The School Can't Experience

#74 - School Can’t is not a Choice with Raechel Smart

Raechel Smart is a former primary school teacher, a parent to three neurodivergent children who has navigated years of school non-attendance from the other side of the fence, and is now completing her PhD on school non-attendance in autistic children at Griffith University's Autism Centre of Excellence. That combination gives her a genuinely rare vantage point, and this conversation makes the most of it. One of Raechel's most striking research findings is that many teachers hold an underlying belief that non-attendance is ultimately the child's choice. She traces exactly how that belief forms - a child who presents as fine when they're at school, a teacher who can't see what more they could do to support them - and how it leads directly to the child being blamed rather than supported. Her proposed reframe is the environment. Not blaming teachers, not asking for structural changes outside anyone's control, but asking: what is it about this environment - the noise, the social load, the pace, the unpredictability - that isn't working for this student? That question is less threatening to raise and often more actionable. The practical suggestions throughout are genuinely modest: a Teams message, a check-in email, a questionnaire done at home and brought to the teacher. For parents, Raechel has one key tip: frame conversations with schools around the environment rather than around what the teacher is doing wrong. It triggers less defensiveness, and it tends to actually get somewhere. Resources mentioned in this episode: National Guidance for Inclusive Education for Autistic Students (Australia): https://www.autismcrc.com.au/best-practice/inclusive-education Reframing Autism - free courses and resources from an autistic-led organisation: reframingautism.com.au Raechel Smart on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/raechel-smart-315ba4122/ Send us Fan Mail Support the show School Can’t Australia Facebook Community - https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolphobiaschoolrefusalaustralia If this podcast or the School Can’t Australia community has helped you, please consider making a donation or volunteering to help. Find out more here: https://www.schoolcantaustralia.com.au/get-involved#donate If this episode helped you please take a moment to subscribe, rate, or review the podcast on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. It genuinely helps other School Can't families find us. If you are a parent of carer in Australia and experiencing distress, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or contact the Parent Help Line. - https://kidshelpline.com.au/parents/issues/how-parentline-can-help-you You can contact us to volunteer to share your School Can't story or some feedback via email on schoolcantpodcast@gmail.com Disclaimer The content of this podcast is based on personal lived experiences and is shared for informational and storytelling purposes only. It should not be treated as medical, psychological, or professional advice under any circumstances. If you have concerns about your health or well-being, please seek guidance from a doctor, therapist,...

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#73 - Stop Fixing the Kids, Fix the Conditions with Dr Shelley Moore

Dr Shelley Moore is one of the most widely cited voices in inclusive education, working with schools, organisations, and jurisdictions around the world on how to make education genuinely accessible for all students. She also hated school herself, was bullied badly enough to lose hearing in one ear, and has spent her career asking why the system keeps trying to fix the kids rather than the conditions. In this conversation with Leisa, Shelley starts with the history of autism and disability classes: why the research is clear that segregated programs don't provide equal access to education, why that doesn't mean autistic community and identity should be dismantled, and how schools can offer congregation without segregation.There are no easy answers here, and that families sometimes make the right call for their child even when it conflicts with the research. The bigger argument running through the episode is that schools are still designed for the Industrial Revolution workforce: rows of seats, bells, standardisation, compliance. That design is failing an increasing proportion of students, and the solution isn't to produce more IEPs or more specialist programs. It's planning for goals rather than activities, and designing for what students are rather than what they're not. Shelley introduces the Five Dimensions framework (Identities, Interests, Strengths, Stretches, and Needs) as a practical starting point for getting to know a class before designing for it. She also shares what she calls educational guerrilla tactics for parents: rather than fighting for what your child needs, advocate for what the teacher needs: training, resources, collaboration time, because that way the whole community ends up supporting your child, not just you. Resources mentioned in this episode: Dr Shelley Moore: website: https://www.drshelleymoore.com/ Outside Pin collective: https://www.outsidepinconsulting.com/ Send us Fan Mail Support the show School Can’t Australia Facebook Community - https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolphobiaschoolrefusalaustralia If this podcast or the School Can’t Australia community has helped you, please consider making a donation or volunteering to help. Find out more here: https://www.schoolcantaustralia.com.au/get-involved#donate If this episode helped you please take a moment to subscribe, rate, or review the podcast on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. It genuinely helps other School Can't families find us. If you are a parent of carer in Australia and experiencing distress, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or contact the Parent Help Line. - https://kidshelpline.com.au/parents/issues/how-parentline-can-help-you You can contact us to volunteer to share your School Can't story or some feedback via email on schoolcantpodcast@gmail.com Disclaimer The content of this podcast is based on personal lived experiences and is shared for informational and storytelling purposes only. It should not be treated as medical, psychological, or professional advice under any circumstances. If you have concerns about your health or well-being, please seek guidance from a doctor, therapist,...

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#72 - When Distress Looks Like Violence with Yellow Lady Bugs’ Katie & Natasha

