verb [ T ]UK​ /dɪsˈrʌpt/ US​ /dɪsˈrʌpt/​

to prevent something, especially a system, process, or event, from continuing as usual or as expected

to change the traditional way that an industry operates, especially in a new and effective way

Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.

Rob Siltanen

The post-COVID world requires disruption, requires change. We need some troublemakers and misfits–and I think we might need to become them. We must become rebels who, as round pegs, defiantly sit in our square holes, not-so-quietly trying to change the world. The survivors of systems that were never designed to help, but were instead designed to constrain, hide and “normalise”. People who can embrace their own neurodivergence, aware that their different perspective might just be the tonic our world needs. People who can see a path of tiny steps that lead us to a better future. People who are positively deviant in their ideas of wisdom and knowledge, courage, humanity, justice, temperance, and transcendence. Often that ability to disrupt comes from lived experience of a context that is “different” from what society considers to be “normal”, and young people living with disability are often the perfect example of this. With the right coaching, we can help these future leaders discover their strengths, experience post-traumatic growth, and understand the power they have to shape their own lives, no matter their neurotype, or their physical capabilities.

I am an autistic woman. In fact, I’m AuDHD — my minds exists in an exquisite tension between ASD and ADHD, with all the challenges and benefits inherent in both neurotypes, and some that seem to exist only in the context of the combination. My initial training was as a veterinarian, and so I’m a scientist at heart, and I need science to understand not just what is happening, but why. My top strengths are those of “Wisdom”: creativity, love of learning, perspective, judgement, and curiosity–with bravery sitting somewhere in the middle of those, just to make life interesting. What that means is that while I live mostly in my head, and I’m a creature of logic and reason, I’m very often “brave” (crazy?) enough to make a leap of faith and try something despite the fact that it’s “not done that way”. How exciting! It was one of those leaps of faith that led me into the world of Positive Psychology, and in 2019, to the University of Melbourne’s MAPP (Master of Positive Psychology) program, with only the psychology background of a veterinarian who graduated in 1996 (i.e. no psych background at all). MAPP was an amazing introduction to the idea of mental wellbeing as a robust, validated, area of research — but those tested and validated, evidence-informed interventions just didn’t work for me. And that lived experience drove me towards research at the intersection of disability and wellbeing, and to La Trobe University’s Olga Tennison Autism Research Centre as a research associate.

I live with physical disability and chronic pain — I am a grateful NDIS participant, and I am always curious about what my body will let me do today. My involvement with NDIS as a participant made me aware of the lack of neurodivergence-affirming and disability-informed support and coaching available in Australia. I love coaching! I love the collaborative relationship between coach and coachee, I love the way coaching builds both competence and confidence, and the way a good coach can walk with you to discover the best version of yourself. I am particularly passionate about supporting teens in the gradual transition to adulthood. I want all young people to embrace their whole selves, without shame, and I want them to travel their journeys with courage, and with curiosity, no matter where they wish to go.

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