FOR THE PARENT WHO IS DOING MORE THAN ANYONE WILL EVER FULLY UNDERSTAND
You are not failing your child. You are carrying something most people cannot even imagine.
And you have been doing it largely alone.
Dr. Erica Buchholz has spent her entire career working directly with children with autism, intellectual disabilities, ADHD, sensory differences, and behavioral challenges, and with the parents who love them fiercely and are exhausted down to their bones.
This was designed for you.
Or jump straight to working with Dr. Erica
CAN WE TALK ABOUT THE THINGS NOBODY SAYS OUT LOUD?
You love your child completely. And you are quietly terrified you are not doing enough.
Not enough therapy.
Not enough advocacy.
Not enough patience during the meltdown that happened in the grocery store while everyone stared.
Not enough research into the right approach, the right diet, the right school placement, the right way to talk to the teacher who still does not quite get it.
The guilt lives somewhere underneath everything. Even on the good days. Even when your child makes a breakthrough that makes your whole heart expand. Even when you know, rationally, that you are doing an extraordinary job.
It is still there. Whispering that you should be doing more.
Here is what I want to say directly to that voice: it is lying to you.
The parent who is not doing enough does not lose sleep over whether they are doing enough.
The parent who is not doing enough is not reading this page, researching support, and looking for a better way forward. You are here because you care so deeply it physically hurts sometimes.
That is not a failure.
That is one of the most profound expressions of love I have ever witnessed, and I have witnessed it hundreds of times in my career.
You do not need to do more. You need someone who understands what you are already carrying, and who can help you carry it differently.
That is what this is.
And then there is the part that is even harder to say.
The part where you love your child with everything you have and you are also grieving something. Where you would not trade them for the world and you are also exhausted by the world they require you to navigate on their behalf every single day.
Where you are your child's greatest champion and you are also, quietly, running out of steam.
Where the marriage is strained because you and your partner see this differently.
Where your other children are not getting enough of you because so much goes to the one who needs more.
Where you cannot remember the last time you felt like a person instead of a coordinator, an advocate, a therapist, a schedule manager, and an emotional container all at once.
All of that is real. All of that is allowed. And none of it means you are failing.
It means you are human. And you need support that actually understands your life.
THIS IS NOT GENERAL PARENTING ADVICE WITH A SPECIAL NEEDS CHAPTER TACKED ON
Dr. Erica has spent her entire career in this world.
Before Becoming Playful existed, Dr. Erica Buchholz spent years working directly with children with autism spectrum disorder, intellectual and developmental disabilities, ADHD and attention differences, sensory processing differences, behavioral challenges, and unique learning profiles.
Including early intervention work with children from birth to three.
This is not background she gathered from a book. It is experience she built in the room, with real children and real families, through some of the most complex and tender moments a family can face.
She understands what an IEP actually feels like from the inside. She knows what it is like to watch a child struggle in a system that was not built for them. She has sat with parents in the grief of an unexpected diagnosis, in the exhaustion of a sleepless stretch that has gone on for months, and in the particular aloneness of loving a child whose needs most people around you cannot fully comprehend.
She also knows what is possible.
She has watched children make breakthroughs their families were told would never come.
She has seen parents find genuine peace inside circumstances that have not changed at all.
She has witnessed marriages find their footing again after learning difference parenting pulled them in opposite directions for years.
The tools she brings to this work are not generic. They are built from the specific science of neurodevelopment, sensory processing, co-regulation, and behavioral psychology, and adapted for the real life of a family who is managing more than most.
YOU DO NOT NEED TO HAVE IT ALL FIGURED OUT TO REACH OUT
Most parents come to Dr. Erica with one of three things.
Sometimes it is all three at once. Whatever brought you here, you are in the right place.
The Meltdowns and the Dysregulation
Sensory meltdowns are not tantrums. Behavioral dysregulation is not defiance. And yet the strategies that work for neurotypical children do not work here, and the gap between knowing that and knowing what to actually do instead can feel enormous. Dr. Erica works with parents to understand the specific sensory and neurological profile of their child, build co-regulation strategies that fit their child's actual wiring, and find the playful connection tools that work even when everything else has failed.
The Strain on Your Marriage and Partnership
This kind of parenting does something to a relationship that nobody warns you about. You and your partner love your child equally and handle it completely differently. One of you researches obsessively. One of you shuts down. One of you wants to push for more services. One of you is terrified of what more services means. Neither of you is wrong. Both of you are exhausted. And the distance between you keeps growing while you are both too depleted to close it. Dr. Erica helps parents and partners find their way back to the same team, with communication tools, shared frameworks, and a clearer understanding of why you each respond the way you do.
The Sibling in the Middle
Sometimes, another child is watching. Taking in what is happening. Wondering where they fit in the equation. Sometimes acting out to find out. Sometimes going very quiet to avoid adding to the pile. The sibling of a child with diverse needs carries something real and it deserves attention. Dr. Erica helps parents see the whole family system, not just the child with the highest needs, and build connection practices that make every child in the house feel seen, important, and loved.
START HERE, AT NO COST
A free resource built specifically for the parent managing neurodiversity.
When your child is dysregulated, the first thing that has to happen, happens with you.
Your nervous system leads. Theirs follows. That is not a platitude, it is neuroscience. And it is the foundation of everything Dr. Erica teaches in her work with families.
The 5-Minute Reset is a free audio guide that walks you through exactly what to do in your own body and mind before you try to reach your child in a hard moment.
It will not solve everything.
But it will change the next hard moment, and the one after that.
Free.
Five minutes.
No login required.
No spam. Unsubscribe at any time.
