Meet Patricia Falcetta OAM

Neurodiversity Advocate, Trainer and Facilitator | Keynote Speaker | Founder and Director of Social Living Solutions | Creator of the Family Joy Model

Patricia’s passionate advocacy for the neurodivergent community began with the diagnosis of a loved one. A decade ago, there was no NDIS, school support programs, or keynote speakers teaching an understanding of neurodiversity. So, Patricia took it upon herself.

As her loved one moved through their life, Patricia engaged in professional and personal development to better support and coach them to engage successfully in the neurotypical education system. As she did, she realised there was a massive gap in support for others in similar situations, and Social Living Solutions was born.

During her time as Founder and Director of Social Living Solutions coaching neurodivergent teens, Patricia herself was diagnosed with ADHD. A diagnosis that finally made sense of her lived experience and allowed her to empathise to a new level with those she was supporting. However, as the teens she worked with, and her loved one, began leaving school and entering the workforce she decided enough was enough. No more helping neurodivergent people ‘fit in’ to a neurotypical world.

When we push people to conform to spaces and systems that disadvantage them, we lose the potential of who they could become. We lose the diverse perspectives they bring, and workplaces and society are all the poorer for it. And so Patricia began her campaign of education.

Through her work as a speaker, and as a workplace trainer and facilitator, Patricia hopes to help the world realise how much richer we are for diversity and how simple accommodations can significantly improve accessibility for neurodivergent members of our society. She passionately believes that now, in this post-lockdown world, is the time to harness new technologies and understandings into an accessible world that recognises the value of its neurodivergent members.

The importance and impact of her work is being recognised, most recently as a recipient of the Order of Australia award for service worthy of particular recognition.