Nelle Frances Autism Education Consultant & Trainer

19/12/2025

🎄 Christmas food + autism = sensory overload (not bad behaviour)
For many autistic children, Christmas meals are overwhelming:

❌ Strong smells
❌ Loud conversations
❌ Unfamiliar foods
❌ Social pressure to “just try a bite”

Autistic kids often don’t recognise hunger until they’re very hungry — and when that happens, they need safe, predictable food immediately.

This isn’t fussy eating.
It’s how an autistic nervous system protects itself.

💬 Polite but firm responses parents can use:
“This food helps them stay regulated.”
“We’re following what their body needs.”
“Food pressure increases distress — we’re avoiding that.”

You’re NOT spoiling your child.
You’re supporting REGULATION, safety, and wellbeing.
Christmas should feel safe and enjoyable — not stressful!

15/12/2025

Autistic Sleep Is Not a Parenting Issue — It’s a Neurobiological One

Many autistic children and teenagers experience significant difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep independently.
Yet parents often hesitate to raise this with professionals, concerned they may be judged or blamed for their child’s sleep patterns.

It is important to be very clear:
this is NOT about poor boundaries, dependency, or “giving in”.

For autistic children, sleep challenges are most commonly driven by neurological, sensory and cognitive factors, including:

• an inability to “switch off” the brain at night
• ongoing cognitive processing of the day’s events
• repetitive, looping thoughts focused on perceived mistakes, social misunderstandings or negative interactions
• intrusive "mental noise", such as multiple songs, phrases or images replaying simultaneously
• anticipatory anxiety about the next day — particularly if it involves change, uncertainty or unfamiliar situations

As cognitive load and anxiety escalate, the nervous system remains in a heightened state of alert. Sleep can't occur when the brain is still actively scanning for threat or trying to resolve unfinished processing.

For many autistic children, proximity to a parent is not a behavioural preference — it is a regulation strategy. It's where they feel SAFE.

Being close to a trusted caregiver provides:
• Nervous system safety
• Emotional containment
• Predictability
• Co-regulation

This sense of safety allows the brain to finally down-regulate, enabling sleep to occur.

Understanding autistic sleep through a sensory-neurological lens, rather than a behavioural one, changes the entire conversation — and removes unnecessary shame from families who are already doing their best.

08/12/2025

Holiday Intensive Therapy (10-day program) January 2026

Delivered online or in-person — autistic kids learn when they’re rested, regulated and ready!
- Sensory Detective program (in person)
- Go Zen Anxiety program (online option)
- Puberty Blues program (online option)
- Sexuality & Relationships 16+ (online option)

💡Why it works:
• no after-school exhaustion
• daily consolidation = skills stick
• fewer meltdowns from therapy overload
• parents get calm, predictable evenings
• great results through Telehealth (home = safe sensory base)

💛 Therapy shouldn’t compete with school fatigue.
Let’s build skills when the brain is ready to learn.
📩 Message to enquire (limited places) or register here: https://tinyurl.com/bdfbayj7

07/12/2025

I SEE YOU

Its a time of badges, certificates, medals, trophies, recognition, awards, prizes and 'seeing' of high achievement. I love seeing the kids that shine at this time of year - a big high heartfelt round of applause to you. You so deserve it for the effort you have put in.
But this message is for the kids that didn't get called up for any of the above...
I SEE YOU.

To the child that conquered their fear of heights, or sleeping in the dark, or riding without training wheels or sleeping out for the night for the first time this year, I SEE YOU

To the child that managed to resolve more conflict than they started this year, to the child that learnt to say the impossible; "I'm sorry", and to the child that walked away from the fighting instead of getting involved, I SEE YOU

To the child for whom school is a huge struggle, you get up everyday and you go, I SEE YOU

To the child that battled all year with the maths, or reading, or concentration, or speaking out in class, or learning their words, but persevered anyway, I SEE YOU

To the child that found the kindness in their heart reach out in anyway to another person or to an animal in need or in pain, I SEE YOU

To the child that learnt to give and to share for the first time this year and even found joy in these, I SEE YOU

To the child that battles to make friends and to be social, you made new friends this year and for that, I SEE YOU

To the child who wanted so much to please, but was just out of sight of an adult who perhaps was too busy or too distracted, I SEE YOU

To the child who lost a friend or a loved one this year, but carried on everyday bravely even though their heart ached, I SEE YOU

To the brave parents that try everyday to do the best for their kids, I SEE YOU.

