Julia's Place

04/12/2025

Fantastic news from Reframing Autism

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1AEPpX9Nu5/

09/11/2025

I am SO grateful my girls' school doesn't squash their creativity or uniqueness to conform or comply. We moved twice in the years before they were born, each time I insisted on staying in this catchment area. I knew any future kids we had would likely be ND, like their parents. I knew our local school supported ND kids well. Getting appropriate supports for your child shouldn't be a lottery. It shouldn't depend on where you live, who the principal is or what teacher they get each year. Education alongside their peers is a human right.

Story time.

A few years ago this kid of mine was pushed to shutdown by his year 1 teacher.

She grabbed me at pick up time and told me about it. Apparently he'd had a really great day up until the afternoon, had done good work, played well, been happy.

It got to art time.
The class had been instructed to colour in a green frog sitting on a lilipad.

My kid had been excited because amphibians and reptiles were his deep interest. He did the listening, he did the cutting out, he did the lilipad. He stayed at his desk. All of that would have been tricky for him.

Then he tried to colour his frog in red and his teacher said no- it had to be green.

He told her that he wanted to make a red frog, just like the Poison Dart frog from his book.
She told him no. It had to be green- but he could choose if he wanted a light or dark green.

This went on and on and on until my kid broke.

He was 6.

I am still. So. Angry. About. This.
I can feel the anger in my body as I type.

I asked the teacher why she couldn't just let him colour it red. It was art class. Why can't he create whatever he likes? Is art not about expression, creativity, and individuality?

She told me it was about compliance.

She said 'there are some things that he will just have to do.' I agreed. But this wasn't one of them.

He. Was. 6.

He did 98% of the task as she wanted.
He was engaged. He was so interested.
He was so excited.

That wasn't enough.

I pulled him out of school that week.

He couldn't pick up a pencil for a year.
He has only just now returned to drawing, 2 years later.

My heart still hurts from it.

I have a lot to say but honestly my anger is still too big to say it coherently.

I know that this is not every teacher or every school.

And at the same time, this is far too common.
It's so far from what our kids actually need.
It's all of the problems.
It's ridiculous adult garbage getting in the way of genuine connection, learning, and existence.

And we need to sort it out.

Here's a picture of my kid adding details to a hilarious, original, one of a kind, nonsense drawing. He also drew a spider with 16 legs. And I told him that was cool.

Em

26/09/2025

Great AAC options in October

WooHoo! It’s almost October 🎉 …which means it’s almost time for AMAZING deals on AAC apps and special education supports for AAC Awareness Month!

A huge THANK YOU 🙏 to the vendors and developers who make these important supports accessible to more people in our AAC community.

💡 I’ve put together two downloadable versions:
• Graphic (clickable PDF with all the deals)
• Screenreader-friendly, simplified text version

👉 Download them here: https://bit.ly/AACAwarenessDeals2025

Let’s spread the word so families, educators, and professionals can take advantage of these savings all month long!

25/09/2025

The NDIS is changing how they determine what supports disabled people need. Instead of relying on detailed reports from university qualified professionals, they're bringing in their own "trained assessors". Trained in what? With what professional development and oversight?

Writing NDIS reports is currently the most challenging part of my job. Not because I can't do it, just that it's the most arduous, wasteful and undervalued hours. We spend 10-15 hrs writing reports that are not read or just straight up ignored. Yet the NDIS continues to request, and pay, for these reports.

They're shifting from one broken system to another, but now they're excluding information from treating professionals who know the participant best.

So please, sign the petition and then confirm your signature via email
www.aph.gov.au/e-petitions/petition/EN7545/sign

Images courtesy of Karenza Harding, Mental Health OT

01/07/2025

Lots of End-Of-Term-itis happening over here. Now time to plan for the holidays!

23/06/2025

20/06/2025

The NDIA’s 2025–26 pricing decision puts care at risk and pushes OTs to the brink.

We're fighting this decision on every front. OTA has:

Launched a public campaign including a petition and email-your-MP tool

Created a guide for Meeting with Your Local MP about the NDIS Pricing Decision to support members to advocate.

Written to Minister Jenny McAllister and scheduled a meeting with Minister McAllister’s office, and are pushing for a joint meeting between the Minister and all allied health peaks

Secured a meeting with Health Minister Mark Butler’s office to elevate this as a critical issue

Met with the NDIS Quality & Safeguards Commissioner

Met with key political leaders including Senator Jacqui Lambie and supported the advocacy of Senator Jordon Steele-John

Written to Dean Winter, Tasmanian Opposition Leader, explaining the pressure this decision will place across all systems, with a request to raise with his federal counterparts

Raised concerns directly with the NDIA

Engaged with the media to highlight the impact

Collaborated with Allied Health Professions Australia (AHPA) and other allied health peaks to strengthen our collective voice, including a Joint Statement available here: https://www.otaus.com.au/news/allied-health-ndis-price-cuts-joint-public-statement-2025

This is a coordinated, strategic campaign – and we’re not backing down.

What you can do right now

Sign our petition

Tell your local MP how these cuts affect OTs and participants in your community.

Seek a meeting with your local MP to advocate in your electorate

Share the campaign with your networks

Visit the OTA website to take action now: https://www.otaus.com.au/ndis-pricing-campaign

This is not about profit – it’s about survival. For OTs and the people we serve.

Every voice matters. Every action counts.

No OTs. No NDIS. Pay us fairly.

17/06/2025

Physiotherapists have been inexplicably targeted with a price cut under the new PALP. The changes to travel billing and a 7th year of a price freeze is going to have a devastating impact on participants and providers alike.

13/06/2025

OTs are at breaking point.

The NDIA has made a devastating pricing decision—one that freezes therapy support rates for the seventh year in a row and slashes travel funding for occupational therapists by 50%. These changes are already driving providers out of the system and leaving participants without essential care.

Occupational therapists deserve fair pay.

NDIS participants deserve consistent care.

OTA is campaigning for an immediate price uplift, a fit-for-purpose allied health costing model, and a reversal of the 50% travel rate cut – and we need your voice!

Here’s what you can do:
1.Sign our petition to the Australian Government and NDIA
2. Email your MP using our prepared template - it goes straight to your MP + NDIS decision-makers

We also call on our OTA members to share this with your networks. The more Australians who speak out - participants, families, therapists, and allies - the harder it will be for decision makers to ignore the devastating consequences of this pricing decision.

Take action now: https://otaus.com.au/ndis-pricing-campaign

13/06/2025

Help protect the future of allied health supports in the NDIS, and by extension, disabled participants who will be left without services when OTs are forced out of business when it becomes untenable.

Sign, share, contact your local MP if you feel particularly passionate.

https://otaus.good.do/stop-cuts-under-the-NDIS/OTA-petition-NDIS/ -anchor

15/05/2025

For those needing to use NDIS funds to attend the upcoming YLB conference, here is a breakdown to support your access