Show Notes
A note to our listeners: In this episode we chat about self-harm. Some of our listeners may prefer to skip this one.
Happy Monday! In today’s episode Monique interviews Joanne Seymon; AuDHDer Occupational Therapist, and co-founder of Kaiko Fidgets. Jo is passionate about developing appropriate sensory tools for teens and adults, with a focus on harm minimisation and emotional regulation. She uses both her lived experience and her background in occupational therapy to match sensory needs to the right sensory support. In this episode Jo shares some personal details about her son Kai’s mental health journey, and Kai has given his consent for these details to be shared.
In this episode Monique and Jo cover:
How Kaiko Fidgets came to be and Jo’s path to diagnosis and understanding her own neurodivergence. What actually is ‘Occupational Therapy’ (OT) and how can OTs work with neurodivergent folk? Different sensory needs and ideas around supporting sensory regulation. When pain is used as a regulator – Jo’s approach to this and some options for harm minimisation. Understanding and managing the cumulative effect of sensory load.
Find Jo on her website (www.kaikofidgets.com), through her socials (@kaikofidgets), or reach out to her via email ([email protected])
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More from The Neurodivergent Woman
For our final episode for Season 7, we’re thrilled to welcome clinical psychologist and lived-experience speaker, Lumen Gorrie (they / them), to speak with us about gender diversity. Lumen is a queer, trans, multiply neurodivergent, chronically ill, and disabled person based in Naarm. Lumen is passionate about neurodivergence, gender, queerness, disability and accessibility, making systemic change, and (in their words) neuroqueering the heck out of things!
This week Monique chats with Avril Fazel about living in regional, rural, and remote areas as a neurodivergent person. Avril lives on the lands of Kuungkari, Bidjera and Inningai peoples, between the rural towns of Blackall and Tambo in outback Queensland. She identifies as intersectional feminist with lived experiences in mental illness and neurodivergence, and her social discourse is influenced by her backgrounds in education, community work, and being a local grazier.
In this week’s episode we’ll be discussing family violence and domestic abuse. These are important conversations, but they can also be distressing or triggering for some listeners. If this episode feels too difficult to listen to right now, please take care of yourself and consider coming back to it when you feel ready—or just skipping it altogether. And if you or someone you know is currently experiencing domestic abuse, please know that you're not alone and that support is available. We’ve included links and resources below if you need help or someone to talk to.
This week Monique welcomes Arnikka de Kort to the podcast, to chat about breastfeeding and infant sleep.
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