Today we’d like to introduce you to Michelle Thackray.
Hi Michelle, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
Neuro Nurture (South Africa) centre was born from a shared passion, commitment and purpose between Kirsten Sullivan and myself, Michelle Thackray – to create a space that doesn’t just offer support, but connection, understanding, and hope. Together, we’ve worked with hundreds of neurodivergent children and families, and time and time again, we’ve witnessed the positive impact of appropriate educational and developmental support. We both come from a background of psychology, narrowing down to neurodiversity, specifically autism and ADHD. While we both started at opposite ends of the country in the same company, we learned a lot but had this intuition that there was so much more to learn. Individually, we started to self-study, speak to various professionals within the industry and that’s ultimately how we met one another.
I have encountered autism and ADHD within my personal life, well before I started studying psychology, genetics and physiology. My approach blends lived experience with professional certifications and hands-on experience to provide holistic, flexible, and child-led educational and developmental support for children aged 2–18 as well as caregiver coaching conducted online, meaning I connect with families across the country and world!
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I don’t think anyone has walked a particularly smooth road; there are no highs without lows. The minor challenges that I have encountered are initial connections with families and professionals as their first impression of me is usually a judgement on my youthful appearance. However, after the first or second conversation, we’re quick to overcome that. There are 2 major challenges that I have and continue to face. Firstly, from a personal perspective. My job is ultimately to co-regulate. Co-regulating many nervous systems over an extended period can heavily impact my nervous system. I have had to learn to practice what I preach and take care of my own needs. One of my best mentors told me, “You can’t take care of people if you can’t take care of yourself.” This is something that I am continually conscious of. Probably the biggest challenge that I have is the lack of governing bodies/regulations in place in South Africa. This means that medical aids don’t pay for all support services offered as there are no governing boards for certain support, support that is recognised as evidence based overseas! Medical aid and the health care system in itself is expensive and underdeveloped in certain areas, making access to support limited and costly. This ultimately results in professionals being significantly underpaid and over worked, and leaving families without the support that they desperately need. I see that this is not entirely a South African problem and there are people that I know personally, as well as advocates who I have seen on social media, inspired to make changes.
As you know, we’re big fans of Neuro Nurture . For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Welcome to Neuro Nurture. This centre was born from a shared passion, commitment and purpose – to create a space that doesn’t just offer support, but connection, understanding, and hope. Together, we’ve worked with hundreds of neurodivergent children and families, and time and time again, we’ve witnessed the positive impact of appropriate educational and developmental support.
At Neuro Nurture, we honour your child’s unique way of being in the world. We believe in empowering. We believe in meeting your child where they are, walking beside them, and celebrating every small step forward. Our space is designed to feel safe, warm, and affirming. Every program is personalised. Every child is seen. Every family is valued.
We focus on supporting autistic, ADHD and/or PDA (pathological demand avoidance/pervasive drive for autonomy) individuals and their families. We offer 1:1 educational and developmental, individualised support for children aged 2 – 17 years, caregiver coaching for parents/teachers/nannies/au pairs to form a collaborative support network in navigating the daily lives of supporting a neurodivergent child and taking care of themselves as the caregivers, and we also host school workshops on creating inclusive education environments. Importantly, all the work that we do is completely individualised for each child, each family, each school. We strongly believe in an interdisciplinary approach, which means we actively aim to collaborate with the whole family and all professionals that the child sees. The work that we do is offered both in-person (Somerset West, Cape Town, South Africa) and online so that we’re able to support families irrespective of where they’re located.
Each and every family that we meet, we want them to know, they’re not alone. We’re here to support their child’s growth and well-being while also giving them the tools, confidence, and connection they need along the way.
Let’s talk about our city – what do you love? What do you not love?
I’m not from Michigan and unfortunetly never visited but would love the opportunity to!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.neuronurture.co.za
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/neuronurture_sa/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/14ewcBU7Qeq/
