Neurodivergence Across the Senses
The range of human sensory experiences and perceptions is much greater than most people are aware. I'm not sure about you, but as I grew up, I just assumed that how I experienced the world was the same as others. I knew that I was impacted more than most by some sensations such as woollen clothes and loud noises. One thing I never questioned was my ‘minds eye.’ I never […]
Continue readingSocial Work & Neurodiversity Affirming Practice
Many of the core values of Social Work align closely with Neurodiversity Affirming Practice. This is not to say that all social workers will be intrinsically neurodiversity affirming, but it is often less of a shift for a social worker to transition to neurodiversity affirming practice than other disciplines that often place a great emphasis on the medical model of disability. A clear example of this is one of the […]
Continue readingThe role of Parents in Allied Health Therapy
Children’s brains develop best in the context of trusting relationships with parents and caregivers. Since relationships build brains, we must value parents as the most profound influence in their child’s life (Delahooke, 2020). Given that parents are the most important people in a child’s life they should also always be playing a central role in their child’s therapy (Golding & Hughes, 2020). The development of a child within a family influences the entire family […]
Continue readingNeuroaffirming Education
It has been 5 years since my daughter commenced Prep at her local primary school. It was an exciting time for our family, an important milestone that we expected to be relatively smooth for our bright and engaged child. In less than 6 months it was as if we had a different child, while there were no issues or concerns raised by school, at home we were witnessing increasing distress […]
Continue readingNeurodivergence & Co-occurring Conditions
Neurodivergence & Co-occurring Health Conditions Co-occurring Conditions, Misdiagnosis & Barriers to Healthcare: The Reality for Neurodivergent Individuals Those within the neurodivergent community have identified numerous health and mental health conditions that commonly co-occur with neurodivergence. Research is beginning to verify that these clusters exist, however there is still much to learn about the reason behind these links. Unfortunately, this emerging knowledge has not yet been integrated into common practice, resulting […]
Continue readingVictoria Needs Educational Reform
I recently collaborated with other members of Square Peg Round Whole (SPRW) to write a substantial submission to the Parliamentary Inquiry into the State Education System in Victoria. This inquiry looked at trends in student learning outcomes, disparities associated with geography and socio-economic disadvantage; the state of the teaching profession, and student well being, including measures to address poor mental health, school refusal and student disengagement. In writing this submission […]
Continue readingNeurodiversity Affirming Resources
When looking for neurodiversity affirming resources it is important to prioritise resources from people with lived experience rather than those studying neurodivergence from the outside. That is why many of the following resources are created by people combining their talents and interests with their experience of being neurodivergent and supporting neurodivergent loved ones. Other resources have been developed using recent understandings of neuroscience that supports neurodiversity affirming practice. I do […]
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