Content warning: This episode contains discussion of physical and verbal aggression directed at parents and caregivers by young people in acute distress, including descriptions of property damage, physical assault, and extreme verbal behaviour. Please take care of yourself as you listen. Hit pause whenever you need to, and come back when you're ready. If you or your family are in immediate danger, please call Triple Zero (000) for assistance. If you are feeling overwhelmed or distressed, please reach out to Lifeline. Call 13 11 14, text 0477 13 11 14, or chat online at lifeline.org.au. This episode is a collaboration between School Can't Australia and Yellow Ladybugs made possible through funding from the Information, Linkages and Capacity Building Grant. This is the first of two special episodes with Yellow Ladybugs, who are dedicated to the happiness, success, and celebration of autistic girls, women, and gender diverse folk. Leisa is joined by founder Katie Koullas and Natasha Staheli for a conversation about something far more common in our communities than is ever openly discussed: what happens when a young person's distress is expressed outwardly in ways that are frightening and isolating for families. This episode talks plainly about young people throwing objects, punching holes in walls, physically hitting parents, and using extreme verbal language. It names clearly from the outset that all of this behaviour comes from a place of acute distress, from a nervous system in full fight response, from a child who has often been trying to communicate unmet needs for a very long time. Katie, Natasha, and Leisa explore why this happens, why it so often lands on mums, and why instinctive parenting responses like sending kids to their room can actively make things worse. They cover the PACE framework (Playful, Acceptance, Curiosity, Empathy), safety planning, the realities of involving police or child protection, the impact on partnerships, and what repair after an incident can actually look like. This is a conversation wrapped in shame for too many families. You are not alone. Resources mentioned in this episode: Yellow Ladybugs Safety Plan Template:https://yellowladybugs.sharepoint.com/:b:/s/YellowLadybugs/IQBakAfYPN5_Sa7vDqFR6b8ZAUayZhsJcXpemWtLhY-_52s?e=Fveiii PACE Strategy, Yellow Ladybugs Podcast Ep 4 with Dr Alberto Veloso:https://open.spotify.com/episode/5XoCkUD6qPus0GHHkGQZVv?si=UVXSM-ojTbyStOsKBMuyjA Dialectics and DBT panel with Sonny Jane Wise and Sarah Hens:https://vimeo.com/1215986538/b08abd3258?share=copy&fl=sv&fe=ci Yellow Ladybugs: yellowladybugs.com.au Dr Alberto Veloso, Relational Minds: relationalminds.com.au A list of support resources for families experiencing adolescent or child violence in the home: https://ap1.hubs.ly/H01m7TB0 Send us Fan Mail Support the show School Can’t Australia Facebook Community - https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolphobiaschoolrefusalaustralia If this podcast or the School Can’t Australia community has helped you, please consider making a donation or volunteering to help. Find out more here: https://www.schoolcantaustralia.com.au/get-involved#donate If this episode helped you please take a moment to subscribe, rate, or review the podcast on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. It genuinely helps other School Can't families find us. If you are a parent of carer in Australia and experiencing distress, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or contact the Parent Help Line. - https://kidshelpline.com.au/parents/issues/how-parentline-can-help-you You can contact us to volunteer to share your School Can't story or some feedback via email on schoolcantpodcast@gmail.com Disclaimer The content of this podcast is based on personal lived experiences and is shared for informational and storytelling purposes only. It should not be treated as medical, psychological, or professional advice under any circumstances. If you have concerns about your health or well-being, please seek guidance from a doctor, therapist,...

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#71 - I Was Failing Him by Sending Him to School, Tammie's Lived Experience

Content warning: Tammie briefly mentions suicidal ideation in this episode. We also discuss instances of violent behaviour stemming from dysregulation and overwhelm. Tammie is a School Can't mum raising an autistic son in rural Victoria. When mainstream school stopped working for her son, there were no alternative schools, no specialist programs, no hybrid options within reach. The choice was mainstream or nothing, and for years, she kept choosing mainstream because no one ever told her she didn't have to. This episode is her account of those years: the Groundhog Day mornings with no sleep behind them, the evacuated classrooms, the Child Protection call she received because her son wasn't attending school, the moment she turned up after an hour and a half of trying to get him there and found his aide wasn't in that day. And the realisation that eventually came: "I thought I was failing him by not sending him to school. I realised I was failing him by sending him." Eighteen months after pulling him out, Tammie describes a completely different kid. He sleeps. He's regulated. He's happy. He recently told her he'd like "some friends I can touch." Eight months of gaming and sleeping and complete decompression came first. And she now sees that as the best thing she could have done for both of them. Tammie is also honest about what's still hard: the social piece is genuinely unsolved, and rural isolation makes it harder. But she's clear on her priorities. Mental health first. Everything else after. Her message to parents still in the thick of it is direct: take them out for a term, six months, a year — you can always go back. Almost certainly, you'll see a change. And ask yourself honestly whether your child is actually learning anything in the state they're in. Send us Fan Mail Support the show School Can’t Australia Facebook Community - https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolphobiaschoolrefusalaustralia If this podcast or the School Can’t Australia community has helped you, please consider making a donation or volunteering to help. Find out more here: https://www.schoolcantaustralia.com.au/get-involved#donate If this episode helped you please take a moment to subscribe, rate, or review the podcast on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. It genuinely helps other School Can't families find us. If you are a parent of carer in Australia and experiencing distress, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or contact the Parent Help Line. - https://kidshelpline.com.au/parents/issues/how-parentline-can-help-you You can contact us to volunteer to share your School Can't story or some feedback via email on schoolcantpodcast@gmail.com Disclaimer The content of this podcast is based on personal lived experiences and is shared for informational and storytelling purposes only. It should not be treated as medical, psychological, or professional advice under any circumstances. If you have concerns about your health or well-being, please seek guidance from a doctor, therapist,...

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#70 - Your PDA Questions Answered with Kristy Forbes

Kristy Forbes is a neurodiversity advocate, former classroom teacher, PDAer herself, and parent of four PDAers. She's also a School Can't kid — she left school at 15 — who has since built an internationally recognised body of work supporting PDA families. She brings all of that to this conversation. In this episode Kristy answers questions asked by the School Can’t Australia community in their peer support Facebook group. The questions cover a lot of ground. How do you figure out if your child is PDA when professionals don't know much about it? Does the label even matter, or is the more useful question just: what is their nervous system protecting them from? How do you handle sleep, eating, and basic life tasks without everything turning into conflict? What does a healthy parent-PDA child relationship actually look like? And is "maintaining authority" even the right frame? What about goals and aspirations when the act of wanting something can trigger the very resistance that stops it happening? Kristy shares experience from her own lived experience as a PDAer herself and as a PDA parent. She talks about how we do the best we can, but still get things wrong, and the importance of the repair that follows. And why she thinks modeling being human is more useful than modeling perfect regulation. And she ends the conversation with something this topic doesn't always make room for: what she genuinely loves about being a PDAer. Resources mentioned in this episode: Kristy’s website with with free resources including self-care guide for adults in crisis and free PDA masterclass: https://www.kristyforbes.com.au/ Kristy on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_kristyforbes/ Kristy on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/inTunePathways Send us Fan Mail Support the show School Can’t Australia Facebook Community - https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolphobiaschoolrefusalaustralia If this podcast or the School Can’t Australia community has helped you, please consider making a donation or volunteering to help. Find out more here: https://www.schoolcantaustralia.com.au/get-involved#donate If this episode helped you please take a moment to subscribe, rate, or review the podcast on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. It genuinely helps other School Can't families find us. If you are a parent of carer in Australia and experiencing distress, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or contact the Parent Help Line. - https://kidshelpline.com.au/parents/issues/how-parentline-can-help-you You can contact us to volunteer to share your School Can't story or some feedback via email on schoolcantpodcast@gmail.com Disclaimer The content of this podcast is based on personal lived experiences and is shared for informational and storytelling purposes only. It should not be treated as medical, psychological, or professional advice under any circumstances. If you have concerns about your health or well-being, please seek guidance from a doctor, therapist,...

