The little black duck

09/03/2026

Autistic Play Culture

Join us for a comprehensive workshop on Autistic Burnout, where we will explore the unique challenges faced by autistic individuals in a neurotypical world. Autistic burnout is a state of chronic exhaustion that goes beyond typical burnout, often leading to significant impacts on both mental and physical health. This condition, often misunderstood or overlooked, requires a deep understanding and tailored approaches to manage and recover from....

Join us for a comprehensive workshop on Autistic Burnout, where we will explore the unique challenges faced by autistic individuals in a neurotypical world. Autistic burnout is a state of chronic e…

02/03/2026

New training on offer:
LEGO®-Based Therapy Training Intensive
This two-day professional development workshop explores

LEGO®-Based Therapy as originally described by Dr Daniel B. LeGoff and integrates it with contemporary autism research and neuro- affirming practice.

Participants will learn how to structure and facilitate collaborative brick-based sessions that support social communication, pragmatic language, flexible thinking, and executive functioning.

The training examines the theoretical foundations of the model - including sensory regulation, autistic connection-seeking, and trauma- informed practice - and translates them into practical, ethical, and implementable strategies.

Designed for educators and allied health professionals, this intensive strengthens autism knowledge, supports neuroinclusive environmental adaptation, guides collaborative conversations with families and teams, and provides clear reporting frameworks aligned with contemporary practice and NDIS requirements.Session

Details:
Dates: Monday and TuesdayApril 20 - 22nd
Times: 10am - 3pm (AEST)
Cost: $870+GST/participant
Group: $770+GST/participant (4+)
Where: Online (Zoom)
Cost includes:
• 10 hours training
• LEGO® Kit
• Training Manual
• LEGO® Themed Resources
• Learning support kit
• 1 hour implementation session
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Comic Strip Conversations
conversations through images
Supporting social and emotional learning

Join Melanie Martinelli, Autism Consultant, and Developmental Educator, for a practical and engaging 90-minute workshop exploring Carol Gray’s Comic Strip Conversations as a respectful, visual way to understand behaviour.

You’ll learn what Comic Strip Conversations are, how they make thoughts, feelings and misunderstandings visible, and how they pair beautifully with collaborative and autonomy based solutions.

Designed for teachers, allied health professionals, parents, and behaviour support practitioners, this session focuses on developing child autonomy, curiosity about behaviours, and shared problem-solving.

Expect real examples, simple tools, and strategies you can use straight away. Understanding behaviour becomes a conversation - not a confrontation.
Session Details:
Dates: Monday, May 4th
Times: 12pm - 1.30pm (AEST)
Cost: $35+GST/participant
Where: Online (Zoom)
Cost includes:
• 1.5 hours training
• Additional digital resources
• Printable worksheets
• 3 month access to recording
• Slide deck
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Autistic burnout
Supporting autistic nervous systems

Identifying and supporting autistic people in autistic burnout
This workshop explores autistic burnout as a distinct and often misunderstood experience, grounded in lived insight and current research.

Drawing on frameworks such as Raymaker et al. (2020) and Mantzalas et al. (2022), we examine how masking, social load, sensory load, executive strain, and chronic stress contribute to a slow erosion of skills and capacity.

Participants will learn to recognise early and late signs of burnout, understand its progression, identify risk factors, and explore practical, nervous-system supportive recovery strategies.
Ideal for autistic adults, educators, and allied health professionals seeking to recognise autistic burnout, reduce distress, foster autistic authenticity, and create environments that protect wellbeing rather than deplete it.

Session Details:
Dates: Wednesday April 22nd
Times: 2pm - 5pm (AEST)
Cost: $65+GST/participant
Where: Online (Zoom)
Cost includes:
• 3 hours training
• Additional digital resources
• Printable worksheets
• 3 month access to recording
• Slide deck
• Reference list
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Autistic catatonia
Understanding through an psycho-ecological approach
Unpacking autistic catatonia, from early signs to long term management.

This 3 hour workshop provides a clear, compassionate, and evidence-informed exploration of a frequently misunderstood condition affecting an estimated 17–20% of autistic people.

