Autism Actually

I look forward to next holidays! 💛💛

Excited to share that our friend @h_arbuthnott is running a solo show at the Melbourne Comedy Festival from late March to Mid April!! “Twenty-five-year-old transmasculine comedian and teenage boy Han Arbuthnott has been on testosterone for two years (puberty part twoberty, if you will), had an elective double mastectomy a year ago, and is quite fond of telling jokes about it all.  Han is a rising star and charming heartthrob with a silly, honest style. They’ve appeared at many Melbourne comedy rooms and recently opened for Hannah Gadsby, which was both a dream and a very sweaty reality.” Tickets are $24-28 and the show runs for 50 minutes. https://www.instagram.com/p/CqMMV4OvqX7/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Happy Friday, folx! Today, Arwen and I ventured to a shopping centre for the first time with our trainer Yvonne. Arwen was brilliant, and happy tears were shed. So grateful to have her daily love and support. #Autism #Neurodiversity #ActuallyAutistic #Disability #AssistanceDoginTraining #AssistancePaws #BusimannsDogTraining https://www.instagram.com/p/CpmcOSLPzw4/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Wanted to share a major win for my assistance dog in training, Arwen, and I. Since a puppy we have been socialising, going out and about, conditioning Arwen to gentle handling, harnesses and other equipment, introducing training in small achievable steps, and most importantly having fun. 🐕‍🦺🐾🌈🐶 Yesterday we decided to try being indoors together at a familiar cafe (thank you @thefullpantry !) after practicing calm settles outside. Arwen blew me away with how calm and focussed she was - it was like she had done this a million times. I gave her lots of cuddles, verbal praise, and delicious treats to acknowledge her awesome efforts. It just goes to show how important it is building your dog’s confidence, going at their pace and setting up for success! I am looking forward to discussing this in more depth with Busimann's Dog Training next Tuesday for our webinar. Purchase tickets for the event via our bio. #Autism #AssistanceDogInTraining #AssistanceDogs #AutismAssistanceDog #PsychiatricAssistanceDog #Neurodiversity #Disability #AssistancePaws #BusimannsDogTraining https://www.instagram.com/p/CoOLbNpP5_E/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Autism Actually acknowledges the traditional owners of this land in which we inhabit, the Wurundjeri people on Survival or Invasion Day. We recognise their continuing connection to land, waters and culture. We offer ourselves as allies. We pay our respects to their Elders past, present and emerging. This was, and always will be, Aboriginal land. We offer our condolences to all mourning this day. We have also given money to Pay The Rent, which directly supports First Nations communities. Please post your favourite First Nations accounts you like to follow below! I am grateful for Autistic First Nations advocates such as Tess Moodie from @neurodiversitygoddess and Hayden Moon - @hayden_seek94. #AlwaysWasAlwaysWillBe #SovereigntyWasNeverCeded https://www.instagram.com/p/Cn3CC1Nvl1X/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

