Talk It Up Speech Pathology

11/03/2026

Autistic.
Autism Spectrum.

These days we are finding more and more people who are Autistic.

Why? Is it because there are more of us now? Possibly. There are a huge number of Autistic adults reproducing, after all.

Is it because we have gotten better at recognising Autistic people of all presentations? Likely. Before, diagnosing professionals were only ever looking for one very particular presentation of Autism. If you didn’t fit that presentation then you didn’t get diagnosed.

These days we know more. We know that Autistic people can present in so many different ways. You aren’t going to find two Autistic people who are exactly the same- just as you aren’t going to find ANY two people in the world who are exactly the same ANYWHERE.

I don’t think that’s difficult to grasp, and I’m tired of people demanding sameness from us.

More and more adults are recognising that they are autistic later in life. They often come to this realisation after struggling for a really long time. We struggle, we search, we reflect, we learn, and many of us find community. Many of us find acceptance, understanding, the vocab we need to explain our experiences. Many of us find validation, inclusion, authentic relationships, and pride- when all those things have been missing for a lifetime.

We don’t usually come out with funding. We don’t get additional supports. We don’t even get understanding or empathy a lot of the time.
We aren’t taking anything from anyone. We are only finding ourselves.
I don’t think that’s problematic.

And to those who might say that the autism spectrum is now too wide to be clinically useful, I say this:

We aren’t clinical products.
We aren’t case studies.
We aren’t hypotheses.
We aren’t data.

We are human.
We are living this life.

And for many of us, finally recognising that we are Autistic was life-changing. It was the moment we stopped wondering why, stopped hating ourselves, and started healing.

If I don’t meet your expectations of what an autistic person looks like, I don’t really care. I might have before. But my community has helped me develop self-acceptance, self-worth, and strong Autistic pride.

If you have found acceptance here, I’m extremely glad.
I’m sorry if anyone has made you feel invalid or unwelcome.

Titanic reference-
There is plenty of room on the floating door.
None of us deserve to sink.

Em 🌈

08/03/2026

Very grateful for the incredible team of women at Talk It Up! And to the amazing women who bring their children to see us. Thank you for all you do. 🙏🙏🙏

31/12/2025

24/12/2025

A huge shout out to my team! Such a fabulous group of talented women to work with. It’s such a joy walking into our office each day. Thank you Tam, Rochelle, Bec and Kirstyn. Have the most beautiful Christmas and a well deserved break. Looking forward to 2026 with you.
Em 🎄🎄🎄

18/12/2025

Lots of fun and games in the clinic this week! Pass The Parcel is not just for birthdays 🌈

18/12/2025

16/12/2025

Such a great resource at this time of year as we prepare for Christmas. 🎄

11/12/2025

Today was just one of those days to make us smile…

From treasure hunting in the park and following clues🌳 🗺️
to
A client reporting they could attend an appointment independently because they had their new assistant dog with them 🐕

Huge achievements to celebrate 🎉

18/11/2025

🚂 We’re loving Train of Thought!

This warm, engaging picture book by Jess Horn (with gorgeous illustrations by Hayley Wells) has quickly become a favourite in our speech pathology sessions.

Andy has a big imagination — his mum calls it his “train of thought” — but sometimes that train doesn’t stop when real-life tasks pop up! 😅

It’s a fun, relatable way to explore attention, self-regulation, flexible thinking and loads of language skills with young children. Perfect for busy minds and brilliant imaginations. 📚💛

✨ Why we love using this book in speech pathology:

• Supports attention & self-regulation: Andy’s experiences open up gentle conversations about focus, emotional regulation, and what to do when our “train” goes off track.
• Builds language skills: Rich illustrations provide amazing opportunities for vocabulary building, sentence expansion, describing, predicting, and comparing.
• Encourages problem-solving: Andy’s creative solutions help children explore flexible thinking — a skill that comes up often in therapy.
• Celebrates imagination: Perfect for kids who think in pictures and love to storytell, helping them feel seen and understood.

A gorgeous story for children aged 3–6 — and a fantastic resource for families and therapists who work with busy minds and brilliant imaginations. 💛📚