For our final episode of the season we welcome Sonny Jane Wise to the podcast, to share their wisdom on all things neurodivergence. This is a fabulous ep to start with if you’re new to the neurodiversity affirming model, and also if you’ve been here a while!

Sonny Jane is a trans, multiply neurodivergent & disabled public speaker, advocate and author. Sonny was diagnosed with Autism and ADHD as a child and grew up only hearing a deficit narrative about their neurodivergence. Since then, they have gone on to build an audience of over 100, 000 people online, have written The Neurodivergent Friendly Workbook of DBT Skills and We’re All Neurodiverse and has worked with organisations and services around Australia and the world to help change the narrative around neurodivergence and create a more neurodiversity affirming society.

In this episode we cover:

• Key definitions of neurodiversity affirming practice, including the difference between ‘neurodiverse’ and ‘neurodivergence’ and between the pathologising / medical model of practice and the neurodiversity affirming model.
• Sonny Jane’s experience of being early diagnosed under a pathologising model and the lifechanging impact of discovering neurokin and the neurodiversity affirming community.
• Disability and ableism and neuronormativity (oh my!)
• The intersectional impact of different aspects of Sonny Jane’s identity, their neurodivergences, and their disabilities, and how this intersectionality impacts their access to services.
• The future of neurodiversity affirming practice.

You can find out more about Sonny Jane and access their content through their website.

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Enjoyed the episode and want to support us further? Join our Patreon community! Patreon subscribers receive basic episode transcripts from Season 4 onwards, access to a monthly live zoom hang out, 50% off our episode articles, plus bonus monthly content (depending on subscription tier). Check out our Patreon page to support us, as we aim to make quality mental health care information accessible to everyone: www.patreon.com/ndwomanpod.

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We are thrilled to have Rosemary Richings on the podcast today, to chat with us about her experience of dyspraxia. Rosemary is a writer, editor, and public speaker specialising in disability and neurodiversity, and she is the author of Stumbling Through Space and Time: Living Life With Dyspraxia. Rosemary is on the board of trustees of Dyspraxic Me, a charity for dyspraxic young adults.

In this episode we cover:

• What is dyspraxia?
• How is dyspraxia diagnosed?
• Rosemary’s experience of dyspraxia from childhood to adulthood.
• The mental load of neurodivergence.
• What has been helpful in accommodating and supporting dyspraxia for Rosemary.

You can find Rosemary through her socials here, and through her website.

You can access more information on dyspraxia through the Developmental Coordination Disorder Australia website.

Want polished copies of our episodes in beautiful and readable pdf article format? Grab them here.

Enjoyed the episode and want to support us further? Join our Patreon community! Patreon subscribers receive basic episode transcripts from Season 4 onwards, access to a monthly live zoom hang out, 50% off our episode articles, plus bonus monthly content (depending on subscription tier). Check out our Patreon page to support us, as we aim to make quality mental health care information accessible to everyone: www.patreon.com/ndwomanpod.

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In this week's episode we chat about compassionate practice. We have both been super keen to do an episode on compassion for a while now, given compassion is a core tenant of our practice. In this ep we went through some of the core features of compassion, how this can be used therapeutically, and developing self-compassion. We loved putting this episode together for you!

We cover:

• What is compassion and what are the benefits of compassionate practice?
• What does it mean to be in an active state of compassion.
• How compassion fits into the ‘haunted house’ of our brain.
• Working with the inner critic.
• Compassionate practice and neurodivergence.
• Strategies for compassionate practice and for activating a state of ‘rest’ in our nervous system.

Resources on compassionate practice:

• The Compassionate Mind – by Paul Gilbert
• Fierce Self Compassion – by Kristen Neff
• Online compassion quiz
• Preorder Monique’s book - The Neurodivergence Skills Workbook for Autism and ADHD: Cultivate Self-Compassion, Live Authentically, and Be Your Own Advocate.
• Access Michelle’s three part course on compassionate practice exclusively through our Patreon (‘Buy us a Wine’ tier).
• Check out the study Monique mentioned mentioned on Autism and self compassion.

Want polished copies of our episodes in beautiful and readable pdf article format? Grab them here.

Enjoyed the episode and want to support us further? Join our Patreon community! Patreon subscribers receive basic episode transcripts from Season 4 onwards, access to a monthly live zoom hang out, 50% off our episode articles, plus bonus monthly content (depending on subscription tier). Check out our Patreon page to support us, as we aim to make quality mental health care information accessible to everyone: www.patreon.com/ndwomanpod.

