Guest Shan Morrison, a Specialist Women’s, Men’s & Pelvic Health Physiotherapist, discusses her experience as an ND physiotherapist, holistic treatment for persistent pelvic pain, overlap of neurodivergence and pain conditions, and the importance of screening for mental and physical health. She emphasizes a whole person approach to restoring pelvic health and empowering individuals to live their best life.

Today’s guest is ADHDer psychologist Dr. Celia Falchi. Celia works in private practice in Wellington, New Zealand. She works with predominantly neurodivergent clients across the lifespan, specialising in trauma work, and she engages in advocacy work within the profession, including being on the Education Committee for AADPA. Celia is also mum to two AuDHDer neurodivergent kids, who are 10 and 13 years old. In this episode Celia shares some personal details about her kids, and Celia’s kids have given their consent for these details to be shared.   In this episode we cover:   Celia’s personal journey with discovering her own neurodivergence in adulthood, and how her ADHD has affected different areas of her personal and professional life. Juggling the emotions and needs of multiple different family members (including her own!). The importance of “modelling humanity” as a parent, and showing that it’s OK to make mistakes. The central importance of relationship and joyful connection when parenting, and approaching behavioural challenges with curiosity. Supporting ND kids’ mental health as a parent, and the importance of belonging. Advocating for and supporting your kids in the school system.     The book that Celia mentions is ‘Relationship Based Treatment of Children and their Parents; an integrative guide to neurobiology, attachment, regulation, and discipline’ by Elizabeth Sylvester and Kat Scherer.   Want polished copies of our episodes in beautiful and readable pdf article format? Grab them here.    Enjoyed the episode and want to support us further? Join our Patreon community! Patreon subscribers receive basic episode transcripts from Season 4 onwards, access to a monthly live zoom hang out, 50% off our episode articles, plus bonus monthly content (depending on subscription tier). Check out our Patreon page to support us, as we aim to make quality mental health care information accessible to everyone: www.patreon.com/ndwomanpod.   Contact us at ndwomanpod@gmail.com, or visit our website: www.ndwomanpod.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A note to our listeners – this episode briefly mentions suicide, so some of our listeners may decide to skip this one.   This week on the podcast Monique interviews Jodie Wilson, who is an AuDHDer veterinarian, researcher, author, and mum (not necessarily in that order!). Jodie advocates for diversity inclusion within the veterinary industry through her work with the Veterinary Kaleidoscope and she also works as a researcher at the Olga Tennison Autism Research Centre at La Trobe University. Jodie is currently in the middle of her second Masters degree, which looks at the intersection of autism and wellbeing, and she is about to launch her first non-fiction book: A Guide for Autistic Professionals Considering Disclosing their Diagnoses at Work.   In this episode Monique and Jodie cover:   Jodie’s experience of late diagnosis and what identification of her neurodivergence meant for her in both her personal and professional life. How Jodie dealt with autistic burnout, managed a sudden loss in her physical mobility, and how she has tailored her working life to accommodate her needs. Key take homes from Jodie’s research into the experience of autistic folk interacting with mental health systems. The strengths that neurodivergent vets bring to the industry and the challenges that neurodivergent folk may face in this industry. Jodie’s advocacy work with the Veterinary Kaleidoscope. Jodie’s top tips for other adult diagnosed neurodivergent folk     For those wondering, Jodie’s research on the experience of autistic adults interacting with mental health care (and the associated resource to come out of this) is not currently publicly available, but we will share it when it is!   You can find the study that Monique mentioned on autistic folks with chronic pain interacting with the healthcare system here.   You can find Jodie here: www.disrupt.vet and sign up to get an alert when her book is out here: www.disrupt.vet/books    Want polished copies of our episodes in beautiful and readable pdf article format? Grab them here.    Enjoyed the episode and want to support us further? Join our Patreon community! Patreon subscribers receive basic episode transcripts from Season 4 onwards, access to a monthly live zoom hang out, 50% off our episode articles, plus bonus monthly content (depending on subscription tier). Check out our Patreon page to support us, as we aim to make quality mental health care information accessible to everyone: www.patreon.com/ndwomanpod.   Contact us at ndwomanpod@gmail.com, or visit our website: www.ndwomanpod.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Discussing the menopause transition, the podcast covers social aspects, sex hormone changes, early menopause, peri-menopause signs, mood effects, and research on neurodivergent individuals. They mention menopause resources and share strategies for managing this important phase.

