Emma Sciberras
Emma was awarded a Doctor of Clinical Psychology (Child Specialisation) through the University of Melbourne in 2010. Emma is a Senior Clinical psychologist working in the Developmental Assessment and Management Program at the Alfred Infant Child and Youth Mental Health and Wellbeing Service. Prior to this Dr Sciberras worked in an academic position at Deakin University (2015-2023). She is an elected board member of the Australasian ADHD Professionals Association and contributed to the development of the Australian ADHD Clinical Practice Guideline. Emma has published over 150 peer-reviewed publications and has attracted ~$9M in research funding.
Marie Camin
Marie Camin (she/her) is a Clinical Psychologist dedicated to supporting and empowering the Autistic & neurominority communities through neurodiversity affirming clinical practice, consultation, advocacy, and research. In her clinical work, Marie identifies and supports neurodivergent clients at various stages of the lifespan, and provides peer consultation to other psychologists wanting to upskill in neuroaffirming approaches to identifying and supporting neurodivergent clients. By exploring the experiences of late-identified Autistic adults in her PhD project (La Trobe University), Marie aims to contribute to a more accurate, inclusive, and affirming understanding of autism. Marie is a founding committee member of the Olga Tennison Autism Research Centre (OTARC) AutVisory Group established in 2022. The AutVisory group aims to connect autism researchers with a diverse, representative group of Autistic community members to co-produce research. Marie is multiply neurodivergent and first-in-family. She is enthusiastic about music, art, design, poetry, animal facts, and watching her favourite TV shows on repeat.
Dr Rachel Jellett
Rachel (she/her) is a clinical psychologist, board-approved supervisor, and lecturer. She is passionate about applying her experience as a practicing psychologist to autism research and teaching. Rachel completed a Doctorate in Psychology(Clinical) at Swinburne University, where she was awarded the faculty research prize in 2016. Since this time, she has practiced as a clinical psychologist providing person-centered therapeutic services for autistic children, adolescents, and adults and worked in a postdoctoral research position. Rachel is interested in the idea of neurodiversity, the social model of disability, and how psychologists can best meet the needs of their autistic clients. This is related to her values of equality and celebrating individuality and uniqueness.
Dr Rebecca Flower
Dr Rebecca (Bec) Flower (she/her) is a Lecturer in the Department of Psychology, Counselling, and Therapy, based at the Bendigo campus. Bec's research is focused on two key areas: 1) neurodiversity inclusive workplace practices, and 2) mental health service provision for autistic adults. Bec is passionate about inclusion of neurodivergent people in employment, and formerly worked for a non-profit partnering with large organisations to recruit and support neurodivergent staff. Her research aims to inform inclusive employment practice for organisations, and she consults with employers looking to reduce barriers for neurodivergent applicants and employees. Her research in this space has largely been autism focused, but she has recently broadened the work to include other neurodivergent identities such as ADHD. The second area of research is in collaboration with clinical psychologist Dr Rachel Jellett, and explores how psychologists can best support autistic adult clients. This stream of research has involved several studies focusing on learning about psychologists and autistic adult clients (e.g., asking autistic adults about their experiences), and exploring what optimal practice might look like for this client group. Bec is passionate about conducting inclusive and respectful research, that explores practical questions of interest to the neurodivergent community and that involves neurodivergent people. She is a member of the La Trobe University Human Research Ethics Committee and is a Research Integrity Advisor for the School of Psychology and Public Health. Since August 2023 Bec has been a Deputy Editor for the journal Autism in Adulthood. Bec is a first in family university graduate and an ADHDer. She completed her undergraduate psychology degree at La Trobe, and PhD at Flinders University. She has worked in a range of research and professional roles across Flinders University and Australian Catholic University, and formerly worked as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Olga Tennison Autism Research Centre. She is passionate about access to education and research, and is learning more about how to improve the accessibility of her work.
Sonny Jane Wise
Sonny Jane is a trans, disabled and neurodivergent advocate, author, creator and public speaker with a national and international presence.
Sonny was diagnosed with Autism as a child and grew up only hearing a deficit narrative about their neurodivergence. Since then, they have gone on to build an audience of over 100,000 people online, written two books, spoken at various conferences and worked with both organisations and businesses worldwide to help change the narrative around neurodivergence.
Through their workshops and public speaking, Sonny Jane encourages professionals and individuals to shift to the neurodiversity paradigm and both unpack and challenge neuronormativity.