Neurodivergent Empowered

31/10/2025

For everyone who feels too much, sees too far ahead, or carries the weight of what others can’t yet name - you’re not broken.
You’re Sensitive.
And that’s your brilliance.

Sensitives is one word I use to capture an entire constellation - the intelligent, embodied, inclusive, HSPs, Autistics, trauma survivors, hyper-empaths, chronically ill, deeply feeling, pattern-seeing humans with:

- High-capacity nervous systems tuned to nuance, intensity, and emotional data.

- Sensitivity that functions as an intelligence system, not a fragility.

- Minds and bodies that metabolise more input - sensory, social, and moral - and need structures that honour that capacity rather than suppress it.

So here are some Friday night musings from a deep-feeling, highly attuned, hyper-aware, neuro-intuitive Sensitive.

Sending big love,
Tan x

30/10/2025

Massive thanks to all of our advocates for the constant, tirless work they for for our community! Heidi La Paglia Consulting Autistic Self Advocacy Network of Australia & New Zealand Regional Autistic Engagement Network Australian Neurodivergent Parents Association - ANPA

Furious state and territory disability ministers will boycott a planned meeting with their federal counterparts Mark Butler and Jenny McAllister as tensions over NDIS reform erupt.

30/10/2025

🌟 Team Milestone Moment! 🌟

Today we’re celebrating Will Smith’s recent one-year anniversary with us at The Nest!

Will has made a fantastic contribution to our team - bringing creativity, compassion, and a grounded sense of care to every session and every participant. Their dedication to neuroaffirming practice and collaborative support has helped strengthen what makes The Nest so special: our community.

We’re super, super grateful to have you as part of the team, Will.

Here’s to another year of impact, laughter, and making The Nest a place where everyone can truly belong. 💜

28/10/2025

What if... and stay with me here... we actually focused on the things that matter and not the BS that doesn't...

At the Neurodivergent Minds Conference, my goal in my MC role for Cammy wasn’t to host a lineup of polished speakers. It was to create a space where neurodivergent people - researchers, therapists, advocates, artists - could feel safe to speak and present in their own way, not perform in someone else’s.

Some presenters used notes. Some sat. Some paced. None of that mattered. What mattered was the message.

I spoke with my notes in hand, because I never know if ADHD will carry me or if autism will have me lose my words. That doesn’t make me less capable - it makes me human.

I’ve stopped expecting myself to be perfect. Instead, I’ve learned to play the cards that life deals me well. And I think if more of us did that, and got rid of the competition and judgement - we’d all have more compassion - for ourselves, and for each other.

So here is a bit of my opening speech on day 1 in my attempt to give permission to for everyone in the room to be "you".

And to paraphrase Brene Brown, if you are in the cheap seats with an opinion on anything other than another human's message, then you clearly aren't in the arena where all the action is.

So here's to continuing to fail forward in the arena... because as Glennon Doyle famously wrote, we can indeed do hard things. {even if it did take me 4 days to recover, lol}

Sending big love

- Tan x

23/10/2025

Some really important supports here xx

💕 We know that our community has been experiencing numerous changes lately, and as we have been for some time now, we are going to share a list of free support services available. 💕

Please know that we are here and working hard behind the scenes to systematically advocate for our community.

📣 Feel the need to speak up? Have a look at our Advocacy and Fundraising page or check out our NDIS Reforms page.
https://www.raentasmania.com.au/advocacy

📞 After more resources and support services? Head over to our Resources page!
https://www.raentasmania.com.au/services-9

📝 Image Description: "Free Supports" Flyer from Autistic Engagement Network
The flyer is titled "Free Supports" and is designed to provide information about national support services available in Australia. It is published by the Autistic Engagement Network, with a focus on accessibility and inclusive information.
🎨 Visual Layout
• The flyer uses a clean, readable layout with bold headings and clear sections.
• Each support service is listed with its name in bold, followed by a short description and contact details.
• The background is light, and the text is dark for high contrast and readability.
• The RAEN logo is located in the top right corner, featuring a black map of Tasmania with a rainbow infinity symbol at its centre.
📞 Support Services Listed
1. 1800 RESPECT
o National sexual assault, domestic, and family violence counselling service.
o 📱 Phone: 1800 737 732
2. Lifeline
o National crisis support and su***de prevention service.
o 📱 Phone: 13 11 14
3. Su***de Call Back Service
o Free telephone, video, and online counselling for people aged 15+.
o 📱 Phone: 1300 359 467
4. Kids Helpline
o National phone and online counselling service for young people aged 5 to 25.
o 📱 Phone: 1800 551 800
5. SUNNY App
o A mobile app designed by and for disabled women, affiliated with 1800Respect.
o 📲 Available on App Store and Google Play.
💬 Purpose and Tone
• The flyer is informative and supportive, aimed at individuals in crisis or needing support.
• It emphasises free, accessible, and inclusive services, especially for disabled people and youth.

