Erin Bulluss, Ph.D., and Abby Sesterka

Erin Bulluss, Ph.D., (she/her) is a registered Clinical Psychologist and consults from her private practice in South Australia. She has a passion for adapting therapeutic frameworks and techniques to suit neurodivergent clients and enjoys working with Autistic adults to develop positive Autistic identity and promote mental health. Erin also provides consultancy to psychologists and other mental health professionals to deepen their understanding of autism and enhance their therapeutic work with Autistic adults. She completed her Ph.D. (Clinical Psychology) in the area of autism and has since published and presented internationally in this area. Erin has a social media presence, Autistic Wellbeing Consultancy, on Instagram and Facebook and sits on the board of the charity Reframing Autism.

Abby Sesterka (she/her) is a researcher with AutismMQ at Macquarie University, Sydney. She also holds academic affiliation with Flinders University, South Australia where she lectures in Indonesian Studies and teaches skills seminars for academics and higher degree research students with the Centre for Innovation in Learning and Teaching. Abby has over 20 years of experience as an educator across sectors and is passionate about research focusing on inclusive education and bringing that evidence base into her own practice as an academic teacher. Abby’s research interests incorporate linguistic and social phenomena in Autistic populations, combining her academic background in languages with her lived experience as an Autistic woman. She has a commitment to participatory and collaborative approaches to research, teaching, and learning to support authentic narratives and empower minority voices. Abby is currently Vice Chairperson of the Autistic Self Advocacy Network of Australia and New Zealand and serves on the board of the Autralian Autism Alliance.

Erin and Abby are both late-diagnosed Autistic women who write collaboratively about issues relevant to autism, drawing from both scholarly literature and their lived experiences. Abby and Erin aim to create authentic narratives to promote acceptance, understanding, and wellbeing for Autistic individuals.