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Today on the show Monique interviews Rebecca Gannon. Rebecca is a Neurodivergent Psychologist with a Masters in Educational and Developmental Psychology. Their clinical work focuses on Autism and ADHD assessment for adults as well as supervising other Psychologists and allied health professionals in neuroaffirming practice skills. Rebecca is Aboriginal, a parent, a partner, and their long-standing special interest just happens to be Autism.

On this episode Monique and Rebecca cover:

• Rebecca’s experience of her own neurodivergence, including the pivotal role of community as part of a healthy self-identity + the importance of understanding all aspects of your neurodivergent identity.
• The importance of advocacy based on lived experience and community consultation when providing support services to people with a minority identity.
• The Minority Stress Model.
• Rebecca’s experience of having both Aboriginal and neurodivergent minority identities.
• Ways to psychological safety for minority group members in health care settings.
• Rebecca’s experience navigating the health care system as an ND parent of a child with complex health needs.
• Heavy Metal Music (it’s relevant, we promise!).

Things we mentioned:

• Literature on ABA
• The Australian Indigenous Psychology Association.
• Another Day in the Colony – book by Chelsea Watego
• Find out more about Dr Tracey Westerman here.

You can contact Rebecca through her website, Kaleidoscope Assessment or on Instagram @kaleidoscopeassessment.

Want polished copies of our episodes in beautiful and readable pdf article format? Grab them here.

Enjoyed the episode and want to support us further? Join our Patreon community! Patreon subscribers receive basic episode transcripts from Season 4 onwards, access to a monthly live zoom hang out, 50% off our episode articles, plus bonus monthly content (depending on subscription tier). Check out our Patreon page to support us, as we aim to make quality mental health care information accessible to everyone: www.patreon.com/ndwomanpod.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this week’s episode we are thrilled to chat to Michelle Marques about her experience with depression and Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation, plus a million other things. Michelle is an Autistic and ADHD writer with a background in journalism and a Master’s in African American studies. Her writing and research focuses on gender, sexuality, race, neurodiversity, and pop culture.

We chat about:

• Michelle’s experience of learning about her neurodivergence and the hidden cost of ADHD for high achievers.
• Codeswitching, the privilege of authenticity, and intersecting identities as an Autistic person and as a cultural minority.
• Michelle’s experience of depression and how she differentiates between depression and burnout as a neurodivergent person.
• Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation.
• Things Michelle has found helpful for managing her mental health.

You can find Michelle’s writing on her Substack “Neurodivergent Black Girl” and you can follow her on Instagram @michellemar.ques.

Update! An American psychologist has reached out and let us know that TMS can be covered by Medicare in some cases in the USA. Here's some more information on that.

Want polished copies of our episodes in beautiful and readable pdf article format? Grab them here.

Enjoyed the episode and want to support us further? Join our Patreon community! Patreon subscribers receive basic episode transcripts from Season 4 onwards, access to a monthly live zoom hang out, 50% off our episode articles, plus bonus monthly content (depending on subscription tier). Check out our Patreon page to support us, as we aim to make quality mental health care information accessible to everyone: www.patreon.com/ndwomanpod.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on the podcast Monique interviews the incredible Associate Professor Josephine Barbaro. Josie is a late identified Autistic ADHDer. She is a Principal Research Fellow and Psychologist at the Olga Tennison Autism Research Centre, La Trobe University, Melbourne. She is the Research Director of Identification and Diagnosis of Autism, and Clinical Director of the Victorian Early Assessment Clinic, providing neuro-affirming, transdisciplinary assessments for neurodivergence in children under 3 years. Josie’s research interests are in the early identification and diagnosis of Autism, family health and well-being following a diagnosis, and Neurodiversity Affirming research and practice.

In this episode Monique and Josie cover:

• Josie’s path to understanding her own neurodivergence.
• The heritability of neurodivergence and the importance of taking a whole-family approach to supporting neurodivergent kids.
• Josie’s work on early identification of Autism and the development of the SACS early identification screening tool and the ASDectect app.
• Josie’s research and work into closing the gender gap in early diagnosis of Autism.
• Why early identification is so important and addressing concerns parents can have around ‘labelling’.
• How to share a diagnosis of Autism with your child.
• Debunking the myths around overdiagnosis of Autism.

