An Atypical Life

02/10/2026

Last week, I travelled to Perth for our annual MyTime facilitators training. I had the opportunity to share a lived experience perspective, and talk about the value two hours together each week can hold for parents and carers.

This week, I travelled to Perth again — this time with my carers hat on, while our child recovers.

And here, in the middle of a very different week, I’ve felt that value for myself.

One carer connected us with accommodation for our extended stay.
Another helped me find somewhere to hire a pram.
another greeted me with kindness and a look that said, “I get it.” When we were clearly in the thick of it.
Another checked in to see how we had gone.

This is what peer support can look like. It’s practical help, shared knowledge and the comfort of connecting with someone who understands without needing the whole story.

The relationships built through MyTime can reach well beyond those two hours. They can become part of the wider network that helps us find our way through difficult weeks — one connection or one kind gesture at a time.

While I often feel a little outside of both worlds - too much of a professional for parent groups, or too much of parent for professional groups - this week was a nice reminder that not matter what hat you wear, we are still one, disability community.

26/09/2026

I am such an anxious traveller, and it takes days, sometimes weeks, to recover from work trips…

But, we’ve been fortunate to explore thousands of kms of WA landscape through our work over the last few years, often with kids in tow!, and I never get tired of these views ☀️

The Inclusive Movement Neuroaffirming Behaviour Support | GROW™️

25/09/2026

The rare moment he stops running 😅☀️

24/09/2026

Does anyone else feel like they lose their 360-degree awareness the moment they put headphones on? 👀🎧

My brain and body absolutely love the reduction in noise and sensory overload. But at the same time, I can feel physically overwhelmed - as though I’m no longer fully oriented to everything happening around me.

I can see what’s in front of me, but without all those background sounds, I lose part of the sensory map that tells me where people are, what is moving and what might be happening beyond my direct line of sight.

For a long time, I assumed this was entirely a nervous system and trauma response - the need to remain hyperaware of my surroundings and know what was happening at all times.

And, of course, there’s the parenting layer: needing to hear where everyone is in the house, what they’re doing and whether that mysterious silence means someone is happily playing… or climbing a piece of furniture. 😅

But more recently, I’ve realised it isn’t only hypervigilance. It’s also part of my sensory profile.

Hearing isn’t just about processing sound. Our brains use auditory information to help map the space around us - locating movement, noticing what is outside our visual field and predicting what might happen next. When earbuds reduce those cues, the brain may compensate by increasing visual scanning, muscle tension and alertness.

So while the environment is technically quieter, my nervous system may not experience it as calmer. It can feel less predictable and require even more effort to monitor.

Both things can be true: reducing sound can support one sensory need while making another part of me feel less oriented and secure.

And honestly, I love that even now - despite constantly supporting other people to understand their sensory profiles - I am still learning about my own. 😅

Sensory needs are rarely as simple as “likes noise” or “doesn’t like noise.” Sometimes the same support can be regulating in one way and dysregulating in another.

Our sensory profiles are layered, contextual and always worth remaining curious about. 💛

Does anyone else experience this when wearing headphones? 😅

17/09/2026

🌱 SUPPORT WHILE YOU WAIT 🌱

We know how exhausting it can feel when your family needs support, but services are unavailable, unaffordable or still months away.

Families deserve practical, respectful guidance—even while they wait.

We’re giving one family a GROW at Home Family Resource Pack, including:

✨ 5 x Neuroaffirming picture books, card deck and resources
✨ Printable worksheets and visual supports
✨ Access to our Raising Neurodivergent Children parenting-program recordings

Valued at ~$500

To enter:

Simply visit the below link and add your first name and email. That’s it.
https://tinyurl.com/kfhyn64j

💛 Not entering, but know someone who might benefit and want to help?

Sharing this post may help it reach a family who is waiting for support and unsure where to begin.

Entries are free and close at 11.59pm 30th September 2026. Open to Australian parents and carers aged 18+.

The winner will only be contacted by [email protected]. We will never request payment or banking information.

This promotion is not sponsored, endorsed, administered by or associated with Instagram or Facebook.

12/09/2026

“I can’t do this today” does not mean “I can’t do this.”

Resharing as this has been popping up in conversations in our own household again this week.

For our kids especially - we need to support the capacity they have today, without placing limits on the capability they may have tomorrow.

This includes even their ability to self advocate, when they lose their voice 🤍

(Edit to add: we had a beautiful teacher this year who really listened and took onboard for what mr L had said and he had a great year 🫶)

10/09/2026

This year, I’ve quietly stepped away from roles I held for years and spaces I once gave so much of myself to.

Yes, my capacity is limited and our family’s support needs have increased. Some days, my priority is simply living and surviving- making life sustainable enough that my children continue to have their mum.

But capacity is only part of the story.

Some spaces remain inaccessible, even to me, despite years of contribution and clear guidance about removing barriers. It isn’t that I can’t do these things or no longer want to. I miss them more than people probably realise.

What became unsustainable was navigating our family’s barriers while also carrying responsibility for making the space inclusive. Too often, the person experiencing exclusion must identify the barrier, explain it, offer the solution and keep following it up… while too few others take ownership.

Inclusion cannot keep sitting with the people it affects most. It must be a shared, whole-community responsibility.

When someone stops turning up, it’s easy to create a story: they lost interest, became unreliable or stopped caring. It takes more curiosity to ask what made it difficult for them to stay, which barriers remained and what support was missing.

Absence isn’t always disengagement. Sometimes it is the clearest feedback a space will receive.

I’m still a giver, helper and supporter. I still care and want to contribute. For now, I’m giving in smaller amounts and protecting our peace and investing my energy in my family and spaces where we consistently feel welcomed and safe.

Family first. Always. 🤍

08/09/2026

04/09/2026

Warning: Carol is not a casual-contact person. 😂

She will ask one innocent question and somehow, 45 minutes later, you’ll be discussing disability rights, neuroaffirming practice, systemic reform, a new community initiative, three grant opportunities and a program she has already mentally built, branded and written the implementation plan for.

She has an extremely low tolerance for bu****it, performative inclusion, “we’ve always done it this way,” and anyone describing themselves as neuroaffirming immediately before telling an autistic child to stop moving and comply.

Do not casually say, “Someone should really do something about that.” Carol will do something about it. There will be a framework. Possibly a training program. Definitely a Canva resource. And by Tuesday there may be a website.

She notices systems, inconsistencies and gaps that other people somehow walk straight past. If a policy says one thing while actual practice does another, unfortunately for everyone involved, she has already noticed.

She is fiercely protective of kids, families and people whose voices are routinely minimised. If you mistreat a vulnerable person, particularly a child, you are about to discover just how thoroughly one woman can research legislation, policy, human rights obligations and organisational governance.

Also, don’t mistake warmth, humour or informality for a lack of expertise. That’s an expensive error.

She is simultaneously running approximately 46 projects, raising a family, answering emails she absolutely should have delegated, designing resources at midnight, advocating for systemic change and announcing, “I just had another idea…”

Those words should frighten you.

Because the idea will be good.

And somehow you now have an action item. 😅