Rainbow Speech Pathology

10/03/2026

So well said by Em from NeuroWild ♾️🌈🧠

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 🌈

10/03/2026

Hi followers and trolls- It’s been a while. I had dental surgery last week and looked like I had been punched in the mouth. And I was hangry. But better now. Thank you for all the love in my PMs and DMs. I appreciate every like, love, follow, comment, share. It all does help to reverse harmful messages being spread by the government and media. If some of these reels are getting 5000-7000 views then someone is paying attention.

08/03/2026

When people ask me what I’ve been up to lately…Oh just the usual busy working mum life: being difficult, speaking up for disability rights and working with this amazing bunch of likeminded women (and men we have men too! Sam is so good at holding our handbags while we talk to MPs and the media) to smash the patriarchy.

08/03/2026

I agree with everything Heidi says. These harmful reforms are going to have a bigger impact on women and girls. Particularly in the disability community.

How? Because women will be the ones picking up the slack left by NDIS cuts through their unpaid labour.

Can’t get funding for a support worker anymore? The mother or grandmother will fill that gap.

Can’t find a job that’s flexible around your kid’s therapy appointments and school can’t- the woman will pull back on work or go unemployed.

Kid can’t get funding for speech, OT, dietician- so teachers and teacher aides will be dealing with the fall out.

Girls struggling to function with burnout and executive dysfunction but after a lifetime of masking appear on the surface to be ‘doing quite well’ good luck getting a diagnosis or any support.

That is the reality. Cut the funding- women pick up the slack and go deeper into the pit of burn out. It’s not sustainable and it’s worth fighting.

So today is International Women’s Day, and I’m not particularly interested in celebrating over cupcakes... not just because I am coeliac.

This year’s theme is “Balance the Scales.” It sounds good in theory. But if we are serious about balancing the scales, we need to be willing to talk honestly about the systems that continue to tip them.

For women and girls with disability, the scales have never been balanced.

Across Australia we experience higher rates of violence, discrimination and exclusion. Yet our experiences are still too often invisible in policy, services and decision-making. Even within systems designed to support people with disability, inequality persists.

Women and girls have never made up more than around a third of NDIS participants. Now, as major reforms reshape the Scheme, there are growing signs the gap is widening further.

Eligibility reassessments, impairment notices and Support Needs Assessments are reshaping the NDIS — all under the logic of standardisation and cost savings.

But when policy prioritises standardisation over individual need, gendered impacts disappear. We lose sight of the realities many women with disability live with every day: caring responsibilities, gender-based violence, lower incomes, and the fact that disabled women are often the ones left picking up the pieces when systems fail to provide the support their loved ones need.

With the roll out of eligibility reassessments, we have already seen that girls are being removed from the Scheme at higher rates than boys. The writing is also on the wall for New Framework Planning and Support Needs Assessments.

Meanwhile, the NDIA has put its planned on hold, prioritising these so-called reforms that risk pushing gender equity even further down the list.

If we are talking about , we need to be honest about the policies and decisions that are tipping them.



[Image: Image description: A teal graphic for International Women’s Day. At the top, a group of diverse illustrated women stand holding hands beneath a banner that reads “International Women’s Day.” The women are depicted with different appearances, clothing styles and cultural backgrounds. In the centre of the image, large white text on a dark purple background reads: “You can’t for women with disability while rolling out reforms that tip them against us.” At the bottom of the graphic is the logo text: “heidi LaPaglia Consulting.”]

05/03/2026

Augmentative and Alternative Communication AAC users and allies- teachers, support workers, parents. We need to push back on this. The NDIS support needs assessment can’t be only valid with verbal communication.

Communication is a HUMAN RIGHT. Last year I shared the Communication Bill of Rights with our communications minister and my federal member Anika Wells MP and I will be sharing it again. This is your wheelhouse Anika- it’s your job to ensure equitable access to communication for all Australians.

Everyone else- email your MP! If you need a copy of the Communication Bill of rights send me an email and I will forward on what I send so you can use it.

calla@rainbowspeech.com.au

02/03/2026

Worth a listen for everyone who wasn’t able to attend the Every Australian Counts forum last Friday. We have to stop this!

27/02/2026

This one is for all the ND women and girls who have been called difficult, too much, too outspoken. Thank you for the TUNE.

