Neurodivergent Clinician Symposium

The future of neurodiversity-affirming practice

🎓 CPD Points upon completion

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Neurodivergent Clinician Symposium brings together Australia’s top neurodivergent health professionals, speaking from both their clinical expertise and lived experience.

Join passionate clinicians in a sensory and movement friendly space where you can learn, grow, feel safe and confident in exploring neurodiversity affirming clinical practices, communication and collaboration. Get access to all the practical strategies and resources you need to take your clinic to the next level.

With an all-neurodivergent health professional line-up of speakers, Neurodivergent Clinician Symposium is Australia's premier event for clinicians of all brain styles who are passionate about creating a neurodiversity affirming experience for their clients.

“Neurodiversity may be every bit as crucial for the human race as biodiversity is for life in general. Who can say what form of wiring will prove best at any given moment?”

- Harvey Blume

Imagine a conference where:

A variety of seating options are available so you can sit, stand, lounge or move around as needed in the main room or from a quieter workspace with the conference stream

Wrist bands indicate your preferences for people approaching you

Well-labelled, yummy food actually caters to your dietary needs
You’re not expected to attend a conference dinner, so you can chill and recharge solo with room service, or plan dinner or an adventure with friends (we’ll let you know about the dining options and what’s on in Melbourne)

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I’ll never forget attending a conference where it was difficult to even sit in the room as we were all jammed in like sardines and the lighting was so bright it immediately gave me a headache. Many of the speakers used triggering, condescending, inaccurate medical language to describe autism and ADHD, and it was hard to find anything I could actually eat.

We can do so much better!

That’s why I’ve created the Neurodivergent Clinician Symposium.

A place where you can learn, grow, feel safe and confident in exploring neurodiversity affirming clinical practices, communication and collaboration, while gaining access to all the practical resources you need to take your clinic to the next level.

Whether you’re a neurodivergent practitioner or a neurodiversity affirming ally, feel confident helping your clients understand their own brain styles and the strategies, supports and accommodations that fit best with their passions, sensory preferences and everyday routines.

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Neurodivergent Clinician Symposium Creator:
Lydia Meem

Lydia Meem is a neurodivergent clinical psychologist who loves supporting her awesome clients to find joy, connection, work and study opportunities through their passions. She most enjoys tailoring autism strategies to the needs of Autistic individuals of all ages and their families, and empowering them to advocate for appropriate supports and accommodations.

Lydia is also a Fellow of the APS College of Clinical Psychologists, a Board-approved supervisor, and a Registrar program principal supervisor in the Clinical psychology area of practice.

Lydia is an author and popular speaker, presenting at autism conferences around the world, and providing training on autism assessments for psychologists and neurodiversity affirming approaches for teachers of Autistic students.

Throughout her work Lydia shares the latest strategies, answers questions, and gives you the advice, tools and confidence you need to integrate neurodiversity affirming practices into your work with neurodivergent clients.

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Health, mental health and disability sectors are now recognising the importance of neurodiversity affirming, strengths-based, trauma-informed and positive approaches to supporting and accommodating neurodivergent people.

Let’s get comfortable with neurodiversity affirming language, the latest understandings of various neurotypes, and rethink goal setting in partnership with our clients. It’s about checking what individuals actually want to change rather than making assumptions, and finding strategies in alignment with each person’s brain style, rather than expecting them to mask and camouflage for others’ comfort. Increasingly our role includes advocacy and assisting our clients to develop their self-advocacy skills in schools, workplaces and the community.

We’ll be discussing hot topics, including NDIS changes, minority stress and intersectionality, and considerations for ‘coming out’ as neurodivergent in the workplace.

🎓 CPD Points upon completion

Neurodivergent Clinician Symposium is sponsored by

Neurodivergent Clinician Symposium brings together neurodivergent professional speakers, who offer insights and strategies based on both their clinical training and lived experience, including:

Psychologists

Speech Pathologists

Occupational Therapists

Medical Practitioners

Meet the Speakers

Adelle Sushames

CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST

AuDHDer clinical psychologist, founder of Nurture Clinical Psychology and creator of Spoon Thieves, Spoon Savers and ND me card decks. Adelle is passionate about helping AuDHDer children and families to understand, support and celebrate their individuality. With 30k followers on her @neurodivergent_ally social media, Adelle often answers questions around autism, ADHD, and School Can’t.

Dr Krishna Solanki

PAEDIATRICIAN

Krishna is a neurodivergent paediatrician committed to supporting the unique journey of neurodivergent children and young people. Krishna's expertise extends to managing psychological, behavioural and developmental challenges, ensuring that every child's distinct neurological profile is not only recognised, but celebrated. By fostering open communication, collaborative care, and tailored treatment plans, she empowers families to overcome challenges and thrive together.

