Spectrum Adventures

30/08/2025

💜💚💜 Have you heard of RSD? Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria is SO common with ADHD folk and can impact how we work, study, receive feedback and strive for success.

RSD is an INTENSE emotional response to criticism or rejection. Contrary to popular thought, Neurodivergent understanding of body signals and rejection is finely developed...so highly tuned that when we think someone is delivering a negative reaction to us, RSD can kick in.

It can steal the celebration of the good work we do, when all we can hear is the IF...
IF only we had done this....
IF only we had tried harder.
The failure is ours to blame.
The negative spiral kicks in at high speed and can lead to shut downs, as we travel the intense pain and heartbreak/

RSD Sucks. It sucks so much. It hurts us to feel these emotions, and can be the reason why we don't try again....to do work, to make connections, to try and reach for the skies and success. It stops us from flying high.

Researchers know that within our brain, social rejection can cause similar brain activity to pain....it is well known that our brains respond internally in a different way to neurotypical brains, a difference in our filters and responses is known but we don;t know why.

Even the perception of rejection can be intensely painful, and see us struggle to regulate. Struggle to stay present, struggle with our own self esteem.

RSD can see us focus on people pleasing, and become focused on avoiding people's disapproval - sometimes ignoring our own body signals or desires.

Have you experienced RSD?

29/08/2025

💜💚💜 Did you know up to 80% of Autistics experience troubles with sleep? 😪💤

The first time I heard this I almost fell over. It made me realise that with such high coocurrence, that any family presenting for medical help may infact be autistic - and research supports this may be an early sign for a pathway to diagnosis.

Our sleep issues are significant.

We have trouble getting to sleep. Staying asleep. Some of us sleep walk or talk. Some of us need help and support to get to sleep. Some of us sleep too hard - which means we sleep through body signals such as going to the toilet.

Sleep troubles mean we might miss out on going to sleepovers, or joining in our peers at school camps. Because we cant just sleep like everyone else.

Lots of Autistic families have strict routines around bedtime, that are needed to amplify maximum sleep for their households. And a lot of parents have spare mattresses beside their beds, for people who need to co-sleep near their safe person to be able to regulate and achieve slumber.

Without a good night's sleep, it makes it hard for us to do the things. It makes it hard for us to study, for us to work, to not be agitated by the sensory impact of daily life.

If only we could all just sleep well!

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28/08/2025

💜💚💜 🤔 Confused about the new NDIS changes affecting autistic families? We’re here to help!

🌟 **Need help navigating your NDIS funding?** 🌟 Unlock your goals by understanding how to use your funding effectively!

Or have you been told you need to prepare a carer's statement and find it impossible to start, or how you can explain the endless advocacy and support you do so effortlessly but is simply hard to describe? Crafting a carer’s statement is no small feat, especially when describing the love and effort that goes into it. 🌈

Let us help!

🛠️ Navigating NDIS supports just got easier! Our updated guides are designed with autistic families in mind, reflecting the newest changes for better understanding and support. 🌟 Get started on your journey today!

🔖 Our ever popular Carer's statement with pages of content explaining how to describe impacts to daily life.

🔖 Our updated AT guide - with helpful tips on what is on the YES list, and what you may need to fund out of your own resources.

🔖 The ABCs of the NDIS for Autism - our downloadable resource we've created for FREE that takes you right through access to what typical plans look like.

🌟 We've shared our knowledge to help make your journey smoother! 🚀 If you have questions or need personalized guidance, we're excited to announce one-on-one Zoom sessions! Let's work together to achieve your goals! 💪

🌟 Exciting news for autistic families! We've just updated our popular guides on understanding NDIS supports to reflect the latest changes! 🎉 Dive in and discover how to maximize your benefits and support. Check it out today!



https://spectrumadventures.com.au/resources/?utm_content=sked_6722acbc1142d38a3fd84cfa&utm_medium=social&utm_name=sked&utm_source=facebook

27/08/2025

🚺 Diagnosing autism in girls can be challenging due to subtle differences in how they present their behaviors.

🤷‍♀️ When it comes to seeking help and guidance, it can be frustrating not knowing who to turn to. Diagnosticians need to delve deeper into understanding girls and autism. 🙏🔍

💁‍♀️ Having a male sibling diagnosed and supported with autism versus a female can lead to completely different experiences. Let's start a conversation about it! 🗣️💙

😯 Imagine receiving a report that suggests your daughter can't be autistic because she makes eye contact and has social connections with peers?

For girls who may not fit the mold, who are different deep down, we see you. Your neurology is unique, and your identity deserves to be acknowledged. 💪💙

Teachers come to parents with praise for the student in the class who is diligent, never asking a question, never causing a trouble and tries ever so desperately to fit in. Hidden deep and unable to show their true self.

