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Michele Shilvock
Michele Shilvock

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What Clients Have Said

  • “Michele Shilvock has been a part of our autism journey, and our family, for more than 16 years. She came into our lives when our daughter was just 3.5 years old and has seen us through all the major milestones—preschool, the elementary and high school years (and every IEP), getting her first job, and her first 2 years of university. Our daughter is now 20 years old, and living away at school, and when she needs advice or support, she still reaches out to Michele.”

  • Michele Shilvock is extraordinary! She is an expert in the field of Autism with an innate sense of understanding the unique abilities of each child she works with. Michele will develop individualized programs to meet the specific needs of each child to help them succeed as well as programs based on parents and siblings needs to support the family.

    Michele began working with our son 11 years ago when he was diagnosed at the age of two. From the moment she walked in our door we knew we were in excellent hands. She not only works with our son but our whole family. We are a team! Michele comes with knowledge, instinct, innovation, compassion, support, patience and time. She is the full package. We have always felt that we were working together for the benefit of our son and our family. We shared the joy during success and progression and work together when challenges arise.

    Michele undoubtedly saved our son’s life and our family. We are so thankful.
    With Michele Shilvock as your guide through the world of Autism, you will be on the right path!

  • Michele has worked with our family for over 6 years, right from the time our oldest was diagnosed with asd. She has offered guidance and support for our son with autism both at home and in the school setting as well as providing parent coaching with our two younger children. Michele has always been professional, dependable and most of all honest with us every step of the way. She has been a great advocate for our son at school, always keeping on top of daily data and checking in with the team when needed. She has provided tools and techniques for my younger son to use in understanding his brother as well as challenging situations at school or with peers. Michele has a true passion for children and her experience shows in every interaction. We would, and have recommended Michele several times to other families, we are very grateful for her services with our family!

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Support At School /// As children develop a sense Support At School ///

As children develop a sense for what might work for them it really helps to include them in the strategies to accommodate. What might make sense for the big people does not always make sense for children. Sometimes they have ideas for what will help them that adults never thought of. The more buy-in from a child to the tool, the more likely it is to be beneficial. So when you, talk to kids and explain and leave room for collaboration. 

Do you agree?

#accomodation #schoollearning #teachingkids #collaborations #neurodivergent #supportingkids #helpingkids #adhd #asd #autism #parenting #schoolsupport
Edited … be sure to have your audio on for this Edited … be sure to have your audio on for this one 😉

A Top Tips /// Student Edition

✨ Before jumping into the strategies a reminder to first understand what is behind the challenge. Most often there are lagging skills, skills not yet developed that will require support and coaching to make the best connections and strategies be successful for that child.  Tools are great but not without a full understanding and not all tools work for all kids and some, like withholding recess should just veneer be utilize 😉

💫 share this with someone who might need it today 

#teachingkids #parenttip #educators #supportingstudents #supportingkids #childdevelopment #neurodivergent #southrockmoms #bcmoms #parenting #understandingbehaviour
Supporting diverse learners /// What are accommod Supporting diverse learners ///

What are accommodations?  Essentially think of them as changes that can be made to the presentation of school tasks, setting the task is done in, time ( when or how much), or how a student responds.  They are changes educators can make to help remove barriers to students successfully participating. 

So what can happen when neurodiverse learners are put in a wait and see approach vs proactively supporting success. You might see increased stress and even anxiety in students, significant increase in escape avoidance behaviours and an overall disconnect for the student and their learning and the educators in their school life. 

What can a parent do to help avoid these?

✨Plan ahead - meet with your child’s school-based team to talk about their learning 
✨Know ahead what type of accommodations help your child
✨Talk to your child
✨Talk to teachers directly about what accommodations can help
✨Don’t assume reports are being reviewed by everyone 
✨Keep calm in your communication style with the school team 
✨Consider that extrinsic motivation may be needed to help increase initial engagement in low value school tasks. 

✨ Most of all, focus on working with your child’s school team.  Keep communication and and forward planning going and ensure your child sees value pieces in their school day!

#schoollife #accommodations #teachingkids #schoolstress #workingwithschools #parenttips #educators #motivationmonday #educationsystem #inclusion #neurodivergent #neurodiversity
Big feelings // Ever had that moment where your Big feelings // 

Ever had that moment where your child comes home visibly upset but isn’t interested in talking. All you want to do is know what happened so you can “fix it.” It’s that innate feeling of wanting to make things better for your child  that parents experience. But the reality of behaviour is that the more you push the more an upset child is likely to close up. 

What can you do?

✨ Key is to follow their lead. This means giving them space, making yourself available and first and for most LISTEN without fixing.  See what your child is wanting from you. 

Give a ❤️ if you have a child feeling all the feels and not finding it easy to share with you. 

#childhood #parentingkids #parentingtips #parentlife #parentingwithintention #consciousparenting #behaviourmanagement #parentcoach #childdevelopment #supportingkids #kidsfeelings
When the outside doesn’t match the inside /// When  the outside doesn’t match the inside ///

This is a reminder that while a child may be laughing on the outside while in a state of disregulation  that does not at all mean their actions are intentional. 

Many children will mask their true stress with smiles and laughter and the appearance of intention “i meant” or “I wanted to”. This however most often so far from the truth. 

It’s important that the big people begin to reframe their thoughts and move away from@judging a book by its cover. 

✨these are children in states of distress and they need your understanding not your judgement. 

