Veritas Lecture  

Autistic people live in a world that is not built for them. Educational, health, and social care systems, leisure activities, and public transportation can all be a challenge for autistic people due to sensory, motor, communication, social, and value differences that interact with environments designed for neurotypical people. Consequences for these challenges include skyrocketing school refusal/school can’t for autistic children and youth and burnout and social ideation for autistic adults. This lecture will examine the everyday challenges autistic people face due to social stigma and inaccessible environments and systems, consider ways that allied health and social care providers, educators, medical professionals, and others can consider small and big ways to increase valued participation for autistic people through ameliorating inaccessible environments. This work will apply rights-based models and critical disability race theory, foregrounding the values and perspectives of autistic people, including those with intersectional identities. Drawing from Dr Sterman’s own research, her work as an occupational therapist, and her lived experience as an autistic person and parent to autistic children, audience members will come away with ideas for shifting their direct work with autistic children, as well as local and broader advocacy considerations.

Event details:
Wednesday 28 October 2026, 5.30pm - 7.00pm
5:30pm - light refreshments
6pm - lecture and Q&A 

This is a hybrid event.
In person: ACU Canberra campus, Veritas Building, Building 301, Level 1, Room 20, 127 Phillip Avenue, Watson
Virtually: via MS Teams.

When you register, you will receive a registration confirmation. If you registered to attend virtually, the registration confirmation will contain the MS Teams link to join.

Dr Julia Sterman OTR PhD

Dr Julia Sterman OTR PhD is a neurodivergent Senior Lecturer in Occupational Therapy at Australian Catholic University in Canberra. Her research focuses on increasing valued occupational participation for children with disabilities and their families, shifting towards neurodiversity affirming care for autistic people, and making allied health practice more culturally safe for children and their families from culturally and racial marginalised groups. She has published on topics such as outdoor play, risk, family-centred emergency preparedness, critical reflexivity, neurodiversity-affirming practice, intersectional practice, and anti-racism. Her predominately qualitative work seeks to privilege the voices of the people most impacted by allied health care, including disabled people and people from culturally and racial marginalised groups.

For event related questions, please contact campus.deancanberra@acu.edu.au