Heartstone Guidance Center

09/27/2025

08/22/2025

for real.

08/16/2025

Here are my priorities for neurodivergent kids.

The top branches are the most important.
They are top priorities.
Non-negotiable.

The next branches down are also really important and we won’t be neglecting those either.

The bottom branches are school attendance and academics.

Many neurodivergent kids and parents have these branches on their priority tree, which is fine. Many parents choose to remove those branches and do home learning. Also fine.

If ‘school attendance’ and ‘academics’ are branches on your kid’s tree, that’s not a problem in and of itself. These branches become a problem when they start rotting away branches that are higher up.

Parents are fed a lot of information about how school attendance is one of the highest priorities. Parents are told that attendance belongs on those top branches. In my mind it does not. It’s welcome to be on the tree. But it will not ever be as important as these other top branches.

We just pulled my eldest from school.
Academics and school attendance had become very harmful branches to have on his tree. Now we have all three kids home-schooling. And they are happier.

What do you think?

Em 🌈

08/16/2025

ABA is unfortunately a very prevalent ’therapy’ for Autistic kids. It’s often the one that is recommended by medical professionals, and it’s often called the ‘gold standard’ approach for our kids.

Why? Because many non-autistic people still believe that Autism is something to be ‘reduced’ or ‘cured’. Because it’s easier for non-autistic people to change us then it is to open their minds and change their perspective. Because many adults view compliance as the ultimate goal. And ABA ticks those ableist boxes.

The majority of the autistic community rejects ABA, and for good reasons. We’ve had it done to us. There’s a lot of research that shows the massive harm that ABA has done in our community. The mental health statistics directly associated with ABA are horrifying. Check out Neuroclastic and Reframing Autism to give them a read.

And yet these statistics are usually not disclosed or even acknowledged by ABA facilities. They are often not even known by the medical professionals who are recommending ABA to every autistic kid who comes through their door.

Parents are not told of the harm that ABA will likely do.

They are often told rubbish like ‘ABA is the one thing that will help your child’, ‘ABA is the most effective treatment for Autism and you need to do as much if it as you can to get the most benefit before it’s too late’.

Our kids end up in 20, 30, 40 hours of this program a week. Their childhood is being deleted. But parents are scared into thinking that this Autism is a ticking clock that needs to be managed before it really takes hold.

It is not. Autism is simply a different neurotype.
To understand it, all you need to do is spend some time listening to autistic people. We have the info you need.

All the goals you have for your kid? There are other ways to achieve them. Neurodiversity affirming therapies that come without the huge risk to your kid.

Professionals who don’t listen to autistic voices have no business working with autistic people. ABA practitioners who have spent no time actively learning from autistic people are very likely to cause harm.

If you are a BCBA, please note: this is not an invitation for you to leave pro-ABA comments, or ‘but I do new ABA’ comments. My account is firmly anti-ABA. You are welcome to stick around and hear what I have to say. I hope I can give you a new perspective.

If you are a parent who has your kid in ABA- I am very aware of how the system works. I know how the information was presented to you. I know that we are trained to trust our medical professionals, especially those that are specialists. I know how fear is used. I know how insurance works. I know how waiting lists and accessibility are not on our side. I know how heavy societal expectations are. And I know how pervasive ableism is.

All this to say- I get it.
I hope that my perspective is helpful to you. I hope you feel empowered.
If you pull your child out of ABA today, you have the support and gratitude of thousands and thousands of autistic adults.

I’m so drained.

Em
AuDHD SLP

08/16/2025

🌊 Protecting Our Neurodivergent Nervous Systems in a World on Fire

If you’re neurodivergent, your nervous system is already processing *more*—more sensory input, more thoughts spiraling into every possible scenario, more emotional depth. We live in bodies and brains that rarely get to “power down.”

And right now? The noise is deafening.
Fascism creeping in. Climate collapse accelerating. Every headline another jolt to a system that already runs on high alert.

It’s easy to drown in the overthinking, the hypervigilance, the constant mental simulations of “what if.” We feel it all—sometimes more than we can hold.

But here’s the truth:
We can’t single-handedly stop every injustice or reverse every disaster.
We *can* protect the instrument that keeps us alive—our nervous system.

That means:

* Choosing which inputs we allow in
* Letting go of the battles we can’t fight today
* Holding onto the ones we *can* fight, fiercely and strategically
* Making space for rest without guilt—because our bodies are the revolution too

The systems harming us want us too exhausted to resist. Caring for your nervous system is not selfish. It’s survival. It’s resistance.

Today, I’m focusing on the piece I *can* control—and releasing the rest into the current.
What’s one thing you’ll put down to keep going?

08/09/2025

Art therapy group for neurodivergent people @ Heartstone Guidance Center

08/09/2025

Art therapy group for neurodivergent people @ Heartstone Guidance Center

07/27/2025

THERAPY AND CAPITALISM...... As a therapist I ask this question a lot.... "Are you a failure or has society failed you?" Think hard my neurodivergent friends, capitalism tells you that you aren't trying hard enough, recycling enough, working enough, grinding, enough, so you are failing capitalism. But in reality, our capitalist society has failed you, it has failed us all.

Friends, you are enough. You have value. Capitalism has failed all of us.
Presenting Problem: F0.00 - Capitalism, Late Stage, Malignant Type

As a therapist,
I wish I could diagnose clients
with late-stage capitalism,
unpack the anxious voices in their head
that seem to have replaced
actual therapy with retail therapy,
deep ocean breaths with burnout,
where even self-care has to turn a buck.

Let's diagnose the disease,
not just the symptoms.

You're not aching, muscles clenched,
scream caught in your throat,
‌finger on the trigger,
because you failed,
because you can't brainwash yourself
into good vibes only!

We are stuck in a trauma bond
with the one-percent,
gaslit into believing
band-aids will fix systemic wounds,
while the inner critic
repeats the lies
taught by generational abuse.

Who taught you
that rest must be earned?
that you have to run on this hamster wheel?
that your inner child
was meant to be shackled in a windowless room,
suffocating, pushing papers
until pushing up daisies
while hedge fund bros and billionaires
race each other into space?

There is a razor's edge
between depression and exploitation;
a tightrope to walk between anxiety
and "will I eat tonight?"

We have survived a lot --
the side hustles,
the paycheck-to-paycheck scramble,
gig economy scraps,
algorithms, automation,
rising rents, the layoffs,
all to be told to whistle while we work,
and I think we should validate that,
we must validate that,
but isn't it time to reframe the narrative?

What are we holding space for
if not a revolution?

Now --
where do you feel that in your body?

-Poem By Vamped Vixen

07/19/2025

07/18/2025

Rest as long as you need, it might be raining for awhile. Conserve your energy, your strength. Rest is compassion. Rest is resistance.

06/22/2025

🌈✨ Happy Pride from all of us at Heartstone Guidance Center! ✨🌈

At Heartstone, we celebrate every shade of the rainbow—because love, identity, and self-expression are sacred. We are honored to support our LGBTQIA+ community not just during Pride Month, but every single day of the year.

We believe that being who you are should never require a mask. Whether you’re exploring your gender, embracing your sexuality, navigating transitions, or simply learning to love yourself—your journey is valid, powerful, and deeply worthy of support.

To our q***r, trans, nonbinary, questioning, and neurodivergent community: we see you. We are you. We honor your courage. We are grateful for your joy, your resistance, your beauty, and your truth.

🏳️‍🌈 Be loud. Be soft. Be weird. Be proud. Be YOU.
💖 There is nothing more radical than living your truth in a world that tries to silence it.

From all of us at Heartstone—Happy Pride!

06/22/2025