What a time to be a neurodivergent allied health professional. Particularly if you are also an ND parent to an ND child. 🌈🧠♾️

We’re out here working our butts off, doing what we love because we like helping people, had no pay rise in the last 7 years, still paying off HECS, missing out on time with our own family to work, pay taxes, childcare fees- but all we get is called greedy, difficult and over-diagnosed? 😲🤯🤬

In my whole career, we have NEVER had this much media coverage. The smear campaign against autistics and speechies is on another level! Why are you so obsessed with us?

If it's not Albo calling Grace Tame difficult, it's Chanel 9 saying an app can assess kids better than a speechie, or it’s Chanel 7 saying kids will ‘grow out’ of speech sound disorders by 7 years or Australian Financial Review saying therapy doesn’t work and Autism is over-diagnosed 🙄

And who is paying for all this propaganda? I'll take one guess....

Why do you hate us ?
💔 Is it because we’re “difficult” women?
💔We're ND?
💔We're small businesses?
💔Was a speechie really mean to you as a little boy?
💔Do you resent not getting enough therapy yourself?

We see right through your plan to vilify us and undermine our profession. SPA may not stick up for us but our union, colleagues and clients will.

Let’s show each other some love. Tag and share this post with a speechie or ND woman you know who is pretty enough, makes you laugh, is not too difficult, too much or too outspoken.

Visual description: a woman is looking at the camera wearing earrings that say "think happy thoughts" and a T-shirt from “All Modes Matter” and shows several communication methods and AAC devices over a big rainbow. There is a a faded black and white filter over the video with rain drops streaking down the screen. The woman is lip syncing and key word signing along to the music.

27/02/2026

The Australian Human Rights Commission has accepted a complaint from ANPA regarding treatment at the Thriving Kids Senate Enquiry. Autistic women deserve to be treated with respect! We are not difficult or angry- we are right! 🙌🙌🙌🙌

BREAKING UPDATE: The Human Rights Commission has decided to reclassify our complaint and has expedited it to March. We respectfully asked that they do so, in light of the consequences of this hearing and the report it has generated, for more than 120,000 Autistic children.

They considered our request, made yesterday, and today agreed to expedite our matter to next month.

We wish to express our deepest gratitude to the Commission, on behalf of ourselves, all Autistic women and girls who have the right to participate on an equal basis, and the many children whose futures hang on these reforms.

-

MEDIA RELEASE
27 February 2026

AHRC Accepts Complaint Concerning Treatment of Autistic Women Advocates at Thriving Kids Inquiry

The Australian Neurodivergent Parents Association (ANPA) confirms that the Australian Human Rights Commission has accepted its complaint regarding equal participation in public life arising from the 17 November 2025 hearing of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs into the Thriving Kids reforms.

ANPA appeared as a recognised Disabled People’s Representative Organisation to give evidence on reforms reshaping early supports for Autistic children and children with developmental delay. Representatives appeared alongside Cheryl Koch and Alexandra Bignall from the Autistic Self Advocacy Network Australia and New Zealand, and Heidi La Paglia and Nicole Moran from the Regional Autistic Engagement Network.

Following the hearing, advocates from each organisation made public statements regarding their experience of differential treatment. ANPA understands that ASAN Australia and New Zealand has progressed a complaint to the Commission concerning the same hearing.

Prior to appearing, ANPA made written requests for participation adjustments under the Disability Discrimination Act.

The complaint concerns the treatment of Autistic representatives and the standard of participation afforded during that parliamentary process.

Thriving Kids is a major national reform. The responsible Minister has publicly stated that the changes will affect at least 120,000 Autistic children. Given the public interest and the implications for young Autistic children, ANPA has requested expedited handling of the complaint.

“For decades, Autistic girls were under-recognised and overlooked,” said Sarah Langston, President of ANPA.

“National disability reform must prioritise meaningful and accessible participation from Disabled People’s Representative Organisations. Equal participation is a legal standard under the Disability Discrimination Act."

"Australia’s obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, including Article 4(3), which requires close consultation with and active involvement of Disabled People’s Representative Organisations in decision-making processes affecting them, provide interpretive context for that standard.”

“This action is about ensuring the law is followed,” Ms Langston said. “We will continue to insist on a stronger and safer future for Neurodivergent people, especially children and their Neurodivergent carers.”

