Amy Kotha, Life & Parent Coach

Amy Kotha, Life & Parent Coach

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Parent coach + educator supporting parents of PDA autistic children and teens. bio.site/amykcoach

12/04/2025

๐—ง๐—ข๐— ๐—ข๐—ฅ๐—ฅ๐—ข๐—ช - ๐Ÿญ๐Ÿฎ๐—ฃ๐—  ๐—˜๐—งโฃ
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If your PDA childโ€™s behavior feels confusing, intense, or unpredictableโ€ฆ youโ€™re not alone, and youโ€™re not failing.โฃ
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PDA behavior isnโ€™t defiance - itโ€™s protection.โฃ
And when you understand the nervous system underneath the behavior, everything starts to make sense again.โฃ
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๐—œ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐˜„โ€™๐˜€ ๐˜„๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ธ๐˜€๐—ต๐—ผ๐—ฝ, ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚โ€™๐—น๐—น ๐—น๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ป:โฃ
๐Ÿ‘‰ Why PDA kids react so strongly to demandsโฃ
๐Ÿ‘‰ How to recognize early signs of nervous system threatโฃ
๐Ÿ‘‰ What actually helps during meltdowns, shutdowns, and avoidanceโฃ
๐Ÿ‘‰ How YOUR nervous system changes everythingโฃ
๐Ÿ‘‰ The foundation for a calmer, more connected home!โฃ
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If youโ€™ve been craving clarity, this hour will change things.โฃ
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๐—Ÿ๐—ฎ๐˜€๐˜ ๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐˜† ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ด๐—ถ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ! โฃ
๐Ÿ”— Link in bio.โฃ
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11/24/2025

If youโ€™re already bracing yourself for holiday comments, side-eyes, or โ€œadviceโ€โ€ฆ youโ€™re not alone!โฃ
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PDA families get hit with extra pressure this time of year:โฃ
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โ„๏ธ overstimulationโฃ
โ„๏ธ routines disruptedโฃ
โ„๏ธ social expectationsโฃ
โ„๏ธ family judgmentโฃ
โ„๏ธ โ€œgood momโ€ pressureโฃ
โ„๏ธ nervous systems in full survival modeโฃ
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So Maya and I decided to bust a few myths - because NONE of this is about โ€œbehavior,โ€ โ€œattitude,โ€ or โ€œwillpower.โ€โฃ
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Itโ€™s the nervous system.โฃ
Every. Single. Time.โฃ
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And when your childโ€™s nervous system is overwhelmed?โฃ
Yours gets overwhelmed too.โฃ
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That doesnโ€™t make you a bad parent - it makes you a human one.โฃ
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If you want these holidays to feel less like crisis-management and more like connection,โฃ
โœจ join me on ๐——๐—ฒ๐—ฐ ๐Ÿฑ ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—บ๐˜† ๐—™๐—ผ๐—ฐ๐˜‚๐˜€ ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ก๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜ƒ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐˜€ ๐—ฆ๐˜†๐˜€๐˜๐—ฒ๐—บ ๐—ช๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ธ๐˜€๐—ต๐—ผ๐—ฝ:โฃ
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Friday, 12/5 @ 12 pm ET | $25โฃ
Recording will be available โฃ
40-page ebook + completion certificate included!โฃ
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Weโ€™re going to unpack WHY things get so hard this time of year and WHAT actually helps โ€” for your child and for you.โฃ
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๐Ÿ”— link in bio!!โฃ
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You donโ€™t have to white-knuckle your way through this season.๐Ÿ’™โฃ
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11/22/2025

