FAQs
Frequently Asked Questions
How are support sessions and expressive art different from therapy?
"For too long, the goal of therapy has been to help people adapt to oppression and cope with the ongoing trauma of colonial, capitalist and white supremacist systems. Well the old paradigm is crumbling, and frankly it’s long overdue."
-Jennifer Mullan, author of Decolonizing Therapy
Therapy can be a powerful space for healing, especially when it helps people process trauma, unpack internalized beliefs, and reconnect with themselves. At the same time, it operates within a system that centers treating the individual, offering tools to manage symptoms, without treating the systems that caused the harm in the first place. Licensing boards require therapists to work within treatment models approved by them—such as cognitive behavioral therapy— based on specific diagnoses and treatment goals, which must be documented and measured over time. These structures require therapists to frame people’s distress in clinical terms even when it is rooted in systemic oppression, unmet access needs, and living in a world not built for your body, brain, or way of being.
I do not diagnose or treat any disability. Instead, I offer support, education, affirming resources, co-advocacy, and community that address the root cause of the harm that so many disabled people experience. I support individuals and families in navigating ableist systems and building more liberatory ways of living and relating. Together, we reimagine what it means to heal and thrive- beyond practices that pathologize and treat human diversity.
Why do you offer individual support sessions instead of applied behavioral analysis (ABA)?
I see individual peer support sessions as a trauma-sensitive offering and act of resistance that emerges from the need for support models that are about caring with not for autistic people. My approach is informed by the disconnect between the lived experience/neuroscience of autism and the medical and educational systems' approaches to support. I believe much of what is labeled as “behavioral” is actually a response to unmet needs in areas that aren’t behavioral at all—needs related to communication, safety, regulation, autonomy, and connection. But because the systems interpreting these responses are structured around funding and reimbursement models that favor measurable, behavior-focused interventions, they reduce complex expressions of distress to “behavior” that can be tracked, treated, and controlled. This economic framework perpetuates a cycle where complex human experiences are oversimplified.
ABA therapists often say they are supporting communication, regulation, or autonomy—but if they’re still using behaviorist methods (like reinforcement, extinction, or data collection on “target behaviors”), then they’re still shaping responses based on external compliance, not true connection and consent. True support for regulation, communication, or autonomy isn’t about shaping a desired outcome—it’s about listening deeply, trusting the person’s experience, and co-creating support. If the focus remains on changing behavior, even with good intentions, it still reinforces a model of power-over rather than support-with—and that’s not the same as meeting someone’s needs.
What background and training do you have?
I integrate a wide range of lived experience, professional training, and embodied knowledge into my support, healing work, and advocacy.
My identity and healing work: As a disabled care worker and advocate, I’ve spent my career supporting autistic and disabled people of all ages in surviving, resisting, and healing from the harms of educational and medical systems—many of which I’ve had to navigate myself. It has taken years of learning and unlearning to begin to access the wisdom of my bodymind- knowledge that has been buried through shame, ableism, and white supremacy. I am deeply informed by the ethics, values, and practices of Disability Justice and the Neurodiversity Movement.
Professional and mentorship-based training: I sought my Masters concentrated in Inclusive Special Education and Disability Studies from Syracuse University because of its unparalleled commitment to deinstitutionalization, the communication rights of unreliably and nonspeaking autistic people, and dismantling behaviorism in schools. I trained under the guidance of researchers and AAC trainers at the Hussman Institute for Autism, speech language pathologist and occupational therapist at Growing Kids Therapy Center, AAC trainers at the Institute on Communication and Inclusion, and art therapists at CREATE Arts Center. I have also worked in disability services agencies, non-profit organizations, and disability access services in higher education. I am passionate about lifelong unlearning, and I’m always attending workshops and reading—books, articles, and lived experiences—to keep growing in how I show up in this work.
What does this support cost?
All of my work moves on a sliding scale depending on your access to financial resources and my current availability. Please contact me for more information.
How will I know if sessions are helping me?
Support looks different for everyone. Before we begin working together, we’ll talk about your goals, and together, explore the question of how you’ll know if you’re making progress towards those goals. We’ll stay connected about how our work is feeling for you and make any adjustments as needed. While progress usually isn’t instant, even small shifts can have a meaningful impact.