23/10/2025

Being autistic means I care deeply, feel deeply, and sense danger before most people see it coming.

That same sensitivity that helps me protect others has also meant being misunderstood more times than I can count.

I’ve lived the cost of that misunderstanding and nearly became one of the statistics that Catherine Lee, Director and Founder of Neurodiverse Safe Work Initiative spoke about at the Neurodivergent Minds Conference.

* Trigger Warning - Sensitive Topics on the Slides*

Autistic people aren’t broken.

We’re just tired of having to trade safety for belonging.

22/10/2025

“The vibrancy you feel when your nervous system autodetects that it is safe to be you.”

That quiet click from survival to presence - the shift that happens when a room doesn’t require you to translate or tone yourself down.

Thank you to the ND Community at the

My heart is full and as sparkly as my shoes

Love Tan xx

22/10/2025

Wow. I don't think I have the spoons to fully articulate wrapping up Day 2 of the Neurodivergent Minds Conference, so I will once again thank the incredible Cammy from Let's Talk: Neurodiversity Supports for bringing her beautiful idea of a Neurodivergent-led Neurodivergent Minds Conference, into such a beautiful reality.

Day 2's speakers were
- Catherine Lee Director & Founder, Neurodiverse Safe Work who presented on Neurodiverse Safe Work;
- Emily Friedel Ph.D. Candidate, ADHD/puberty research who presented on Puberty and ADHD
- Michael Coles Autistic Advocate, Speaker, Podcast Creator who presented on Autistic Burnout
- Jane McFadden Neuroscientist, Host of ADHD Mums Podcast who presented on Managing Emotions as a Parent
- Sarah Vortman Autistic Visual Artist, Writer, PhD Candidate who presented on Late Autism Diagnosis & Identity
- Zoe Martin - Motherhood & Menopause Mentor AuDHD, PDA-er, Menopause Wellness Coach who presented on ADHD & Menopause

We had a Live painting by Zoe Raymond (Yindjibarndi & Pinikura artist) + Raffle for Jack's Place Foundation and an incredible panel by Vera Yeo, Selah Dimech, Alana Cameron, Tahlia-Rose Vanissum.

Thank you to the other sponsors alongside Let's Talk: Neurodiversity Supports and Neurodivergent Empowered - Autism Support Directory, Understanding Zoe, Kalos therapy, Amanda Lee Consulting, Autistic Self Advocacy Network of Australia & New Zealand. These incredible events cannot run without your support so I thank you so much!

On a personal note, I offered to do the MC role to be of service to Cammy in making her vision come together and I am so glad I did! I have never MC'ed before and had some imposter syndrome jumping in leading up to the event, so I decided to just speak from the heart and keep remembering this is bigger than me. It must have landed enough as I am told that I am up for the MC gig again next year which of course I would be honoured to be of service in this way again.

So much gratitude for those who showed up and made it what it was - a safe space to present and receive in non- neuronormative ways and I feel privileged to have been a part of it.

Let's do it all again next year - sparkly shoes and jackets and all ###

21/10/2025

Thank you Michael from for this mini interview - I was honoured you asked me and so looking forward to your presentation tomorrow!

18/10/2025

Feeling a little melancholy tonight.

I was looking back over a tiny video I took of our Phoenix Friends at the Nest - helping me piece together something new and quirky instead of a simple flyer to be distributed at the NeuroDivergent Minds Conference next week.

It made me pause and reflect. The Nest was never part of my intended career. It started as a side quest, something I quietly built in the background until life - and a few unexpected turns - pushed me out of the shadows, literally kicking and screaming, and opportunities for our team have presented themselves in ways that have kept me there…. Feeling like a deer in headlights when most of the time I want to climb back into my hidey hole of invisibility… and yet here we are ago with me presenting a key note and mc-ing the Neurodivergent Minds conference next week. How strange life turns out at times!

I’m grateful for everyone who’s shown up, walked alongside us, and helped navigate the constant changes that come with this NDIS world. The last three years have been full of them, and yet, somehow, we keep rising to meet each one, so far any way x

To my special friends at the Nest - thank you. Our little safe-space we’ve created together is made sacred by your presence.