LEARN WITH PEOPLE WHO ACTUALLY GET IT
Workshops for parents
There is something that happens when parents get in a room together. The exhale. The recognition. The relief of not having to explain yourself or your child from the beginning.
Dr. Erica runs online and in-person workshops throughout the year specifically for parents of children with diverse needs. These are not general parenting workshops with a section on ‘special needs.’ They are built from the ground up for this experience, this exhaustion, and this particular kind of love.
Topics include sensory regulation and co-regulation strategies, navigating the school system and IEP process with confidence, managing the mental load of caregiving, and building connection with your child through play that works for their specific neurological profile.
READY FOR SUPPORT THAT IS BUILT ENTIRELY AROUND YOUR FAMILY?
This is where things really change.
Workshops give you tools and community. And for the parent who is ready for something more tailored, nothing replaces having Dr. Erica in your corner directly.
When you work with Dr. Erica one on one, she is not giving you generic advice. She is bringing fifteen years of direct clinical experience with children who have diverse neurological and developmental profiles to bear on your specific child, your specific family, and your specific situation. She already understands the landscape you are navigating. You do not have to spend your session explaining what autism is, what sensory processing means, or why the thing that works for your friend's child does not work for yours.
You just get to work.
Every coaching client receives full access to the Parenting Vault, a Google Drive library of articles, workbooks, ebooks, checklists, meditation guides, and practical tools for families. No login required. Available anywhere, any time.
Every investment comes with a no-questions-asked refund policy and the freedom to cancel any time.
You might be wondering if this is like therapy. It is not, and here is the difference.
Therapy is a beautiful and important thing. It is also not what this is.
When you work with Dr. Erica, you are not processing your past or unpacking your childhood.
You are solving something that is happening right now, in your home, with your actual child, on a real Wednesday after a hard school pickup.
Think of it less like a clinical appointment and more like finally having someone in your corner who already understands the world you are living in, sees your situation clearly because she is not inside it with you, and helps you find the next right thing with tools that actually work for a child whose brain works differently.
No couch.
No diagnosis.
No homework that adds to the pile.
Just clarity, a concrete plan, and someone who genuinely gets it.
There are three ways to work together. Start wherever feels right for where you are today.
Three ways to work with Dr. Erica
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Let's Solve This
One session. One pressing problem. Real clarity before you leave.
You have something specific you need to work through. A meltdown pattern you cannot crack. A school situation that has gotten out of hand. A conversation with your partner that keeps going in circles. A moment you keep handling the wrong way even though you know it.
That is what this session is for.
Let's Solve This is a single focused session with Dr. Erica built entirely around whatever is most urgent right now. You bring it. She helps you untangle it with the full weight of her expertise behind every suggestion. You leave with a concrete plan and tools designed for your child's actual profile, not a generic checklist that was never built for a child like yours.
Includes:
One 60-minute session with Dr. Erica.
A personalized action plan.
Full access to the Parenting Vault.
Lifetime updates to all vault resources.
No-questions-asked refund policy.
(Purchasing this for a fellow parent or friend? Simply add a note in the booking details and Dr. Erica will take care of the rest.)
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The Big Untangle
Four sessions. The thing that has been draining you for way too long. Finally handled.
Some things did not build up overnight. And they will not shift in a single session either.
The Big Untangle is four sessions with Dr. Erica dedicated to the recurring dynamic, the exhausting pattern, or the situation that has been living in your house for months or years. The meltdowns that escalate every time. The sibling tension that never resolves. The partnership strain that keeps deepening. The advocacy fight that is wearing you down.
Together you will identify exactly what is driving it, build strategies that fit the specific neurological and sensory profile of your child, and create structures your whole family can actually sustain, on the hard days as much as the good ones.
Includes:
Four 60-minute sessions with Dr. Erica.
A personalized action plan after every session.
Full access to the Parenting Vault.
Lifetime updates to all vault resources.
No-questions-asked refund policy.
Cancel any time
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Your Person
Two sessions every month. Someone who knows your family and shows up for whatever life throws next.
Parenting a kiddo with neurodiversity does not have a finish line. The challenges evolve. The child grows. The school situation changes. The marriage goes through seasons. Life keeps throwing new things at a family that is already managing more than most.
Your Person is ongoing monthly support for the parents who wants someone consistently in their corner through all of it. Two sessions every month with Dr. Erica means there is always a touchpoint coming. Always someone who already knows your child's profile, understands your family's history, and can help you navigate whatever is happening right now without starting from the beginning every single time.
No intake process to repeat. No explaining your child's diagnosis from scratch. Just Dr. Erica, already in your world, ready to help with whatever this month brought.
No contracts. No pressure. Cancel any time.
Includes:
Two 60-minute sessions every month with Dr. Erica.
Personalized support and resources between sessions.
Full access to the Parenting Vault.
Lifetime updates to all vault resources.
Priority scheduling
No-questions-asked refund policy.
Cancel any time
INCLUDED WITH EVERY COACHING LEVEL
The Parenting Vault
A Google Drive library you can open on your phone in the school pickup line, during the IEP meeting prep session at midnight, or in the middle of a hard week when you just need one good resource right now.
No login.
No password.
No barrier between you and what you need.
Inside:
articles and research on neurodevelopment and sensory processing
workbooks
ebooks
checklists
meditation guides
playful connection resources built for diverse learners
and practical tools for the specific challenges of neurodiverse family life
Updated regularly. Yours for life.
Real Families. Real Results.
You have been the expert on your child for a long time. Now let someone be the expert for you.
You do not have to walk into a session knowing what you need. You just have to show up. Dr. Erica will handle the rest. Whether you start with the free audio, join a workshop, or book directly, the most important step is the first one.
You deserve support as much as your child does. Maybe more.