Overview

Living while female can feel like tiptoeing through a minefield of explosive experiences. The prevalence of violence against women in society, the cultural pressure to be attractive, sexually modest, the primary caregiver, hormonal transitions specific to the female experience, such as menstruation, pregnancy, and menopause.

All these contribute to a uniquely challenging, sometimes traumatising, and often misunderstood life experience for girls and women. Add the anxiety of being ‘different’ than your peers, without understanding why. The bullying, ridicule, and alienation for being different, can cause withdrawal and or depression, even believing you’re less deserving of love because there’s ‘something wrong’ with you. This is the brutal reality of thousands of women and girls living with the misdiagnosis or undiagnosed ADHD and or Autism Spectrum Disorder.

The struggles of neurodivergent women and girls have long been ignored, silenced, labelled as a personality disorder or hysterics, or dismissed as ‘drama queens’.  
But leading-edge research proves the female population presents symptoms of ADHD and Autism differently than males. Female hormones have a more powerful impact on their symptoms, both of which change throughout the lifespan. Girls also learn to mask earlier—and better—than boys; one of the reasons why most therapists miss the signs of undiagnosed neurodiversity in girls and women.

This activity will cover how to recognise Autistic and ADHD girls and women within a client base, and how to use Neurodiversity Affirming approaches to help them find relief from the shame, confusion, and sadness that comes from living mis- or undiagnosed.
Participants will also receive a curated collection of female-focused Neurodiversity Affirming resources for Autistic and ADHD clients and practitioners including podcasts, books, organisations, and neurodivergent role models.

Duration of access

Access to this on-demand activity is for 12 months.

Level of Learning

Foundational. This activity is targeted to those new to the topic

CPD Frequently Asked Questions

Refer to the APS CPD Frequently Asked Questions for general and technical information when undertaking APS Professional development activities.

APS CPD-Approved

This activity has been assessed against the APS Standards for CPD activities and approved for its education quality. Learn more about the APS CPD Approval process

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this activity, participants should be able to:

• recognise how Autism and ADHD presents in girls and women/assigned female at birth (AFAB),

• describe Intersectional factors in research and practice that affect Autistic and ADHD girls and women/assigned female at birth (AFAB),

• critically analyze gender bias in practice and research regarding Autism and ADHD in girls and women view of Neurodiversity Affirming Practice,

• recognise the impact of hormonal changes for girls and women with autism and ADHD across the lifespan,

• recognise physical and mental health co-occurring conditions that impact neurodivergent girls and women,

• adapt your clinical practice to work with neurodivergent girls and women in an affirming way, and 

• support girls and women with autism and ADHD across the lifespan.

Presenter(s)

Monique Mitchelson

About the presenter(s)

Monique Mitchelson is a neurodivergent Clinical Psychologist working in private practice in Brisbane. She specializes in working with trauma, complex PTSD, sleep disorders, and chronic pain/illness, and has an interest in neurodiversity particularly in women and girls. She works with many people with Autism and ADHD and has a neurodivergent and LGBTQIA+ safe workspace. Monique works from a strengths-based perspective using tailored evidence-based therapies such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT) as well as Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) and Structural Dissociation Therapy.
Monique is the creator and co-host of The Neurodivergent Woman Podcast with Clinical Neuropsychologist Dr Michelle Livock (available on Spotify and Apple/Google Podcasts with 250,000+ downloads). The podcast shares quality psychological information on neurodiversity in girls and women as well as interviews with women about their lived experience of neurodiversity.
Monique practices Neurodiversity Affirming therapy which aims to affirm the different neurotype of a neurodivergent person, rather than seeing their neurotype as inherently "bad" or in need of fixing to become neurotypical. It aims for the person to explore their neurodivergent identity and find their own unique strengths. The Neurodiversity Affirming movement comes from the wider social disability movement and is an important therapeutic approach in working with neurodivergent clients.
Monique has presented on Neurodiversity Affirming Therapy at the UQ Compassion Symposium and has presented at the 2023 APS Educational and Developmental Psychology Conference and the 2023 Yellow Ladybugs Conference.

Website/s

https://www.pesi.com.au