Windy Ridge Autism Supports

06/02/2026

It’s Pride Month, and it’s important to recognize that neurodiversity and LGBTQIA+ identities often intersect.

Research consistently shows that autistic and ADHD individuals are more likely to identify as LGBTQIA+ than their neurotypical peers. For many, understanding their neurodivergence can also create space to explore and better understand their identity, gender, and sexuality.

Affirming neurodivergence means more than accepting differences in communication, sensory needs, or ways of thinking. It also means respecting the many ways people experience and express who they are.

As counsellors, educators, parents, and community members, we can help create spaces where people don’t have to choose which parts of themselves are welcome.

Everyone deserves to feel seen, respected, and valued as their whole self.

🌈 Happy Pride Month.

06/02/2026

⏰ Just 1 Week Away!

Our upcoming webinar, Consent & Communication with Speech Therapist and PDA Board Member, Linda Murphy, is happening soon — and you won’t want to miss this important conversation 💜

Learn how consent-centered communication can help build trust, reduce stress, and create more supportive relationships in everyday life.

✨ Whether you’re a parent, educator, professional, PDAer, or other neurodivergent adult, this session will offer practical insights you can start using right away.

🗓️ Happening in ONE WEEK
🎟️ Comment ConsentComm to reserve your spot today!

06/02/2026

06/01/2026

“The world is an overwhelming place for us - it doesn’t have to be, but the way it’s set up with colours, noise and lights and people and expectations makes it so.”

For many autistic people, overwhelm isn’t occasional, it’s cumulative.

It builds from background noise, bright spaces, unclear communication, and unspoken expectations.

When we understand that experience better, we stop treating adaptation as resistance and start seeing it as insight.

Taken from my essay, ‘An Autistic Burnout’

05/31/2026

05/30/2026

🌿 introducing the KIDS community readiness program ☀️

a small-group summer program for neurodivergent children focused on connection, confidence, emotional regulation, social learning, and everyday life skills through play and community experiences.

click the link below to register!

https://forms.gle/WBvk9c5CfcvFCfzM9

05/30/2026

Update from Cranbrook BC Autism Families page (thank you Stephanie Mervyn) about the disability tax credit. Be sure to update your disability tax credit through your pediatrician or doctor.

05/28/2026

Hard for your child to bathe?

05/27/2026

Love this idea! So far away…..

Some programs are created from professional knowledge. Others are created from lived experience, deep observation, compassion, and authentic connection. Chickens to Love is one of those rare programs that brings all of these elements together beautifully.

Summer Farrelly has created something truly meaningful. Through their relationship with chickens, Summer recognised the importance of trust, consent, predictability, communication, and nervous system safety — not only for animals, but for humans as well. What emerged from these insights is an innovative Animal Assisted Learning program that honours both neurodivergent experiences and animal wellbeing with remarkable depth and care.

As Founder of Animal Therapies Ltd, I have seen firsthand the growing recognition of animal-assisted services across education, disability support, mental health, and community wellbeing settings. What makes Chickens to Love particularly significant is its strong neurodiversity-affirming approach and its commitment to relational safety, autonomy, and authentic connection.

This program does not ask participants to mask who they are or conform to socially expected ways of communicating. Instead, it creates opportunities for individuals to better understand themselves, others, and the many different ways humans and animals express needs, emotions, boundaries, and trust.

Summer’s ability to translate flock dynamics, animal behaviour, sensory awareness, and emotional understanding into engaging and accessible learning experiences is extraordinary. The program reflects insight, creativity, empathy, and a profound respect for both people and animals.

Chickens to Love is an important contribution to the evolving field of Animal Assisted Learning and a wonderful example of how lived experience can shape truly impactful and inclusive practice.

It is an honour to support and endorse this work. You can find it on the course section of our website here: https://animaltherapies.org.au/courses/

Wendy Coombe
Founder
Animal Therapies Ltd