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#69 - Pete Wharmby on How Schools Can Help Our Autistic School Children Thrive

Pete Wharmby is a neurodiversity advocate, autistic adult, and former English teacher in the UK. He brings a perspective that's genuinely rare in this space: he's been on both sides of the classroom, as a student who masked his way through school while quietly drowning in anxiety, and as a teacher who,without quite knowing why, instinctively ran his classroom in a way that felt calm, fair, and safe for the autistic students in it. His new book, Different Minds, makes the case that schools don't fail autistic young people out of malice. They fail them because the system was designed long before autism was understood, and has been stubbornly slow to change since. In this conversation with Leisa, Pete works through what that looks like in practice: the monotropic brain that's just getting into the zone when the bell rings and forces a subject change; the sensory assault of that same bell; the collars and ties; the disconnected curriculum that gives neurodivergent brains nothing to hook onto; and the attendance obsession that pushes kids into burnout and then punishes them for being burned out. Pete also discusses research showing that non-autistic people often have an immediate, unconscious negative response to autistic people,including teachers, and argues that awareness of this bias, not blame, is where change has to start. His message to teachers is simple and delivered with characteristic patience: when an autistic child or their parent tells you something is difficult, just believe them. Don't make them prove it. That default of belief, he says, would change everything. Resources mentioned in this episode: Different Minds by Pete Wharmby: https://www.amazon.com.au/Different-Minds-Autistic-School-Children/dp/1785046225/ Pete’s website: https://petewharmby.com/ Pete on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pete_wharmby_books/ Pete on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Petewharmbyauthor/ Send us Fan Mail Support the show School Can’t Australia Facebook Community - https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolphobiaschoolrefusalaustralia If this podcast or the School Can’t Australia community has helped you, please consider making a donation or volunteering to help. Find out more here: https://www.schoolcantaustralia.com.au/get-involved#donate If this episode helped you please take a moment to subscribe, rate, or review the podcast on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. It genuinely helps other School Can't families find us. If you are a parent of carer in Australia and experiencing distress, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or contact the Parent Help Line. - https://kidshelpline.com.au/parents/issues/how-parentline-can-help-you You can contact us to volunteer to share your School Can't story or some feedback via email on schoolcantpodcast@gmail.com Disclaimer The content of this podcast is based on personal lived experiences and is shared for informational and storytelling purposes only. It should not be treated as medical, psychological, or professional advice under any circumstances. If you have concerns about your health or well-being, please seek guidance from a doctor, therapist,...

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#68 - The Day We Stopped Backing the School: A Grandfather's Lived Experience with Frank

Content note: This episode includes a description of family violence during a period of acute distress for a young person. Frank is the first grandfather to share his story on The School Can't Experience Podcast. Over several years, Frank was deeply involved in supporting his daughter and granddaughter through one a difficult School Can't journey. His grand daughter, a young girl who desperately wanted to be at school but simply couldn't get there, and whose distress escalated into crisis. But who found a way through and has gained entry to her Melbourne University course of choice with an ATAR of 89.9. Frank speaks with honesty about what it was like to watch his daughter's job, wellbeing, and mental health erode under the weight of it all; about the moment he lost patience while trying to get his granddaughter into the car, and also about the "Cone of Silence Milkshake Sessions" that eventually became part of keeping their relationship strong as she found her path. He also shares the line that changed everything: his granddaughter telling him and her mum, "You're backing the school instead of me. I'm on my own." That moment forced them to ask whose side they were actually on, and once they answered it honestly, things started to shift. The path forward included stepping away from psychologists who weren't getting to the root of the problem, stopping the pressure to attend school, leaning into what she loved (horses, in particular), getting her into distance education, and encouraging her to get a job at McDonald's which gave her something school never had: a sense of purpose, earning power, and the discovery that the behaviour tolerated in schools simply wouldn't fly in a workplace. Frank's message to other grandparents is clear: take your foot off the pedal, stop sending the message that the child is to blame, and start listening. And when your family is in the dark times — there is a way through. Send us Fan Mail Support the show School Can’t Australia Facebook Community - https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolphobiaschoolrefusalaustralia If this podcast or the School Can’t Australia community has helped you, please consider making a donation or volunteering to help. Find out more here: https://www.schoolcantaustralia.com.au/get-involved#donate If this episode helped you please take a moment to subscribe, rate, or review the podcast on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. It genuinely helps other School Can't families find us. If you are a parent of carer in Australia and experiencing distress, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or contact the Parent Help Line. - https://kidshelpline.com.au/parents/issues/how-parentline-can-help-you You can contact us to volunteer to share your School Can't story or some feedback via email on schoolcantpodcast@gmail.com Disclaimer The content of this podcast is based on personal lived experiences and is shared for informational and storytelling purposes only. It should not be treated as medical, psychological, or professional advice under any circumstances. If you have concerns about your health or well-being, please seek guidance from a doctor, therapist,...

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#67 - Why Schools Must Ask Students What Helps, with Dr Haley Tancredi

Most parents advocating for their School Can't young person have sat through a meeting about adjustments and accommodations and wondered whether any of it would actually make a difference. Dr Haley Tancredi's research asks a simpler question: why don't we just ask the student? Haley is a speech pathologist and senior lecturer at QUT's Centre for Inclusive Education, where her research focuses on student consultation, the practice of directly involving young people in decisions about the adjustments and supports they receive at school. She joins Leisa to talk about why this matters, how to do it well, and what gets in the way. One thing that surprises most people: consulting students about their adjustments isn't just good practice, it's a legal requirement under the Disability Standards for Education. Haley explains what that obligation actually looks like, why it's so rarely met in a meaningful way, and how genuine consultation is very different from ticking a box at an IEP meeting. Haley shares examples from her research of what changes when students are properly consulted, including a grade eight student whose behaviour profile shifted dramatically once her teachers understood what she actually needed, and a student who said simply "I wish my teacher wouldn't talk so fast" and what happened when that teacher heard it. The conversation covers practical approaches for consultation that don't rely on a student being able to articulate their needs in a formal conversation: mind maps, visual tools, menus of options, photo diaries, whole-class feedback mechanisms, and the accessibility and pedagogy scale Haley developed for students to give sliding-scale feedback on how accessible a lesson was. There's also a strong thread on Universal Design for Learning, the myth of teaching to the middle, and how feedback tools that work for individual students can, and should, be offered to the whole class. For parents whose young people are struggling to get to school at all, Haley has some thoughts on how consultation can still happen, and why hearing from disengaged students about what makes an excellent teacher is one of the most useful things a school can do. Resources mentioned in this episode: Student Consultation Practice Guide — research.qut.edu.au/c4ie/practice_guides_student_consultation Academic paper: Meeting obligations to consult students with disability — https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13384-019-00341-3 Accessibility of Pedagogy Scale — qsurvey.qut.edu.au Academic paper: Investigating the impact of Accessible Pedagogies —https://eprints.qut.edu.au/251891/ Video: It's My Learning and I Have a Say — cru.org.au Dr Haley Tancredi on LinkedIn — linkedin.com/in/haley-tancredi-a239b7165 Send us Fan Mail Support the show School Can’t Australia Facebook Community - https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolphobiaschoolrefusalaustralia If this podcast or the School Can’t Australia community has helped you, please consider making a donation or volunteering to help. Find out more here: https://www.schoolcantaustralia.com.au/get-involved#donate If this episode helped you please take a moment to subscribe, rate, or review the podcast on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. It genuinely helps other School Can't families find us. If you are a parent of carer in Australia and experiencing distress, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or contact the Parent Help Line. - https://kidshelpline.com.au/parents/issues/how-parentline-can-help-you You can contact us to volunteer to share your School Can't story or some feedback via email on schoolcantpodcast@gmail.com Disclaimer The content of this podcast is based on personal lived experiences and is shared for informational and storytelling purposes only. It should not be treated as medical, psychological, or professional advice under any circumstances. If you have concerns about your health or well-being, please seek guidance from a doctor, therapist,...

