Mark Le Messurier is a teacher, counsellor, public speaker, and the author of 18 publications. He works in private practice as a mentor to young people, a coach to parents, and a teacher educator. He is often invited as a critical friend into schools who want to develop a deeper humane ethos. Mark regularly presents at conferences for universities, schools, for parent organisations, corporations, and interested groups throughout Australia and further afield.

He is the recipient of the prestigious Australia Day Council’s Senior South Australian of the Year 2022. His generosity and consideration for others was recognised as profound, far reaching, and life changing. He’s helped many families, and has improved the self-worth, mental health and life outcomes of children, adolescents, parents, and educators.

Today, science and the neurodiversity movement are revolutionising the way we think about, discuss and offer supports to people on the ever-expanding neurodiverse spectrum - and it’s liberating, energizing, healing, respectful and beneficial to all. We want to celebrate this with you!

We now only use neuroaffirming language because language matters! We use –

• Co-occurring

• Passion or special interest instead of obsession

• We acknowledge barriers and remove them rather than using high and low functioning and rating someone with mild, moderate, and severe labels

• Acknowledge the double empathy problem and never think or say - “Autistics lack social skills” or “Autistics lack empathy” rather it is a concern we must, morally, address and share together

• Supports rather than talking about treatments, fixes, or cures

In this workshop you will learn some facts about Autism, but this isn’t our goal. Our goal is personal. It is to introduce you to others who have had a lived experience with Autism, in the hope you will be touched in a way, that facts alone can never touch people. I do have 2 facts for you to take home.

The first is that our neurodivergent kids are not broken, not deficit, not disordered, and do not need to be fixed up. They walk to the beat of another drum.

The second is they always will walk to the beat of that different drum. They will grow up to be adults with Autism. Please, let’s value Autism so our kids can grow into it with pride.

If we fail to see our children’s potentials, we shouldn’t be surprised when they can’t find their own. Let’s learn together and gain strength, will and resources from each other. This is a practical workshop set in the context of hope, optimism and being real.