“We don’t teach masking. We teach self‑understanding, advocacy, and authentic living.”
A small organisation with a clear purpose
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YBSA was created to offer something different: thoughtful, genuinely personalised support for autistic and neurodivergent people. Through our two specialist services, The Neurodiverse Clinic and Participant Choice Services, we work alongside individuals and families to provide support that is respectful, practical, and grounded in real life. As a small, purpose-led organisation, we prioritise relationships over volume. Every person we support is seen as an individual, not a referral or a diagnosis. We take the time to listen, understand context, and deliver supports that genuinely fit the person and their goals.
​Meet Leona Wicks
Clinic Director/Founder
Leo is a specialist-level NDIS behaviour support practitioner with a background in education, psychology, and postgraduate study in Autism and Neurodivergence. She is also autistic, bringing lived experience alongside advanced clinical training in a way that meaningfully shapes how she understands behaviour, support, and wellbeing. Her work is grounded in developmental science, neuroscience, and trauma-informed practice. Leo has a particular focus on how sensory processing, motor coordination, interoception, communication differences, and nervous system regulation influence behaviour and everyday functioning. She does not view behaviour as something to correct, but as meaningful information about a person’s needs, capacity, energy, and environment. Leo is known for her ability to see patterns others often miss and to translate complex research into practical, respectful support strategies that make sense in real life. Her approach is neuroaffirming and centred on safety, communication access, autonomy, and identity. She works alongside individuals and families to help them understand neurodivergent differences in ways that feel validating and empowering, rather than clinical or deficit-focused. Her professional interests include the brain, predictive processing, sensory and motor development, and how autistic learning styles shape communication, participation, and behaviour across the lifespan. Leo supports children, adolescents, and adults, and also mentors clinicians and support teams in how to deliver care that is ethical, gentle, and effective. Families often describe her as someone who finally explains their child in a way that makes sense.
Sir David and Leo Wicks
​Our approach
We understand autism as a developmental disability that shapes how a person thinks, communicates, senses, moves, and interacts with the world across their lifespan. An autism diagnosis reflects differences in social communication and interaction, as well as patterns such as strong interests, repetition, and distinct sensory experiences. These differences are not deficits, but natural expressions of a person’s neurotype. Recognising autism as a developmental disability allows us to accurately understand where an individual is developmentally, rather than measuring them against age-based or neurotypical expectations alone. This is critical for providing the right support at the right time. When developmental stage, capacity, and nervous system needs are understood, support can be tailored to help individuals build skills, strengthen regulation, and move toward the next stage of development in ways that feel achievable and respectful. Our work focuses on understanding how a person’s developmental profile shows up in daily life, including communication, motor coordination, sensory processing, interoception, and learning. Where support is wanted, we work collaboratively to reduce barriers, increase access, and support meaningful participation, without asking individuals to mask, suppress, or override who they are.
Support is centred on self-understanding, communication access, autonomy, and safety. The goal is not to change a person’s identity, but to increase quality of life by helping individuals and families understand what supports growth, connection, and participation on the person’s own terms.
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Collaboration matters
Effective support does not sit with one provider alone. We work closely with families, educators, schools, allied health professionals, and NDIS providers to ensure that understanding of a person’s developmental stage, strengths, and needs is shared across environments. This collaboration focuses on practical changes to expectations, environments, and supports so individuals are not placed in situations that exceed their developmental capacity. When teams understand and work from a shared developmental and neuroaffirming framework, stress reduces, learning becomes more accessible, and wellbeing improves. Our role is to help translate developmental understanding into usable strategies across home, education, and community contexts, so support is consistent, respectful, and sustainable over time.
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“Our practice uses evidence based approaches, including Functional Communication Training, Parent Mediated Supports, Peer Based learning and structured teaching.”