ADHD and Self-Regulation

Kate is an educator with experience in teaching kindergarten, primary teaching and as a service leader. Her experiences include teaching on Pitjantjatjara land, leading specialist programs, and co-facilitating Aboriginal inclusion programs with Aboriginal elders.
Kate taught in the Cook Islands and facilitated programs that supported children with complex disabilities to be able to attend
school for the first time.

Kate identifies as autistic, ADHD, dyslexic and PDA. She has supported hundreds of autistic people and their families in the last 20 years.
She has a deep understanding of neurodivergence which she uses to mentor, educate and support regardless of where people are on their journey.

Kate’s learning journey really began 16 years ago when she became a parent to neurodivergent children and began looking at her professional knowledge through a lived experience lens. Her greatest learning came from applying her knowledge to her own family, and raising PDA children
deepened her understanding profoundly. This experience also prompted her to explore her own neurodivergence from a deeper, more nuanced perspective and was diagnosed with autism and ADHD in her late 30s.

Kate is experienced in delivering training and development for teachers, support workers, and professionals in supporting children with complex profiles. Including children at high risk of being removed from families (supporting families to stay together).

Kate has been working in the disability sector for more than 20 years. She has been a DIR therapist, mentor, support worker and public speaker & presenter. She also researched disability inclusion in Norway, worked with youth at risk in Canada and supported children with severe and complex needs in the Cook Islands and rural Australia. Kate now develops, produces and delivers online parenting training. She has facilitated many parent support groups and committees, having provided extensive support to parents over many years. She provides individually tailored professional
development to schools, businesses and organisations.

 In this talk Kate will demonstrate how she applies Dan Siegel’s work on the Window of Tolerance to teach children and adults self-regulation through her neuro-affirming method.