The Yellow Ladybugs Podcast

This episode is a collaboration between School Can't Australia and Yellow Ladybugs made possible through funding from the Information, Linkages and Capacity Building Grant.

This is the second of two special episodes with Yellow Ladybugs, who are dedicated to the happiness, success, and celebration of autistic girls, women, and gender diverse folk.

Leisa is joined again by founder Katie Koullas and Natasha Staheli. In the first episode of this series, they talked about distress that is channelled outwards. This time, the conversation turns to distress that is channelled inwards: self-harm and suicidal ideation in our young people, and what it is like to parent through it.

Content warning: This episode contains detailed discussion of parenting young people who are self-harming and experiencing suicidal ideation. Please take care of yourself as you listen. Hit pause whenever you need to, and come back when you're ready.

If you or your young person are not safe right now, please call Triple Zero (000) for assistance. If you are feeling overwhelmed or distressed, please reach out to Lifeline: call 13 11 14, text 0477 13 11 14, or chat online at lifeline.org.au.

This is a conversation that almost never happens in public. Katie, Natasha, and Leisa talk about why families carry this so privately, why autistic and high-masking young people are especially vulnerable, particularly in the early teen years, and why well-meant reassurance and problem-solving can land as not being heard.

They explore what it means to respond rather than react, starting with "I believe you". They cover safety planning, protective factors such as peer connection, a safe place to unmask, and access to joy, and the difference between an acute crisis and the chronic, long-running experience that many families quietly live with. They also talk honestly about how hard it is to judge when hospital is the right call, and about the hypervigilance, guilt, and exhaustion that parents carry along the way.

There is no fix-it list in this episode, and no perfect response. What there is: three parents speaking plainly about a reality many families are living, and the reminder that many young people do come through this and look back grateful for the adults who stayed alongside them.

Nothing in this conversation replaces professional advice about your own child's safety. If you are worried about immediate risk, please seek help straight away.

You are not alone.

Content Warning: This episode contains discussion of physical and verbal aggression directed at parents and caregivers by young people in acute distress, including descriptions of property damage, physical assault, and extreme verbal behaviour. Please take care of yourself as you listen. Hit pause whenever you need. Come back, when you're ready.

If you or your family are in immediate danger, please call Triple Zero (000) for assistance.

If you are feeling overwhelmed or distressed, please reach out to Lifeline: call 13 11 14, text 0477 13 11 14, or chat online at lifeline.org.au.

This episode is a collaboration between School Can't Australia and Yellow Ladybugs made possible through funding from the Information, Linkages and Capacity Building Grant. This is the first of two special episodes with Yellow Ladybugs, who are dedicated to the happiness, success, and celebration of autistic girls, women, and gender diverse folk.

Podcast host Leisa Reichelt, is joined by founder Katie Koullas and Natasha Staheli for a conversation about something far more common in our communities than is ever openly discussed: what happens when a young person's distress is expressed outwardly in ways that are frightening and isolating for families.

This episode talks plainly about young people throwing objects, punching holes in walls, physically hitting parents, and using extreme verbal language. It names clearly from the outset that all of this behaviour comes from a place of acute distress, from a nervous system in full fight response, from a child who has often been trying to communicate unmet needs for a very long time.

Katie, Natasha, and Leisa explore why this happens, why it so often lands on mums, and why instinctive parenting responses can make things worse. They cover the PACE framework (Playful, Acceptance, Curiosity, Empathy), safety planning, the realities of involving police or child protection, the impact on partnerships, and what repair after an incident can look like. This is a conversation wrapped in shame for too many families. You are not alone. 

• Yellow Ladybugs Safety Plan Template: Safety Plan Templates.pdf
• PACE Strategy, Yellow Ladybugs Podcast Ep 4 with Dr Alberto Veloso:Episode 4 - Understanding Complex Behaviour
• Dialectics and DBT panel with Sonny Jane Wise and Sarah Hens: How Dialectics and DBT Can Help Our Ladybugs Who Experience Extreme Distress Behaviour
• Yellow Ladybugs: https://yellowladybugs.com.au/
• Dr Alberto Veloso, Relational Minds: https://relationalminds.com.au/

School Can't Australia Resources: School Can't Australia Resources — School Can’t Australia 

Welcome to Part 1 of the Yellow Ladybugs Workplace Resource Podcast series. We have released a five-part peer-led work resource for autistic and AuDHD people. This episode is based on Part 1 and Part 2 of the resource. 

