely helps the kid.
We also won't pathologise your kid in front of you. Their stims, interests and ways of communicating aren't symptoms. They're how this specific human shows up. Coaching is about meeting that human with more skill, not less.
Logistics
Sessions are 45 minutes, usually fortnightly or monthly. Most parents prefer telehealth (camera-on optional, you can be folding laundry, we don't care). Gold Coast parents can come in-clinic at Burleigh Heads if that suits better. Kids do not need to be present — many parents actively prefer they aren't.
NDIS
For NDIS participants, parent coaching can be funded under Capacity Building (Improved Daily Living) when tied to functional communication goals for the participant. We can help you frame it for your planner. See how NDIS works at Speech Sprout.
Starting
A free 15-minute call is the right next step. We'll talk through what's going on and decide together whether parent coaching is the right shape, or whether you'd benefit more from direct work with your kid, or both, or something else entirely.