Neurodiversity Wellbeing Conference 2026

Earlier this week, I attended the Australia and New Zealand Mental Health Association’s Neurodiversity Wellbeing Conference on the Gold Coast with about 400 other delegates.

It was a lot of firsts for me, being my first conference in a few years, first focusing on neurodivergence, first since my AuDHD diagnosis, and first since becoming fully self-employed.

From the moment I arrived, I felt I was in a safe space.

Thanks to everyone who let me show up authentically and met me with their own brand of Quirky.

Thanks for sharing my joy and enthusiasm, for understanding cognitive fatigue and big feelings and acknowledging their validity and value.

Thanks to those who shared not only their knowledge, but their personal experiences.

Thanks also to those who gently guided me through my brain fog to negotiate finding a pharmacy when I felt unwell on the second morning after leaving my meds back in Brisbane (thanks ADHD).

My brain has been gradually defragging since Tuesday and this blog is part of that process. I will need to do a series of brain dumps to externalise what I’ve absorbed over the past few days. Which is great because I’d set myself a goal to post regular blogs.

There’s nothing like a deadline to keep you on track, so, I’m putting it out there that I’ll be blogging at least monthly to externalise my many thoughts about neurodivergence, counselling, coaching, and, occasionally, marsupials.

Keep a watch out.