Onwards and Upwards Psychology

28/05/2026

Countdown to the Yellow Ladybugs Conference is ON!

Every year, the line up continues to amaze me, but perhaps it shouldn't, because I've seen the team over at Ladybugs ask the community what they'd like to see more of.

I am grateful to be part of the line up, and this year, I'm talking about topics that are close to my heart. Shame and perfection with the lovely NeuroWild in Day 1, and then getting up on stage to talk about Autistic Friendships with Marie.

I'll be honest here. It's going to be hard not to tear up. We've embraced friendship in an Autistic fashion, and it has opened doors to building trust in relationships. We'll be sharing a little bit of that with you on Day 3, on what recognising and nurturing Autistic friendships can look like.

Tickets for the in person day are sold out, but you can still get tickets to watch the entire conference online across the 3 days for incredible value thanks to their sponsors.

https://ylb2026.vfairs.com/

Where will you be tuning in from?

25/05/2026

I'm not just uncovering; I'm excavating.

Sifting through memories and stories, looking back to look forward, all the time asking, reflecting and shifting.

How does knowing, or examining your neurodivergence sit with you?

Sometimes, that carries grief, for knowing now what we did not know then.

Sometimes, an exhale and relief, that gives understanding to a wordless experience over decades.

Sometimes, honestly, more questions than answers.

Many of us grew up held by people who loved us without language, who did their best. There were some who met us, and helped us feel love when our needs did not have a name. Others might not have been able to see beyond structures, societal conditioning and “The Box” that meant it felt more like discipline and/or harm than accommodation.

Questions I see swirling around means that we are reaching back into memories and asking, “How am I filtering old experiences through the lens I have now? How did it shape who I am now? What did I wish were different?”

I'm slowly getting back to writing in the excavation process, so feel free to read the blog here, or join my smaller chronicles through signing up for my newsletter, which I will post down below.

https://www.onwardsandupwardspsychology.com.au/post/breaking-generational-cycle

How does knowing, or examining your neurodivergence sit with you? Sometimes, that carries grief, for knowing now what we did not know then. Sometimes, an exhale and relief, that gives understanding to a wordless experience over decades. Sometimes, honestly, more questions than answers. Many of us gr...

22/05/2026

Mary Doherty and team are bringing forward an issue I have had with the ADOS-2 for a long time.

The rapport item.

This question asks examiners to code the overall quality of rapport between client and examiner, judging from how comfortable the interaction is, or sustained, one-sided or my personal favourite, mildly uncomfortable. (Not an exhaustive list)

It assumes the examiner is not Autistic, whilst the client is. If we look at Watt's systematic review on how Autistic people interact, describing it as a "certain kind of magic", it makes sense that this item is therefore open to subjectivity, in particular, a consideration of the examiner's neurotype in influencing results.

It's one of the many reasons why tools are just that. Tools.

And it falls on examiners to understand the implicit assumptions in the tools, the understanding behind scoring, and to exercise clinical judgement in making a diagnosis.

(Many thanks to Kaleidoscope Assessment for bringing this delightful article to my attention!)

The Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, Second Edition (ADOS-2) is widely regarded as the gold standard observational tool for autism assessment. Its development, validation, and normative data rest on a foundational assumption that has never been stated explicitly: that examiners are not autist...

21/05/2026

Why do so many of us wait until we're completely depleted before we allow ourselves to rest?

We took a sick day at home. Just on the couch, watching TV. Why? We weren't deathly sick, just down with a sore throat and general malaise.

Because my little ADHDer finally felt like stopping and needing slowness, and that needed to be honoured. We can't talk about building interoception skills as important, and in the same breath, ignore them when they advocate or bring something up.

Truth is, we're so used to pushing through until we absolutely can't that we learn to ignore early warning signs that tell us to stop, under the guise of resilience. We think that interoception is something 'extra', like a subject, when really, it is about the everyday practice of listening to your cues and being able to make considered decisions about them.

It's worth examining those internal rules that we carry about rest, and the circumstances in which we're allowed to stop.

So I want us to sit with imagining this scenario.

What would it look like if you took a break proactively, not because you had to but because you chose to?

What would your little break look like?

And.... How far are you along on this journey?

20/05/2026

My first thought when I saw this photo on a therapist meme page was "WHERE'S THE 2 SEATER COUCH?!" Not sure what kind of abolitionist world we live in where THE COUCH goes and the stool is an option.

Anyway, which seat would you choose in this post-couch world? I'd be firmly an 11.

20/05/2026

Such a brilliant cross-section of experiences this year. I cannot wait!

