When Parents Struggle Too: Executive Functioning Support for Neurodivergent Families
Tracks
Jacaranda - In-Person Only
| Tuesday, September 29, 2026 |
| 10:45 AM - 11:15 AM |
| Jacaranda Room |
Overview
Megan Doherty, Eli's Place Allied Health
Key Learnings
1. Participants will understand that executive functioning is relational and context-dependent, shaped by environmental demands and co-regulation rather than individual skill alone.
2. Attendees will learn how occupational therapists can scaffold executive functioning around parents with their own executive functioning differences, reducing reliance on memory, motivation, and willpower through external supports and systems.
3. The presentation will highlight that supporting parental executive functioning is a core child wellbeing intervention, improving implementation of strategies, reducing parental burnout, and strengthening long-term occupational engagement and outcomes for neurodivergent children and their families.
Speaker
Mrs Megan Doherty
Director And Occupational Therapist
Eli's Place Allied Health
When Parents Struggle Too: Executive Functioning Support for Neurodivergent Families
Presentation Overview
Executive functioning challenges are highly prevalent among neurodivergent parents, particularly those raising neurodivergent children. Parents with differences in planning, organisation, working memory, emotional regulation, and task initiation are frequently positioned as the primary facilitators of their child’s executive functioning development, despite often receiving little recognition or support for their own executive functioning needs. This mismatch can contribute to parental burnout, shame, and reduced capacity to implement recommended strategies consistently, ultimately impacting child and family wellbeing.
This presentation explores how occupational therapists can meaningfully support parents who experience executive functioning differences while simultaneously supporting their children’s executive functioning development. Drawing on a neurodiversity-affirming, family-centred occupational therapy framework, the session reframes executive functioning as a relational and environmental construct rather than an individual deficit. It highlights how occupational therapists can scaffold executive functioning around parents—through environmental adaptations, co-regulation, routines, external systems, and values-based goal setting—rather than expecting parents to “model” skills they may be actively working to develop themselves.
Practical, evidence-informed strategies will be presented to support planning, follow-through, emotional regulation, and task initiation within everyday family routines, with a strong emphasis on reducing cognitive load and supporting parental wellbeing. Case examples will illustrate how occupational therapists can partner with parents to build sustainable, compassionate systems that honour neurodivergent ways of thinking and being.
This session aims to shift the narrative from parental compliance to collaborative capacity-building, positioning occupational therapists as key facilitators of executive functioning support at the family level, with flow-on benefits for child wellbeing, parental mental health, and long-term occupational engagement.
This presentation explores how occupational therapists can meaningfully support parents who experience executive functioning differences while simultaneously supporting their children’s executive functioning development. Drawing on a neurodiversity-affirming, family-centred occupational therapy framework, the session reframes executive functioning as a relational and environmental construct rather than an individual deficit. It highlights how occupational therapists can scaffold executive functioning around parents—through environmental adaptations, co-regulation, routines, external systems, and values-based goal setting—rather than expecting parents to “model” skills they may be actively working to develop themselves.
Practical, evidence-informed strategies will be presented to support planning, follow-through, emotional regulation, and task initiation within everyday family routines, with a strong emphasis on reducing cognitive load and supporting parental wellbeing. Case examples will illustrate how occupational therapists can partner with parents to build sustainable, compassionate systems that honour neurodivergent ways of thinking and being.
This session aims to shift the narrative from parental compliance to collaborative capacity-building, positioning occupational therapists as key facilitators of executive functioning support at the family level, with flow-on benefits for child wellbeing, parental mental health, and long-term occupational engagement.
Biography
Meg Doherty is a late-diagnosed AuDHDer, mother, and dedicated occupational therapist. She is the director and principle Occupational Therapist of Eli's Place Allied Health. Throughout her career, Meg has utilised evidence-based practice with clients and their families to achieve their goals. Her personal journey with neurodivergence has deepened her commitment to neurodiversity-affirming practices, enriching both her professional and personal life. She has a special interest in family dynamics and how this affects therapy outcomes, deep diving into occupations (meaningful activities) and problem solving barriers. Meg brings a deeply informed and compassionate perspective to supporting neurodivergent families.
