Melanie Heyworth (pronouns she/her) is an Autistic mother of three Autistic children, whom she homeschools. She has postgraduate qualifications in Autism and is currently undertaking a second PhD in Autism under the supervision of Prof Liz Pellicano. Mel is passionate about creating a better world for herself, her children, and the Autistic community.

Mel founded Reframing Autism in 2017. She has been running it ever since. Through Reframing Autism, Mel wants to bring parents of Autistic children to a more accepting, optimistic and hopeful way of parenting.

She firmly believes that social change can only occur when Autistic individuals are supported to explore and celebrate their authentic Autistic identities.

Sharon Fraser (pronouns she/her) is a late-diagnosed Autistic mum of two boisterous, gorgeous sons. One of her sons is also Autistic.

Sharon has a deep, personal investment in Reframing Autism. When she found out that her oldest son was Autistic, Sharon didn’t know much about Autism. She had only been exposed to harmful and damaging stereotypes. Looking back, Sharon feels she wasted too much time and energy focusing on the wrong things. When she discovered adult Autistic voices, she changed her approach to parenting. She saw that a strengths-based approach was the path to the best life for her son.  She hopes to gift that message to other parents as early as possible in their journeys.

Professionally, Sharon is a senior finance leader. She has a wealth of experience in all aspects of operational finance. She is a US Certified Public Accountant. Sharon started her career with PriceWaterhouseCoopers in Washington, DC. She then moved to London. There, she worked for a range of companies. Sharon now calls Sydney home.

She was previously the Treasurer for Autism Community Network.  Through her involvement with that charity, she received a St George Community Award for Individual Volunteer Achievement.

Sophie Ralston (pronouns she/her) is a proudly Autistic mother of Autistic children.

Sophie is a passionate advocate and activist for the Autistic community. She is uncompromising in her fight to achieve inclusion, equity, equality and justice for the Autistic community. She has a deep commitment to the neurodiversity movement as the vehicle through which the Autistic population can achieve their human rights. Sophie leads Reframing Autism with a vision for effecting change at a grassroots, community level.

With a professional background in visual media production, Sophie is also the artistic and production talent behind Reframing Autism’s activities. She brings her experiences working in publishing and the media industry to support Reframing Autism’s various activities and events.

Ginny Grant (pronouns she/her) is a late-diagnosed Autistic parent of two young Autistic children.

As a freelance writer and editor of a local lifestyle blog, Ginny has written and edited numerous pieces on the subjects of Autism and neurodiversity. In 2018 she coordinated and spoke on a live discussion panel on Autism acceptance for a large online parenting group, which has now been viewed more than 1700 times.

Ginny is a leader and active contributor within several online communities. She is especially passionate about emphasising a strengths-based view of Autism and amplifying Autistic voices across her networks.

Rebecca Poulsen (pronouns they/her) is an entrepreneur, Mum to one amazing boy, and published Autistic researcher, with a passion for Autism research.

They have a keen interest in the research landscape in Australia, and promoting Autistic-led research and co-production. They are in the final months of their PhD at the Queensland Brain Institute at the University of Queensland. Rebecca has postgraduate qualifications in Autism research and education, and is a member of the Australian Autism Research Council, the Autism CRC Bioboank Access Committee, and the International Society for Autism Research’s Student and Trainee Committee.

They have presented at multiple conferences, including ASfAR, INSAR, and APAN and was a panelist on the Autism CRC’s Autistic Scholar’s webinar in April 2021. Rebecca is a graduate of the Governance and Future Leaders programs delivered by the Sylvia Roger Academy, an initiative of the Autism CRC. Finally, Rebecca is a peer reviewer for the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, and has been an Autistic research consultant for the University of NSW and currently for Aspect.

Stacey Kirtley (pronouns she/her) is an Autistic mother to an incredible Autistic daughter.

Stacey has worked within various areas of administration, travel and customer service over the years and has a genuine love for organisation and planning.

With her family having recently gone through the diagnostic process she has an appreciation of how Autism is commonly framed and the emotions parents may experience as a result of this framing. She is passionate about creating change and a culture where Autism is no longer viewed through a deficit based lens but one focused on the remarkable qualities and strengths Autistic people possess.

Stacey and her family proudly embrace their neurodivergence and she looks forward to supporting and empowering others to experience life as their true Autistic selves.

Kathy Isaacs (pronouns she/her) was diagnosed with Autism and then with ADHD as an adult, she is involved in Autistic advocacy, with interests including research co-production, Autistic-led Autism supports, and accessibility.

She also enjoys simplifying Autism-related research papers and concepts for a non-academic audience.

She currently works in the Operations team at the Autism CRC as a CRM administrator, and is also a registered nurse, with a passion for helping Autistic people navigate the healthcare system safely and effectively.

Kathy lives in Melbourne with her husband and 2 neurodivergent kids.

Gerard Atkinson (pronouns he/him) is an adult-diagnosed Autistic professional with experience consulting on strategy, marketing and analytics for governments, businesses and non-profit organisations in Australia, North America and Europe. He has also worked as an opera singer and actor for a number of Australian arts companies.

Since being identified as Autistic Gerard has sought to put his experience in advocacy and fundraising to use in advancing the case for neurodiversity in society, especially in workplaces. As a program and policy evaluator, he is also committed to the development and testing of evidence-based approaches to supporting the needs of Autistic people and their families. He believes that the best approaches are those that ensure positive outcomes in wellbeing and personal development across all life stages.

