NeuroDiversity Affirming Training and Supervision

03/03/2026

Treatment using the medical model vs neurodiversity affirming therapy

You can help clients by differentiating between unconscious masking and strategic masking and name the risks clearly. Where masking is a survival strategy, you can validate it and reduce the need to use it if the privilege to do so exists. The target is safer internal systems and contexts, not “better camouflage.” Where possible, change the environment first so authenticity becomes possible, and only then consider any personal change.

If unmasking is desired, you might set tiny steps and choose low risk settings first. The pace belongs to the person, not the therapist.

Suggested actions:
1. Build a toolbox of strategies that help with masking & unmasking, such as decompression blocks, sensory regulation, and permission phrases. So you can support clients in coping with masking or help with unmasking through a number of different ways.
2. Create disclosure or "not today" scripts that clients can adapt (e.g. "I'll share this when I'm ready" or "I don't have the spoons today".)
3. Audit where you reinforced masking (e.g. praise for eye contact, tone of voice, using the phone) or even in your note "client refused eye contact". Replace with reinforcement for regulation and the use of descriptive, non-judgmental wording.
4. Prepare ally signals in your therapy room, like visual cues that your space is neurodiversity affirming. For example, naming or welcoming stims, or providing sensory tools.
5. Add in a supervision reflection point: “Where did my framing or pace implicitly reward masking?” Bring one instance to supervision and design a plan for change with your supervisor.
6. Create opportunities for client-led (and optional) authenticity markers (like preferred seating, stimming, direct speech)..

26/02/2026

𝗗𝗶𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐍𝐃𝐈𝐒 𝐩𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐠𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐀𝐁𝐀 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬? 𝗟𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆, 𝘄𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗼𝗽 𝗱𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗿 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺 𝗔𝘂𝘁𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗽𝘆.

We really have a big problem with things that we believe are "deviant", and very little problem with overriding people's own personal wishes of how they actually are. Whether that is being left-handed, q***r, or Autistic (and there are many other examples).

Australia has banned gay conversion therapy in most states (not all), but only in the last few years, but here we see state-sanctioned - and sometimes mandated - Autistic conversion therapy (Some NDIS plans will only have behaviour support as a funded support).

On that note, I'd like to welcome a new follower to the page, not that you're not all special and amazing. Henny Kupferstein, Ph.D.is someone whose work I've been quoting in my own work for a long time now, and is such a force in the movement. Their research on the harm of ABA is an extremely important piece of work. They're amazing. I encourage you to follow Henny's work.

Evidence of increased PTSD symptoms in autistics exposed to applied behavior analysis - https://www.researchgate.net/publication/322239353_Evidence_of_increased_PTSD_symptoms_in_autistics_exposed_to_applied_behavior_analysis

* Psychologists can also earn this rate

PDF | Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the prevalence of posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) in adults and children who were exposed to... | Find, read and cite all the research you need on ResearchGate

26/02/2026

Reflection isn’t just about thinking—it’s an active process that changes your brain. When you pause to reflect, you activate the prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain that supports reasoning, planning, and emotional regulation. This
shift moves you out of reactive survival mode and into intentional choice.

Repeated reflection strengthens neural pathways through neuroplasticity—the brain’s ability to form new connections.

Each time you link an experience to insight, you create richer networks for memory and problem solving. Over time, this makes it easier to:
- Notice patterns
- Improve emotional regulation
- Respond in ways that align with your values

Alt text
Reflection creates insight.
It links experience to understanding and drives learning.

24/02/2026

Treatment using the medical model vs neurodiversity affirming therapy

Regulation is the foundation; exposure is optional (and can often make things worse).

Suggested actions:
1. Create a client‑chosen “safety menu” for session setup (quiet start, slower pace, movement break, headset, dim lights).
2. Build co‑regulation into your session routines (predictable starts/ends, longer transitions, brief shared breathing or grounding).
3. Prepare low demand regulation options (weighted lap blanket, soft lighting, movement breaks).

Alt Text
First column is titled Medical
Subtitle: Sensory Strategies
- Sensory exposure
- Increase tolerance
- Ignore sensory aversions

Reasons to avoid
Uses exposure and tolerance goals that can escalate distress in hypersensitive systems.

Second column is titled Neurodiversity Affirming: Subtitle: Sensory Strategies
- Sensory safety
- Adapt context before tolerance
- Co-regulation

Reasons to use
Prioritises safety; adapts environment and offers co‑regulation before any tolerance work.

24/02/2026

True for kids and teachers - also true for therapists and adults. If you have not heard of things like alexithymia, monotropism, the double empathy problem, spiky profile - these are basics for knowing when working with Autistic people. And if you don't know about them, you are doing your Autistic clients a disservice.

Think you don't see Autistic clients...? You probably do - they are overrepresented as a therapy population, they might be undiagnosed or just not disclose their Autistic identity because so often it's badly received.

My courses go through all of these concepts - please invest in doing better for Autistic adults in therapy, because when therapists have no neurodiversity affirming autism training, the outcomes for those clients are exceptionally poor.