CW: Death, grief discussed For me, grief is a complex process. I feel the loss deeply but in ways that may seem trivial to others; a quote from a film, a change in routine that involves that person, even particular food. My 'emotions' come in waves; from feeling absolutely nothing at all, to becoming overwhelmed by sadness, anxiety, or some other feeling I cannot name. Often this is not evident from the outside; I can appear quite apathetic when inside I am overcome with sadness. [Text description: The concept of death is something I find difficult to process; how someone can be present and then not be in your life anymore. What I have learned through this is that there is no one right or wrong way to grieve; all of us need to process life changes in different ways, and different rates, and that is okay. Shadia Hancock. Copyright Autism Actually, 2023] #Autism #ActuallyAutistic #Neurodiversity #Disability #AutisticPride #Interoception #Processing #Grief #AutismActually https://www.instagram.com/p/Cnq8it9PdCj/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Hi everyone, We are super thrilled to join Tim Chan once more, discussing Autistic individuals with complex communication and support needs (CSN) and how to best include them in social settings and events. We thought this topic was important to share given that there is increasing awareness of the importance of Autism-friendly spaces; however, there are unique considerations for Autistic individuals who are AAC users, non-speaking, and minimally speaking. I have also had the pleasure of getting to know fellow Autistic individuals with a wide range of support and communication needs and realised that not all have had this exposure or opportunity to connect with the CSN community. The session will cover topics relating to: - The complex communication and support needs community - AAC, multimodal communication and the communication spectrum - Unique social challenges Autistic CSN individuals experience - How to include people with CSN socially If you would like to find tickets, or find out more, please check out our bio. #Autism #ActuallyAutistic #Neurodiversity #Disability #CCN #ComplexCommunicationNeeds #ComplexSupportNeeds #AAC #Inclusion #Acceptance #AutisticPride #TimChan #AutismActually [Text: Webinar. Supporting community participation of Autistic individuals with CCN. Join Tim Chan and Shadia Hancock in a webinar and Q&A discussing supporting Autistic individuals with complex communication and support needs with social participation. Suitable for families, Autistic individuals, event hosts, and support staff. Presenters: Shadia Hancock. Owner and founder of Autism Actually. Autistic advocate. Tim Chan. Non-speaking Autistic advocate. 25 March 2023 10:00-11:30 AEDT. Cost:* $30 General admission $45 Professional admission. *Early bird tickets available. Registration: https://www.autismactually.com.au/event-details/supporting-community-participation-of-autistic-individuals-with-ccn. www.autismactually.com.au] [Image: A closeup of a light writer speech generating device with the text 'Hello how are you'] https://www.instagram.com/p/CnbMAbXvQb7/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

We are super excited to be re-running this popular webinar with the wonderful Yvonne of Busimann's Dog Training. This session will include a presentation and Q&A on all things assistance dogs, including pathways available in obtaining and accrediting an assistance dog, determining whether an assistance dog may be suitable for your situation, and what the training process involves. 🐕‍🦺🐾 This session will be applicable for families, Neurodivergent individuals, people with disabilities, educators, and allied health professionals wanting to learn more about assistance dogs. Tickets can be purchased by following the link in our bio. If you are on an NDIS plan or need to pay at a later date, a payment plan can be organised. A Certificate of Attendance can be provided on request by emailing us at [email protected] #Autism #ActuallyAutistic #Neurodiversity #Disability #AssistanceDogs #ProfessionalDevelopment #Webinar #InformationSession #PsychiatricAssistanceDogs #AutismAssistanceDogs #MobilityAssistanceDogs #BusimannsDogTraining #AutismActually https://www.instagram.com/p/CnYxubXv-Ab/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Our team hope you all have a wonderful holidays and New Year for 2023, whether you celebrate differently, or don’t celebrate at all! 🎅🏼🌲🎆🌟🎉🎁 [Text: Happy Holidays. To those who celebrate (or don’t), our team wish you Seasons Greetings and a Happy New Year for 2023! www.autismactually.com.au] [Image description: Two border collies and a brown coloured mix breed dog are sitting on a chair. The border collies have res Christmas hats on. The mixed breed dog has a red Christmas costume on and clear glasses.] #Autism #ActuallyAutistic #Advocacy #HappyHolidays #NewYear #2023 #Disability #Neurodiversity #AutismActually https://www.instagram.com/p/CmsZ7J9Pfv0/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Really looking forward to speaking with Christina Keeble Consulting and Leon Furze on Neuroinclusive pedagogy at Reframing Autism’s 2023 Conference, a topic very close to my heart. I was lucky to go to a school that embraced differences and encouraged autonomy and self-advocacy; I am excited to present my perspectives as a current student in tertiary education, reflecting on my past experiences across primary and secondary school. The link to the tickets can be found in our bio. 🦄🌈♾️🧠 #Autism #ActuallyAutistic #Disability #Neurodiversity #Inclusion #Equity #Schooling #Pedagogy #Education #Understanding #Autonomy https://www.instagram.com/p/CldtP7Qvnun/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

As shared by @yellowladybugs_autism , a wave of COVID-19 is expected. I will be doing my part to reduce the spread as I have done in the past such as: staying at home when sick, wearing a face mask indoors, testing and isolating if I have cold/flu symptoms, social distancing (which I do naturally anyway if I am honest) and sanitising my hands regularly. I am also fully vaccinated against COVID-19 🦠 😷. I feel it is important to remind those around us about these measures to protect our immunocompromised community members. I am reassured that we have gone through increased numbers before and that the above measures work. 🦄🌈♾️💛 #Autism #Neurodiversity #ActuallyAutistic #COVID19 #CommunityAwareness #YellowLadybugs #AutismActually https://www.instagram.com/p/Ck0RydtvC8X/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Really loving working on my latest #wip of a commission pawtrait. With the sketch up done, the next step will be inking! ✏️ 🐈 🖼 #MixedMedia #Pastel #Autistic #Commission #Art #Ink #ActuallyAutistic #Pawtrait https://www.instagram.com/p/CkvWEZdPq0L/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

It was great to speak alongside Tim Chan for our Study Skills webinar today. We received some fantastic questions and enjoyed sharing our insights related to learning and study techniques. We look forward to running future webinars! Let us know in the comments below what topics you would be interested in hearing about. #Autism #ActuallyAutistic #Neurodiversity #Disability #StudySkills #AAC #Education #ExecutiveFunctioning #AutismActually #TimChan https://www.instagram.com/p/Ci3z6UPPF8w/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

When I first started self-advocating for my needs at school, my teachers told me how helpful it was to learn about ways to best support me. They noted that there was a lack of Autistic representation during the process of teacher training. I was passionate about speaking publicly to share perspectives on being Autistic. I tried my best to represent the voices of my Autistic peers who did not advocate in this way. My knowledge of Autism in the context of Neurodiversity has grown since then, and I have come to recognise the importance of amplifying and including Autistic voices with varying support needs, communication styles, cultural backgrounds, and other intersections. I think it is important that we advocates use our platforms to alert the community to the beauty of diversity that is Autism and emphasise that our marginalised Autistic community have an important perspective to share. I have been delighted to connect with people who share similarities, as well as key differences. I speak on behalf of my own experience and am grateful for our Autistic community in helping me learn about others. Many thanks to my friend and fellow Autistic advocate Tim Chan for your contributions to this post and quote – connecting with you has been one of the biggest highlights of my advocacy journey and I have learned so much from you about the non-speaking Autistic community and embracing Autism. 🦄🌈🧠♾️💛 [Text: When I first started self-advocating, I used to say that I did this on behalf of those who could not advocate for themselves, as self-advocacy may not be the avenue many autistics pursue. Now, I strive to go beyond just that; I want to help amplify the voices of Autistic individuals who have been dismissed, silenced or ignored, and emphasise that we all deserve respect, as competent individuals capable of decision making. Shadia Hancock (in collaboration with Tim Chan). Copyright Autism Actually, 2022] #Autism #ActuallyAutistic #Neurodiversity #Disability #Diversity #Intersectionality #AutismActually https://www.instagram.com/p/CiYt3QTvivE/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

We had the pleasure today of attending the Hurstbridge Wattle Festival and supporting the work of Maggie Broom’s Grey Horse Growth and Learning. Maggie provides equine-assisted learning, and equine assisted counselling and psychotherapy for Neurodivergent children and adults. 🦄🌈🐎🧠♾️ Maggie has qualifications in Animal-Assisted Therapy, Teaching, Psychology, and counselling with a PhD in Education (counselling). You can learn more about Grey Horse and their services here: https://greyhorselearning.weebly.com #Autism #Neurodiversity #ActuallyAutistic #EquineAssistedTherapy #EquineAssistedLearning #AnimalAssistedTherapy #Psychology #Counselling #ExperientialLearning https://www.instagram.com/p/ChywlzjPb0O/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Posted @withregram • @speakinginsights Next Wednesday! So excited to be back in the Mornington Peninsula with our Autism Seminar. Hear 3 different perspectives from lived experience. Great exhibitors too. Book via the link in our bio. https://www.instagram.com/p/CgjDsJDPdd8/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=