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#66 - School Captain to School Can't - Alex & Laila’s Lived Experience

Content note: In this episode, Laila shares her experience with suicidal ideation during high school. She speaks about this with honesty and care. If you or someone you love is struggling, please reach out to Lifeline on 13 11 14, or if you are under 25, Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800. Laila was school captain in year six. She loved school, had great friends, played sport, danced ten hours a week, and pushed herself to perform in everything she did. By the first week of year seven, she couldn't get out of the car. In this episode, Leisa is joined by Laila, now 23 and thriving, and her mum Alex, to talk through what their School Can't journey looked and felt like from the inside. Laila and Alex talk about: the exhausting tension of desperately wanting to be at school and being completely unable to get there. the six months in year seven of sitting in car parks, rebuilding trust moment by moment. the year ten meeting where the Director of Curriculum essentially told Laila to give up and leave, and about Laila accepting her graduation certificate from that same person two years later. the role COVID online learning played in making year eleven and twelve survivable. what happened after: a gap year, an Open Foundation course at Newcastle Uni with no ATAR required, and eventually TAFE and a Diploma in Interior Design that she loves. This is a story with a very happy ending. But it's also an honest account of how hard the middle part was, including a period of serious depression and suicidal ideation that Laila speaks about with characteristic clarity and courage. Key practical information mentioned in this episode: HSC Pathways: In NSW, students can complete HSC over five years with fewer subjects; https://www.nsw.gov.au/education-and-training/nesa/hsc/rules-and-procedures/2026-guide/students-atypical-circumstances Open Foundation programs — available at universities including Newcastle; no ATAR or HSC required, more information on the university websites. TAFE - often recommended as a supportive environment for School Can’t young people, flexible entry, valuable credential pathways Send us Fan Mail Support the show School Can’t Australia Facebook Community - https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolphobiaschoolrefusalaustralia If this podcast or the School Can’t Australia community has helped you, please consider making a donation or volunteering to help. Find out more here: https://www.schoolcantaustralia.com.au/get-involved#donate If this episode helped you please take a moment to subscribe, rate, or review the podcast on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. It genuinely helps other School Can't families find us. If you are a parent of carer in Australia and experiencing distress, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or contact the Parent Help Line. - https://kidshelpline.com.au/parents/issues/how-parentline-can-help-you You can contact us to volunteer to share your School Can't story or some feedback via email on schoolcantpodcast@gmail.com Disclaimer The content of this podcast is based on personal lived experiences and is shared for informational and storytelling purposes only. It should not be treated as medical, psychological, or professional advice under any circumstances. If you have concerns about your health or well-being, please seek guidance from a doctor, therapist,...

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#65 - Unmasking Education: What Masking Costs & How to Spot It with Millie Carr

Millie Carr is an educator, inclusive outreach coach, and late-diagnosed AuDHDer who has spent years supporting schools to build more inclusive environments through her Unmasking Education work. She's also a parent, her daughter, diagnosed autistic in grade one, is now in year 12 and completing Virtual Schools Victoria after years of high-masking at school took its toll. In this conversation, Millie and Leisa dig into what masking actually is and why assuming it's a conscious choice gets us into trouble. Masking can be entirely unconscious, and for many of our young people it's not just adjusting behaviour for context. It's a full-scale suppression of natural responses just to get through the day. Millie introduces the Coke bottle analogy to explain what's happening when kids hold it together at school and explode at home or, just as concerning, hold it everywhere until burnout forces a complete shutdown. She also talks about the students who are even harder to spot: the perfectionists, the ones who never ask for help, the ones who seem to be doing brilliantly until they suddenly can't get out of bed. The conversation moves into what schools can practically do differently and Millie makes a compelling case that the answer isn't more IEPs. It's Universal Design for Learning: building classrooms where every student has access to choice, where supports aren't singled out, and where the culture normalises different brains working differently. She describes her own classroom capacity check-in as one example of how that can look in practice. For parents who've been told "she's fine here, it must be something at home" this episode will be both validating and useful. Resources mentioned in this episode: Unmasking Education on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/unmasking.education Millie’s website: https://www.unmaskingeducation.com.au/ Millie's masking course Classcover Learn: https://www.classcoverlearn.com.au/course/masking-and-unmasking-in-the-school-setting CAST Universal Design for Learning framework: https://udlguidelines.cast.org/ Novak Education Guide to Universal Design for Learning (UDL): https://www.novakeducation.com/guide-to-udl Ilume Learning: professional development in UDL: https://illumelearning.com.au/ Send us Fan Mail Support the show School Can’t Australia Facebook Community - https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolphobiaschoolrefusalaustralia If this podcast or the School Can’t Australia community has helped you, please consider making a donation or volunteering to help. Find out more here: https://www.schoolcantaustralia.com.au/get-involved#donate If this episode helped you please take a moment to subscribe, rate, or review the podcast on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. It genuinely helps other School Can't families find us. If you are a parent of carer in Australia and experiencing distress, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or contact the Parent Help Line. - https://kidshelpline.com.au/parents/issues/how-parentline-can-help-you You can contact us to volunteer to share your School Can't story or some feedback via email on schoolcantpodcast@gmail.com Disclaimer The content of this podcast is based on personal lived experiences and is shared for informational and storytelling purposes only. It should not be treated as medical, psychological, or professional advice under any circumstances. If you have concerns about your health or well-being, please seek guidance from a doctor, therapist,...

