Divergent Empowerment provides a variety of services to support Neurodivergent individuals and their families in Wisconsin to increase personal empowerment, self-advocacy and self-determination skills. I work with children, young adults and their families to help them understand themselves, their needs, and explore how to best provide person-centered supports to build engaging, balanced and meaningful lives. My work is guided by Independent Living Philosophy, a movement that believes people with disabilities have a right to equal opportunities and to make their own choices, as well as the work of Stephen Porges and others on Polyvagal Theory, which seeks to understand behaviors from a nervous system framework and looks at what is underneath the surface driving behavior patterns. In collaboration with clients and their families, I work to create individualized Empowerment Plans to help support a wide range of sensory/emotional regulation and communication needs.

I go beyond traditional approaches to behavior management by focusing on the strengths of the individual, understanding their specific needs, and developing systems of support that empower the client as well as those in their circle of support, respecting autonomy and choice. I also offer support to families who have children with a PDA profile (Pervasive Drive for Autonomy), a subset of the autism community that is more nervous system activated. Services are offered in person as well as virtually to clients and parents or other unpaid care providers.

I provide individual services at clients’ homes as well as group workshops in community settings. I serve children of all ages enrolled in Children’s Long Term Services (CLTS) with Dane County but can also take private pay clients. When a client turns 18, if they are eligible for adult long term services and select the IRIS program, I can transition with them and continue to provide training to develop self-advocacy and self-determination skills to learn to direct their own support services and build a life for themselves as adults.  

My focus is on building meaningful and supportive relationships with clients and their families that build skills grounded in self-awareness and personal empowerment for lifelong resilience. I believe everyone has dreams and the right to be supported in achieving them, no matter what the challenges are in their personal journey. I believe everyone has the right to be heard and to be supported in learning to advocate for their needs effectively. 

Self-determination is all about taking control and responsibility for your life. It means setting goals and working on making them a reality. It means making your own choices, learning to solve problems as they arise, and taking responsibility for your decisions. Developing self-determination skills is a lifelong process and involves learning attitudes and skills that foster self-awareness, assertiveness, personal empowerment, creativity, problem solving and self-advocacy.

Many people with disabilities or who are Neurodivergent do not have the same opportunities as their peers to learn self-determination skills through real-world experiences, which often involve risks, making mistakes, and reflecting on outcomes. When those opportunities are provided, teens have more positive transition outcomes as adults in terms of employment, independent living, and being involved in directing their own support services. Divergent Empowerment works with children and their families to develop advocacy skills on both individual and systems levels so they can effectively participate in developing their Special Education services with school staff and their long-term support services to increase independence.

Divergent Empowerment is a contracted provider with Dane County Children’s Long Term Services (CLTS) as well as an approved vendor for adults enrolled in the IRIS program. Divergent Empowerment also accepts private pay clients. I am not able to accept any private insurance or other forms of funding at this time.

Requests for services are added to my waitlist, which varies in length over time, and potential clients are notified when an opening becomes available. Please reach out if a more urgent need exists and I will try our best to accommodate the client and their family.