Dr Marnie Cumner

14/09/2025

This is awesome.

14/09/2025

Love this.. thank you LiL Penguin Studios / Autism Happy Place

Autism is a spectrum💛
Hand-drawn by me: lilpenguinstudios.com

10/09/2025

It’s a long road, but so very worth it.

09/09/2025

Just launched. An excellent read with wonderful recommendations - all stemming from a brave young woman who spoke up for change. Thank you Lily.

At this year’s Youth Summit, 15 year old youth advocate Lily shared her lived experience with the education system as a neurodivergent student. We committed to co-designing an insights paper with Lily using her speech and the evidence she presented as a foundation – and today we’re launching the results!

“Changing the system, not the student: Reframing education to better support neurodivergent students using the social model of disability” reflects Lily’s experiences, supported with input from three other neurodivergent young people, and makes recommendations for schooling which is more inclusive of neurodivergence.

“People think outdated ideas about disability are behind us, but they're not. Back in the 1800s, society became fixated on what we couldn't do. That belief that we're less, just because we're different, still shapes how we're treated today…and when the world expects you to be less, you start to hide the parts of you that make you feel less important. Autistic individuals were taught directly or indirectly to hide their authentic selves. To avoid the judgement that was surrounding them. But this wasn't just 200 years ago. This is today.”

We’re so happy to have worked with Lily on the development of this paper and look forward to seeing where her advocacy journey leads. Check out the paper at https://www.qfcc.qld.gov.au/sector/insights/topical – and if you missed Lily speak at this year’s Summit, you can find all our speeches from this year’s event at https://www.qfcc.qld.gov.au/youth/summit.

09/09/2025

Happy (very first ever) AuDHD day spicy crew!

Today is the very first AuDHD Day!

AuDHD is a non-medical term for people who are both autistic and have ADHD. While each are distinct diagnoses, its believed about 50-70% of autistic people also have ADHD.

Each AuDHDer has a unique mix of autistic and ADHD traits that can complement or contradict each other.

AuDHD Day is a community-led initiative to raise awareness of AuDHD, which is often missed and misunderstood.

To learn more, visit: https://audhdday.com/

09/09/2025

Free webinar this Thursday night, with the always-excellent Sandhya Menon. Follow her for great info on insta at Onwards and Upwards Psychology.

Get tickets on Humanitix - How We Talk About It: Autism Webinar hosted by Belongside Families . Online. Thursday 11th September 2025. Find event information.

30/08/2025

How to talk to your child about their autism diagnosis - some great tips and helpful links from Latrobe Uni…

How to talk to your child about their autism diagnosis

30/08/2025

Information and ideas to help with school can’t - fact sheets for parents and teachers…

‘School can’t’ occurs when a child is so overwhelmed and stressed by the demands of school that they find it difficult, or sometimes impossible, to attend. Autistic children and young people who experience school can’t often experience extreme stress and/or anxiety about school. This may...

23/08/2025

Never a truer word, Karen Young - Hey Sigmund

Feeling seen, safe, and cared for is a biological need. It’s not a choice and it’s not pandering. It’s a biological need.

Children - all of us - will prioritise relational safety over everything.

When children feel seen, safe, and a sense of belonging they will spend less resources in fight, flight, or withdrawal, and will be free to divert those resources into learning, making thoughtful choices, engaging in ways that can grow them.

They will also be more likely to spend resources seeking out those people (their trusted adults at school) or places (school) that make them feel good about themselves, rather than avoiding the people of spaces that make them feel rubbish or inadequate.

Behaviour support and learning support is about felt safety support first.

The schools and educators who know this and practice it are making a profound difference, not just for young people but for all of us. They are actively engaging in crime prevention, mental illness prevention, and nurturing strong, beautiful little people into strong, beautiful big ones.♥️

22/08/2025

Asking “what’s getting in the way?” helps us to respond earlier to reduce a child’s stressors at school. Thanks School Can't Australia

Our lived experience tells us this:
By the time a student stops showing up, they’ve often been struggling far longer than anyone realises — and the early signs, especially in students who appear quiet, compliant, or “fine,” are easily missed.

School-based stressors can create overwhelming environments: gaps in emotional safety, sensory and cognitive demands that are too loud or rigid, social challenges like bullying or exclusion. Add to this systemic responses that prioritise compliance over care, and the load can become too much.

Instead of asking, “Why aren’t they here?”
We can ask, “What’s getting in the way?”

When we shift the focus from behaviour to the nervous system responses driving it, we can reduce stressors and restore capacity.

By the time attendance stops, it’s not a new problem — it’s a missed one.
Let’s get curious about what’s happening for this young person, so we can respond earlier and with understanding.

Learn more about school attendance challenges on our website: schoolcantaustralia.com.au

NOTE: This is a public Facebook post, consider your privacy when commenting.

21/08/2025

Great guide/info for our ADHD teens…