On our final episode for season 4 we welcome Claire Johnston to the podcast. Claire is a citizen of the Red River Métis Nation, who lives on the land of their ancestors in Treaty 1 Territory, also known as Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. They are a Métis beadwork artist and are currently mentoring under Métis artist and Knowledge Keeper Jennine Krauchi.   Claire is a proud autistic person who finds immense joy in working with their hands. They believe their ability to work intricately and precisely with their hands is a gift from their ancestors, meant to be shared with the world. Claire is a founding member of a grassroots Métis collective called Red River Echoes, which works towards reclaiming sovereignty, land, culture, and kinship across the Métis Homeland.   Claire is also a member of the Two-Spirit Michif local and is a team member of the Re*Storying Autism project out of Brandon University, which works toward a liberated future for neurodivergent people through art, and challenges western, capitalist, biomedical, and colonial understandings of people who think differently.    This episode was such a joy to record. We chat about the intersection of indigenous and neurodivergent identity, the impact of colonisation on identity formation for neurodivergent indigenous peoples, and how we can join the work of decolonising indigenous neurodivergent identity. We chat about claiming your identity through connection to culture and ancestral knowledge, and the vital importance of recognizing your gifts.   Claire shares their experience as both a research participant and a collaborator with the Re*Storying Autism project and speaks to the importance of having their experiences and the experiences of other indigenous autistic folk be ‘witnessed’. Claire shares their experience of neurodivergence, including the social justice drive, their work as a beadwork artist, and the strengths and challenges of their neurotype.   Things we mentioned: Check out Claire’s short video for the Re*Storying Autism project here. Find out more about the Re*Storying Autism project here (information about the the Critical Autism Summit 2024 will be oosted here, and the neurodiversity module for teachers will also be published here). Re*Storying Autism Instragram  Get in contact with Claire by email clairenancyjohnston5@gmail.com or Instagram!      Want polished copies of our episodes in pdf article format? Grab them here.    Thanks for listening to the show! We will be back with Season 5 in February 2024. You can stay in touch over the season break by following us on Facebook and Instagram, or by joining our Patreon community. Patreon subscribers receive basic episode transcripts for Season 4, access to a monthly live zoom hang out, 50% off our episode articles, plus bonus monthly content (depending on subscription tier). Check out our Patreon page to support us, as we aim to make quality mental health care information accessible to everyone: www.patreon.com/ndwomanpod.   Contact us at ndwomanpod@gmail.com, or visit our website: www.ndwomanpod.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week we chat with Jennifer Kemp about perfectionism. Jennifer is a Clinical Psychologist based in Adelaide, Australia. She is the author of ‘The ACT Workbook for Perfectionism: Build Your Best (Imperfect) Life Using Powerful Acceptance & Commitment Therapy and Self-Compassion Skills’ as well as several e-books, which are linked below. Monique and Jennifer are currently co-writing a book on Neurodivergence and Self-Compassion, which is due to be released in 2024.   In her private practice Jennifer uses acceptance and commitment therapy and compassion-focused approaches with adults experiencing perfectionism, eating disorders, depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and chronic illness, as well as many late-diagnosed neurodivergent adults. Jennifer balances this quite imperfectly with writing, presenting, and providing consultations to professionals seeking to deepen their therapeutic practice.   On this episode Jennifer shares her personal experience of neurodivergence and perfectionism. She explains what is perfectionism, how perfectionism interacts with neurodivergence, and what can cause perfectionism. Jennifer shares with us what can perfectionism look like, for kids, teens, and adults. Throughout the episode we chat about strategies to work with perfectionism, and Jennifer also shares her top tips for managing perfectionism, including the ‘passengers on the bus’ metaphor.   You can find more of Jennifer’s work here:   Her website: https://jenniferkemp.com.au/ The ACT Workbook for Perfectionism Free E-books: https://jenniferkemp.com.au/publications/ - including ‘Autistic Burnout: A Brief Guide to Recovery and Prevention’, ‘More than Procrastination: Strategies for Navigating Autistic Inertia and ADHD Paralysis’, and ‘The Perfectionistic Helper: Striving to Help and Never Fail’. The Passengers on the Bus Metaphor Worksheet     Want polished copies of our episodes in pdf article format? Grab them here.   Thanks for listening to the show! We will be back with Season 5 in February 2024. You can stay in touch over the season break by following us on Facebook and Instagram, or by joining our Patreon community. Patreon subscribers receive basic episode transcripts for Season 4, access to a monthly live zoom hang out, 50% off our episode articles, plus bonus monthly content (depending on subscription tier). Check out our Patreon page to support us, as we aim to make quality mental health care information accessible to everyone: www.patreon.com/ndwomanpod.   Contact us at ndwomanpod@gmail.com, or visit our website: www.ndwomanpod.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Happy Monday! This week we chat about Acquired Brain Injury (ABI). We cover what is an acquired brain injury and what can cause an ABI, how does ABI fit within the neurodivergence umbrella, and the prevalence of ABI in Australia. We explore what are some of the cognitive manifestations of ABI and what can impact how an ABI manifests, identity shifts that can occur with an ‘acquired’ neurodivergence and the role of grief and compassion, and factors to consider in recovery.   Access the nun study we mentioned here.   Want polished copies of our episode in pdf article format? Grab them here.    Thanks for listening to the show! We will be back with Season 5 in February 2024. You can stay in touch over the season break by following us on Facebook and Instagram, or by joining our Patreon community. Patreon subscribers receive basic episode transcripts for Season 4, access to a monthly live zoom hang out, 50% off our episode articles, plus bonus monthly content (depending on subscription tier). Check out our Patreon page to support us, as we aim to make quality mental health care information accessible to everyone: www.patreon.com/ndwomanpod.   