REI Psychological Services

15/05/2025

09/05/2024

Yesterday, The Conversation published this piece written by Associate Professor Josie Barbaro at LaTrobe University on neurodiversity affirming practice / care (neuro-affirming care).

I had the absolute privilege to have been asked by Josie to contribute to the drafting of the piece.

Neurodiversity affirming practice as a core principle of the draft National Autism Strategy’s foundation is, in my opinion, a really meaningful and important step.

I am a firm believer in change taking time but that every pebble in the pool creates a ripple that carries forth. I am immensely proud of contributing to this ripple and grateful to have had the opportunity.

Rather than trying to ‘fix’ or change neurodivergent people, neuroaffirming care aims to empower and support unique needs and strengths.

02/04/2024

https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/canberra-mornings/autism-national-strategy/103657526

Our Beautiful (inside and out) Autistic Co-chair Clare Gibellini on ABC radio this morning. Talking about the NAS draft.

Clare Gibellini is the Autistic Co-Chair of the National Autism Strategy Oversight Council. Clare spoke to Adrienne Francis about the importance of the strategy, social, economic and health outcomes for autistic people, and how the council ensured inclusive dialogue.

01/04/2024

Today is the day folks!
Australia's first National Autism Strategy (NAS) has been released in draft form for public consultation and feedback. The Department of Social Services and their staff, the National Autism Strategy Oversight Council (NASOC), the Working Groups and the community have all worked hard to share information and inform the draft strategy development. It is a solid effort. It's a great start. There will no doubt be gaps in this draft version and as such feedback from the community is vital in helping to refine the draft to ensure that it covers what it needs to cover to create real change for Autistic Australians.

- The draft National Autism Strategy (draft Strategy) is an Australian Government framework that sets out the long-term vision, goals, guiding principles and commitments to improve life outcomes for Autistic people.

-The Australian Government, alongside the National Autism Strategy Oversight Council and its Working Groups, has developed the draft Strategy.

- The draft Strategy has now been released for public comment for eight weeks. Closing 3.00pm AEST Friday 31 May 2024.

- The Australian Government wants to know what you think of the draft Strategy: do you think it covers everything it needs to and do you think it will be effective in improving life outcomes for Autistic Australians.

- Comments and feedback received in this process will be used to develop the final Strategy due for release later in 2024.

- The first draft of the Strategy is now available on the DSS engage website: http://www.dss.gov.au/national-autism-strategy

Please spread the word and encourage people to have their say.

Developing the National Autism Strategy Open Closes in 59 days We want your feedback on the draft National Autism Strategy. This is a draft Strategy which has not yet been agreed by Government. Following feedback through the public consultation process the draft Strategy will be further refined and....

27/02/2024

Our phone service is currently offline. If you need to contact the clinic please use our email.
Thank you

22/11/2023

Heya all.

Apologies for the delays in responses - again!

I’ve been on trip to Brisbane for the Reimagine Australia 2023 conference where I was invited to speak about neurodiversity affirming practice in diagnosis to early childhood professionals.

I spoke about reframing the diagnostic journey, being collaborative and supporting positive identity development and authentic self understanding among other things. It was well received (at least that’s the impression I got from the people that spoke to me after!).

Each drop in the ocean of change can send off ripples of affirming supports and shared understanding. 🌊

It was also great to listen to and meet Em from NeuroWild and Maggie Dent among other speakers; and to connect with many others from the early childhood space.

🩷❤️🧡💛💚🩵💙💜🖤🩶🤍♾️🌈

I will be back in the clinic Monday and will be aiming to catch up on admin, email replies and reports in coming weeks!

Thank you for your patience and understanding!

03/11/2023

Continued Apologies
There is an ongoing delay in my response to inquiries. I am currently booked out until 2024 but will reply to emails when I can.

24/10/2023

Theres some assumptions out there that ADHDers are particularly sensory sensitive.

This is a beautiful post from Onwards and Upwards Psychology where it’s explained simply in terms of sensory sensitivities being a core Autistic trait - and how the overlaps in Autistic and ADHD, along with limitations in assessment tools can influence how people interpret data and research.

19/10/2023

Very relevant in the context of sharing and listening to Autistic voices as part of the National Autism Strategy development .

Community Consultation is still open with ways to contribute online.

https://engage.dss.gov.au/developing-the-national-autism-strategy/ #:~:text=About%20the%20National%20Autism%20Strategy&text=The%20Strategy%20will%20be%20for,at%20each%20stage%20of%20life.

19/10/2023

Hi all,

Today was the Darwin consultations for the development of the National Autism Strategy.

https://engage.dss.gov.au/developing-the-national-autism-strategy/developing-the-national-autism-strategy-discussion-paper/

The link above ^ takes you to the DSS engage page where you can find the discussion paper and the summary discussion paper as well as a video that talks about the development of the strategy.

https://engage.dss.gov.au/developing-the-national-autism-strategy/ #:~:text=About%20the%20National%20Autism%20Strategy&text=The%20Strategy%20will%20be%20for,at%20each%20stage%20of%20life.

This link ^ takes you to the broader engage page that shows the online ideas wall, where you can lodge submissions etc.

Every voice matters 🤍🩷❤️🧡💛💚🩵💙💜🌈♾️

12/10/2023

Deepest apologies
There is currently a delay in my response to inquiries due to my commitments with clients, my role with the NAS* and upcoming presentations and workshops…

Your patience is appreciated.

06/10/2023