Dr Alasdair Vance

CHILD & ADOLESCENT PSYCHIATRIST

Alasdair is a proud Northern Wathaurung and Southern Wiradjuri man who has led a Developmental Neuropsychiatry program at Royal Children's Hospital for over 20 years. Alasdair works with a holistic Country and animal therapy practice at a farm in Sunbury. He leads a Victorian Elder-governed cultural therapy clinical research program exploring ways to provide culture centred mental health care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people and their kinship networks.

Liz Baird

SPEECH PATHOLOGIST

Liz is an Autistic speech pathologist who works with Autistic youth and young adults, with a strong focus on supporting authentic social communication. Liz develops training and resources to help professionals shift away from traditional approaches and adopt neurodiversity-affirming practices. She is passionate about translating affirming values into practical, real world steps for therapists, educators and support staff. She is on Instagram @ND_Speechie

Jennifer Kemp

CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST

AuDHDer clinical psychologist, author, and trainer, Jennifer is passionate about building self-compassion in neurodivergent people including health professionals. Jennifer is co-author of The Neurodivergence Skills Workbook for Autism and ADHD and author of The ACT Workbook for Perfectionism. Jennifer is a warm and engaging trainer who helps professionals develop practical skills to support Autistic adults and ADHDers.

Claire Britton

OCCUPATIONAL THERAPIST

Neurodivergent occupational therapist and founder of Neuroinclusion, speaker, podcast guest, neurodiversity advocate and clinical mentor to therapists across Australia. With over 30k followers on her @neuroinclusion social media, Claire is passionate about educating, inspiring and empowering Australian neurodivergent clients and therapists to optimise best practice to facilitate their success doing their daily activities.

Lydia Meem

CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST

Neurodivergent clinical psychologist and founder of Autism Understanding. Lydia is passionate about neurodiversity affirming assessment and strategies, and provides clinical supervision, in-person and online training for health professionals and educators. Lydia is the author of Beyond IQ Scores: A handbook for clinicians providing neurodiversity affirming cognitive and developmental assessments.

Adelle Kent

DIETICIAN

Adelle is an AuDHDer Dietitian and Eating Disorder Clinician who combines clinicial expertise with lived experience of eating disorders to support neurodivergent clients, including those with ARFID. She understands the chaos of executive functioning differences, sensory sensitivities and interoception struggles, and provides size-inclusive, HAES®-aligned, trauma-informed care that fosters healing and body trust.

Sam Van Der Wijngaart

FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGIST

Sam is a straight-talking AuDHDer forensic psychologist who mixes neurodiversity affirming clinical skills with authentic connection and schnauzers. Sam’s work frequently bridges the challenging but crucial intersection of forensic psychology and disability. She loves getting to the bottom of someone’s challenges. Sam is also a leader in a 6000 strong neurodiversity affirming clinician Facebook group.

Bianca Comfort

CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST

Neurodivergent clinical psychologist and Director of Comfort Psychology, a Telehealth practice focused on chronic illness and neurodivergence. Bianca is the Vice-President of the Australian Psychological Society, and an acclaimed speaker and disability advocate. Bianca is passionate about Autism, ADHD, and chronic illnesses such as Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) and Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS).

Chantelle Robards

SPECIALIST COACH (Allied Health & NDIS)

Chantelle worked as a speech pathologist within public, NGO and private practice spaces, before moving into consultation, liaison, advocacy, and training roles, with a focus on NDIS policy and implementation. Chantelle keeps over 5k service providers informed of NDIS changes through the 'Care and Support Sector Community of Practice - Australia' Facebook group.

Yael Clark

EDUCATIONAL & DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGIST

Yael is an AuDHDer, who started as a teacher, then a psychologist for 20 years in her private practice serving Autistic and ADHDer children with OCD and anxiety, and their parents. Yael provides consultation, supervision and training for health professionals and teachers on neurodiversity affirming practice. She founded LOAPAC, which supports Autistic psychologists and has a public register of neurodiversity affirming psychologists.

Dr Leah Dunne

GENERAL PRACTITIONER

Leah is an AuDHDer general practitioner who is passionate about bringing a neurodiversity affirming lens to her work. Leah will share with us some of her experiences and reflections on the challenges and opportunities for neurodivergent people in completing the rigorous demands of medical training, and how her own late diagnosis has helped her cultivate neurodiversity affirming conversations with her colleagues and patients.

Dr Erin Robinson

CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST

AuDHDer psychologist with an interest in sport, movement and play in neurodivergent children, and the benefits of incorporating play into therapy sessions. In addition to providing neurodiversity affirming assessments and strategies at Autism Understanding, Erin is a Lecturer at the University of Newcastle, and is the co-host of the Executive Miss Function Podcast, offering lived experience insights into ADHD.