I'm Sarah, an Autistic ADHD
psychologist.
I provide affirming adult autism assessments and perinatal therapy
because I understand what it means to become a parent while
questioning who you are, and how those two journeys often collide.
How I Got Here
I am late-diagnosed AuDHD, but I grew up with other disabilities that shaped every part of my life. For years, those disabilities overshadowed what was really going on (known as "diagnostic overshadowing" in fancy terms). I know intimately what it feels like to not be recognised, supported, or able to accept yourself with compassion.
Parenthood changed everything for me. Like many neurodivergent folks, becoming a parent brought my own neurotype into sharp focus. The demands, the sensory overwhelm, the identity shifts... it all made me question who I was and how I'd been moving through the world.
That experience is exactly why neuroaffirming work matters so much to me. Autistic people have staggeringly high rates of trauma, often from years of being misunderstood, dismissed, or told they're "too much" or "not enough." When you're also navigating the massive developmental transition of becoming a parent, that accumulated trauma can feel unbearable. I won't add to that.
I became a psychologist in 2015 and started my career in the remote Kimberley, WA, working in education settings with First Nations communities. I learned early on to be flexible, curious, and anticolonial in my approach. There were barely any "standard" assessments or approaches for the cultural groups I worked with, so I had to learn to assess differently, to listen more deeply, to hold space for ways of being that don't fit the textbook. I relied on clinical supervision with experienced psychologists, and listening and learning from lived experience of those people in community whom I served.
Working with families taught me something fundamental: relationships are developmental. The relationship between parent and child, between partners, between who you were and who you're becoming. All of these shift and grow over time. There's no "right way" to do any of it. There's only your way, shaped by your nervous system, your history, your values, and your context.
In some ways, that's exactly what autism assessment and perinatal therapy require. Most standardised tools aren't affirming. Most weren't written by or co-designed with autistic people . So I've learned to truly listen to the person in front of me and make sense of their internal experience more than any checklist.
My approach
My Philosophy: People Over Protocols, Relationships Over Rigidity
I do a lot of professional learning through peer supervision,
consultation with autistic colleagues, and lived experience voices.
I attend conferences like the Neurodiversity Affirming Therapy
Conference Australia and Yellow Ladybugs. I read textbooks,
preferably those written or edited by autistic people, like Is This Autism?
by Donna Henderson (highly recommend if you want to learn more about
less stereotypical autism presentations).
I've trained in MIGDAS interviewing, EMDR, attachment and
trauma-informed approaches.
But here's the truth: tools matter less than philosophy.
What matters is:
✓ Creating space for people to be themselves, not perform what they think autism or parenting "should" look like
✓ Understanding developmental transitions (becoming a parent is one of the most profound identity shifts you'll ever experience, and it's messy and non-linear)
✓ Holding space for relationship changes with your partner, your parents, your friends, your child, and most importantly, with yourself
My assessments feel like two people sitting on a couch having a conversation about life. Not a cold clinical interview across a table.
That's intentional.
✓ Recognising that there's no "one way" to be autistic or to be a parent. Your way is valid
✓ Understanding my own biases and doing the deep internal work to unlearn what I was taught about "normal"
✓ Honouring attachment without pathologising difference: secure attachment can look different in neurodivergent families, and that's okay
Speaking & Training
I regularly present at conferences and deliver training to
organisations across Australia on topics including neurodivergence,
perinatal mental health, trauma, and affirming practice.
Organizations I've presented for include:
✓ Australian College of Midwives
✓ Yellow Ladybugs
✓ Perinatal Training Centre
✓ Mental Health Professionals Network
✓ Neuroinclusion
✓ Australian Childhood Foundation (International Childhood Trauma Conference)
✓ Women's Health and Wellbeing Service
✓ WA Country Health Service (Midwifery)
My niche: Perinatal Period + Neurodivergence (/disability)
Why Perinatal Psychology Matters in Autism Assessment & Therapy
I'm a perinatal psychologist, which means I understand the profound developmental and relational changes that happen during pregnancy, birth, and early parenting. While I assess and work with adults at all life stages, my perinatal training gives me a unique lens, one that recognises becoming a parent is not just an event, it's a process of transformation.
Here's why that matters:
The perinatal period is a pressure cooker for neurodivergent parents
Sleep deprivation, sensory overload, loss of routine, constant touch, unpredictable demands, social expectations, relationship shifts, identity upheaval... it's a perfect storm. Many parents don't realise they're autistic or ADHD until they're lost in the demands of early parenthood.
But here's the thing: Is it postnatal depression? Postnatal anxiety? Perinatal OCD? Birth trauma? Relationship breakdown? Or is it autistic burnout and ADHD overwhelm?
Often, it's more than one thing. And sometimes, what looks like a perinatal mood disorder is actually unrecognised neurodivergence that's been masked your whole life, until parenting stripped away your capacity to mask. I can help you differentiate because I understand both.
My Current Practice
I'm now offering individual therapy on Fridays in Byford, WA, alongside autism assessments via telehealth.
Autism Assessments:
✓ Telehealth via Google Meet, Mondays 10am-2pm (AWST)
✓ Available Australia-wide
Individual Therapy:
✓ In-person at Byford Therapy Collective, Fridays 9am-4pm (AWST)
✓ For parents in the perinatal period (conception through 3 years postpartum) seeking affirming mental health support
I work with individual adults only. I don't provide couples therapy, though we can work on your relationship patterns and communication in individual sessions.
Who I Work With
For Autism Assessments
✓ Self-identified autistic/ADHD adults who want formal autism assessment
✓ Parents who discovered their neurotype through their children
✓ Highly masked adults (especially women and people socialised as female) who've spent decades camouflaging (often without realising)
✓ People who've been diagnosed with BPD, anxiety, bipolar, or other conditions that never quite fit or didn't answer the entire picture
✓ Trans, non-binary, and gender-diverse adults (with humility as a cis person)
✓ Anyone who wants an assessment that feels human, not clinical
For Therapy
✓ Parents in the perinatal period (pregnant, trying to conceive, postpartum up to 3 years)
✓ Parents processing birth trauma or difficult birth experiences
✓ Parents navigating the identity shifts and relationship changes of early parenthood
✓ Neurodivergent parents experiencing burnout or overwhelm
✓ Parents working through attachment wounds and how they show up in parenting
My Credentials
Background & Training:
✓ Registered psychologist since 2015 (AHPRA: PSY0001942702)
✓ 10 years clinical experience
✓ Additional training in perinatal psychology and adult autism assessment
✓ Member of: Centre for Perinatal Psychology, League of Autistic Psychologists
and Affirming Colleagues (LOAPAC), AAPI, AAIMH, AUSPATH
✓ Regular attendee of ongoing training, conferences, supervision and peer consultation
✓ Trained in MIGDAS interviewing and trauma-informed assessment approaches
A Few Personal Notes
I'm a mum, a disabled person navigating the world, and someone who loves axolotls an unreasonable amount (you might spot one tattooed on me in photos).
I send clients cute and funny stickers that I think they would personally like in the mail after assessments as transition objects, something tangible to hold onto as you begin this new chapter of understanding yourself.
My assessments aren't rigid or scripted. Nor are my therapy sessions. They're conversations. Real ones.
About the messy, beautiful, hard, confusing reality of being human and being a parent.
If that sounds like what you need, I'm here.
Ready to Work Together?
Have questions before booking that haven't been answered here or on my FAQ page? Email me at hello@sarahharrower.com and I'll aim to respond within a week.