The Nest

The Nest At our “Nest,” we create environments that honour authentic identity, celebrate neurodivergent brilliance, and nourish the nervous system.

We don’t aim to fix difference, we design spaces where it can truly thrive. **2025 Global WCW Children's Education - GOLD WINNERS!!**

Neurodivergent-affirming connection optimised Positive Behaviour Supports and Interest-based therapies. Book in for a FREE 15 min consult here: https://calendly.com/sparkly-neurodivergentempowered/15mins

🎉 Adding another incredible human to our inaugural FREE 2B ME Practitioner cohort - meet Emily. 🎉I’ve already introduced...
03/09/2026

🎉 Adding another incredible human to our inaugural FREE 2B ME Practitioner cohort - meet Emily. 🎉

I’ve already introduced some of the people taking part in our very first FREE 2B ME Practitioner Pathway, and I’m ridiculously excited to add Emily to that group.

And there is something about Emily joining that feels especially important to me.

Emily is studying to become a teacher - which means she is now the SECOND future teacher in our inaugural cohort, alongside Rhegan.

That is massive.

Because having educators entering classrooms who genuinely understand neurodivergence, sensory needs, communication differences, autonomy, behaviour, power, access and the importance of changing conditions rather than trying to change the person is incredibly important.

Children, who are able to attend, spend an enormous amount of their lives in educational environments.

The adults in those environments can profoundly shape whether a neurodivergent child grows up believing:

“There is something wrong with me.”

or

“I make sense. I know what I need. I am allowed to be me.”

That is why I am so excited to have two people studying education going through this Practitioner Pathway from the very beginning.

Emily will move through:

Foundation Learning → Supervised Applied Practice → Observed Practice & Feedback → Capability Evidence → Authorised Practice

She’ll learn the FREE 2B ME Practice, apply it in real situations, receive supervision and feedback, build evidence of capability, and critically examine her own communication, assumptions, power, boundaries and ways of helping.

Because this pathway was never about memorising the “right” neuro-affirming language.

It is about developing people who can notice, think, question, adapt, collaborate, use evidence and understand the limits of their own authority.

And the thought that some of those people will carry that into our schools?

That matters enormously.

Welcome to the inaugural cohort, Emily. ☀️

I cannot wait to see what you and Rhegan take from this into your future classrooms.

Less fixing. More living.

Since people keep coming at me with “trans people are mentally ill”…Cool. Let’s talk psychology. I LOVE intelligent conv...
03/09/2026

Since people keep coming at me with “trans people are mentally ill”…

Cool. Let’s talk psychology. I LOVE intelligent conversations...

Because while people are obsessively analysing trans people, they seem completely blind to the psychological processes involved in believing your discomfort gives you authority over somebody else’s life.

So let’s look at that instead.

Happy Birthday to our gorgeous Taija! ✨🎨💖The Nest is brighter, kinder and a whole lot more creative because you are part...
02/09/2026

Happy Birthday to our gorgeous Taija! ✨🎨💖

The Nest is brighter, kinder and a whole lot more creative because you are part of it.

You bring such a beautiful mix of warmth, imagination, playfulness and genuine care into the spaces you create with people. Whether there are paints everywhere, a new creative idea unfolding, someone needing a safe person beside them, or two ridiculously cute guinea pigs demanding attention, you bring your whole heart to it. 🐹🐹

We hope this next trip around the sun brings you plenty of colour, creativity, laughter, sparkles and moments that remind you just how loved and appreciated you are.

Happy Birthday Taija! We are very lucky to have you as part of our Nest family. 💕✨

Love from Sparkly and all of us at The Nest 🎂🎨🌈🐹✨

01/09/2026

Asking the hard hitting questions today 🤣🤣

🎉 Introducing the inaugural FREE 2B ME Practitioner cohort 🎉This one feels pretty bloody special.For the first time ever...
29/08/2026

🎉 Introducing the inaugural FREE 2B ME Practitioner cohort 🎉

This one feels pretty bloody special.

