A journey of foster care, adoption and empowering neurodivergent families

Fiona Landford and her husband Wayne have fostered 32 children and adopted four along with being biological parents to their daughter Jess.

Fiona’s career started out in special education. It was through her work and her children that she saw a growing need for services that would proactively support not only isolated and/or disadvantaged families but also neurodivergent children and their families.

Three of their adopted children identify as neurodivergent and to find professionals who were versed in neurodivergence, the impact of disability and also trauma-informed was a challenge - not to mention finding someone who understood the complexities of living in rural and regional Australia.

With the encouragement of others, Fiona retrained over a period of years and in 2016 established Courage Wisdom Change which empowers children, youth and adults with skills for positive change.

From her home in Kyneton, Victoria, Fiona shares with us her late career change, moving into counselling and unintentionally establishing herself as a neuro-affirming practice, why she is seeing more women identify as neurodivergent, the importance of looking after your mental health and wellbeing, and her highs and hurdles as a business owner.

Meet my friend Fiona from Courage Wisdom Change.

Also mentioned in this episode is Jess Kennan from Leading Change Experiences in South Australia.

ABOUT OAK MAGAZINE

This episode was hosted by Kimberley Furness, founder + editor of OAK Magazine. We are a proudly independent media publisher dedicated to sharing stories and amplifying voices of female change makers and women in business in regional and rural Australia. OAK is an award winning community ecosystem of print, digital, audio and events. We have demonstrated outstanding quality, innovation and impact through our print magazine, podcasts and audio version of OAK Magazine. OAK is where you will find in-depth chats and courageous conversations with women in business from regional and rural Australia.

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For more inspiring stories, visit OAK Magazine website. Hosted by Kimberley Furness, Founder + Editor, OAK Magazine.

This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

Chartable - https://chartable.com/privacy