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Dr Ross Greene on CPS for School Can't - Listener Favourite

We're wrapping up our school holidays break with this foundational episode, and if you've only just found us, this is a great place to start. Dr Ross Greene is the founder of the Collaborative and Proactive Solutions (CPS) model and the author of The Explosive Child and The Kids Who Aren't Okay: The Urgent Case for Reimagining Support, Belonging, and Hope in Schools. His core principle, that kids do well if they can, sits at the heart of how School Can't Australia approaches support for families, and it comes up again and again in the stories parents share on this podcast. In this conversation, hosts Leisa Reichelt and School Can't Australia's Louise Rogers talk with Dr Greene about what CPS actually looks like when a young person is struggling to attend school. The model starts from a simple but radical premise: school avoidance is a behaviour, not a problem. The problem is whatever is making school hard — and you can't solve it without asking the young person. Dr Greene walks through the three-step CPS process — the empathy step, the define adult concerns step, and the invitation step — and what each looks like in the messy reality of a child who won't, or can't, talk about what's wrong. He also covers Plan A, Plan B, and Plan C, and makes a clear case for why putting some expectations on hold isn't permissive parenting — it's strategic prioritising. If you're still in the early stages of understanding why your young person is struggling, or you've been trying to "fix" school attendance without much luck, this episode will reframe how you think about the whole situation. Resources mentioned in this episode: Lives in the Balance — free CPS resources: livesinthebalance.org The Kids who Aren't OK (book) - https://www.booktopia.com.au/the-kids-who-aren-t-okay-ross-w-greene/book/9781668203903.html The Essential Conversation by Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot - https://www.booktopia.com.au/the-essential-conversation-sara-lawrence-lightfoot/book/9780345475800.html Send us Fan Mail Support the show School Can’t Australia Facebook Community - https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolphobiaschoolrefusalaustralia If this podcast or the School Can’t Australia community has helped you, please consider making a donation or volunteering to help. Find out more here: https://www.schoolcantaustralia.com.au/get-involved#donate If this episode helped you please take a moment to subscribe, rate, or review the podcast on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. It genuinely helps other School Can't families find us. If you are a parent of carer in Australia and experiencing distress, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or contact the Parent Help Line. - https://kidshelpline.com.au/parents/issues/how-parentline-can-help-you You can contact us to volunteer to share your School Can't story or some feedback via email on schoolcantpodcast@gmail.com Disclaimer The content of this podcast is based on personal lived experiences and is shared for informational and storytelling purposes only. It should not be treated as medical, psychological, or professional advice under any circumstances. If you have concerns about your health or well-being, please seek guidance from a doctor, therapist,...

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Unschooling Ourselves with Esther Jones - Listener Favourite

We're taking a short break over the school holidays. We'll be back with some great new episodes very soon! Meanwhile, here is a classic listener episode in case you missed it, or worth listening again. Esther Jones unschooled all three of her children and now supports parents around the world through their own unschooling journeys via courses, her podcast, and her book, The Parents' Guide to Unschooling Yourself. In this conversation, Leisa and Esther dig into what unschooling actually is (and isn't), why so many families find their way to it through the trauma of School Can't rather than by choice, and why the biggest stumbling block is almost always the parents, not the young people. In this conversation they cover: the difference between unschooling and simply doing school at home; what "enough" actually looks like when your child is in burnout and spending their days gaming; how parental anxiety and the need for proof of learning can quietly undermine the very space you're trying to create; and the link between parental self-compassion and nervous system co-regulation. Esther also shares what happened when her own children, raised entirely outside the school system, eventually chose to re-enter formal education, and what that tells us about the long-term outcomes families worry about most. If you're contemplating the possibility of home education, feeling like you're failing, or struggling to let go of what learning is "supposed" to look like, we think this episode will help. Resources from this episode: Esther Jones’ Website - https://www.esther-jones.com/ The Parents Guide to Unschooling Yourself - https://www.booktopia.com.au/the-parent-s-handbook-to-unschooling-yourself-esther-jones/ The Unschool Space (Facebook) - https://www.facebook.com/TheUnschoolSpace/ The Unschooling Summit - https://www.theunschoolingsummit.org/ Send us Fan Mail Support the show School Can’t Australia Facebook Community - https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolphobiaschoolrefusalaustralia If this podcast or the School Can’t Australia community has helped you, please consider making a donation or volunteering to help. Find out more here: https://www.schoolcantaustralia.com.au/get-involved#donate If this episode helped you please take a moment to subscribe, rate, or review the podcast on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. It genuinely helps other School Can't families find us. If you are a parent of carer in Australia and experiencing distress, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or contact the Parent Help Line. - https://kidshelpline.com.au/parents/issues/how-parentline-can-help-you You can contact us to volunteer to share your School Can't story or some feedback via email on schoolcantpodcast@gmail.com Disclaimer The content of this podcast is based on personal lived experiences and is shared for informational and storytelling purposes only. It should not be treated as medical, psychological, or professional advice under any circumstances. If you have concerns about your health or well-being, please seek guidance from a doctor, therapist,...

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Executive Function at School with Emma Brooksby - Listener Favourite

We're taking a short break over the school holidays, so this week we're revisiting one of our favourite episodes from the archive. Emma Brooksby , Managing Director at U&I Educational Partners, ADHDer, and former school principal, joins Leisa to unpack executive function: the set of skills that let us plan, manage time, switch between tasks, and regulate our emotions. Emma explains why these skills aren't directly taught at school (they develop largely "through osmosis"), and why that creates a hidden, compounding load for young people who experience executive dysfunction - one that can tip into the anxiety and overwhelm at the heart of many School Can't experiences. Emma and Leisa walk through the four big areas where this shows up at school - planning and organisation, task initiation, time management, and emotional regulation, using everyday examples (lost jumpers, forgotten textbooks, the dread of starting homework) to show how quickly small breakdowns escalate into shame, anxiety, and avoidance. They also talk practical strategies: why removing scaffolding too early backfires, how AI tools like Goblin Tools' Magic To Do can break overwhelming tasks into manageable steps, and why "just get started" is rarely as simple as it sounds. Recommended Resources U&I Educational Partners - https://www.uandi.com.au/ Goblin Tools, Magic To Do - https://goblin.tools/ Harvard Centre on the Developing Child - https://developingchild.harvard.edu/ Learning to Plan and be Organised (book) by Kathleen Nadeau - https://www.amazon.com.au/Learning-Plan-Be-Organized-Executive/dp/1433822172 Send us Fan Mail Support the show School Can’t Australia Facebook Community - https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolphobiaschoolrefusalaustralia If this podcast or the School Can’t Australia community has helped you, please consider making a donation or volunteering to help. Find out more here: https://www.schoolcantaustralia.com.au/get-involved#donate If this episode helped you please take a moment to subscribe, rate, or review the podcast on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. It genuinely helps other School Can't families find us. If you are a parent of carer in Australia and experiencing distress, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or contact the Parent Help Line. - https://kidshelpline.com.au/parents/issues/how-parentline-can-help-you You can contact us to volunteer to share your School Can't story or some feedback via email on schoolcantpodcast@gmail.com Disclaimer The content of this podcast is based on personal lived experiences and is shared for informational and storytelling purposes only. It should not be treated as medical, psychological, or professional advice under any circumstances. If you have concerns about your health or well-being, please seek guidance from a doctor, therapist,...

