Northern Rivers Key Worker Services

19/11/2025

📢 Add your voice: The petition calling for safe, evidence-based NDIS assessments is now live.
Sign here ➡️ https://www.aph.gov.au/e-petitions/petition/EN8570

This model was scrapped once for being unsafe.
We can’t let it return without a fight.
Please sign and share.

e-petitions

15/11/2025

When a child says “I hate you” or “I’m dumb,” they’re showing you their pain, not the truth.

“I hate you” often means “I’m overwhelmed and don’t know how to cope.”
“I’m dumb” often means “I feel like I’ve failed and I need reassurance that I’m still enough.”

Both are cries for connection, not correction.
Your calm presence helps them feel safe enough to see themselves differently. ❤️

📖 From my book, Guidance from The Therapist Parent — available at www.thetherapistparent.com and on Amazon.

15/11/2025

Instead of “How was your day?”, try questions that open the door to real connection 💬✨

Ask things like:
💭 “What made you laugh today?”
🎨 “Did anything surprise you?”
🤝 “Who did you sit with at lunch?”
❤️ “What was something kind you did or saw?”

These questions invite your child to share their world — not just their day.

👉 For more ways to connect with your child, check out Guidance from The Therapist Parent at www.thetherapistparent.com or on Amazon.

15/11/2025

There’s a big difference between a threat and a boundary — even if the words sound similar.

⚡ Threat: “Clean your room or no TV.” (Comes from frustration and control.)
🌱 Boundary: “You can watch TV after your room is clean.” (Comes from calm guidance and clear limits.)

One triggers resistance. The other teaches responsibility and follows through with connection. 💛

👉 Learn more about setting boundaries that connect in Guidance from The Therapist Parent — available at www.thetherapistparent.com and on Amazon.

15/11/2025

https://www.theproviderloft.com.au/thriving-kids-in-schools-will-it-work/

At its core, Thriving Kids is an ambitious plan by the Federal Government to: divert children with mild and moderate autism and developmental delay from the NDIS early intervention pathway; and rep…

14/11/2025

14/11/2025

Supporting a child through a meltdown is not just about what we say or do.
It’s also about what is happening inside us.

Our nervous system responds to their overwhelm.
Their panic can trigger our panic.
Their intensity can activate our urgency.
Their distress can stir our own history of not feeling safe.

So before we can co-regulate a young person, we often need to regulate ourselves.
Not perfectly — just enough to stay steady.

This post shares supportive ways to stay regulated as the adult, so that we can be the grounding presence a child’s nervous system is reaching for in the storm.

Because when we are calm, predictable, and connected — the child feels safe enough to return to calm too.

If you’d like a deeper breakdown of every phase of the meltdown cycle — and how to respond at each stage without shame, fear, or urgency — you’ll find the full Timeline of a Meltdown resource via link in comments below ⬇️ or via Linktree Shop in Bio.

Save this post to return to when you need it

14/11/2025

14/11/2025

Chores are a good way to work on executive functioning skills https://www.theottoolbox.com/chores-and-executive-functioning-skills/

14/11/2025

BENEFITS OF RECESS AS A REGULATION TOOL FOR KIDS

Kids need recess as a regulation tool to help them sit still during class and to attend and focus for longer periods of time. Here's why...

14/11/2025

11/11/2025