Episode 251: More Than Empty Claims: Creating Truly Neurodivergent-Affirming Events [featuring Yael Clark and Liam Spicer]
In this episode, Patrick Casale talks with Yael Clark and Liam Spicer about building neurodiversity-affirming mental health spaces and the Neurodiversity Affirming Therapy Conference Australia & LOAPAC Expo.
They discuss how collaboration among neurodivergent professionals can drive change—whether by centering lived experience, innovating inclusive practices, or redefining what “professional” environments look like.
3 Key takeaways:
- Practice What You Preach: Every layer of event planning—from speaker selection to seating arrangements—should be infused with neurodiversity-affirming values, not just the content itself.
- True Accessibility Means Change: Accommodations like sensory-friendly spaces, alternative seating, open movement, and even alternative applause create environments where more people can show up authentically and sustain their energy.
- Community-Led Innovation: Real impact comes from grassroots collaboration and feedback—welcoming new voices, ideas, and continuous adaptation, both onsite and online.
If you’re creating events, building communities, or delivering care: model the values you want to see, because people notice—and they appreciate it.
More about Yael:
Yael Clark is an Educational & Developmental Psychologist and former teacher who established her private practice, Supporting Parents in 2005 after having taught at primary, secondary, and tertiary levels for 15 years. A late-identified AuDHDer herself, her work has increasingly expanded beyond the therapy room into disability rights, advocacy, and systems change.
In 2020, she created an online community for Autistic mental health professionals, from which two larger groups quickly emerged, comprising more than 14,000 lived experience clinicians and allies. In 2024, she founded LOAPAC Australia (the League of Autistic Psychologists and Affirming Colleagues), an organisation dedicated to neurodiversity-affirming mental health care and increasing community access to affirming clinicians with lived experience. LOAPAC maintains a public register of mental health practitioners whose values and practice align with LOAPAC’s non-pathologising framework.
Her work is shaped both by her professional background and by her family’s experiences navigating systems that failed to understand Autistic needs. She is a proud Jewish woman who believes that never again means never again for anyone.
More about Liam:
Liam Spicer (he/him) is a Senior Lecturer in Psychology, Psychologist, EMDR Trainer and Consultant, and Accredited ISST Schema Therapist with lived experience as an Autistic ADHDer. He coordinates Cairnmillar’s Postgraduate Certificate in Trauma-Informed Care and delivers EMDR training for Psychology Training.
His clinical and research work focuses on neurodiversity-affirming trauma therapy, particularly with Autistic and ADHD adults. Liam is Director of the Neurodiversity Affirming Therapy Conference Australia and is involved in several research and training projects in this space.
Free gift from Yael and Liam: We will raffle off one free online registration for the conference. Raffle Instructions to win 1-free virtual or in-person ticket: Mention this episode on social media and tag @Patrick.Casale + @Ndaffirmingtherapyconference, as well as 3 friends who may want to join you at the conference. The winner will be announced shortly after.
- Social media: @Ndaffirmingtherapyconference + @Loapac_psychologists
- Website: ndaffirmingtherapyaus.org
- Website: loapac.org
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Mentioned in this episode:
The Receptionist for iPad
The Receptionist for iPad is a HIPAA-ready digital check-in system that eliminates the need to walk back and forth from your office to the waiting room to see if your next appointment has arrived. Clients or patients can check in for their appointments, and you'll be immediately notified by text, email, or your preferred channel. Break free from interruptions and make the most of your time, because it is valuable. Start a free 14-day trial of the Receptionist for iPad by going to https://thereceptionist.com/privatepractice. Make sure to start your trial with that link to get your first month free if you decide to sign up.
