Every family moves through seasons. Some stretches are easy, almost effortless, and then something shifts and everything you knew how to do stops working. Transitions get harder. Meltdowns get longer. The advice that worked for your neighbour's kid doesn't touch what's happening in your house. If you're in one of those seasons right now, I'm Autumn Oliver-Giasson, and this is the work I do.

I'm a Registered Behaviour Analyst with a Master's in Applied Behaviour Analysis Practice from the Florida Institute of Technology. I work with challenging behaviours, ASD, ADHD, emotional regulation, rigid routines, transitions, and the hard work of learning to tolerate "no," whether your child is neurodivergent or not. I started this work before I had kids of my own, back when I understood behaviour mostly from the clinical side. Then I had kids, and I moved into a different season myself. I'm neurodivergent; I have ADHD, and I'm raising two neurodivergent kids, one on the spectrum and one with ADHD. I know what the hard seasons feel like from the inside, standing in the kitchen at the end of a long day, out of ideas, wondering if this is just how things are now. I also know what it looks like on the other side, once you understand what's actually going on underneath the behaviour.

If you've already tried the standard advice and it hasn't worked, that doesn't mean you're missing something obvious. It usually means the strategy didn't match what was actually going on for your child, or for your family.

That's the whole premise behind Behaviour Companion: behaviour is information, not defiance. A child who's struggling is telling you something about a demand that doesn't fit, a skill that hasn't caught up yet, a nervous system that's overwhelmed, a connection that needs rebuilding. My work is figuring out what that something is, then helping you build the skills and the relationship that carry your family into the next season. Support is individualized to your family and looks at the whole picture, not just the behaviour in front of you, because what's happening with your child is almost always connected to what's happening around them.

I offer a few different ways to work together, depending on where you are.

Some families need me in the thick of it, so I come to your home and work with your child in the actual moments that are hard: mealtimes, transitions, bedtime.

Other families are in a season where they need real, ongoing support without adding another appointment to an already full calendar. That's what virtual parent coaching is for. It's one-to-one, just you and me, meeting regularly online to walk through what's actually happening in your home that week and build a plan that fits your life instead of adding to it. It's one of the most flexible ways I support families, and it gives you in-the-moment strategies you can put to use right away.

Group support is different. It's a focused weekly session where I walk you through the behind-the-scenes of how behaviour actually works and how to apply it at home, alongside a small circle of parents dealing with similar things. You leave with real skills to use that week, plus a safe place to talk through the hard moments with people who understand, without having to explain the backstory first.

I work with families across the South Ottawa and Kemptville region.

Wherever your family is right now, deep winter or something closer to early spring, you don't have to figure it out alone. Reach out, and let's talk about what season you're in and what would actually help.