The Neurodivergent Woman

Latest Episodes:

Identity with Clem Bastow Nov 21, 2022

Show notes

This week we welcome Clem Bastow to the pod. Clem is an autistic author, cultural critic and screenwriting researcher from Naarm/Melbourne. Their work appears regularly in The Guardian, The Saturday Paper and The Big Issue, and their debut nonfiction book ‘Late Bloomer’ was published by Hardie Grant in 2021. They are currently completing a PhD in screenwriting and Autistic experience at RMIT, and they have taught screenwriting at University of Melbourne and short story at RMIT.

We chat with Clem about identity, language, and the power of seeing ourselves represented in fiction and media. We discuss the importance of seeing autistic stories, shared by autistic voices, to better represent the diversity of autistic experience. Clem shares their path to diagnosis and an autistic identity, and we chat about the myth of ‘high functioning’.

For more about Clem, or to buy their book ‘Late Bloomer’, check out Clem’s website here: http://www.clembastow.com/

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Advocacy with Barb Cook Nov 14, 2022

Show notes

This week we have Barb Cook on the pod. Barb is a neurodivergent author, speaker, and advocate, best known as founder of Spectrum Women Magazine and leading editor and co-author of the book, Spectrum Women, Walking to the Beat of Autism. Barb works in her own practice, the NeuroDiversity Hub in Gympie, as a Developmental Educator, Integrative Nutritionist and a Neurodiversity Employment Consultant for neurodivergent adults.

We chat with Barb about advocacy, including her journey to becoming an autistic, ADHDer, and dyslexic advocate, how to become an advocate for yourself and for others, and what are some of the key barriers to self-advocacy. This episode is packed full of practical examples and tips from Barb about how to know what you need and advocate for this. Barb also chats with us about the importance of self-acceptance and advocating for yourself, to yourself, after a late diagnosis.

Find a registered developmental educator here: www.deai.com.au

The Autistic Self Advocacy Network of Australia and New Zealand (ASAN) https://asan-aunz.org/

For links to Barb’s books, including her new book with Yenn Purkis ‘The Autism and Neurodiversity Self-Advocacy Handbook’, check out Barb’s website here: https://barbcook.com.au/

Want polished copies of our episodes in pdf article format? Grab them here.

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Pathological Demand Avoidance Nov 07, 2022

Show notes

On this week’s episode we discuss Pathological Demand Avoidance, or PDA. We explore what PDA is, including the history of this construct, and the positives and negatives of the PDA concept. We cover what factors can contribute to demand avoidance amongst neurodivergent people, including personal, neurobiological, cultural, and social factors, and chat though how our stress response plays into demand avoidance, and what you can do to lessen the impact of demand avoidance on your life (or how you can support your child with this).

For more information on Pathological Demand Avoidance check out:

Kirsty Forbes (https://www.kristyforbes.com.au/)
Raelene Dundon, who has authored ‘PDA in the Therapy Room – A clinician’s guide to working with children with Pathological Demand Avoidance’.

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Repetitive behaviours Oct 31, 2022

Show notes

This week we explore repetitive behaviours. We cover repetitive behaviours in autism, OCD, tics and Tourette’s Syndrome, and hoarding behaviour, including what causes and drives repetitive behaviours across these neurodivergences. We discuss the overlap of different neurodivergences that include repetitive behaviours, in addition to what distinguishes and differentiates different forms of repetitive behaviour.

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Sexual assault and neurodivergence Oct 24, 2022

Show notes

Content warning: This episode contains multiple references to sexual assault. Some listeners may decide to skip this one.

It is a disturbing reality that neurodivergent women are more likely to experience sexual assault in their lifetime compared to neurotypical women. In this episode we define sexual assault and sexual consent, and chat through the statistics around sexual assault amongst neurodivergent women. We explore the factors driving the increased risk of sexual assault for neurodivergent women and discuss how to enact change, at a personal and societal level.

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See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Diversity and inclusion support in the workplace with Dr Tanya Murray Oct 09, 2022

Show notes

Dr Tanya Murray is an autistic woman and the principal project officer for the All Kinds of Minds team for the Department of Education in Queensland. This week we chat with Tanya about diversity and inclusion in the workplace. We cover what inclusion means in a workplace, ways that workplaces can work toward inclusion, make change, and embrace a different approach, how to create an inclusive culture in the workplace, and how employees can recognize if a workplace is inclusive. We explore the strengths that neurodivergent minds bring to the workplace, and go through some examples of workplace adjustments to enable neurodivergent minds to flourish in a work setting. Finally, Tanya tells us about The All Kinds of Minds team that she is part of, and the neurodiversity pilot her team has run.

Check out the Diversity Council of Australia website here - https://www.dca.org.au/

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Disability with Dr Sarah Bernard Oct 03, 2022

Show notes

This week we welcome Dr Sarah Bernard on the podcast. Dr Bernard is a disabled autistic ADHDer doctor based in Perth. She is a research team member at Autistic Doctors International and is passionate about disability advocacy and neurodiversity in healthcare. We cover a lot in this episode, including Sarah’s experiences as a neurodivergent woman in university, medical training, and professional life, the intersection of gender expectations and neurodivergence when communicating, and work-based accommodations and strategies. Sarah also shares her experience of mirror touch synaesthesia.

Sarah shares with us her path to diagnosis, and her experiences ‘coming out’ as neurodivergent and as disabled. We talk about the myth of ‘high functioning’, what it means to be disabled, and the importance of interdependence over independence.

Check out Sarah’s blog, The Neurodivergent Doctor, here - https://neurodivergentdr.wixsite.com/website

Check out Autistic Doctors International here – www.autisticdoctorsinternational.com

Sarah is on Twitter - @autisticdoc

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See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Depression and anxiety Sep 26, 2022

Show notes

In this episode we explore two of the most common mental health conditions: depression and anxiety. We unpack what separates normal sadness and worry from clinical levels of depression and anxiety and what the ‘purpose’ of these emotional states are. We discuss the overlap of depression and anxiety in neurodivergence, including how common it is, and what factors contribute to depression and anxiety in neurodivergence. Finally, we talk solutions. Including how to support good mental health functioning long term, and what you can do in the moment.

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Exceptional and unusual abilities in neurodivergence Sep 19, 2022

Show notes

This week we discuss unusual and exceptional abilities in neurodivergence. We explore savant abilities, ‘splinter skills’, hyperlexia, and giftedness, as well as ‘twice exceptionality’.

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See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bipolar Disorder with Anastasia McLean Sep 11, 2022

Show notes

This week Michelle and Monique talk with Anastasia McLean about Bipolar Disorder. Anastasia is the host of The Bipolar Diaries podcast. In this episode we cover what actually is Bipolar and Anastasia shares her experiences through adolescence, getting a diagnosis, and into adulthood. We talk about the difficulty teasing apart personality and neurodivergence, the overlap of some of the cognitive traits of Bipolar and ADHD, trauma, her experiences with friendships and relationships, and her medication journey. Anastasia shares her key behavioural and lifestyle strategies, and also the strengths that have come with her neurodivergence.

Anastasia talks about her experiences with such openness and grace – it was such a pleasure to have her on the podcast!

Listen to Anastasia’s podcast – The Bipolar Diaries – wherever you get your podcasts. Follow her on Instagram @thebipolardiaries_

Want polished copies of our episodes in pdf article format? Grab them here.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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