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.

We hope you enjoy this beautiful chat as much as we did!

Monique and Avril cover:

• How Avril thinks about neurodivergence and the importance of curiosity.
• Avril’s path to understanding her own neurodivergence and to diagnosis at 50.
• Barriers to services when living rural and remote.
• The proportion of people living regional, rural, and remote experiencing disability, and why neurodivergent folk might gravitate to these areas.
• Avril’s experience of community in her local area, and balancing solitude with community engagement.
• Avril’s experience of the nature and sensory-based components of living rurally.
• How Avril’s deep interest in understanding different ways of learning impacted her teaching.
• The importance of transparent communication and modelling self-understanding and self-regulation strategies when teaching kids.
• Avril’s current special interests.

Things we mentioned:

• Queensland State Government’s Assessment and Referral Team (ART)
• Fact sheet on disability access to the NDIS in rural Australia.
• Check-UP Access for All project - an education tool and app to help medical and allied staff better understand disability.
• Edward de Bono’s Six Thinking Hats

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