As part of developing a training on neurodiversity affirming mental health care I posed 3 questions to neurodivergent people across a few Facebook groups to get a wider range of lived experience perspectives than just my own to include. I got a range of responses and have compiled the feedback here.

I hope this is a useful starting point/launchpad/continuation for your own thinking and how you can be more neurodiversity affirming in your practice.

Some notes and ideas on adapting breath and body based exercises for different people and different brains.

Poster presentation on creating a values exploration workshop and its relevance to supporting mental health in occupational therapy practice. Presented at the OTNZ-WNA national conference September 2023

Reflections on presenting at my first occupational therapy conference, including how I managed personally as a person with various support needs, my experience of presenting and reflections on the talks I attended.

An exploration of different kinds of rest. What this means and how this can look different to our ‘traditional’ ideas. A categorisation of four types of rest is proposed.

Using metaphors to explain the chronic experience can be helpful for understanding our own experience and trying to explain it to others. Here I’ve summarised: Spoon theory, Forks, Splat, Oxygen tank and Animal scales, and included my sensory jars.

Books I’ve read in 2023. This will be updated throughout the year.

My reflections on study trips away from home, outlining the supports and strategies I used to make these trips possible.

An exploration of alternatives to the standard sleep hygiene recommendations that need individualisation and adaptation to suit people with ME/CFS and other conditions.

A reflection on my special interests. With prompts from 'Unmasking Autism' by Dr Devon Price, which were adapted from Jersey Noah's Special interest week prompts.

An exploration of sensory processing systems and patterns and ideas for ways to use our knowledge of how we process sensory information to help with self-regulation.

Exploring and representing a word of the year. Drilling down to what is important to you and making this concrete.

Self-care is so individual and can change day to day. Do what you need to do to look after yourself.

What kind of person do you want to be? What is important to you?

Knowing your values can help you live a life more in line with what really matters to you.

Welcome to chronic resilience, why I chose the word resilience, balancing resilience and rest, types of resilience, resilience and occupational therapy