Contact us at ndwomanpod@gmail.com, or visit our website: www.ndwomanpod.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week we welcome Chantell Marshall to the podcast, who some may know through the social media handle @shylittlepixie. Chantell is an autistic woman, who lives with selective mutism, severe social anxiety and c-PTSD. She spends most of her time at home with her plants and her foster kittens. Chantell shares her personal journey through autism and mental health openly on social media; Chantell says that she finds this rather bizarre because in person she often cannot speak two words to a new person. So it is for this reason that we have run this week’s episode a little differently. Because of Chantell’s selective mutism she is not able to speak with us, but she shares her experiences and answers our questions through the written word. Chantell’s words will be read by an autistic voice actor, Allison Welch.   On this episode we cover Chantell’s path to understanding her own neurodivergence and what this meant for her, what is selective mutism, language considerations and why Chantell prefers the term ‘selective’ mutism over ‘situational’ mutism, and Chantell’s experience of living with selective mutism throughout her childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. We also chat about the overlap of autism and selective mutism, how the fight flight and freeze responses play into selective mutism, and how common it is for internalised stress to be mistaken and praised for ‘compliance’, particularly in girls and afab individuals. Finally, Chantell shares what has been helpful and not helpful for her over her lifetime, her top tips for others, and some of her special interests!   Chantell would like to add the following: I would like to thank Allison for being so kind to offer to be my voice for this podcast. I am so genuinely grateful to you! I would also like to thank Michelle and Monique for being so incredibly understanding in regard to my difficulties with speaking, and for being so willing to provide accommodations to enable me to still be able to share my story here on their wonderful podcast. This is honestly all it takes! I hope others can learn from their foresight and be willing to make adjustments for other Autistic people when needed, too.    Want polished copies of our episode in pdf article format? Grab them here.   Thanks for listening to the show! We will be back with Season 5 in February 2024. You can stay in touch over the season break by following us on Facebook and Instagram, or by joining our Patreon community. Patreon subscribers receive basic episode transcripts for Season 4, access to a monthly live zoom hang out, 50% off our episode articles, plus bonus monthly content (depending on subscription tier). Check out our Patreon page to support us, as we aim to make quality mental health care information accessible to everyone: www.patreon.com/ndwomanpod.   Contact us at ndwomanpod@gmail.com, or visit our website: www.ndwomanpod.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today’s guest is Adina Levy. Adina is an AuDHDer, speech therapist, professional educator, and podcaster. She runs Play. Learn. Chat., and her podcast is called The Exploring Neurodiversity podcast. Adina loves intertwining her personal and clinical experiences with the lived experiences and perspectives of other neurodivergent people. She is dedicated to helping professionals and families to better understand the unique interests, individual strengths, and support needs of neurodivergent children.    In this episode we focus on understanding language and communication differences in neurodivergence, and the role that speech therapists can play. Adina talks to us about what a speech therapist is, why she doesn’t use the term ‘speech pathologist’, and how speech therapists can work with neurodivergent folks in an affirming way. We unpack what it means to communicate and the societal bias toward speech as the only form of communication. We chat about what can be behind communication differences in neurodivergent folk, and touch on gestalt language processing, the purpose of echolalia, the importance of incorporating nonspeaking time into daily life, literal interpretation of language, and interrupting. Finally, Adina shares her own experience as a neurodivergent speech therapist and gives her top tips for others.   Things we mentioned:  Visit Adina’s website here: https://playlearnchat.com/about/ Adina’s podcast is called The Exploring Neurodiversity podcast Check her out on instagram @play.learn.chat You can access Ido Kedar’s book, ‘Ido in Autismland’ here Adina's checklist for parents looking for the right speech therapist for their child is here   Want polished copies of our episode in pdf article format? Grab them here.   Thanks for listening to the show! We will be back with Season 5 in February 2024. You can stay in touch over the season break by following us on Facebook and Instagram, or by joining our Patreon community. Patreon subscribers receive basic episode transcripts for Season 4, access to a monthly live zoom hang out, 50% off our episode articles, plus bonus monthly content (depending on subscription tier). Check out our Patreon page to support us, as we aim to make quality mental health care information accessible to everyone: www.patreon.com/ndwomanpod.   Contact us at ndwomanpod@gmail.com, or visit our website: www.ndwomanpod.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week we chat friendships – this was a huuuuuge topic! We cover understanding your friendship needs and how these might change over time, different ways of connecting and forms of friendships, maintenance and management of friendships over time, and factors specific to neurodivergent women and afab folk in friendships. We also chat through the impact of attachment and personal triggers on friendships and how to engage in healthy conflict management and boundary setting in friendships.   Want polished copies of our episode in pdf article format? Grab them here.   Thanks for listening to the show! We will be back with Season 5 in February 2024. You can stay in touch over the season break by following us on Facebook and Instagram, or by joining our Patreon community. Patreon subscribers receive basic episode transcripts for Season 4, access to a monthly live zoom hang out, 50% off our episode articles, plus bonus monthly content (depending on subscription tier). Check out our Patreon page to support us, as we aim to make quality mental health care information accessible to everyone: www.patreon.com/ndwomanpod.   Contact us at ndwomanpod@gmail.com, or visit our website: www.ndwomanpod.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.