Empowering parents to build flexible careers that fund their purpose.
Parenting a neurodivergent child changes your world — not just your schedule, but how you view time, work, and purpose. Between therapy appointments, IEP meetings, sensory meltdowns, and advocating for your child, the traditional 9-to-5 model can feel impossible. But here’s the truth we’re learning together at COAAM:
You don’t have to choose between providing for your family and being present for them. You can thrive while you parent.
Faith. Function. Flexibility.
At this month’s Together We Can (TWC) Fireside Chat, we explored how parents raising neurodivergent children can create flexible career paths and remote income streams that align with both their purpose and family life.
Our incredible guest speakers, Joke Pearl and Nnenna Iheanyi-Ekwekwe, reminded us that thriving isn’t about doing everything — it’s about doing the right things in the right season. They shared strategies for balancing work, family, and self-care — and reminded us that purpose and provision can coexist.
What Does “Flexible Career” Really Mean?
A flexible career doesn’t mean less ambition — it means redesigning your work life around what matters most. For some parents, it looks like freelancing or remote consulting. For others, it’s launching an online business, teaching a virtual class, or creating digital products that build passive income.
It’s about:
✅ Earning from your skills and experience
✅ Creating space for therapy runs, school pick-ups, and family care
✅ Building a career that grows with you — not against you
And the best part! You can start right where you are.
Key Lessons from the Fireside Chat
- Start with your “why.” Before chasing income, clarify what flexibility means for your family.
- Leverage your skills. You already have what someone needs — administration, teaching, writing, design, support. Package it differently.
- Learn the tools. AI, digital marketing, and online platforms are leveling the playing field — as Joke Pearl said, “Knowing how to use AI isn’t just a skill, it’s creating the next wave of millionaires.”
- Stay hungry. It’s not the absence of knowledge that holds most people back — it’s the absence of hunger.
- Faith over fear. God equips us for every assignment, including parenting and purpose.
A Word of Encouragement
If God can make a way for others, He can surely do it for you. 🙏🏾
The same God who gives you a unique child also gives you unique grace to provide, build, and thrive.
You are not behind — you’re becoming.
You are not just surviving — you’re strategizing.
And together, we’re rewriting what success looks like for autism families.
What flexible career or remote income idea are you exploring this season? Share in the comments — your story could spark someone else’s breakthrough.