Whole Child: Whole Community, driving holistic success for neurodiverse students with Kate Exner

Whole Child: Whole Community, driving holistic success for neurodiverse students.

How can we better understand and support neurodiverse students in a way that is responsive, informed, and meaningful?

In this session, Kate draws on over 20 years of experience working with autistic individuals and their families across home, school, employment, and organisational settings. Her work is grounded in the belief that individuals and families are the experts in their own lives, and that effective support begins with listening, understanding, and collaboration.

This presentation begins with an overview of autism, focusing on aspects that are often less well understood. As a diagnosis that presents differently in every individual, educators are supported to move beyond generalisations and develop a more nuanced understanding of what autism means in practice.

The second part of the session explores overarching best-practice strategies that can be applied within educational settings. These approaches are designed to build confidence, strengthen relationships, and support environments where neurodiverse students can thrive.

Meet Your Host

Kate Exner

With more than 20 years’ experience supporting autistic people and their families, Kate has worked across the full array of autism-support environments – from one-on-one with younger children at home, to schools, in employment settings and as a consultant improving autism accessibility for large organisations. She is committed to providing responsive care that acknowledges people on the autism spectrum and their families are the experts in their own lives. In a therapeutic sense she works collaboratively with families and individuals to explore their diagnosis and devise strategies to help achieve their goals.  As a consultant, Kate leads by example, sharing real-life insights and supporting businesses and schools to build the understanding, confidence, and empathy needed to create best-practice approaches that benefit everyone in their community.