Prior to joining the board of Reframing Autism, Gerard was Secretary of the Board of the Pacific Opera, and was the founding Secretary of the Board of the Canberra Opera (now the National Opera), leading their process of establishment as an incorporated not-for-profit entity. He holds an MBA and an MA in Arts Management from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, and a BSc(Honours) in Physics from the Australian National University in Canberra. He is also a Qualified Professional Researcher of the Research Society.

Dr Justine Noble (pronouns she/her) is a consultant paediatrician who is passionate about child health and development. She graduated from the University of NSW and completed Diploma in Paediatrics, before completing Royal College of Physician Fellowships in both General Paediatrics and Community Child Health. She has over 15 years of experience in Paediatrics.

Justine’s interests range from general to developmental and behavioural paediatrics. She has extensive experience of helping families of children with difficulties accessing the services and supports they need to improve their quality of life.

Dr Justine is gifted-friendly, and LBGTQI-friendly and is passionate about advocacy for her clients. Her focus of care is to help children from bio-psycho-social model, and concentric multilevel of care rather than solely on the treating the individual.

Dr Justine also works in research in her public health honorary role in the Sydney Local Health District. Her focuses of research is in perinatal mental health and urban Aboriginal children wellbeing.

Dr Erin Bulluss (she/her) is a clinical psychologist with a particular passion for working therapeutically with Autistic people through online telehealth platforms. She feels strongly about honouring neurodiversity in the pursuit of well-being and was diagnosed with Autism herself in her mid-thirties. She brings together her personal and professional understandings of Autism in her therapeutic approach, aiming to build a strong, collaborative therapeutic relationship based upon understanding and acceptance. Erin places the needs of the individual at the centre of her therapeutic approach so the experience of therapy is different for each and every individual.

In her clinical practice, Erin both treats co-occurring mental health conditions and offers “psychologically-informed mentoring” to assist neurodivergent individuals who have not developed any co-occurring conditions to accept their lovely uniqueness, navigate the neurotypical aspects of the world, and develop a lifestyle that promotes wellbeing and mental health.

Erin has published articles and presented workshops about her approach to therapy with Autistic individuals and hopes to promote acceptance of autism through contributing to the development of therapeutic approaches that genuinely embrace neurodiversity and do not place neurotypical expectations on neurodivergent individuals. Erin also co-authors a Psychology Today blog which aims to provide information about Autism from the perspective of late-diagnosed Autistic professionals.

Erin also has two Autistic children, and aims to create an authentically Autistic family life.

Tim Chan (pronouns he/him) is a 24-year old Chinese Australian. He was diagnosed with Autism at 3 years old. Tim has been non-speaking after 14 months of age.

At 9 years old, Tim became opened to the possibility of connecting with people and with the life he wanted to live.

He has kept working on building his capacity and strengths. His journey has been supported and scaffolded by his social network.

Some of the highlights of this journey include graduating from mainstream school to study at University. Tim also gave a TEDTalk when he was 18, presumably the first by a nonspeaking Autistic person.

Tim has the greatest respect and time for organizations that advocate for Autism. He is excited to be part of the self advocacy movement. Tim wants to drive Autism to a new level of relevance and inclusion.

Deb Boyd (pronouns she/her) is a lawyer. She is part of a wonderfully neurodivergent family of five.

Deb started her career working for a large global law firm. She then moved inhouse to a private holding company. There, she worked across a wide range of businesses and commercial matters.

In the last four years, Deborah has run her own commercial law practice. She also balances the demands of raising three young children.

Deb is passionate about inclusion and inclusive education. She advocates for the rights of the disadvantaged. She works to include those living on the margins of society.

Deb’s interest and passion for neurodiversity began when she started thinking about brain differences. She advocates for a society that includes and values everyone.

Deb enjoys running, reading and going to the theatre.

Emma is an Autistic author, keynote speaker, researcher and disability and education consultant. She works both publicly and privately to facilitate the best life outcomes possible for people, including Autistics with a range of support needs. She has written and presented on education, Autism, resilience, mental health, interoception, relationships and sexuality for Autistics.

Emma is an adjunct Professor at the University of Wollongong and a member of the Australian Society for Autism Research (ASfAR) Executive Committee, on the access committee for the Autism CRC Biobank and an MSc student at University of Southern Queensland. She developed an online module on interoception for Torrens University and has collaborated with the Australian Psychological Society to develop an Autism-specific course for psychologists.

Widely published, Emma writes for both academic journals and for mainstream publishers in the areas of Autism, disability and education. She also supports organisations to develop and implement plans to support adult Autistics in residential settings and provides life coaching and interoception coaching for Autistic adults, children and young people, schools, preschools and other organisations, through her Healthy Possibilities Consultancy. 

Reframing Autism’s Brand Ambassador is Yenn Purkis (pronouns they/them).

Yenn is a passionate Autistic and non-binary advocate. Yenn is an author, presenter and community leader.

They have written six books on elements of Autism. They have a strong media presence. And they facilitate a support group for Autistic women and gender diverse people. They have given presentations around the world, including for TEDx Canberra. Yenn was named the 2016 ACT Volunteer of the Year.

Yenn works full-time in the Australian Public Service.