SOOTHE isnโ€™t my full PDA framework - itโ€™s the moment-to-moment guide I teach parents to stay connected and non-reactive when their child drops into overwhelm.โฃ
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None of your childโ€™s states are โ€œbad.โ€โฃ
Some scream.โฃ
Some hide.โฃ
All of them are trying to protect a sensitive nervous system.โฃ
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SOOTHE is ๐˜ซ๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ต ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ๐˜ฐ๐˜ญ๐˜ด Iโ€™ll be teaching in my December 5th โ€˜๐—™๐—ผ๐—ฐ๐˜‚๐˜€ ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ก๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜ƒ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐˜€ ๐—ฆ๐˜†๐˜€๐˜๐—ฒ๐—บโ€™ workshop, as well as inside the ๐—ฅ๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ž๐—ถ๐—ฑ๐˜€ ๐—ช๐—ถ๐˜๐—ต ๐—•๐—ถ๐—ด, ๐—•๐—ฎ๐—ณ๐—ณ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—•๐—ฒ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜€: ๐—” ๐—ฃ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ ๐—–๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐˜€๐—ฒ (12-week parent experience created by Robyn Gobbel) starting in January.โฃ
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Stay close if you want this to finally make sense.โฃ
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๐Ÿ‘‰ Links in the bio for more info/to register for upcoming courses!โฃ
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11/21/2025

Many parents of PDA kids tell me they feel blindsided by their childโ€™s reactions - the intensity, the suddenness, the bigness of it all.โฃ
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But hereโ€™s the truth:โฃ
๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ๐˜€๐—ฒ ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜€ ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ปโ€™๐˜ ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—ผ๐—บ, ๐—ถ๐—ป๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—น, ๐—ผ๐—ฟ โ€œ๐—ฏ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ.โ€โฃ
Theyโ€™re ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐˜๐—ถ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜ƒ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐˜€ ๐˜€๐˜†๐˜€๐˜๐—ฒ๐—บ ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐—ฝ๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜€๐—ฒ๐˜€ from a child who feels overwhelmed, unsafe, or out of control in that moment.โฃ
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When you can see the ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฆ under the behavior, everything changes - for them and for you.โฃ
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Thatโ€™s why I created ๐—ฆ๐—ข๐—ข๐—ง๐—›๐—˜, my framework for helping PDA parents understand: โฃ
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โœจ how to respond without losing themselves.โฃ
โœจ how to rebuild connection after the stormโฃ
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If you want to go deeper into supporting your childโ€™s nervous system:โฃ
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โœจ ๐——๐—ฒ๐—ฐ ๐Ÿฑ: ๐—™๐—ผ๐—ฐ๐˜‚๐˜€ ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ก๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜ƒ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐˜€ ๐—ฆ๐˜†๐˜€๐˜๐—ฒ๐—บ ($25 Workshop)โฃ
A gentle, practical introduction to state shifts, co-regulation, and why your PDA child reacts the way they do.โฃ
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โœจ ๐—๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜‚๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐˜† ๐Ÿญ๐Ÿฎ, ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฌ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฒ - ๐Ÿญ๐Ÿฎ-๐—ช๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ธ ๐—ฃ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ด๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—บ: ๐—ฅ๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ž๐—ถ๐—ฑ๐˜€ ๐˜„๐—ถ๐˜๐—ต ๐—•๐—ถ๐—ด, ๐—•๐—ฎ๐—ณ๐—ณ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—•๐—ฒ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜€: ๐—” ๐—ฃ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ ๐—–๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐˜€๐—ฒโฃ
Based on Robyn Gobbelโ€™s brilliant model, adapted by me for PDA families who need a different approach - one centered on autonomy, safety, and connection.โฃ
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Your childโ€™s behaviors are protective.โฃ
Your response can be, too. โฃ
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โžก๏ธ Want to understand your childโ€™s nervous system? โฃ
The Dec 5 workshop is the best place to start. Drop a ๐Ÿ’› and Iโ€™ll DM the details!โฃ
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11/20/2025

