Burnout is often framed as an individual problem. But for late-identified autistic and ADHD adults, it’s frequently the result of years—sometimes decades—spent navigating systems that were never built for us. In rural communities, this experience is intensified by service gaps, social isolation, stigma, and chronic underemployment.

This presentation offers a practical reframe: What if we stopped trying to fix neurodivergent people, and instead invested in insight, leadership, and peer capacity?

Grounded in lived experience and emerging data, the session explores how peer support, mentorship, and community connection can become protective factors against burnout. It will highlight:

How late diagnosis intersects with trauma, identity confusion, and workforce exclusion

Mental health risks: up to 80% of autistic adults experience co-occurring mental illness; autistic adults are up to 8 times more likely to die by suicide, with even higher rates among those diagnosed late

The unique challenges of rural living, including limited service access, geographic isolation, and cultural stigma

Why peer-led initiatives and community-based roles are an untapped workforce strategy in regional areas

The need to upskill late-diagnosed individuals with lived experience to support others, addressing a major systemic gap for this cohort

Practical, low-cost ways to embed peer support into mental health and wellbeing systems

This reframe has the potential to connect neurodivergent people across rural Australia—validating lived experience, reducing shame, and opening up purpose-driven, flexible pathways into community connection and employment that supports our unique brain type.

When we create the conditions for neurodivergent people to connect, contribute, and lead, we don’t just reduce burnout—we build rural communities that are safer, smarter, and more inclusive by design.