Yellow Ladybugs Conference 2023

You can now purchase tickets to the 2024 Conference below:



 
September

MAY 2-4, 2023

NO TRAVEL NEEDED

HYBRID EVENT ONLINE & IN PERSON

LEARN & NETWORK

ON DEMAND VIEWING

$50.00

for full online access

$75.00

for full online access (includes a Professional Development certificate)

$250.00

Group booking, full online access only, for an unlimited number of attendees. This is suitable for schools, allied health clinics and other large organisations (includes a Professional Development certificate template). For those wishing to pay via Tax Invoice please reach out to info@yellowladybugs.com.au. Once payment has been made you will be sent an email with information on how your organisation can access the conference.

Agenda

DAY 1 May 2nd

9am- 9.30am

Welcome and Introduction

Katie Koullas

Katie Koullas

9.30-10.30am

What your autistic students and children want you to know

Our opening panel explores what your autistic students and children want you to know. Bringing a combination of lived and professional experience, our autistic speakers will reflect on their own schooling experience and share their powerful insights and advice.
Em Hammond

Em Hammond (Neurowild)

Louise Chandler

Louise Chandler (Neurodivergent_Lou)

Hannah Smith

Hannah Smith (Atypical Teacher)

 
10.40am-11.40am

Reframing Behaviour

“Kids do well if they can.” We continue in our mission to reframe behaviour in this incredible interview with two internationally renowned experts - Mona Delahooke and Ross Greene – who are both shifting the lens on this topic. Join us in learning how we can work compassionately with our young people, to understand their unmet needs, and address their need for safety.
Mona Delahooke

Mona Delahooke

Mona Delahooke

Ross Greene

12pm-1pm

Supporting parents and carers of autistic young people

An honest, compassionate and grounded conversation about supporting parents and carers of autistic young people. Our panellists share a mix of practical advice, and lived experience perspectives and reflections that will resonate with all of us who are on the parenting journey.
Yael Clark

Yael Clark

Dannielle Wilson

Dannielle Wilson

Joanne Hatchard

Joanne Hatchard

1.10pm-1.40pm

Supporting autistic girls in early childhood

A focused exploration of what internalised autism can look like in early childhood, and advice on supporting preschool-aged autistic girls in a way that is neuro-affirming and that recognises their hidden needs.
Raelene Dundon

Raelene Dundon

Sally Baker

Sally Baker

1.40pm-2.10pm

Supporting autistic tweens

Two lived experience experts share their advice and perspectives on supporting autistic tweens through the difficult waters of puberty, friendships, self identity and more.
Tiana Andrews

Tiana Andrews

Frances Brennan

Frances Brennan

2.20pm-2.50pm

Supporting autistic young people in the teen years and beyond

Two passionate youth advocates discuss some of the big issues for our autistic teens – delving into topics including identity, masking, risk-taking and stepping up into adulthood.
Shadia Hancock

Shadia Hancock

Siena Chumbley Contin

Siena Chumbley Contin

3.50pm-4.50pm

Teen Chat - by teens for teens

This one is for teens! Five autistic teens share their passions, and unpack topics including autistic representation, self-acceptance, how to advocate for themselves, and understand their own hidden needs.
Ruby

Ruby

Loren

Loren

Faelan

Faelan

Ellen

Ellen

Lana

Lana

5pm-6pm

Family Dynamics – Working Together as a Team

Hear from two beautiful autistic families. In this relaxed parent-young person conversation they share how they work to support one another, manage competing needs and more.
Veronika Miller

Veronika Miller and Wendy Miller

Raelene Dundon

Enara Tompkins and Raelene Dundon

DAY 2 May 3rd

9am-9.10am

Welcome Day Two

Katie Koullas

Katie Koullas

9.10am-10.10am

Neuro-affirming ways to support autistic girls & gender diverse students in the classroom

What does a neuro-affirming classroom look like? Four lived experience experts share their practical advice for teachers on how to be a detective and uncover the hidden or unmet needs of autistic students, and how the make the hidden curriculum more accessible.
Christina Keeble

Christina Keeble

Adina Levy

Adina Levy (Play Learn Chat)

Renae Austin

Renae Austin

Renae Austin

Enara Tompkins

10.20am-11.20am

Neuro-affirming alternatives to behaviourism and compliance- based therapies

Confused about therapy and ‘intervention’ and how to help the young ladybug in your life? This panel will utilise the clinical experience of two insightful autistic psychologists, who will unpack some of the immediate, short-term and life long impacts of commonly recommended behaviourist and compliance-based therapies, and then share their expertise on what neuro-affirming therapy and supports look like.
Marie Camin

Marie Camin

 Sandhya Menon

Sandhya Menon

11.30am-12pm

Understanding PDA

A focused conversation on understanding PDA – two incredible panellists share their compassionate advice on how we need to see PDA as a persistent drive for autonomy, and on how schools and families can work together to understand the demands of the classroom and best support our PDA ladybugs.
Kristy Forbes

Kristy Forbes

Kay Kerr

Kay Kerr

12.20pm-1.20pm

Understanding school can't and school trauma

“Can’t. Not Won’t”. This important panel will explore the very hot topic of school “refusal,” and reframe this as school can’t. School can’t and school trauma are real issues for so many in our community and we explain why they cannot be solved with a tough love approach.
Nicole Bester

Nicole Bester

Louise Rogers

Louise Rogers

Tiffany Westphal

Tiffany Westphal

1.30pm-2.30pm

Neuro-affirming and practical ways to prevent and support autistic burnout

An autistic-led discussion on preventing and supporting autistic burnout in our autistic young people, with three panellists sharing their lived experience and practical strategies for parents, teachers and allied health professionals.
Gilly

Gilly (neurodivergent_researcher)

Annie Crowe

Annie Crowe

Josephine Moon

Josephine Moon

2.40pm-3.40pm

Regulation, Ruptures and Repairs: How to support our ladybugs when things get complex

Compassionate advice and practical strategies to empower parents and teachers to co-regulate when relationships rupture and how and when to reflect and repair. A special look into complex mental health challenges, and how to cope when things get tough.
Alberto Veloso

Dr Alberto Veloso

4pm-5pm

Neuro-affirming & practical therapies to support mental health

We are excited to capitalise on the combined lived experience and professional expertise of our three panellists, who share what actually helps our autistic young people who are experiencing mental health struggles. They will bring practical insights that are specifically tailored for the unique needs of our ladybug cohort.
Annelil Desille

Annelil Desille

Sonny Jane Wise

Sonny Jane Wise

Monique Mitchelson

Monique Mitchelson

5.10pm-6.10pm

Supporting Parents And Children to advocate for Themselves

Having difficulty advocating for your rights, or even knowing what your rights are? We chat with three experts who will share their incredible insights on supporting both parents and autistic students in advocating for what they need and deserve! This is a must-see session for all parents and carer.
Karen Dimmock

Karen Dimmock

Sarah Hayden

Sarah Hayden

Chenai Mupotsa-Russell

Chenai Mupotsa-Russell

DAY 3 May 4th

8.30am-8.55am

WELCOME- Registration

9.00am

Acknowledgement of Country


9.05am-9.25am

Welcome

Katie Koullas

Katie Koullas

9.25am- 9.40am

Using our voice

Allison will talk about the impact of having our voices shushed or minimised and how this can supress our ability to speak up for ourselves. She will share why it is important for our voices to be validated, how to reframe the way we talk to ourselves after distressing situations such as meltdowns, and how we can use our voice to remind ourselves that we are safe.
Allison Davies

Allison Davies

9.40am-9.55am

Rejection Sensitivity: What we need to know about this hidden experience.

Rejection sensitivity dysphoria (RSD) is a topic many of us don’t know enough about. Yael will unpack what RSD is and share her advice on how teachers can support our ladybugs who experience RSD at school, through recognising their deep need for safety and authentic connection. Yael will blend her professional insights as a previous teacher and now psychologist, along with her own personal reflections as an autistic woman and parent to four ladybugs and a gentleman bug.
Yael Clark

Yael Clark

9.55am-10.10am

Journey To Identity

Sandhya will walk through her personal story of being a cultural minority, navigating fitting in growing up, the intersection of her neurodivergence and uncovering her neuro-identity as an autistic/ADHDer woman in her late 30s.
 Sandhya Menon

Sandhya Menon

10.10am- 10.15am

What Matters

This is the speech 11 year old Annabelle presented to her class on her last day , before commencing home-schooling.
 Sandhya Menon

Annabelle Kariappa

10.15am-10.30am

Surviving the system

Marie will share her clinical & lived experience on how we can support our autistic girls and gender diverse students to survive the systems which should be protecting them, but are far too often failing them. By sharing her own experience growing up with many hidden and unmet needs (which resulted in automatically failing Year 12), Marie will challenge the assumptions around who needs support. This is the first time Marie will be publicly sharing her story, in the hopes that it will give caregivers, educators, and health professionals permission to continue subverting systems which are threatened by the inevitability of this grassroots movement.
Marie Camin

Marie Camin

10.30am-11am

Growing up Autistic

Tune in LIVE* to hear Grace Tame speak at the highly anticipated Yellow Ladybugs Conference on May 4th 2023 at 10.30am AEST.
2021 Australian of the Year, Grace is an advocate for eradicating child sexual abuse in Australia. Her work is focused on enabling survivors to tell their stories and improving policy, legal and decision-making processes to support them. Grace will address teachers, parents and allies on how to better support autistic children including how to prevent and respond to grooming and/or abuse and what she wished her parents, teachers and peers knew, growing up autistic.
Marie Camin

Grace Tame

11am-11.20am

Morning Tea

11.20am-11.35am

Diversity and Intersectionality

Chenai will explore the topic of diversity within the autistic community, and share her thoughts on some of the key issues for our intersectional ladybugs. Looking at the intersections of diversity (cultural, gender, sexual orientation, class etc) and how they co-exist with neurodivergence. There’s a lot to explore for groups who are further marginalised, but also lots to celebrate about different ways neurodivergence is honoured through different lenses.
Chenai Mupotsa-Russell

Chenai Mupotsa-Russell

11.40am-11.55am

The doctor’s role on your care team

A conversation with Alberto about his role in the care of the ladybugs under his team’s care. An opportunity to ask questions about the role of Psychiatry and Paediatrics in your care team
Alberto

Dr Alberto Veloso

12pm-12.15pm

The Clinician Who Cried ‘Neurodiverse Affirming Therapy!‘

This is a tale of the increasing number of clinicians who claim to be providing neurodiverse affirming therapy, leading caregivers to believe that their therapy is informed by neurodiverse affirming practices without having a complete understanding of what it means to be neurodiverse affirming. Then, when a truly neurodiverse affirming clinician actually does appear, the caregivers do not believe that clinician, and fear that any form of intervention will cause harm to their neurodivergent loved one. Frances, an autistic and ADHD speech pathologist and business owner, will speak about her experience of spending years reinventing her clinical practice to let go of so much of what was taught to her at university only to be so frequently told by parents “No thanks, we tried that once at another clinic, my child hated it”.
Frances Brennan

Frances Brennan

12.15-12.20pm

She Doesn’t Look Autistic

My presentation will be about lived experiences of autism within the education system. I will share some misconceptions, experiences and struggles with this including mental health and school attendance and ways to help teachers understand and assist neurodivergent students to learn in their way.
Ruby

Ruby Wiggins

12.20-12.25pm

Not my voice

Masking and hiding myself left me with this voice in my head who doubts and hates me.
Veronika Miller

Veronika Miller

12.30pm- 1.20pm

LUNCH

1.20pm-1.35pm

Developing Self-Compassion when you are Neurodivergent

What is self-compassion, why is it important in neurodivergence, what are barriers to developing self-compassion, My Story.
Monique Mitchelson

Monique Mitchelson

1.40pm-1.55pm

Please stop superpower'ing me [and maybe even yourself]

A tale about the harm done when we go and "superpower" neurodivergency
Cherie Clonan

Cherie Clonan

1.55pm-2.25pm

Developing a nurturing neuroaffirming family culture

Kristy shares her experience with raising autistic children in a way that is nurturing, self compassionate for parents,and meets the needs of each member of the family. One of the hardest challenges we face as families is the reality of our lives not meeting expectations of a neuronormative society. Often, what we, and our children need is the opposite of the advice provided to us by well intentioned and qualified professionals. We look at some of the most common ways families have found their children thriving, despite facing a world that denies autistic identity and culture.
Kristy Forbes

Kristy Forbes

2.30pm-3pm

Wrap up /Question time

Katie Koullas

Katie Koullas

KEY PARTNER:
Key Speakers
Kristy Forbes

Kristy Forbes

Sandhya Menon

Sandhya Menon

Allison Davies

Allison Davies

Chenai Mupotsa-Russell

Chenai Mupotsa-Russell

Em - @Neurowild

Em Hammond (Neurowild)

Ross W. Greene

Ross W. Greene

Mona Delahooke

Mona Delahooke

Dr Alberto Veloso

Dr Alberto Veloso

Grace Tame

Speaker Name

Speaker Description