๐—ฌ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ถ๐—น๐—ฑโ€™๐˜€ ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜ƒ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐˜€ ๐˜€๐˜†๐˜€๐˜๐—ฒ๐—บ ๐—ฑ๐—ผ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐—ปโ€™๐˜ ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ถ๐˜โ€™๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ต๐—ผ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐˜†๐˜€.โฃ
And honestly? Neither does yours.โฃ
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December is a sensory + emotional pressure-cooker for PDA families:โฃ
๐ŸŽ„ disrupted routinesโฃ
๐ŸŽ„ family expectationsโฃ
๐ŸŽ„ more demandsโฃ
๐ŸŽ„ more social pressureโฃ
๐ŸŽ„ more noise, smells, and stimulationโฃ
๐ŸŽ„ more unpredictabilityโฃ
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So if youโ€™re seeing more meltdowns, shutdowns, avoidance, rigidity, or emotional volatility starting even nowโ€ฆโฃ
youโ€™re not doing anything wrong!โฃ
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This is the ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ท๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ด ๐˜ด๐˜บ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ฎ ๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜จ๐˜ฉ ๐˜ญ๐˜ฐ๐˜ข๐˜ฅ. ๐Ÿ’ฅโฃ
Not misbehavior. Not defiance. Not bad parenting.โฃ
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If you want to understand the REAL patterns underneath your childโ€™s reactions - and learn what you can do to support both their system and yours - join me for my ๐——๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐Ÿฑ๐˜๐—ต โ€œ๐—™๐—ผ๐—ฐ๐˜‚๐˜€ ๐—ข๐—ป ๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ก๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜ƒ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐˜€ ๐—ฆ๐˜†๐˜€๐˜๐—ฒ๐—บโ€ ๐—ช๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ธ๐˜€๐—ต๐—ผ๐—ฝ.โฃ
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๐—ง๐—ต๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜† ๐—ฃ๐——๐—” ๐—ฝ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ๐˜€.โฃ
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โžก๏ธ Link in bio!โฃ
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Photos from Amy Kotha, Life & Parent Coach's post 11/17/2025

If your child melts down over something tinyโ€ฆโฃ
If they go from calm to explosive in 0.2 secondsโ€ฆโฃ
If youโ€™re left thinking, โ€œWhy is this happening again?โ€โฃ
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Youโ€™re not missing something.โฃ
Your child isnโ€™t being โ€œdifficult.โ€โฃ
And youโ€™re not a bad parent.โฃ
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Whatโ€™s happening is neuroception - the brainโ€™s built-in alarm system that scans the world for safety or danger before kids can think, reason, or talk themselves through anything.โฃ
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For PDA kids especially, this system is extra sensitive.โฃ
A tone of voiceโ€ฆ a transitionโ€ฆ a requestโ€ฆ even your approach can register as โ€œdanger,โ€ and boom - the survival brain takes over.โฃ
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Outbursts arenโ€™t choices.โฃ
Theyโ€™re reactions.โฃ
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And once you understand that, everything shifts fromโฃ
โŒ โ€œHow do I stop this behavior?โ€โฃ
toโฃ
โœ”๏ธ โ€œHow do I help my child feel safer in their own body?โ€โฃ
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Thatโ€™s where connection, softness, and curiosity become more powerful than any consequence chart ever made.โฃ
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Youโ€™re not alone in this.โฃ
And thereโ€™s nothing wrong with your childโ€™s brain - itโ€™s doing exactly what it was wired to do.โฃ
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11/13/2025

Big truths land in the body long before they land in the mind.

If youโ€™ve ever felt nervous sharing adoption, trauma, or diagnostic info with your childโ€ฆ your nervous system feels it too. It makes so much sense!

๐ŸŽง The full episode is out today.

And if this resonates, youโ€™ll love my Focus on the Nervous System to Change Behavior workshop (created by Robyn Gobbel) - where we go deeper into why safety drives everything, including conversations like this.

Save your spot through the link in my bio!

08/28/2025

PDA kids canโ€™t regulate through control. โฃ
They regulate through trust.โฃ
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When they feel heard and trusted, their nervous system can shift from fear โ†’ to safety โ†’ to connection.โฃ
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This is what I call โ€˜trust-rooted parentingโ€™.โฃ
It is truly where healing, change, and growth begin.โฃ
๐ŸŒฑโฃ
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Chicago, IL