Keynotes, presentations & conversations that change how people think about support
Tanya Hicks speaks about neuroaffirming practice, disability, behaviour, capability, access, identity, professional responsibility and the systems that shape people’s everyday lives. Her work draws from the wider FREE 2B ME ecosystem - connecting lived experience, counselling, Specialist Behaviour Support, real-life practice, workforce capability, evidence and organisational design.
Less fixing. More living.
Tanya Hicks is the creator and architect of FREE 2B ME, founder and CEO of Neurodivergent Empowered, Human Systems Architect, author, neuroaffirming counsellor and NDIS Behaviour Support Practitioner.
From Support to Sovereignty
A foundational keynote in the development of the wider FREE 2B ME body of work, exploring what changes when support is examined through access, safety, authority and self-determination.
The opposite of survival isn’t independence. It’s sovereignty.
The keynote remains an important strand of Tanya’s work, while the wider FREE 2B ME Practice now extends beyond conditions and sovereignty into capability, relationships, professional intervention, evidence, workforce practice and systems.
Connected to: FREE 2B ME: Less fixing. More living. ↔ Access Before Intervention.
Organised by theme
Topics available for keynotes and workshops. Confirmed event history and accessibility adaptations are provided on enquiry.
Neuroaffirming practice & disability
Less Fixing. More Living. · Understand Before You Intervene · Access Before Intervention · You Don’t Have to Shrink to Be Safe
Person authority; capability without conformity; communication and participation; access and challenge; support that does not confuse independence with success.
Behaviour that makes sense
Behaviour Makes Sense · Where Behaviour Makes Sense in Context · Beyond Compliance
Behaviour in context, Positive Behaviour Support beyond compliance, communication, quality of life, restrictive practices, formulation, and what happens when practitioners stop treating visible behaviour as the whole problem.
Lived experience, identity & belonging
Sparkly Sovereignty Over Survival · You Don’t Have to Shrink to Be Safe · From Burnout to Belonging · The Village That Accepts All of You
Masking, belonging, identity, hidden effort, neurodivergent adulthood, family and community.
Leadership, workforce & systems
The Cost Nobody Put in Your Business Plan · Practice That Holds · Building Systems That Don’t Require People to Break First · Capability Without Conformity
What it takes for neuroaffirming values to survive contact with policy, workforce pressure, risk, supervision, documentation and organisational systems.
Professional practice & implementation
Training and conference content for counsellors, Behaviour Support Practitioners, disability practitioners, supervisors, leaders and multidisciplinary teams.
Access Before Intervention; the FREE 2B ME Practice; professional reasoning; supervision; evidence and review; participant authority; scope and accountability.
What Tanya brings into the room
Tanya’s speaking combines lived experience with professional practice, humour, uncomfortable questions and concrete examples of what support looks like when theory meets real life. She does not present neurodivergent people as case studies to be fixed. She asks audiences to examine their own practice, assumptions, authority and systems - while still leaving them with something practical to do next.
Lived experience · professional practice · systems thinking · practical application · accessible delivery
Accessible by design
Tanya’s presentations can be adapted for different audiences, processing styles and event formats. Options may include accessible slides, advance materials, transcript or written summary, structured Q&A, reduced sensory load, and workshop formats that do not depend on rapid verbal participation.
Talks can be delivered as keynotes, conference presentations, workshops or keynote-plus-workshop packages depending on audience and purpose. Confirmed event history is provided on enquiry.
Bring FREE 2B ME into your room
Tanya works with conferences, organisations, professional teams, education, disability, health and community audiences. Enquiries can include keynotes, conference presentations, workshops, panels, facilitated conversations and tailored professional learning.