22/02/2026

✨ Calling all girls and young women aged 10–25! ✨
Want to make a real impact in your community and have your voice heard?

Fearless Women is inviting you to join our Youth Advisory Committee (YAC). A space where young people come together to share ideas, talk about issues that matter, and help shape programs that support girls and young women.

At this moths meeting, we’ll be diving into topics that matter to young women right now, including:
• Life after the social media ban for under‑16s
• Loneliness and isolation

🗓 Next meeting: Monday 23 February 2026, 4:00–5:30pm
📍 In person at Level 1, Unit 5, 17–21 University Ave, Canberra
💻 Or join via Zoom

💬 Why join?
• Influence real decisions that affect young people
• Meet other passionate girls and young women
• Build confidence and leadership skills
• Help create positive change in your community

Whether you’ve been to YAC before or this would be your first time, you’re welcome to jump in and share your voice.

Follow the link below to register your interest, we’d love to see you there. 💛
https://evt.to/0h0zp3qqtsdj

21/02/2026

Tomorrow I’m running my workshop on autism cause and cure myths. These are some of the major figures from both the biogenic and psychogenic camps... but I put them through a cartoon filter.
How many do you recognise?”

Tickets for sale until midnight tonight: https://www.trybooking.com/DHMQD

19/02/2026

You can take the Oldenburg Burnout Inventory (OLBI) online to check your own burnout.

Link: https://www.mdapp.co/oldenburg-burnout-inventory-olbi-calculator-606/

Therapists: You can take the results to supervision to discuss issues like burnout, workload and self-care.

(Or, if you're in therapy, you can show the results to your therapist)

17/02/2026

Treatment using the medical model vs neurodiversity affirming therapy

A one size fits all model to therapy misses minority stress, sensory needs and cannot possibly be trauma informed.

Instead, you can work collaboratively by treating the client as an expert on themselves. You fit the modality to the person, not the other way around.

Suggested actions:
1. Audit inherited beliefs from training and ask which ones clash with neurodiversity affirming practice.
2. Check with clients verbally or provide asynchronous feedback options, so they can request preferred pace, comment on the clarity of materials, and name moments of overwhelm. Then use the feedback to adjust your practice.

Alt Text
First column is titled Medical
Subtitle: Therapy Modality
- CBT works for everyone
- Manualised approach
- Client lacks insight

Reasons to avoid
One‑size fits all; assumes insight deficit and privileges top‑down change.

Second column is titled Neurodiversity Affirming: Subtitle: Therapy Modality
- Collaborative
- Trauma informed
- Client as expert on self

17/02/2026

Just a reminder that every community has issues, including the Autistic one. We will all make mistakes, myself included, but owning our mistakes and allowing for repairs to be made by those who make mistakes go a long way to making our communities just a little safer.

16/02/2026

There’s no shortage of autism “training” out there, and I could tell you how thoughtful or practical my workshops are… but how would you actually know? So instead, here’s what someone who attended yesterday’s workshop said:

"10/10 - 𝙃𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙡𝙮 𝙨𝙠𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙙 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙖𝙡𝙨𝙤 𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙧𝙚𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚, 𝙖𝙪𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙘 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙝𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙖𝙘𝙝. 𝙄𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙜𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙚𝙭𝙖𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙜𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙖𝙡𝙨𝙤 𝙗𝙚𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙜𝙪𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙤 𝙨𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙥𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙖 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙘𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙤𝙧 𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙪𝙣𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚."

- 𝘍𝘦𝘣𝘳𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘺 2026 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘱 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘵

If you’re curious about workshops that centre the experience of Autistic adults, reduce therapist overwhelm, and offer concrete skills you can use the very next day, you might take a look at what’s coming up: 𝘄𝘄𝘄.𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘁𝘀.𝗰𝗼𝗺.𝗮𝘂/𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗽𝘀

15/02/2026

TW - Public abuse against Autistic people

The two most common types of abuse I get when I post online, especially if I boost a post, are things like:
- The R* word
- Being called leftist or similar (which kind of odd, (a), it's only descriptive, because yes, I'm very leftist, but (b) as if people on the right of politics not believe in disability rights... clearly many do... so not the abusethey think it is, rather quite revealing of their own ignorance and gross ways of thinking of the world).

I have no time for these people, who are often from anonymous or untraceable accounts, so I block them straight away. But it's a good reminder that outside the safe Autistic bubbles that we create, there are a lot of hateful people out there making things unsafe for us.

I do engage with some responses, mostly because I realise there are other people reading along, but even then I have to call out what are actually violent comments, like about curing Autistics or (a very recent comment) like people having "marketable autism".

This is all to say: if you are Autistic, you deserve to be safe online and in person. You don't deserve to be subjected to abuse and violent behaviour or comments. But the reality is, those people are out there. You *never* have to feel like you have to engage responding to those kinds of comments on my page, because either I will if I have the spoons, or I will delete/block. Obviously if you feel you have the space to engage in advocacy, go for it, but you do not owe anyone your energy, least of all to people who make harmful comments.