NDIS Professionals Union - Professionals Australia today expressed their collective support for ANPA’s complaint and action, and have been working to support and amplify the work of Disabled People’s Representative Organisations engaging with the Thriving Kids reforms.

Carolyn Weatherby, Founding Delegate of NDIS Professionals Australia, said: “When Disabled women advocates appear as representatives of their organisations and as subject matter experts, they are working on behalf of their communities in the public interest. They are entitled to respect, reasonable adjustments, and equal participation in public life. Discrimination is never acceptable.”

“This week we have again seen how quickly women who speak plainly are described as ‘difficult’,” Ms Langston said.

“As we approach International Women's Day, we are reminded that it is those difficult women who stand together to get things done, often in tough conditions. Today we say: Democracy is for everyone. It includes Autistic women and girls.”

ANPA is represented by counsel Belinda Kochanowska, Principal Lawyer of Intrepidus Law, in the Commission process.

ANPA will continue to advocate for respectful, lawful and inclusive reform.

Media enquiries:

Alecia Bryan
Secretary
Australian Neurodivergent Parents Association
exec@thisisanpa.org

[Image Description: an image, left to right, of Principal Lawyer Belinda Kochanowska of Intrepidus Law, ANPA President Sarah Langston, and NDIS Professionals Australia Founding Delegate Carolyn Weatherby]

26/02/2026

March 1 M10 Medicare plans start for kids with speech sound disorders, stutters and cleft lip/palate to access speech pathology. While this is a step in the right direction- giving children access to more intensive support (20 rebated sessions are better than 5 each year) we need to read the fine print of what is NOT being said in this announcement.

🙅‍♀️They say Ollie has a ‘speech impediment’ ewwwwww is it 1980? Have you spoken to an actual speech pathologist about terminology in the last 40 years?

🙅‍♀️It’s being spun as a massive increase BUT those 20 sessions are for LIFE. Not each year. They get 20 sessions total from childhood- 25.

🙅‍♀️So actually if they could access NDIS ECA like kids like Ollie have for the past 10 years or even the Medicare CDM plan which is 5 sessions a year you would get more over the long term.

🙅‍♀️There’s also gap fees- it’s an $87 REBATE which is better than the current $64 but still a huge out of pocket cost for families. If a speechie charges $200 a session families will be paying $113 each session. That’s a lot.

Also what about DLD???? Language disorders need long term therapy!

You can bet from March speechies will be getting a bunch of referrals of 7 year olds (because parents waited) turning up with their M10 plans and parents saying I’m here for my 20 free sessions. You can fix my child’s complex deviant phonological processes in that time right? Then we are the bad guys who have to break their hearts and say it’s not possible. 💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔

SPA doesn’t address any of this in their video- just pat themselves on the back for their advocacy 🙄

I went to leave a snarky comment but everyone else beat me to it 😂

I hope you read the comments Mark Butler MP

When Ollie’s parents noticed their confident young boy started to develop a speech stutter they started him in speech therapy right away.

This is the best start to life Ollie’s parents could give him but the reality is cost can become a burden for many families wanting the support of a speechie.

That’s why our government is making it easier for families. Come 1 March we’re increasing Medicare rebated speech pathology sessions from a total of 5 sessions, to 8 assessment and 20 treatment sessions. Because every kid should have the best start to life.

25/02/2026

Saw this on 7 news last night. As a speech pathologist- I welcome any evidence based tool that helps with early identification. At Rainbow Speech we referred a number of children to the Murdoch Institute research team for speech sound and CAS assessments. They do brilliant work. No one wants to be in speech therapy unless they have to be. No speechie wants to be working on something they don’t need to when there’s someone in more need waiting.

But…Just needing to fact check something in this news story - the list of words that are ‘no concern’ actually COULD be a concern depending on the child’s age. Something that is not a concern at age 3 should be addressed at age 4 or 5.

Children should have most of their speech sounds by 5 years not 7 years (with the exception of th and r which can take longer) But if you wait until 7 to seek therapy for some of these errors it will take much longer as they are more ingrained. Early intervention is always better!

The groundbreaking online tool could save thousands of kids from unnecessary therapy waitlists. Link below.

25/02/2026

Made it through another Wednesday 🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