Part 1 of this goes into finding the right work fit, understanding what 'fit' really means before you even think about job searching. It also goes through how monotropism, sensory needs, energy levels, values and special interests all influence the type of work and the type of environment that will feel sustainable, rather than draining or overwhelming. It acknowledges why many autistic and AuDHD people end up burned out, under-employed, or feeling like they are the problem in workplaces that were never designed with them in mind, and reframes this as a system issue rather than a personal one. 

Part 2 moves into the job search itself. Job ads. Applications. Interviews. Rejection. And all the hidden expectations that sit inside that process that many autistic and AuDHD people find exhausting, confusing or overwhelming but rarely see acknowledged in typical work advice. 

We hope you enjoyed listening! 

You can read the resource 

https://yellowladybugs.myshopify.com/ 

Welcome to the Yellow Ladybugs Pop‑Up Podcast Series, where we bring you two key topics our community have been asking us for. We are proud to the second episode in this series—a peer‑led discussion for families and carers of autistic girls, teens, and gender‑diverse youth on Finding Autistic Joy and Celebrating Autistic Culture.

This is a special series made possible through funding from the Information Linkages and Capacity Building Grant. 

We are deliberately bringing you this episode at a time when there has been a resurgence in harmful public narratives about autism, ADHD and neurodivergence – whether it is the media coverage given to out-of-date professionals making uninformed claims that autism and ADHD are over-diagnosed, or politicians dangerous crusades to recreate an environment of fear about autism and autistic people.

These narratives threaten to undermine the progress we have made in recent years to understand and embed neurodiversity as integral to our humanity. As an autistic-led organisation, at the forefront of changing harmful ableist attitudes, we feel it is more important than ever to counter this trend by reminding our community that neurodivergent people belong in this world, that they can find joy, and that they can celebrate their culture – that these things are powerful protective factors, not just for neurodivergent individuals, but for their families, communities, systems and society as a whole. Put simply everyone benefits when neurodivergent people are valued for who they are.

Which brings us to the details of this affirming and uplifting episode where we are delighted to share two celebratory and complementary presentations from the Yellow Ladybugs canon, delivered by two amazing neurodivergent humans with a deep passion for change:

• Marie Camin, a multiply neurodivergent clinical psychologist, researcher and advocate
• Allison Davies, an autistic advocate, educator and speaker

In the first part, Marie gives an honest, unflinching and ultimately uplifting presentation on Finding and Keeping Autistic Joy. She shares her lived experience, acknowledging that it is not easy being autistic in a world that doesn’t recognise your needs, but that there is nothing quite like the feeling of autistic joy—from special interests (or SPINS), and sensory experiences, to stimmy hands and finding neurokin. Marie shares her own experiences of joy, and brings her personal and professional knowledge into exploring how we can support our autistic young people to find and keep their joy- as a protective factor which can support their identity and their mental health and wellbeing.

Please note that Marie’s presentation does make brief references to sensitive topics including trauma, bullying, stalking, grooming, eating disorders, PTSD, abuse and domestic violence.

Allison then brings her strong personal voice to the topic of Exploring Autistic Culture. She explains that autistic culture is not just a concept or a neuro-affirming approach to care; it is something that has always existed – found in autistic families and communities. She reflects on how this looks different for every family and is filtered through our layers of privilege, safety, and capacity. And she explores some of the fundamental concepts that autistic culture requires all of us to understand, so that we may deepen our sense of who our autistic family is and how our culture can support us.

We hope you enjoy listening and we encourage you to reflect on Marie and Allison’s insights and wisdom from our conference archives, and to embrace their generosity in gifting us the many penguin pebbles and moments of authentic connection to be found in this episode!