Informed by the work of Lorna Wing and Amitta Shah, this session supports autistic individuals, families, medical practitioners, and allied health professionals to recognise early warning signs, understand progression across the lifespan, and distinguish autistic catatonia from other psychiatric presentations.

Grounded in nervous system science, current research, and lived experience, the workshop explores underlying mechanisms, fluctuating symptom profiles, and practical, regulation- focused interventions.

Participants leave with greater confidence in early identification, collaborative support planning, and strategies that prioritise safety, dignity, and recovery.Session Details:

Dates: Friday, April 24th
Times: 10am - 1pm (AEST)
Cost: $65+GST/participant
Where: Online (Zoom)
Cost includes:
• 3 hours training
• Additional digital resources
• Printable worksheets
• 3 month access to recording
• Slide deck
• Reference list
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Autistic play culture
Supporting the natural development of autistic play
Engaging through autistic play
This presentation reframes autistic play through a strengths-based, neurodiversity-affirming lens.

Rather than viewing autistic play as delayed or deficient, it explores how sensory processing, pattern- seeking, monotropism, and interest- driven focus shape meaningful and developmentally coherent play styles.

Drawing on contemporary research and autistic perspectives, the session examines playground participation, sensory play, symbolic play, and social engagement.

Participants will consider how the dominant developmental models can misinterpret autistic play and learn practical ways to support regulation, autonomy, imagination, and wellbeing.

This session offers a respectful, research-informed framework for understanding autistic play as an authentic expression of autistic cognition and identity.Session Details:

Dates: Wednesday, April 23rd
Times: 10am - 1pm (AEST)
Cost: $65+GST/participant
Where: Online (Zoom)
Cost includes:
• 3 hours training
• Additional digital resources
• 3 month access to recording
• Slide deck
• Reference list
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Autistic communication
How do autistic people seek and share connection
A deep dive into the double empathy problem and autistic ways of connecting to others

This 3 hour workshop explores autistic communication profiles through current research, lived experience, and emerging findings from research on autistic sociality.

Using Milton’s double empathy problem as the foundation, together, we will unpack how autistic people seek connection and create meaning making with others.

This workshop explores how autistic people process language, connect, and express meaning in ways that may be misunderstood in conventional settings.

Designed for both professionals and autistic adults, this session offers practical insight, respectful discussion, and a reframing of communication differences as authentic, coherent, and deeply relational ways of engaging with the world.

Session Details:
Dates: Tuesday, May 5th
Times: 10am - 1pm (AEST)
Cost: $65+GST/participant
Where: Online (Zoom)
Cost includes:
• 3 hours training
• Additional digital resources
• Printable worksheets
• 3 month access to recording
• Slide deck
• Reference list
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14/05/2025

Today is am putting training packs together for a neurodiversity in the workplace workshop.
I think the packs look brilliant once finished, and they are full of great (and fun) resources

13/12/2024

Today is lego sorting day! We are going through all our lego therapy kits ensuring all the peices are in their packs in readiness for our lego therapy group next year.

11/12/2024

We are delighted to introduce the newest member of The Little Black Duck team: Sarah, who joins us as a Therapy Assistant and Group Facilitator!

Sarah brings with her seven years of experience as a therapy assistant and support worker, based previously in Melbourne. It was through this work that Sarah discovered her passion for the field—and her own neurodivergence. Over the years, she has worked with a diverse range of children, families, and practitioners, supporting individuals with a variety of diagnoses and in multiple settings. Among her experiences, hydrotherapy stands out as a favourite thanks to its integration of music, movement, speech, and other skills. And would have been the path she would have taken, had it not been for the fact that her skin does not agree with chlorine.
Sarah has also contributed significantly to group programs, particularly those centred on school readiness and holiday activities. What Sarah loves most about this work is watching people grow, learn new skills, sharing in special interest and connecting with people.