Things we mentioned:

• The Victorian Early Assessment Clinic.
• The SACS early identification screening tool training
• The ASDectect app
• Conversation article co-written by Josie and Marie Camin on talking to your child about their diagnosis.
• Conversation article co-written by Josie and Dr Nancy Sadka debunking the myth around overdiagnosis of Autism.
• Books to use as a conversation starter to introduce neurodivergence to a child include The Brain Forest and The Rainbow Brain, both by Sandyha Menon, and Round World Square Me by Chelsea Luker.

You can contact Josie via email at veac@latrobe.edu.au or find her on her socials here.

Want polished copies of our episodes in beautiful and readable pdf article format? Grab them here.

Enjoyed the episode and want to support us further? Join our Patreon community! Patreon subscribers receive basic episode transcripts from Season 4 onwards, access to a monthly live zoom hang out, 50% off our episode articles, plus bonus monthly content (depending on subscription tier). Check out our Patreon page to support us, as we aim to make quality mental health care information accessible to everyone: www.patreon.com/ndwomanpod.

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A note to our listeners: In this episode we chat about self-harm. Some of our listeners may prefer to skip this one.

Happy Monday! In today’s episode Monique interviews Joanne Seymon; AuDHDer Occupational Therapist, and co-founder of Kaiko Fidgets. Jo is passionate about developing appropriate sensory tools for teens and adults, with a focus on harm minimisation and emotional regulation. She uses both her lived experience and her background in occupational therapy to match sensory needs to the right sensory support. In this episode Jo shares some personal details about her son Kai’s mental health journey, and Kai has given his consent for these details to be shared.

In this episode Monique and Jo cover:

1. How Kaiko Fidgets came to be and Jo’s path to diagnosis and understanding her own neurodivergence.
2. What actually is ‘Occupational Therapy’ (OT) and how can OTs work with neurodivergent folk?
3. Different sensory needs and ideas around supporting sensory regulation.
4. When pain is used as a regulator – Jo’s approach to this and some options for harm minimisation.
5. Understanding and managing the cumulative effect of sensory load.

Find Jo on her website (www.kaikofidgets.com), through her socials (@kaikofidgets), or reach out to her via email (jo@kaikofigets.com)

Want polished copies of our episodes in beautiful and readable pdf article format? Grab them here.

Enjoyed the episode and want to support us further? Join our Patreon community! Patreon subscribers receive basic episode transcripts from Season 4 onwards, access to a monthly live zoom hang out, 50% off our episode articles, plus bonus monthly content (depending on subscription tier). Check out our Patreon page to support us, as we aim to make quality mental health care information accessible to everyone: www.patreon.com/ndwomanpod.

Contact us at ndwomanpod@gmail.com, or visit our website: www.ndwomanpod.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this week’s episode Monique interviews Marie Camin about stimming. Marie is a multiply neurodivergent clinical psychologist, researcher, and a neurodiversity advocate. Marie is currently completing her PhD on Autistic stimming at La Trobe University and she is a Founding Committee Member of the OTARC Autistic Advisory Group; she believes strongly in contributing to a more accurate and affirming understanding of Autistic experiences through co-production with the community. She loves animals, pop culture, and anything creative.

This episode is jam packed with goodies! Monique and Marie cover:

1. Community as a key part of the neurodivergent identity.
2. Marie’s experience as a neurodivergent clinical psychologist and her path to discovering her own neurodivergence.
3. A side quest on special interests.
4. Everything stimming – what is it, how is it understood (both from a community perspective and based on the DSM), and many examples of what stimming can look like.
5. The evolution of thinking in the psychological field around the purpose of stimming and responses to stimming.
6. Harm minimisation approaches for stimming that is harmful to self or others (please be aware that self-harm is mentioned here, and so some listeners may decide to skip this).
7. Marie’s advice for other neurodivergent folks trying to function in a neuro-normative way.

Want to learn more about Marie or get in touch with her? You can find her through her website here, or on Instagram @mariecamin.

Check out her digital downloads and ND Pride stickers here!

Want polished copies of our episodes in beautiful and readable pdf article format? Grab them here.

Enjoyed the episode and want to support us further? Join our Patreon community! Patreon subscribers receive basic episode transcripts from Season 4 onwards, access to a monthly live zoom hang out, 50% off our episode articles, plus bonus monthly content (depending on subscription tier). Check out our Patreon page to support us, as we aim to make quality mental health care information accessible to everyone: www.patreon.com/ndwomanpod.

Contact us at ndwomanpod@gmail.com, or visit our website: www.ndwomanpod.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.