Creating Safe Spaces for Anxious Autistic Brains: Understanding Fight, Flight, Freeze, and Fawn Responses
Welcome to our eight-part podcast series exploring key topics that help us better support autistic girls, women, and gender-diverse people.
This episode we will focus on Creating Safe Spaces for Anxious Autistic Brains: Understanding Fight, Flight, Freeze, and Fawn Responses with Chelsea Luker and Chenai Mupotsa-Russell. Today’s conversation takes an honest, compassionate look at understanding what these survival responses really mean, how they can show up in both obvious and hidden ways, and why safety must come before regulation. Whether you're a parent, carer, educator, or professional, we hope this episode offers you practical insights, new ways of thinking, and a reminder that our ladybugs deserve understanding, patience, and true relational safety. With thanks to the Victorian Department of Education.
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1:08:15
Back to Basics: Learn How Classrooms Can be Inclusive and Affirming for Our Ladybugs
Welcome to our eight-part podcast series exploring key topics that help us better support autistic girls, women, and gender-diverse people.
This episode we will focus on Back to Basics: Learn How Classrooms Can be Inclusive and Affirming for Our Ladybugs with Em Hammond, Adina Levy and Ebony Birch-Hanger. We know many autistic students spend years believing they are broken, when really the system was not built for them. Safety in the classroom means not having to pretend. It means being able to stim, leave, speak up, and not get in trouble for being yourself. Today we will talk about what genuine inclusion looks like, exploring the essential building blocks for a neuro-affirming classroom environment. We will also be uncovering the hidden, and often unmet needs of our ladybugs, finding ways to support students who work so hard to appear just fine. With thanks to the Victorian Department of Education.
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Advocacy
This episode describes what advocacy really means—especially when it’s led by autistic people with lived experience. Advocacy can take many forms, from speaking up in a classroom to challenging systems that exclude or harm. For autistic girls and gender-diverse young people, advocacy is not just about raising awareness—it’s about being heard, believed, and respected.We explore how advocacy can be empowering, how it can create change, and how to support young people in finding their voice.
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First Nations Perspective
This episode describes the unique experiences of First Nations autistic girls and gender-diverse young people, and the importance of listening deeply to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voices in the autism space. Cultural identity, community connection, and intergenerational knowledge are powerful strengths—but systemic barriers, racism, and a lack of culturally safe support continue to impact too many families.This conversation centres the lived experience of First Nations people, and highlights the need for culturally informed, neuro-affirming approaches that honour both culture and neurodiversity.
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Youth Perspective
This episode describes what life feels like through the eyes of autistic girls and gender-diverse young people. Too often, decisions are made about young people without hearing directly from them. In this conversation, we centre their voices—sharing firsthand experiences, insights, and reflections that challenge assumptions and deepen understanding.Our youth panellists speak openly about what helps, what hurts, and what they wish adults really knew.
The Yellow Ladybugs Podcast invites #actuallyautistic people to talk about their journey, to help you with yours.
Join in the conversation, as we explore the world of autistic girls, women and gender diverse individuals, and the often misunderstood and ignored internalised autistic experience.
There will be plenty of ‘aha’ and ‘me too’ moments as we break down the stereotypes, lean into owning our strengths and supporting you through those challenging moments.
Australia