Outside of work, Sarah enjoys playing and listening to music and participating in a local theatre group and circus skills classes. Alongside hobbies such as jigsaw puzzles, photography, cooking, saving spiders from the house, rollerblading, rewatching her favourite movies or shows such as How to Train Your Dragon, anything Studio Ghibli or Disney, Doctor Who and Avatar the Last Airbender to name a few.
Her special interest also include insects, bugs and spiders, clouds, birds and lego, building things and learning how something works.

We’re thrilled to have Sarah on board and look forward to the energy, creativity, and expertise she brings to our team!

11/12/2024

Adulting level - Hard 😂 (jk)
Love a good clearance buy!

07/12/2024

Supporting Autistic Individuals Through Pregnancy Introduction Pregnancy is a significant period of physical, emotional, and social transformation. For autistic individuals, these changes often interact uniquely with sensory processing differences, communication styles, and co-occurring conditions, creating distinct challenges that are underrepresented in research. While pregnancy has long been explored through the lens of neurotypical experiences, recent literature highlights that autistic people frequently encounter sensory sensitivities, heightened anxiety, and barriers to healthcare access during this period (Hampton et al., 2021​; Ferrara et al., 2023​)....

Supporting Autistic Individuals Through Pregnancy Introduction Pregnancy is a significant period of physical, emotional, and social transformation. For autistic individuals, these changes often int…

02/12/2024

Virtual reality (VR) is beginning to be more widely adopted in a therapeutic setting, but has been used and researched for its therapeutic support in autism intervention and therapy since as early as 2011, with promising results. It has been used successfully both clinically and in research settings to help with a range of challenges experienced by autistic people. Off the shelf headsets and games, in consultation with a therapist, has been shown to make an accessible and affordable solution to supporting autistic people....

Virtual reality (VR) is beginning to be more widely adopted in a therapeutic setting, but has been used and researched for its therapeutic support in autism intervention and therapy since as early …

02/12/2024

The Double Life of Autistic Masking: What Others See In the realm of autism, masking refers to the conscious or unconscious act of hiding one’s authentic traits and behaviours to blend in with societal expectations. The visual titled "In Front of the Mask: What Do Others See?" provides a striking overview of how masking manifests in social settings and the disconnect it creates between perception and reality....

The Double Life of Autistic Masking: What Others See In the realm of autism, masking refers to the conscious or unconscious act of hiding one’s authentic traits and behaviours to blend in with soci…

30/11/2024

Autism +: Understanding Co-Occurring Conditions in Autism The term “Autism +” reflects the reality that many autistic individuals experience co-occurring conditions that significantly shape their daily lives. These additional challenges often get grouped under the umbrella of "autism". However, this framework encourages us to reframe this understanding—not as a single entity but as an autistic brain experiencing multiple challenges. This shift is vital for providing targeted, effective, and respectful support....

Autism +: Understanding Co-Occurring Conditions in Autism The term “Autism +” reflects the reality that many autistic individuals experience co-occurring conditions that significantly shape their d…

30/11/2024

Autism + Environment = Outcome: Shaping Lives Through Understanding and Adaptation Luke Beardon’s concept, “Autism + Environment = Outcome,” provides a powerful framework for understanding how the interplay between an autistic individual’s neurology and their environment determines their quality of life. It emphasises that while autism is an intrinsic neurological difference, the environment significantly influences how autistic people experience and navigate the world....

Autism + Environment = Outcome: Shaping Lives Through Understanding and Adaptation Luke Beardon’s concept, “Autism + Environment = Outcome,” provides a powerful framework for understanding how the …

30/11/2024

The Allostatic Load Cycle and the Monotropic Mind: Understanding Stress, Regulation, and Resilience in Autism Autistic individuals often navigate life with heightened sensitivity to sensory, cognitive, and social demands. These challenges can lead to cycles of stress and dysregulation known as the allostatic load cycle. This model, explained by Melanie Martinelli, highlights the cumulative impact of stress on autistic individuals with…...

The Allostatic Load Cycle and the Monotropic Mind: Understanding Stress, Regulation, and Resilience in Autism Autistic individuals often navigate life with heightened sensitivity to sensory, cognit…