Welcome to the Little Black Duck

Who we are

The little black duck is an autism-specific service providing supports to autistic people by autistic people. Our focus is on autistic quality of life, we follow an evidence-informed quality of life framework based on what autistic adults self-report to improve the quality of their life. All our supports, therapy and training programs are based on this foundation. What this means is that our approach is highly individualised and customisable to meet individual needs.

Our philosophy is based on the neurodiversity paradigm – autism being the individual’s neurotype, The person is born autistic, their brain is supposed to function autistically. We step in to help the individual find their natural state of processing.

Our approach is whole-person and focuses on three core areas of function –

1. Connection/ relationships/ attachments – how does the autistic person seek, form and maintain connections in a way that is authentic to them
2. The sensory experience – Humans are sensory beings first and foremost. We interpret the world through our sensory experience. This is even more so for autistic people, it is how we play, communicates and interact with the environment
3. Communication and thinking – Under a neurodiversity paradigm this is the core difference in the autistic brain – how we think, which then informs how we communicate.

By focusing on these three core areas we can help to support the improved wellbeing of the autistic individual we are working with and educate the community to understand autistic function on a deeper level.

To achieve this we use a mix of therapeutic approaches that are based on expressive, play and relationship development. We take what it means to be autistic and celebrate it for the beautiful uniqueness it is.

We use three different approaches to celebrate and support wellbeing in autistic neurology, firstly by supporting the autistic individual through groups, mentoring, information, planning and goal setting and screening. Secondly, we provide evidence-based training and education programs to those that support autistic people. Lastly, we develop evidence-informed supports and strategies to aid in communication.