May you and your children revel in small but significant victories that you have both experienced this year, as I will with my beautiful children. For every year there is progress and growth, we don't need a podium or handshake or a hall of applause to be seen.
Post credited to Colleen Wilson

04/12/2025

Why Autistic People Need “Safe Foods” During Hunger — And Why It’s Not Just “Picky Eating”

One of the least understood sensory differences in autism is interoception — the internal sense that tells us when we’re hungry, thirsty, in pain, too hot, need the toilet or are becoming overwhelmed.

For many autistic people, these body signals are muted, delayed, or confusing. Hunger isn’t felt gradually. It arrives suddenly — urgent, uncomfortable and sometimes unbearable.

And here’s the part most people don’t realise:

👉 When an autistic person finally recognises they are hungry, their nervous system often demands instant, predictable, “safe” food.
👉 “Safe foods” are not preferences — they’re a form of sensory safety.
👉 If that safe food isn’t available, dysregulation can escalate into meltdown quickly.

This is not "behaviou"r — it’s biology + sensory processing + interoception.

Eating a safe, familiar food can rapidly support regulation because it:
• restores blood glucose (stabilising mood and thinking)
• reduces stress hormones like cortisol
• supports “feel-good” neurotransmitters such as serotonin and dopamine
• provides sensory comfort through predictable taste, smell & texture
• creates a sense of safety and control

For many autistic children, teens and adults, a safe food offered at the right moment can prevent a meltdown, reduce distress and support emotional regulation.

This is why proactive, predictable meals and snacks — plus always having safe foods available — makes such a difference.

It’s not about giving in.
It’s not “bad habits”.
It’s meeting a sensory and physiological need.

And when we meet needs early, we prevent distress later. 💛

22/11/2025

Still true!

Autistic children engage in 'masking' at school, where they camouflage their autism traits so as to not stand out but rather blend in, and / or to gain acceptance from their peers & teachers.
The use extraordinary amounts of energy doing this, and when the school day is over, their 'tank' is empty. Parents find that even the slightest demand is met by explosive behaviour.
Ensure your child's teacher understands this & schedules regular breaks & down time throughout the day. A great strategy I encourage teachers to use is having the student zone out on an iPad with headphones for the last 15-20mins of each school day. This helps them de-stress before transitioning to home.

22/11/2025

Australian’s with an NDIS plan (people with disability) are about to be totally Fu&ked over!!!!

Instead of Allied Health Therapist’s reports recommending your supports, untrained NDIS staff will be deciding what you need.

Not only THAT, it will be via a 3 HOUR assessment!!!?

NONE of my clients have the capacity to engage in a 3 HOUR ASSESSMENT. (I work solely with autistic individuals, of all ages, across the lifespan).

If you have a problem with this YOU MUST TAKE ACTION!
It’s easy to protest- just sign the PETITION.
We only have approx. 3400 signatures …. There are nearly 751,500 Australians receiving NDIS support.

Use your voice & sign this petition to have you say about the NDIS RAZOR GANG!!!!

This link will take you to a page that’s not on LinkedIn

22/11/2025

Why Sleep Is So Hard for Autistic Children (and Why It’s Not Behaviour)
A major new study found that 98% of autistic preschoolers have significant sleep difficulties — but here's the real reason why:
+ not just because they can’t settle.
+ not because they’re “not tired.”
+ not because they need stricter routines.
It’s because their sensory system is overwhelmed and their emotions aren’t regulating, which prevents their nervous system from reaching a sleep-ready state.
In fact:
+ 82% showed sensory sensitivity
+ 84% had sensory avoidance
+ 66% experienced emotional dysregulation
+ On average, they slept 107 minutes LESS than others their age

Sleep difficulties in autism are not behavioural — they are sensory and emotional.
This means:
+ weighted blankets and deep pressure help
+ dim lighting, predictable routines, low verbal demands help
+ co-regulation (calming alongside a trusted parent or carer) helps
+ reducing sensory overload during the day helps improve sleep at night
The question isn’t: “How do we get them to go to sleep?”
The question is: “How do we help their nervous system feel safe enough to fall asleep?”

What helps your child regulate before sleep? I’d love to hear your experiences!

18/11/2025

Autistic children engage in 'masking' at school, where they camouflage their autism traits so as to not stand out but rather blend in, and / or to gain acceptance from their peers & teachers.
The use extraordinary amounts of energy doing this, and when the school day is over, their 'tank' is empty. Parents find that even the slightest demand is met by explosive behaviour.
Ensure your child's teacher understands this & schedules regular breaks & down time throughout the day. A great strategy I encourage teachers to use is having the student zone out on an iPad with headphones for the last 15-20mins of each school day. This helps them de-stress before transitioning to home.