If you haven't got your ticket yet, it's worth tuning in online for the first three days! Let me know down below if you're tuning in online or managed to snag a Day 3 ticket. (They sold out in.... less than 2 days I think?!)

19/05/2026

Welp. THIS HAPPENED.

It is times like this I am grateful for being stubborn and not letting rejection get in the way.

I think about the little me, who was so stubborn that she sat at the table for 2 hours because she couldn't finish her plate.

I think about teenage me who called a prestigious law school and went "Nah, not coming" on the day.

I think about the fact that even in my book launch day, I couldn't call myself an author, simply because this was driven by stubbornness, rather than intention to write.

I think about the very many "Watch me" moments that drive full speed ahead. In Singapore, we used to call this "hard-headed".

And then I think about how many people get protected by that.

(So excuse me while I celebrate this little milestone of having collected all 3 badges) 💫

How many kids all around the world get to celebrate their neurodivergent identity now, and feel proud of who they are.

I got an author visit request from an elementary school in Ohio last week. I am *nowhere* near Ohio, but for a book I wrote in lockdown and just dreamed being able to distribute it past my 5km?

A real *pinch me* moment to champion conversations on neurodiversity and inclusion.

Special thanks here to for leaving reviews on Amazon recently because they really do help with visibility.

For everyone else, it would be a giant love language to leave reviews on Amazon (the best for SEO) because there might be a special announcement coming soon for our international followers........ 😁😁😁

14/05/2026

Let's sit down and dissect even just this headline for a moment.

Because the title itself contains the first problem.

It asks us to choose.

It places a false competition in front of us before we've even read the main body: if we recognise more Autistic people, does that mean we're abandoning those who need the most support?

That’s the language that is being pushed onto us, and with it, the implicit messaging of “You don’t think about those with higher support needs (and we do)”.

At the heart of neuroaffirming, Autistic-led messaging, it is not the argument of which Autistic people deserve to exist in public consciousness, but asking for more diverse representation to understand the various ways Autistics can present. Those are VERY different things.

The article warns that broader diagnosis risks medicalising normal childhood differences, lowering expectations, and providing supports that are "unnecessary, inappropriate or harmful."

Fascinating claim because well, those are exactly the concerns the neuroaffirming community has been raising for decades, but…… about the opposite problem.

The supports that have caused the most documented harm to Autistic people aren't the ones that come from broader recognition. They're the compliance-based, deficit-focused interventions, particularly those designed to make Autistic people appear less Autistic. A major Cochrane review found only weak evidence that intensive early behavioural interventions are effective, and subsequent research suggests those effects often don't generalise beyond the therapy room at all.

So….. where is the evidence? [My echo here is “Show me the moneyyyyy!”]

This fearmongering and political opinion that passes as fact because it comes from a research institution is concerning, yet it drives community rhetoric when this gets platformed, and ultimately, government decisions.

We are navigating an economic climate of NDIS cuts and uncertainty about the future, where families are deeply concerned about the functional impact of the loss of supports. We’re looking at not being able to participate in education, or daily living activities, or social groups, and being told that those things don’t matter because your disability doesn’t look like the one I have in my head.

(One of the reasons why increased representation is helpful, y’know?)

The article ends with: "The challenge is to retain the gains of broader recognition while ensuring those with the most complex needs remain clearly in view."

Honestly? Absolutely. Whilst research in the past have focused on Autistics with developmental delays, and research gaps therefore focused on understanding the needs of Autistic people with higher cognitive abilities, masking and/or lower support needs, it is important for us to also keep up with evidence changes for our higher support needs Autistics. Recognising their voices in community through alternative communication methods and advocacy for their support needs is, and remains, crucial for progress.

But who gets to decide what "greatest needs" means?

This piece was written entirely from a clinical and institutional perspective. Autistic voices weren’t consulted, nor family members (maybe), nor a person who uses AAC or supported decision making. We need to embody “Nothing About Us Without Us” at institutional levels to avoid the replication of harm to communities.

I guess a bigger question I am sitting with is this: How do we build a country where all disabled people are genuinely supported through appropriate allocation and structures, rather than pitting communities against each other to compete for finite resources?

It begins first, in my opinion, with a mindset shift away from the false dichotomy and an acceptance of disability as part of our diversity, moving towards creating commnuities and governance structures that honour dignity, autonomy and access to community, education, housing and safety.

Few diagnoses have broadened their diagnostic boundaries as much or as quickly as autism. This has affected those with the most profound disability.

👉 Read the article: https://theconversation.com/as-the-definition-of-autism-expands-are-we-losing-sight-of-those-with-the-greatest-needs-281991

💬 Comment "newsletter" and we'll send you the link to sign up for our free wrap of the latest insight and analysis.