School Can't Experience Trailer

Send us Fan Mail Support the show School Can’t Australia Facebook Community - https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolphobiaschoolrefusalaustralia If this podcast or the School Can’t Australia community has helped you, please consider making a donation or volunteering to help. Find out more here: https://www.schoolcantaustralia.com.au/get-involved#donate If this episode helped you please take a moment to subscribe, rate, or review the podcast on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. It genuinely helps other School Can't families find us. If you are a parent of carer in Australia and experiencing distress, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or contact the Parent Help Line. - https://kidshelpline.com.au/parents/issues/how-parentline-can-help-you You can contact us to volunteer to share your School Can't story or some feedback via email on schoolcantpodcast@gmail.com Disclaimer The content of this podcast is based on personal lived experiences and is shared for informational and storytelling purposes only. It should not be treated as medical, psychological, or professional advice under any circumstances. If you have concerns about your health or well-being, please seek guidance from a doctor, therapist,...

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#64 - Burnout and School Can't: Telltale Signs, Myths to Unlearn, What Helps

Get in touch? Email us at schoolcantpodcast@gmail.com with your feedback, suggestions or to volunteer to share your School Can't experience. This episode takes a different shape from our usual format. Rather than a single guest, it draws together voices from more than a dozen past guests and lived experience parents to build a fuller picture of burnout. At its centre is a reframe: burnout isn't a medical disorder or a character flaw, it's a nervous system response to chronic stress, closer to smoke from a fire than the fire itself. Once that's understood, so much of what looks like laziness, manipulation or misbehaviour starts to make sense as something else entirely: a loss of spark, a slow withdrawal as masking becomes unsustainable, a body and brain that have simply run out of capacity to keep going. The episode doesn't shy away from one of the most damaging patterns in this space — the well-meaning advice, often from professionals, to make home less comfortable in order to push a young person back into school. Several families share what happened when they followed that advice, and the outcomes are genuinely heartbreaking. This section briefly touches on self-harm and suicidal ideation — please take care while listening. From there, the focus shifts to recovery: what it actually looks like, why following a young person's passions matters more than any formal program, why progress is rarely a straight line, and why parent burnout is just as real and just as deserving of compassion as the burnout experienced by young people themselves. The episode closes with a metaphor that's stayed with many of our listeners — the caterpillar dissolving in the chrysalis before it can become a butterfly — a reminder that transformation is often happening even when it's invisible. Voices featured in this episode include Dr Naomi Fisher, Tiffany Westphal, Tanya Valentin, Laura Hellfeld, Eliza Fricker, and lived experience parents Mark, Jessica, Jennie, Emma, Diana, Wendy and Jodie. Content warning: this episode includes discussion of self-harm and suicidal ideation. Relevant resources: (available in your podcast app) Episode 60 — Why School Can't Young People Struggle with Self-Care and Hygiene, with Laura Hellfeld Episode 55 — Jodie's Lived Experience Episode 51 — Jessica's Lived Experience Episode 43 — Wendy's Lived Experience Episode 42 — Tanya Valentin on School Can't, Parental Grief and Transformation Episode 28 — Dr Naomi Fisher on Parental Burnout Episode 27 — Diana's Lived Experience Episode 23 — Eliza's Lived Experience Episode 18 — Lived Experience with Mark Thompson Episode 9 — Jennie's Lived Experience Episode 8 — Understanding Burnout in Our Young People with Dr Naomi Fisher Episode 7 — Emma G's Lived Experience Send us Fan Mail Support the show School Can’t Australia Facebook Community - https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolphobiaschoolrefusalaustralia If this podcast or the School Can’t Australia community has helped you, please consider making a donation or volunteering to help. Find out more here: https://www.schoolcantaustralia.com.au/get-involved#donate If this episode helped you please take a moment to subscribe, rate, or review the podcast on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. It genuinely helps other School Can't families find us. If you are a parent of carer in Australia and experiencing distress, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or contact the Parent Help Line. - https://kidshelpline.com.au/parents/issues/how-parentline-can-help-you You can contact us to volunteer to share your School Can't story or some feedback via email on schoolcantpodcast@gmail.com Disclaimer The content of this podcast is based on personal lived experiences and is shared for informational and storytelling purposes only. It should not be treated as medical, psychological, or professional advice under any circumstances. If you have concerns about your health or well-being, please seek guidance from a doctor, therapist,...

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#63 - Designing a Nervous System Friendly Home with Cecilia Macaulay

Permaculture designer Cecilia Macaulay joins host Leisa Reichelt for a surprising but genuinely practical conversation about how the design of our home environments can either add to or reduce the nervous system burden on School Can't families. Drawing on 34 years of permaculture design, and on Japanese cultural practices she's studied over decades, Cecilia introduces the idea that home can be designed to work for us rather than against us, without requiring willpower, discipline, or a big cleanup effort. Her approach, which she calls Togetherness Design, starts from the principle that order is natural, and that small, well-placed design choices can create a sense of competence, calm and belonging for both children and parents. Cecilia shares practical, immediately usable ideas: why the kitchen sink is the single best place to start, how "floordrobe islands" can transform an overwhelming room into a liveable one, what perpendicular shoes at the front door have to do with nervous system regulation, and why design, not rules, is the key to creating lasting change in a household under pressure. This episode is also a reminder that the young people in our community who have found their way out of conventional schooling can build meaningful, even remarkable lives on their own terms, Cecilia's own career is a case in point. Special Offer for Listeners: The Home That Loves You Back: 9-Month Guided Home Harmonising Project starting June 28: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/the-home-that-loves-you-back-9-month-guided-home-harmonising-project-tickets-1981827693982 Use the code: SchoolCant200 for a $200 discount (limited to the first six to sign up) Other Resources: Cecilia’s Website and Blog to sign up for stories and events: https://www.ceciliamacaulay.com.au Cecilia on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cecilia_macaulay/ Cecilia on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cecilia.macaulay.australia Send us Fan Mail Support the show School Can’t Australia Facebook Community - https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolphobiaschoolrefusalaustralia If this podcast or the School Can’t Australia community has helped you, please consider making a donation or volunteering to help. Find out more here: https://www.schoolcantaustralia.com.au/get-involved#donate If this episode helped you please take a moment to subscribe, rate, or review the podcast on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. It genuinely helps other School Can't families find us. If you are a parent of carer in Australia and experiencing distress, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or contact the Parent Help Line. - https://kidshelpline.com.au/parents/issues/how-parentline-can-help-you You can contact us to volunteer to share your School Can't story or some feedback via email on schoolcantpodcast@gmail.com Disclaimer The content of this podcast is based on personal lived experiences and is shared for informational and storytelling purposes only. It should not be treated as medical, psychological, or professional advice under any circumstances. If you have concerns about your health or well-being, please seek guidance from a doctor, therapist,...

