I’m Dr. Leia Greenslade (she/they), AKA the Neurodivergent Social Worker.

I bring over 18 years experience as a social worker and university educator and 28 years experience as a parent to neurodivergent kids.

My lived experience of disability means that I know how hard the struggles can be to carry, because I live them. Since my Autism diagnosis over a decade ago, I’ve been advocating for neurodivergent justice. Through co-creating Autistic Family Collective (2013-2016), writing and convening the disability courses in University Bachelor and Masters of Social Work programs, and sharing popular reels on social media that support parents of neurodivergent kids, I’ve worked to create meaningful change in the lives of neurodivergent people.

My practice is grounded in neurodiversity-affirming, trauma-informed, justice-centred care. I offer flexible, inclusive, and deeply respectful support for neurodivergent people, those still figuring it out, and those that support us, to navigate a world that often demands conformity.

I have a PhD, a Bachelor of Social Work (Grad. Entry), a Graduate Diploma in Professional Counselling and a Bachelor of Arts. I am a member of the Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW) and an affiliate member of the League of Autistic Psychologists and Affirming Colleagues (LOAPAC).

With my formal qualifications and a longstanding history of support, advocacy, education, and research, I can help you name, process, navigate, and challenge barriers in your life. My practice is informed by critical and anti-oppressive social work theories, lived experience, embodied awareness, and a deep unwavering belief in people’s right to live as their whole selves.

Select publications and presentations

Journal articles and book chapters

The ethics of social work practice (book chapter). In Social Work the Shadow of the Law (in publication).

Turn it and turn it again: The updated Inclusive Model of Ethical Decision-making. Ethics & Social Welfare. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17496535.2025.2483668

Social Workers Experiences of Covert Workplace Activism: Resistance from the frontier. Australian Social Work. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0312407X.2014.940360

Enhancing environmental wellbeing: What social workers can learn from hybrid business activities. International Social Work. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/00208728221082000

Social work and the natural environment: Embedding content across curricula. Australian Social Work. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0312407X.2018.1447588

Taking the wheel: Put yourself in the driver's seat of your field placement experience (book chapter). In  The field placement survival guide.

Podcast:

Closet activists and covert workplace activities, PODSOCS, Episode 71.

Conference Presentations:

Not in our Name: Jewish Australians  speak up. Anti-racism Hallmark Research Initiative.

Re-thinking grading. ADCET Universal Design for learning symposium.

Social work activism: Resistance from the frontier. AASW QLD and NQLD Conference.

Consultancy Reports:

To make the invisible visible: Consulting with children. Report to the Productivity Commission.          https://www.pc.gov.au/inquiries/completed/childhood/report/ecec-griffith.pdf

Regarding the investigation into possible decriminalisation and regulation of altruistic surrogacy in Queensland. Australian Association of Social Workers. https://documents.parliament.qld.gov.au/com/IASC-D51B/IDRASQ-FD11/submissions/00000077.pdf