#neurodivergent #asd #adhd #parentingtips #educators #supportingkids #coregulation #socialemotionallearning #selfregulation #complexbehavioursupport #educatorsofinstagram
Parenting diverse learners/// strategies​​​​​​​​
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While there are assumptions that children will naturally learn various skills at specific developmental milestones, the reality is that this is often not the case for many children.  Instead, they thrive in an environment that recognizes their lagging skills and one where  the big people are committed to the teaching and ongoing coaching in using skills. ​​​​​​​​
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Coaching your child to learn a skill might include:​​​​​​​​
✨planning the teaching ​​​​​​​​
✨identifying steps to learn ​​​​​​​​
✨creating a motivating environment to learn in ​​​​​​​​
✨understanding the prerequisite steps  learning ​​​​​​​​
✨being patient ​​​​​​​​
✨being committed that coaching may be a long game not a sprint.​​​​​​​​
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💫The first step is realizing where those lagging skills are.  Stay tuned this month as I continue to share more about how to support neurodivergent children.

#neurodivergent #parentingtips #parentcoach #parenting #parentinglife #positiveparenting #teachingkids #adhd #asd #behavioranalyst #behaviorsciences #teachingkids #supportingchildren  #vancouverparents #vancouvermoms #southrockmoms
Why not all parenting strategies work for all chil Why not all parenting strategies work for all children///

General strategies and understanding of child development is great a lot of the time. But when you are parenting a child who is neurodivergent the strategies are not always the same.
Why?
Because these are children who process information in diverse ways, regulate at different abilities, u set stand and see engagement uniquely and don’t utilize their prefrontal cortex the same way. 

The thing is … once you understand the uniqueness of your child you are far better equipped to bridge that understanding to strategies that will truly work. 

✨DM me if you are looking for direct support in  navigating your child’s u inquest needs. 

#parentinglife #positiveparenting #neurodivergent #adhd #asd #odd #diverselearners #parentingtips #parentcoach #behaviouranalysis #parentingbridge #parentlife #southrockmoms #vancouverparents #vancouvermoms
Tips for parental stress /// Stress is unavoidabl Tips for parental stress ///

Stress is unavoidable, but as a big person how you manage your stress directly impacts how you parent. A few tips for how to avoid your own big reactions with kids when you are feeling the stress:

💡pick and choose your battles -  it’s ok to have relax on a rule from time to time. When you don’t have the bandwidth to hold a boundary, shift it altogether from the start. 
💡 time for you - waking up 5 mins before the house, walking the king way home after school drop off, etc.. however big or small try to find a moment in the day to refuel yourself. 
💡realistic expectations - this might mean taking a break from social media, but what’s key surround yourself with content of what realistic parenting looks like so that you are setting realistic expectations for you. 
💡 when you can plan ahead for those known triggers for your child. Set them up for success to avoid their heightened stress and your tendency to then lean into reactive strategies only. 

✨Most of all be kind to you !  You are doing the best you can each and every day.  Be sure to share this reminder with another parent. 

#parenthood #parentingwithpresence #parenttips #realparenting #momhood #dadhood #southrockmoms #vancouvermoms #parentcoach #parentingtips101
TIP … Mantras Feeling stress is certainly part TIP … Mantras

Feeling stress is certainly part of parenting, but what you do with that stress and how you respond to your child can make all the difference.  If you let stress lead your approach will often end with you and your child feeling upset and even deflated.  But when you insert a mantra into your pause and pivot to those triggering encounters you can often find your stress level will lower. 

MANTRAS - a brief statement you say to yourself to turn around a negative belief / feeling you have in a moment. 

By shifting your thoughts in a moment you are lowering your stress and ultimately shifting your response to a more desired. 

This takes practice and awareness but can require little effort in the moment. 

✨ let me know what your mantra is 

#parentmantras #mantras #parentalstress #parentingstress #parenttips #parentcoach #parenting #parentproblems #parenthood #southrockmoms #vancouvermoms #momlife #behaviorchange #consciousparenting
How parental stress can impact your responsiveness How parental stress can impact your responsiveness ///​​​​​​​​
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I asked and this community responded ... support and tips for parents around navigating those hard moments was one of the common themes you asked for more information around.  So let's start with unpacking STRESS in parenting. ​​​​​​​​
​​​​​​​​
You can't run from it, as it often exists all around you and in you.  Work, finances, relationships, fear, worry, health, to name a few, can all impact your core ability to respond to a child in distress, to be responsive and regulated.  Add this to parenting children who may experience more explosive responses to adult requests and you have the recipe for reactive and often more authoritarian parenting approach,  where threats and consequences are the main modes to how you respond. Your child reacts big and your response is matched with an equal or greater level of stress.​​​​​​​​
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✨So what can you do?  RECOGNIZE the stress and build a more POSITIVE belief around how you respond to those moments, putting you in  a more controlled state to respond in an empathetic and boundary setting/holding way. I often call this the PAUSE and PIVOT approach to responding to explosive behaviour.  When you are are likely to be more reactive due to your own heightened level of stress this is when the PAUSE is most critical.​​​​​​​​
 💫💫Essentially - PAUSE (takes. deep breath in, count to 5) and  then respond to your child.  That 5 seconds can shift you from reactive to supportive.  From loud to calm.​​​​​​​​
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Be sure to try this approach and let me know below what you think.⬇️

#parenttips #parentsupport #parentalstress #parentstruggles #positiveparenting #parentlife #parentcoach #parenthood #behavioranalyst #consciousparenting #vancouvermoms #southrockmoms #micheleshilvockconsulting
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