ABOUT
Get to Know Me
and My Philosophy
ABOUT ME
Amy Rogness Ris,
Infant/Early Childhood Development Consultant & Parenting Educator
Amy fell head over heels with supporting children & young families when she started working as a behaviour interventionist with a young girl with autism back in 2003 (who forever changed her life for the better!).
With a career that spans almost 20 years & a degree later, Amy has worked with hundreds of families & young children in their homes, in the larger community, & in schools. Throughout her career she has been dubbed "The Play Doctor" by many children that don't otherwise know how to describe her work.
Amy primarily works for a local non-profit as the program coordinator of a unique program that conducts developmental assessments for children in foster care & provides developmental recommendations for foster caregivers to encourage & support optimal development of young children from birth to age six, both neurotypical & neurodivergent. She has extensive training in supporting children with a variety of diagnoses, including ASD, ADHD, & FASD.
She is a Registered Facilitator of Circle of Security - Parenting & uses this attachment/relationship-based approach when working with families.
Amy has extensive additional training in trauma-informed practice, serves as the current President for the Western Canada Association for Infant Mental Health (wcaimh.org), & volunteers her time to a variety of other committees, including the Early Words Project through the Canadian Children's Literacy Foundation & the Vancouver Early Intervention Agency Network.
Most importantly, Amy is "Mum" to her own growing son & weaves her experience & understanding of the challenges & delights of parenting into her work with families.
MY APPROACH
Amy believes that the most important part of a child's development are the adults that surround that child. As a developmentalist who delights in parents "falling in love" with their own children, she could not have said it better than psychologist Urie Bronfenbrenner: "A child requires progressively more complex joint activity with one or more adults who have an irrational emotional relationship with the child. Somebody’s got to be crazy about that kid." In her work, she encourages & teaches parents how to be the "secure base" & "safe haven" that children need to explore their world & return to the safety of their "big person" & becoming the parent that is "irrationally crazy" about their child (while also being able to set limits with firm boundaries and kind hearts!)
