Raising Autistic Teenage Girls and Gender Diverse Youth – Webinar

Amaze is holding a webinar for parents and professionals working with autistic teenage girls and gender diverse youth. 

Through this webinar, you will learn about the issues facing autistic girls and gender diverse youth, and ways to support them. 

This is a free webinar with majority of the speakers being autistic. The webinar will cover a range of topics including:

• building resilience and mental health 
• supporting executive functioning 
• pornography, sexuality and consent 

Webinar details: 

• Date: Monday, 21 June 2021
• Location: Online via Zoom Webinar 
• Time: 9.30am – 3.30pm 
• Cost: Free, but registration is required

Register 

About the speakers

Dr Emma Goodall, autistic woman and psychologist 
Speaker topic: Practical strategies for resilience and mental health 
Session time: 9.40am – 10.50am

Dr Emma Goodall is an autistic author, keynote speaker, researcher and disability and education consultant. She works both in the public and private sector to facilitate the best life outcomes possible for people, including autistic people, with a range of support needs. She has written and presented on education, autism, resilience, mental health, interoception, relationships and sexuality for autistics. Emma developed an online module on interoception for Torrens University and has collaborated with the Australian Psychological Society to develop an autism specific course for psychologists. Widely published, Emma writes for both academic journals and for mainstream publishers in the areas of autism, disability, education and disability. She also supports organisations to develop and implement plans to support autistic adults in residential settings and provides life coaching and interoception coaching for autistic adults, children and young people, schools, preschools and other organisations, through her Healthy Possibilities Consultancy.

Shadia Hancock & their mother Jane Hancock, both autistic 
Speaker topic: Surviving and Thriving the teenage years 
Session time: 11.10am – 12.20pm

Shadia Hancock is the proud owner and founder of Autism Actually, and enjoys presenting and consultancy. They are committed to empowering fellow autistic and neurodivergent individuals and helping them reach their true potential. Shadia is currently studying Bachelor of Speech Pathology with the hope of providing client centred animal assisted therapy for neurodivergent individuals. Shadia was diagnosed with Autism at the age of three, and Generalised Anxiety Disorder at the age of 14. Shadia came out as non-binary in early 2018 and loves talking about autism and gender issues. Shadia benefitted from numerous early supports such as speech therapy and occupational therapy. They are very passionate about sharing information about what being autistic is like. 

Jane Hancock is one of the experienced presenters and advocates at Autism Actually. In addition to being a trained Secondary Mathematics/Science teacher, Jane also has a Master’s degree of Inclusive Education for Autistic students.
From 2008 to 2012, Jane was a member of the Victorian team for the Positive Partnerships project; a Federal-government initiative aimed at supporting school aged Autistic students. Jane works in the Learning Support Department at Whitefriars College teaching mathematics.
Jane is the parent of Shadia and is passionate about sharing her professional and personal understanding of Autism to inform other teachers. Jane was identified as autistic in 2020. 

Stephanie Crawford, Speech Pathologist & Willow Metcalf, autistic women 
Speaker topic: Supporting Executive Functioning 
Session time: 12.50pm – 1.50pm

Stephanie Crawford is a speech pathologist at Stephanie Crawford and Associates Speech Pathology. She has over 20 years’ experience in a range of settings including early intervention, education and private practice. Stephanie uses a strengths-based approach to support autistic teenagers and adults to achieve their communication goals. 

Willow Metcalf is a 20 year-old university student studying Primary Education and Arts. She was diagnosed as autistic and with attention deficit disorder at age 14, and an anxiety disorder at the age of 9. Willow found the social environment of school difficult and felt that it generally did not cater to her needs. Willow eventually left her first high school to do year 10 by Distance Education, before finally completing her VCE at a senior secondary college that better suited her. 

Maree Crabee, director of It’s time we talked 
Speaker topic: Pornography – sexuality and consent 
Session time: 2.00pm – 3.00pm

Maree Crabbe is director of the Australian violence prevention initiative, It’s time we talked. She is co-producer of the broadcast documentary films Love and Sex in an Age of Pornography and The Porn Factor, and author of In The Picture, a secondary school resource addressing the influence of explicit sexual imagery. Maree has worked with young people – and on issues affecting young people – for over 25 years. She has developed and delivered programs focusing on sexual violence prevention, pornography, sexual diversity and prevention of STIs.