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#62 - School Attendance Plans: Red Flags, Research and What Actually Works with Tiffany Westphal

Tiffany Westphal, director of School Can't Australia, joins host Leisa Reichelt to discuss a common stressful experience facing School Can't families: the school attendance plan. Drawing on recent survey research conducted with the School Can't Australia community, Tiffany reveals some genuinely shocking findings, including that 46% of families were presented with an attendance plan with no prior consultation, 29% were never consulted at all, and 73% felt pressured to agree to a plan they didn't think would work. Only 20% said their plan reflected the advice of their young person's allied health or medical team. Tiffany and Leisa explore why attendance plans so often fail. From the absence of child and family input, to the mismatch between what schools are measuring (attendance) and what actually needs to be addressed (the barriers and stressors making school feel unsafe). They discuss the difference between attendance plans and exposure plans, why a distressed child in the late stages of School Can't needs a fundamentally different approach, and what genuine collaborative problem-solving can look like in practice, including how Leisa used a "hypothesis" framing to shift responsibility back to the school. There's also practical guidance for families who are right in the middle of this: red flags to watch for, when to ask for a different contact at the school, when to bring an advocate, and why it's okay to say "I disagree." Relevant resources: Send us Fan Mail Support the show School Can’t Australia Facebook Community - https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolphobiaschoolrefusalaustralia If this podcast or the School Can’t Australia community has helped you, please consider making a donation or volunteering to help. Find out more here: https://www.schoolcantaustralia.com.au/get-involved#donate If this episode helped you please take a moment to subscribe, rate, or review the podcast on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. It genuinely helps other School Can't families find us. If you are a parent of carer in Australia and experiencing distress, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or contact the Parent Help Line. - https://kidshelpline.com.au/parents/issues/how-parentline-can-help-you You can contact us to volunteer to share your School Can't story or some feedback via email on schoolcantpodcast@gmail.com Disclaimer The content of this podcast is based on personal lived experiences and is shared for informational and storytelling purposes only. It should not be treated as medical, psychological, or professional advice under any circumstances. If you have concerns about your health or well-being, please seek guidance from a doctor, therapist,...

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#61 - Rachel's Lived Experience: What School Flexibility Looks Like for a PDA Child

Rachel, a parent from southern Tasmania, joins host Leisa Reichelt to share her lived experience supporting her son, now in Year 11 and engaged with school, through what has been anything but a straightforward journey. Rachel's son is autistic with PDA (Pathological Demand Avoidance, or Pervasive Demand for Autonomy), ADHD, dyslexia, dysgraphia and a high IQ. That combination created enormous challenges in settings that weren't designed to accommodate his needs. But also enormous possibilities when the right supports were finally in place. Rachel walks us through the early warning signs from daycare onwards, a primary school experience marked by suspensions, bullying and the gradual removal of the very accommodations that were keeping her son engaged/ Then the 19-month battle to get him into a school better suited to his needs, which was ultimately resolved in eight days once an advocate got involved. She shares the specific, practical accommodations that have made the difference: running when overwhelmed, frozen peas and corn for sensory regulation, a safe space during substitute teacher lessons, dropping subjects that created knock-on dysregulation, and a highly modified timetable built around his strengths. She also talks about the role of a positive behaviour support practitioner in shifting the whole school culture, and why that kind of whole-school investment pays off for every student. Rachel also shares her perspective on what's at stake with the proposed NDIS reforms, and points to resources for families who want to stay informed and take action. Relevant resources: The Growing Space (NDIS information and advocacy) - https://www.thegrowingspace.com.au/ Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC) - https://www.dpacaustralia.net/ Australian Neurodivergent Parents Association (ANPA) - https://www.thisisanpa.org/ Regional Autistic Engagement Network Tasmania - https://www.raentasmania.com.au/ Association for Children with Disability (national, state branches) - https://acd.org.au/ Send us Fan Mail Support the show School Can’t Australia Facebook Community - https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolphobiaschoolrefusalaustralia If this podcast or the School Can’t Australia community has helped you, please consider making a donation or volunteering to help. Find out more here: https://www.schoolcantaustralia.com.au/get-involved#donate If this episode helped you please take a moment to subscribe, rate, or review the podcast on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. It genuinely helps other School Can't families find us. If you are a parent of carer in Australia and experiencing distress, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or contact the Parent Help Line. - https://kidshelpline.com.au/parents/issues/how-parentline-can-help-you You can contact us to volunteer to share your School Can't story or some feedback via email on schoolcantpodcast@gmail.com Disclaimer The content of this podcast is based on personal lived experiences and is shared for informational and storytelling purposes only. It should not be treated as medical, psychological, or professional advice under any circumstances. If you have concerns about your health or well-being, please seek guidance from a doctor, therapist,...