When the school day ends, it's an emotional release for our girls. They've held it together all day, and now it's time for them to vent, feel safe, and let it out. 💔😔

Did you know that autistic girls often mask their true selves to fit in? Let's create a world where they can be supported and understood in their own light. Our girls are watching closely, learning how to behave from those around them. Let's show them the beauty of embracing neurodiversity and celebrating our differences. 🌼

Our wish for our girls is they can be supported and understood in their own light, that the criteria long held for young boys is not used in the same way and diagnosis becomes easier, and professionals understand the subtle ways in reading how autistic behaviours can present.

Let's elevate autistic women and girls as role models for our community. It's time for them to be seen, heard, and celebrated. 🌟
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26/08/2025

🍗🍝🍕 Some timely information to consider when we start hearing comments about how we dine or feed ourselves with friends and family.

Over and over we hear messaging as our children struggle to find safe foods...

❌ Don't pander to them
❌ you're setting them up for bad habits
❌ they'll eat when they're hungry

Autistic diets are often fairly beige. They're consistent and reliable. Food comes in the same shape and taste over and over. Our pantry shelves are lined with cans and packets of our safe foods. Specific brands. Same foods to feed us until we no longer want anything to do with these things.

When planning for shared meals or events it's important to make sure everyone's needs are catered for by having a few back up meals that are consistent and meet sensory needs. Because it's ok to prepare the same meal each week - whatever works best for you and your family! 🍴😊

Let's put an end to judgement and create a world of acceptance and understanding 🤝🌍 Let's make it a priority to show love and kindness - oh and let's not forget about the nuggets, tempura style with no crumbs on the table 😋

25/08/2025

💜💚💜 💫 Did you know sensory overwhelm can impact daily life? Let's break the stigma! 🙌 Join us for an open discussion about coping strategies and check out our favorite resources! 💖

🌈 As Autistics, we experience the world in a unique way! Our sensory receptors are constantly taking in information, making everything feel TOO LOUD, TOO BRIGHT, and TOO INTENSE. Imagine all colors turned up HIGH! 🎨 As Autistics our sensory receptors are taking in additional information ALL of the time.

🎧💡 For many kids on the spectrum, the world can be overwhelming. Every sound is amplified, every light too harsh. 🌟 It's crucial to understand and share ways to provide comfort and safe spaces for our neurodivergent friends. For a very young brain, not practiced at understanding how to seek escape, it can be overwhelming and a place of distress.

🚫💻 Sometimes, it feels like our minds are saying "computer says no"! When we’re overloaded, it’s essential to recognize those signals and take a step back. Let’s prioritize our well-being! 🌈 It is a point of pain and clear distress that everything is too much.

💖 Vulnerability is a part of being human. If you’re with someone who needs to decompress, help them by softening the environment. 🕊️ Dim lights, quiet sounds, and understanding gestures can uplift spirits and foster healing. Let’s prioritize emotional safety! 🌼

💕 Understanding goes a long way! Many people don’t realize that our environments can impact our emotional well-being. 🌈 Next time you’re with someone who seems overwhelmed, try lowering the noise and light. Let them know it’s okay to take a moment for themselves. 🌿 . Do a quick stocktake of the environmental factors and turn it all down - , bring down as much as you can and reduce conversation to a minimum, and wait. The person is often at their most vulnerable, and needs time to recover. They also need understanding from those around them, and it is important to learn about our sensory needs, and what we can do to manage our responses in our day to day life so we aren't overloaded and overwhelmed.

💡📘 Let’s break down barriers! Discussing sensory needs through enlightening books strengthens our understanding. This approach eliminates shoulds and guilt while promoting acceptance. Together, we can create safe and accessible environments for all. 🤗

🌍✨ Let's prioritize creating safe spaces for those who may be feeling overwhelmed. When someone is at their most vulnerable, a little dimming of the lights and softening of sounds can work wonders. 💖 Remember, it’s okay to embrace silence and give them the time they need to recover. 🌙

🌟🔊 Living as an Autistic individual means our sensory receptors are always on high alert! Everything can feel like it's turned up to MAX. How have you learned to cope with too much sensory input? Join in the conversation, and let's help each other find peace! 🌼🕊️

24/08/2025

💜💚💜 Let's talk about the Autism Tax. We hear a lot about ADHD tax and how we need to buy things to replace the precious items we need to replace (I'm learning to just buy two in an effort to compensate!!). The Autism Tax is different.

It's what happens when our sensory needs override all of our preparations.

It's what happens when we spend our lives buying the SAFE foods, the known brands, the familiar meals our families need to satisfy their hunger and provide nourishment., Until it doesnt. And then we are left with cans and boxes of food that we always had in bulk to ensure supplies were to hand. And we don't know what to fill their gaps with....and we offer alternatives, and we are helpless to the fluctuations of weight, mood, and important nutrients.

It's the inability to just add the healthy crunchy snacks after school to protect the enamel on our teeth. Because such foods are never ever on our plates, never an option for a person needing consistent, beige dietary options for comfort. It's the constant advocacy that we can't just complete a project on healthy foods for school when we don't label ANY food when fed is best to keep the kilos on.

