Becoming a Guide
Guides are parents of children with special needs who share their lived experience with families going through the same thing. If you've been there, other parents need you.
Who becomes a guide?
Parents like you. You have a child with autism, ADHD, Down syndrome, a rare diagnosis, or another condition that changed your family's life. You've spent years learning things that can't be found in a textbook — and other families are looking for exactly that.
You don't need a degree or a certification. You need to have lived it.
Why become a guide
Because you already know what to say — someone should have said it to you.
You remember the diagnosis. The silence after. The drive home where everything looked the same but nothing was.
You remember the late nights searching for answers that didn't exist yet. The appointments, the waitlists, the forms. Learning to decode IEPs and fight for services you didn't know your child was entitled to. Explaining things to people who nodded but didn't really get it.
You remember the first time you met another parent who actually understood — how it felt like exhaling for the first time in months.
That's what you can be for someone else — and that experience deserves to be valued. Set your own rate, work on your own schedule, and get paid for the knowledge only you have.
What you've learned can't be Googled
The stuff nobody tells you
How to get through a grocery store meltdown. What to actually say at the IEP meeting. Which therapies made a difference and which ones didn't. The tricks that work at bedtime. The things you wish someone had told you in the first month.
How to hold space for hard days
Sometimes a parent doesn't need advice. They need to talk to someone who won't flinch, who won't rush to silver linings, who knows that some days are just hard and that's okay. You know how to be that person because you needed one too.
That it does change
Not in the way the pamphlets say. But you're living proof that families adapt, that kids surprise you, that the weight gets easier to carry. A parent in crisis needs to hear that from someone who means it — not someone who read it.
What guiding actually looks like
No scripts. No certifications. Just a video call with another parent who needs someone like you.
A conversation, not a session
You're not performing. You're talking to another parent the way you'd want someone to talk to you. Private, one-on-one, on video.
Your experience is enough
You're not a therapist or a doctor and you don't need to be. Parents aren't looking for clinical advice. They're looking for someone who's been where they are.
You choose who you help
Your profile shows your child's condition, your experience, and what you can help with. Parents find you because your story matches theirs.
On your time, around your life
You already juggle therapy appointments, school pickups, and the unexpected. This works around all of it.
You set the days and hours
Available Tuesday evenings and Saturday mornings? That's your schedule. Change it whenever your week changes.
No minimums, no pressure
Take one call a month or five a week. Step away for a school break. There's no quota and no one checking in.
You set your own rate
Choose what feels right. Parents pay when they book, and your earnings go directly to your bank account after each session.
Three steps. That's it.
Tell us your story
A short application about your child, your experience, and the families you'd like to help.
We review it
Our team makes sure it's a good fit. Most applications are reviewed within a few days.
Set your schedule
Pick the days and hours that work around your life. Publish your profile when you're ready.
Start helping
Be there for the parent who's searching for someone like you right now.
Takes about 10 minutes. No fees, ever.
Questions you probably have
I'm not a therapist. Am I actually qualified for this?
That's exactly why parents want to talk to you. They can find therapists. What they can't find is another parent who knows what it's like to sit through an IEP meeting, manage a meltdown at a birthday party, or figure out which battles to fight with the school district. You lived it. That's the qualification.
What if someone asks me something I don't have an answer to?
Then you say "I don't know." That's it. You're not expected to have every answer. Sometimes the most helpful thing is "I went through something similar and here's what I did" — and sometimes it's "I'm not sure, but you're not crazy for feeling that way." Parents aren't calling you for a textbook. They're calling because they need someone who won't pretend it's simple.
What if it brings up hard stuff for me?
It might. Hearing another parent describe the early days can take you back. That's normal and it's worth being honest with yourself about. You get to choose which families you work with, and you can step away any time — between calls, between weeks, however you need. This should add to your life, not drain it. If a conversation feels too heavy, you're allowed to say so.
What if I say the wrong thing? Could I get in trouble?
You're sharing your personal experience, not practicing medicine or therapy. You're not diagnosing anyone or prescribing anything. As long as you're honest about what you know and don't know — which is what you'd do naturally — you're on solid ground. Both guides and parents sign an acknowledgement before using the platform that this is peer support between parents, not therapy, medical advice, or a replacement for professional care. That protects everyone.
I barely have time for my own family. How would this work?
One call a month counts. There's no minimum, no schedule you have to stick to, and nobody checking in on you. Open a few evening slots when you have a calm week. Close them all when things get hectic. Some guides do one call a week. Some do one a month. Your family comes first — that's not a policy, it's the point.
Is it okay to charge other parents for this?
Yes. Full stop. You've spent years building knowledge that helps other families. Your time has value, and so does your experience. Charging for it isn't taking advantage of anyone — it's what makes this sustainable for you and for them. If you gave your time away for free you'd burn out in a month, and then nobody gets helped.
My kid's situation is unique. What if it doesn't match?
Every child is different, even within the same diagnosis. Parents know that. They're not looking for someone whose life is a perfect mirror of theirs. They're looking for someone who understands the world they live in — the appointments, the uncertainty, the way it changes everything. That common ground is bigger than you think.
What if I try it and it's not for me?
Then you stop. There's no contract, no notice period, no one who's going to email you about it. You can unpublish your profile at any time. Some people sign up and realize it's not the right fit — that's completely fine.