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#60 - Why School Can't Kids Struggle with Self Care & Hygiene & What Actually Helps, with Laura Hellfeld

Consulting nurse Laura Hellfeld joins host Leisa Reichelt to explore one of the least-talked-about challenges facing School Can't families - hygiene and self-care. When young people are in burnout, the capacity for everyday self-care tasks like showering, brushing teeth and eating can quietly disappear, often leaving parents feeling confused, worried, and like they're somehow failing. Laura explains why this happens, drawing on nervous system science, interoception, sensory processing and the body's response to trauma and chronic stress. She offers a compassionate, practical framework for understanding what's really going on and how to respond. This episode covers why declining self-care is a signal worth paying attention to (not a behaviour problem to push through), why centering the person rather than the task makes all the difference, and how joy, self-expression and identity can be unexpected but powerful pathways back to body connection and care. Laura also shares her perspective on burnout as a medical condition, the unrecognised physical health needs that often sit underneath it, and why protecting your relationship with your young person is the most important thing you can do right now. If this podcast or the School Can't Australia community has helped you, please consider making a donation or volunteering to help. https://www.schoolcantaustralia.com.au/get-involved#donate Resources & support Laura’s Resources: Laura’s Resources and Newsletter on Substack - https://laurahellfeld.substack.com/ ND Nurse Consulting Webpage - https://laurahellfeld.co.uk/ Laura on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/laura-hellfeld-nd-nurse-consulting/ Laura on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/LauratheNeurodivergentNurse Book - Flush Forward!: A Friendly Toileting Guide for Parents Supporting Disabled and Neurodivergent Young People - https://www.amazon.com.au/Flush-Forward-Toileting-Supporting-Neurodivergent/dp/1399830864 Book- Creating Safe Spaces for Autistic People - https://www.amazon.com.au/Colour-Reduced-Version-Creating-Autistic/dp/B0D12TZ8M3 Book - Gabby’s Glimmers : An Affirming Story of an Autistic Child and their Favourite Food - https://www.amazon.com.au/Gabbys-Glimmers-Alice-McSweeney/dp/1399997858 Mentioned in the episode: Katie Munday - https://autisticltd.co.uk/ Autistic Burnout Network Conference, June 5-6 2026 - https://www.autisticadvocate.co.uk/autistic-burnout-conference Book: How to keep house while drowning, KC Davis - https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B09QMRTK1C/ Book: The Autism Friendly Guide to Periods, Robyn Steward - https://www.amazon.com.au/Autism-Friendly-Guide-Periods-Robyn-Steward/dp/1785923242 Book: The growing up book - An Inclusive Guide to Puberty and Your Changing Body - Rachel Greener and Clare Owen - https://www.amazon.com.au/Growing-Up-Inclusive-Puberty-Changing/dp/1839947004/ Book: The Everybody Book of Consent - An LGBTQIA-Inclusive Guide to Respecting Boundaries, Bodies, and Beyond by Rachel E. Simon, https://www.amazon.com.au/Every-Body-Book-Consent-LGBTQIA-Inclusive/dp/1839976837/ Send us Fan Mail Support the show School Can’t Australia Facebook Community - https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolphobiaschoolrefusalaustralia If this podcast or the School Can’t Australia community has helped you, please consider making a donation or volunteering to help. Find out more here: https://www.schoolcantaustralia.com.au/get-involved#donate If this episode helped you please take a moment to subscribe, rate, or review the podcast on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. It genuinely helps other School Can't families find us. If you are a parent of carer in Australia and experiencing distress, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or contact the Parent Help Line. - https://kidshelpline.com.au/parents/issues/how-parentline-can-help-you You can contact us to volunteer to share your School Can't story or some feedback via email on schoolcantpodcast@gmail.com Disclaimer The content of this podcast is based on personal lived experiences and is shared for informational and storytelling purposes only. It should not be treated as medical, psychological, or professional advice under any circumstances. If you have concerns about your health or well-being, please seek guidance from a doctor, therapist,...

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#59 - From Reluctant Homeschooler to Community Builder with Corinne Smith from KinHub

Corinne Smith describes herself as a "reluctant homeschooler". Someone who never planned to be home educating, but who found herself there after her child experienced School Can't from preschool onwards, through multiple school settings, including Montessori. Rather than retreat, Corinne founded KinHub, a registered charity in Sydney's Inner West. Kinhub is a a community built specifically for kids who don't fit into mainstream school and the families who are holding it all together alongside them. In this episode, Corinne shares: What School Can't looked like for her family, from difficult goodbyes at preschool to being carried through the school gate The role PDA played in their journey through mainstream and Montessori settings How they approached deschooling and why she thinks it matters more for parents than for kids The financial realities of stepping back from work to homeschool, and supports that may be available What KinHub actually looks like — and why it's built the way it is The Unseen, Unheard, Unstoppable art exhibition that gave 35 kids a public voice This one will resonate with families who are weighing up homeschooling and feel like they're about to lose everything that came with school. And it will inspire anyone who has wondered whether they could do something useful with a very hard situation. About Corinne and KinHub Email Corinne: hello@kinhub.org.au KinHub website: kinhub.org.au KinHub on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KinHubAu/ KinHub Art Exhibition in the News: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-04-20/sydney-school-cant-children-exibit-artwork-part-of-kinhub-scheme/106576750 Government Benefits for Home Education and Distance Education Assistance for Isolated Children Payment (NSW) - https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/assistance-for-isolated-children-scheme Jobseeker Payment, Exemptions for Principal Carers (Home Education and Distance Education) - https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/exemptions-from-mutual-obligation-requirements-for-principal-carers?context=60097#homeschooling Challenging the Education Orthodoxy Video: Do schools kill creativity? (Sir Ken Robinson, TED talk) - https://youtu.be/iG9CE55wbtY John Taylor Gatto, (Book) Weapons of Mass Instruction https://www.amazon.com.au/Weapons-Mass-Instruction-Schoolteachers-Compulsory/dp/0865716692 John Taylor Gatto, (Book) Dumbing Us Down https://www.amazon.com.au/Dumbing-Down-Curriculum-Compulsory-Schooling/dp/0865718547/ Sir Ken Robinson and Lou Aronica (Book) Creative Schools: The Grassroots Revolution That's Transforming Education https://www.amazon.com.au/Creative-Schools-Grassroots-Revolution-Transforming/dp/0143108069 Send us Fan Mail Support the show School Can’t Australia Facebook Community - https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolphobiaschoolrefusalaustralia If this podcast or the School Can’t Australia community has helped you, please consider making a donation or volunteering to help. Find out more here: https://www.schoolcantaustralia.com.au/get-involved#donate If this episode helped you please take a moment to subscribe, rate, or review the podcast on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. It genuinely helps other School Can't families find us. If you are a parent of carer in Australia and experiencing distress, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or contact the Parent Help Line. - https://kidshelpline.com.au/parents/issues/how-parentline-can-help-you You can contact us to volunteer to share your School Can't story or some feedback via email on schoolcantpodcast@gmail.com Disclaimer The content of this podcast is based on personal lived experiences and is shared for informational and storytelling purposes only. It should not be treated as medical, psychological, or professional advice under any circumstances. If you have concerns about your health or well-being, please seek guidance from a doctor, therapist,...

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