It's the socks. Oh the damn socks. I could write chapters on how socks ruin our days. Chapters. How 6 days out of 7 will be stressful because of socks. How parents search for the perfect, seamless, soft option. And even then, a thread. A thread. the tears. even our own at times, as we end up late, unable to attend, unable to do the things. because of socks. DAMN YOU SOCKS.

The toothpastes. The options we search for to ensure dental care is maintained and constantly searching for the toothpaste that is NOT SPICY. The toothbrushes. The constant and expensive brushes we try over and over. Fillings are a part of our lives even with all of this.

The events we leave, the ones we never make, the important things that mark milestones that are often too hard, impossible for us to leave, and we are left trapped, helpless to sensory needs that dictate our presence and require us to stop, and give in.

Have you experienced the Autism tax?

24/08/2025

This week has been hard.

We all listened as the NDIS Minister Mark Butler's revelaed his announcement of his plans for Autistic children to move off the scheme, displaying lack of co-design or understanding befitting a Minister who should at the core of his role have an understanding in disability.

The Australian Government released the National Autism Strategy in 2025 - which included a callout to language and information to which thousands of advocates, and organisations contributed and to which the Department of Health, Disability and Aging publised as a commitment through to 2031.

Did anyone think to give the Minister or his speech writers a copy? I mean - we're happy to link here if it helps. It's located on the website for his department.

Let's try this again, shall we?

https://www.health.gov.au/resources/publications/national-autism-strategy-2025-2031?language=en

🇦🇺

23/08/2025

💜💚💜 We are often asked by parents of suggestions of how to share their child's diagnosis with them.

Sometimes we even hear tales that parents are cautious, or wonder if their child is ready to understand what this means.

🌟 For us, discussing diagnosis is as everyday as picking out our outfits! Just like how we choose clothes that express who we are, talking about our diagnosis helps explain our unique perspectives of the world. 🌍✨ Let’s make this conversation as natural and open as deciding what to wear!

Diagnosis is powerful in that it provides a language and explanation around how we experience the world, and why our brain causes us to respond in different ways to our peers.

💬 Why hold back? Just as we talk about what we wear, discussing our diagnoses can bring us closer together. It’s all about understanding how our brains work and connecting with each other. 🤝💖 Let’s normalize these conversations!

Understanding our Autistic self is really powerful in learning to advocate for our needs, to learn about situations that can impact us and ask for accommodations and understanding.

🌟 Understanding our Autistic selves empowers us! 🌈 When we learn about our needs, we can advocate for ourselves better. Sharing knowledge within our neurokin helps everyone! What strategies have you found helpful? 🤝

It also importantly allows us to connect to our neurokin with shared knowledge and experience, to be able to share strategies and tips our community has found that can be helpful.

🤝 Together we grow! 🌱 Understanding ourselves leads to powerful advocacy. By sharing experiences and strategies within our community, we can support each other in navigating life’s challenges. What advice do you have? 🌏💪

🧠 Communication is crucial! When sharing a diagnosis with your child, consider their age and understanding. 📚 What resources or strategies have you found helpful in this process? Join the discussion!

22/08/2025

💜💚💜 Reaching harmony in Autistic family life is a combined effort. It needs everyone to be learning, to be doing the work. To be attending the appointments, and sharing knowledge like it's precious information to better understand support needs and how to explain and advocate. Because it is!!

Sometimes disharmony, different approaches from within prevents us from achieving the common goal - to see our children and teens happy, and thriving, and receiving support and understanding.

It is more common than not, that disruption can come from our own parents, or in-laws, family members around us who cast judgement that is unfair, bringing their own assumptions, and journey to the front.

It is incredibly complex and can disrupt the family system, it can disrupt important decisions that are made with informed medical specialists, and can cause confusion and turmoil.

The arrival of a diagnosis is an opportunity for our families to learn together, to come together stronger than ever to understand, address needs, and be the primary support we all need.

For children who need same structure and understanding, this expands the support around them and strengthens the care that is possible.

22/08/2025

This is an excellent resource highlighting the National Autism Strategy and how it contrasts with the current MP's proposed NDIS reforms - It is clear this important commitment from the Federal Government was not even in consideration as a recognised path to follow when this week's announcement was dropped.

Here's a work-in-progress summary of some main reasons there is community concern about Mark Butler's proposed NDIS reforms. The table contrasts the National Autism Strategy (which came first) against Butler's positions, across key dimensions, leading to a summary of perceived conflicts/risks in each dimension.

The government has a lot of work to do in providing transparent information to address these potential risks. Until then, the degree of distress and concern in the community makes complete sense when this maps out the layers of uncertainty we are sat with.

22/08/2025

There are some excellent resources being shared around why the NDIS Disability Minister Mark Butler MP comments have been widely condemned with confusion, dismay, hurt and absolute outrage as he demonstrated his understanding of Autism and our community's needs.

Sharing some who have more energy than we do, in order to explain, what he has so deliberately gotten so very wrong - with absolutely no evidence around language or his clear consideration that we are permanently disabled as part of our diagnosis.