For the first time ever, we have selected the people who will take part in the inaugural FREE 2B ME Practitioner Pathway.

And I am ridiculously excited to announce our first five.

They have each been accepted into the inaugural cohort of a program we have been building from the ground up - not simply to teach people what FREE 2B ME is, but to develop practitioners who can actually carry the Practice into real life.

Over the coming months, they will move through:

Foundation Learning → Supervised Applied Practice → Observed Practice & Feedback → Capability Evidence → Authorised Practice

They will learn the FREE 2B ME Practice, apply it alongside real people in real situations, receive supervision and feedback, and build evidence of their capability over time.

But getting into this inaugural cohort means something more to me than completing a training program.

These are the first people we are trusting to help shape what a FREE 2B ME Practitioner becomes.

They will challenge the learning.

Test it in real life.

Tell us what works and what doesn’t.

Learn from each other.

Make mistakes.

Get feedback.

Look at their own assumptions, communication, power, boundaries and ways of helping.

And help us build a Practitioner Pathway that can hold the standard we want FREE 2B ME to represent.

Because we are not looking for people who can memorise the “right” answers.

We are developing people who can notice, think, question, adapt, collaborate, use evidence and know when something sits outside their authority.

And these 3 of the five selected (2 more to come) get to be the first.

That is a pretty extraordinary place in the history of something we believe is going to become much bigger than us.

Congratulations to the very first people accepted into the FREE 2B ME Practitioner Pathway.

Our inaugural cohort.

3 of our first five.

And I genuinely cannot wait to see who they become through it.

Less fixing. More living.

This makes me furious.If this reporting is accurate, I hope the people who drove this campaign - and the people in gover...
27/08/2026

This makes me furious.

If this reporting is accurate, I hope the people who drove this campaign - and the people in government who ultimately made the decision - are prepared to be publicly and legally accountable for what happens next.

Because this is not an abstract culture-war argument.

We are talking about LGBTQIA+ children and young people.

We are talking about kids who already experience disproportionately high rates of bullying, rejection, psychological distress, self-harm and su***de. We are talking about whether they walk into school knowing the adults and systems around them have actively considered their safety and inclusion.

So yes: accountability matters.

If organisations, politicians, campaigners or petition organisers successfully advocate for protections or inclusion initiatives to be removed, then their role in that advocacy should not magically disappear once the consequences become uncomfortable.

I want the public record preserved.

I want to know who advocated for the change, what claims they made, what evidence was considered, what warnings were provided, who made the final decision and how the Department intends to measure the impact on LGBTQIA+ students.

And where petition names are already lawfully part of a public record, I see no reason that history should be rewritten later as though “the community” anonymously demanded this.

That does not mean harassment, threats or vigilantism.

It means democratic accountability.

If LGBTQIA+ young people experience increased bullying, exclusion, psychological harm, self-harm or loss of life following decisions that reduce their protections, there should be rigorous investigation of those outcomes - including whether the foreseeable risks were known and ignored.

You don't get to campaign to change the conditions around vulnerable children and then pretend you had nothing to do with those conditions when harm follows.

Own what you advocate for.
Own what you vote for.
Own what you implement.

And Queensland should be tracking what happens to LGBTQIA+ students from this point forward.

You can bet your ass I will be... and be making those names PUBLIC so that we can actually start holding people legally accountable for harm and loss of life.

How unfair to still have people like this... and take people like Dolly and Tim Curry. Make it make sense!

26/08/2026

Some people won’t understand why, as a grown-ass woman, I’ve been playing Dolly Parton all morning - crying, singing, dancing… and crying again.

And that’s okay.

Dolly Parton was a massive inspiration to me.

She was a master of being underestimated.

I remember people mocking her when I was younger. The hair. The b***s. The clothes. How “ridiculous” she looked.

Looking back, I wonder if they ever realised…

Dolly was running the joke.

She knew exactly what people said about her. I remember hearing her say, “I know I look ridiculous,” and wanting to defend her - NO YOU DON’T.

But then I got it.

She created it.

She created a version of herself that she liked being. She didn’t follow trends or need to become more respectable so people would take her seriously.

