Our Aim
The Northern Autism Network (NAN) is a trauma-informed, intentional peer network. Our aim is connection, inclusion and belonging. For everyone.
We are dedicated to understanding and fostering what that actually looks, feels and sounds like for Neurodiverse families living in Melbourne's north.
“The community you never knew existed”
Our Ethos
We draw on the professional and lived experience of our Neurodiverse community to facilitate an intentional peer network dedicated to identifying and disentangling conscious and unconscious bias, discrimination and internalized ableism in everyday language, activities, education, workplaces, services, healthcare, policies and other spaces we encounter.
We operate from a Neurodiversity paradigm perspective, through a trauma-informed approach to foster a sense of respect, curiosity, openness, understanding, self-acceptance, ongoing learning, connection, advocacy, mutuality, co-design and collaboration.
Culture & Identity
A person’s identity is shaped by their experiences. How you communicate, how you interpret the world, how you interact with the world, how others interact with you will all shape your identity. Autistic people experience all those things differently, so being Autistic shapes a person’s identity. It shapes who we are. It is ‘our culture’. It cannot and should not be seen as separate from us.
When someone says they ‘see the person, not the autism’ tells us they do not see major parts of who we are. They do not see how our culture has shaped who we are, how we learn, how others respond to us and how that has shaped our experiences.
Intersectionality
What unites NAN members is our Autistic children and young people, but we are not solely defined by this.
Being Autistic is also only one component of a person’s identity. Our members come from a range of backgrounds which shape their own identities. The intersectionality with sexuality and gender, socio-demographic status, cultural and ethnic background and interactions with their experiences with education, justice and housing all add to the richness of experiences of Neurodiverse families:
