Chelsea Luker
Registered Psychologist, Connect Us Psychology
Chelsea Luker (she/her) is an Autistic ADHDer psychologist, author, and advocate based on Bundjalung Country. She is the founder of Connect Us Psychology and is passionate about working with Neurodivergent individuals across the lifespan, with a particular interest in identity, burnout, and perinatal mental health. Chelsea brings a unique blend of clinical expertise and lived experience to her work and is passionate about building systems that affirm rather than pathologise neurodivergence. She is the author of Square Me, Round World and the creator of the ‘Building Your Neurodivergent Identity’ program. Chelsea is also a parent to two Neurodivergent children and draws from both personal and professional experience when speaking about the complexity of early parenthood.
Dr Melanie Sauer
Clinical Neuropsychologist, PhD, MAPS
Dr Melanie Sauer is a Clinical Neuropsychologist living on Bundjalung Country in Northern NSW. She is a neurodiversity-affirming psychologist who has spent most of her career supporting people in acute mental health settings, including the Lavender Mother and Baby Unit at Gold Coast University Hospital. Melanie currently works in private practice where she provides integrative care and assessment for adults with developmental and/or acquired cognitive and psychological challenges, including neurodivergent individuals. Melanie’s passion in this area is furthered by her personal experience in mothering her neurodivergent son.
Beyond Exhaustion: Autistic Burnout, Anxiety, and Depression in the Perinatal Period
For Autistic parents and birthing people, the perinatal period can be a time of profound transition – and profound risk. Despite increasing awareness of perinatal mental health, the specific experiences of Autistic individuals remain under-recognised, often misunderstood, or entirely overlooked.
In this session, we will explore the unique interplay between Autistic burnout, anxiety, depression, and the demands of pregnancy, birth, and early parenting. We’ll unpack how sensory overload, interoceptive confusion, communication challenges, masking, unmet support needs, and system-level misunderstandings contribute to mental health decline during the perinatal period – and why these patterns are so often missed by traditional assessments.
The presentation will combine emerging research, clinical insight, and personal narratives to help attendees identify signs of burnout, understand the overlap between mental health presentations and neurodivergent traits, and reflect on culturally safe, neurodiversity-affirming care.
This is not just a conversation about risk – it’s also about hope, adaptation, and systemic change. Attendees will leave with practical strategies to support Autistic birthing people across the perinatal continuum, alongside frameworks to support co-regulation, rest, and recovery.