She made her own effing rules.

Dolly didn’t become unbothered because people stopped judging her.

She built a life where their judgement no longer got to decide who she was.

And THAT has always inspired me.

To create your own narrative. To know people may misunderstand or underestimate you - especially as you become more successful - and still be so secure that their opinion cannot take your freedom from you.

That idea is woven into FREE 2B ME.

Freedom isn’t becoming acceptable to everybody else.

It’s reaching the point where you no longer need to be.

Underneath those rhinestones was an extraordinary effing woman.

Her father couldn’t read, so she went on to put millions of books into children’s hands.

But what gets me most is that the world didn’t harden her.

She saw the s**t. She experienced the judgement. And she didn’t let it shrink her or make her less herself.

She just found a different way to sparkle through it.

Dolly, I wish I was more like you. I really do.

Some people will never understand the magnitude of what you did.

Sucks to be them.

I saw it.

And I’m so grateful I got to see you while you were still here - for who you actually were.

Thank you for showing us you can be underestimated without becoming small. Powerful without becoming hard.

You can know exactly what the world thinks of you…

and put on more rhinestones anyway. ✨

25/08/2026

I love having friends of different ages.

I get the privilege of driving my gorgeous and talented, much younger, friend, Petra, to the Yoga NRG Mindfulness Training studio when needed… and today I introduced her to Helen Keller.

Love that she captured it unfiltered… croaky morning voice and all… because this is life and living and being here for all of it. Not just the polished bits.

If I am singing and dancing - even badly - I am connected and absorbed in the moment… which is not always easy for a fast brain like mine.

Sending big love ❤️

Hope your day has a sneaky, or not so sneaky, happy tune to it in the way that works for you xx

25/08/2026

Big love to SJ for having me on the Take a Seat Podcast this morning 💥 What an energising, affirming conversation — 30 minutes of pure wins, zero deficit, and absolutely no pity.

This series is such a powerful initiative, spotlighting neurodivergent trailblazers and reminding us all what’s possible when we stop shrinking ourselves and start celebrating our brilliance.

💡 Neurodivergent leaders — SJ is looking for YOU.

If you’ve got a story of strength, innovation, and unapologetic authenticity, take a seat and share it. These 30-minute Zoom convos are made to elevate the ND community, and you belong in that circle.

🎙️ You can connect with SJ and join the conversation here:
👉 https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7314792936070684672/

I’m also really looking forward to linking in with SJ and their Fire Circles in the near future — more powerful spaces for neurodivergent voices to be seen, heard, and celebrated.

Let’s keep building this momentum. The ND community is rising — and we’re doing it together.

22/08/2026

ANIME AT THE NEST IS EXPANDING

Tuesdays + Fridays · 5:30–7:30pm · Teens & adults

Anime at The Nest is an intentionally designed shared-interest environment for individualised therapeutic and capacity-building support.

Our model is designed and led by an AuDHD neuroaffirming practitioner, NDIS Positive Behaviour Support Practitioner and counsellor, author and speaker specialising in neurodivergent practice.

Anime is the shared interest. The support is individual.

People can share the same space while working towards completely different goals - communication, self-advocacy, emotional and therapeutic support, everyday capacity, choice, transitions, participation or something entirely individual to them.

The session doesn't determine the service. The person does.

Support is based on each person's goals, needs and access requirements, and is planned, delivered, documented and reviewed individually.

And participation doesn't have to look “social” to be meaningful.

Talking. Watching. Drawing. Listening. Using AAC. Moving. Taking a break. Sitting alongside others. Joining in differently. Saying no.

We don't ask neurodivergent people to perform neurotypical participation.

We create environments where people can access support without having to become someone else first.

Same space. Different goals. Individual support.

Anime at The Nest
Tuesdays + Fridays · 5:30–7:30pm
Teens & adults · Caloundra

Not sure if it fits? Tell us what support you're looking for. We'll start with the person - not the program.

Address

Shop 3, 10 Leeding Terrace
Caloundra, QLD
4551

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