Hi, I’m Katherine
I live with my family just outside of Toronto, Ontario and I’m on a mission to promote inclusion and autism acceptance
I am a late diagnosed PDA autistic and ADHD mom to a PDA autistic son and sensory seeking autistic girl who I currently home educate.
After my sons diagnosis we were sent on a typical autism journey, we were recommended “intensive ABA” and went along with what we thought was in his best interest, my gut always told me that it didn’t feel right. “why are we disrupting his line ups? that is how he likes to play…” I used to wonder to myself. Only when my son started having increasingly intense meltdowns after ABA did I finally start listening to my gut and venture on a mission to understand and accommodate his brain. Throughout the years our child’s high masking autism presentation meant that we were often questioned about his diagnosis and whether he was “actually autistic”. On the other hand our daughter is more unmasked, and lives her life as a bubbly and outgoing sensory seeker who is fiercely independent, being able to support two children with vastly different needs has given me a wealth of education in addition of my formal education as a teacher.
Through supporting my children I also began to question my own neurotype - throughout my own school years I felt left behind and like I didn’t quite fit in, despite on the outside having a very typical appearing childhood. I went on to study Sociology in a bid to better understand the world around me followed by a Post Graduate teaching certification to help other kids who experienced the world how I did. The feeling of difference persisted through my university career despite being in the top of my class and later fulfilling typical norms like working in a sought after corporate job and being a wife and a mother. I was finally diagnosed with Autism and ADHD as an adult after seeing various aspects of myself in my children (as well as experiencing a lifetime of burnout cycles).
I now have made it my life’s mission to provide community, inclusion and acceptance on both a micro and macro scale, empowering families to value and rely on their natural parenting instincts, promoting inclusion and acceptance in schools & the workplace as well as sharing our story on instagram.
Thank you for being here!
Katherine