we are
Atype are changing the way people experience and express their emotions and feelings. We are doing this through helping people to develop their interoception, using neuroscience and research-based activities, in order to change lives through personal empowerment.
About Us
Intro
As a team, Atype comprises individuals passionate about helping people to reach their potential. We have qualifications, cultural heritages and lived experiences that allow a deeper understanding of the individual and their connections.
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Our Vision
Our vision is for everyone to be understood, accommodated, supported to achieve their potential, and appreciated for their diversity.
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Who we are
We are Maori/Kiwi, Tongan/Kiwi, Tongan, Samoan/Tongan and Kiwi, with a rich range of parenting, working and life experiences, including being autistic, parenting autistic children, teaching, life coaching, sports coaching, working in government and negotiating systems to support our families.
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Our Backstory
Duane/Michelle/ Emma – experience and motivation
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Our vision
We are working towards a future where New Zealand/Aotearoa is non violent and individuals, families and communities are able to live their lives in the ways that are authentic for them, whilst being able to express emotions through deep connections to self, others and the land.
He tirohanga mo ngā rā kei te heke mai kei te noho tutū a Aotearoa, a ka taea e ngā tāngata takitahi, ngā whānau me ngā hapori te noho i o rātau oranga i runga i ngā huarahi pono mo rātou, me te whakahaere i o rātau kare ā-roto nā roto i ngā hononga hōhonu ki a ia ano, ki ētahi atu me te whenua.
Ko ha vakai ki he kahaʻu ʻoku ʻikai ke fekeʻikeʻi mo fakafoʻituitui ai ʻa Nuʻu Sila/Aotearoa, ʻoku lava ke moʻui ʻa e ngaahi famili mo e tukui kolo ʻi he ngaahi founga ʻoku faitotonu kiate kinautolu, lolotonga ia ʻoku nau mapuleʻi ʻenau ngaahi ongo ʻo fakafou ʻi he ngaahi fehokotaki moʻoni kiate kita, niʻihi kehe mo e fonua.
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Who We Are
What we stand for.
AType aims to empower individuals, families, organisations and the wider community.
Opening doors to healthy connections to self and others through neuroscience and evidence-based interoception activities. Our workshops and programmes offer support to people to manage their emotions and behaviours, including those associated with misunderstood neurodiversity. Atype aims to help individuals, teachers, families, employers and employees and communities to see and embrace the full potential of individuals through minimising stressors and developing interoception skills to be able to manage emotions.
“Through evidence informed activities we can be empowered to be connected to ourselves and form healthy connections to others.”
Atype. Atypical thinking.
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Our Backstory
Michelle T, Duane and Emma have been friends for decades, and we were brought together by an amazing woman, Dr Jane Nugent, that cemented us together as whānau through shared values and a desire to make the world a better place.
For decades our whānau has grown together, sharing life’s ups and downs. We are now proudly working towards our shared vision of an Aotearoa filled with aroha. With the devastating loss of Dr Jane, which brought us even closer together to share our passion for changing lives and continue Dr Jane’s amazing legacy. Michelle S and Marty are related to Duane. For decades our two whānau have grown together and are now working together towards our shared vision. The loss of Dr Jane has brought us all together even closer and our work is dedicated to her memory and her belief in and support of Dr Emma Goodall.
Michelle T’s and Duane’s journey and passion for changing lives was sparked when our autistic daughter was born with complex medical needs with significant developmental challenges. To address these challenges, our initial gut instinct (like many parents) was simply to provide an environment of love and fun, but sadly that didn’t really provide what our daughter needed to thrive. Support from Emma (who is an autistic whānau member, with a PhD in autism and education and now a MScR in interoception) gave us real life understanding of our daughter, allowing us to adopt informed approaches resulting in a happier daughter who was more able to thrive.
This was the beginning of a dramatic change in our daughter’s life, with Emma’s guidance and insights proving invaluable in raising our daughter, where the medical and education systems at that time were often all too lacking in understanding, knowledge, insights and resulting in misunderstandings and poor outcomes for our daughter. Now, armed with a different view, we regularly meet people with similar challenges in their families who have been struggling to find experts to guide them.
Sharing Emma’s guidance, our own extensive lived experiences and current research on evidence-based best practice, we can help other families to use more effective strategies and supports. Our wider team of experts that we’ve gathered around our daughter, has built a firm knowledge base and the passion for change. This passion combined with our realisation there was a real shortage within Aotearoa, of genuine experts in this area, drove us to address this gap.
This is where Atype (so named for atypical thinking) established its roots and was born.
We are a team of caring and passionate individuals with a shared goal to lead the way in developing interoception within Māori and Moana (Pasefika) communities, in Aotearoa, based on neuroscience, qualifications and our collective lived experiences. We aim to improve lives through evidence-based activities that lead to personal empowerment, connection to self/wairua and others/tāngata katoa and land/whenua.
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Our Team
Click on each team member’s picture to learn more about them.
I’m an autistic parent of an adult autistic son, both of us have completely different strengths and support needs and are neurodivergent in additional ways. I am very lucky to be a part of Michelle and Duane’s whānau as well as part of Atype. Passionate about helping others to reach their potential, I research, write, publish and consult in the areas of autism, education, disability support, interoception and healthy relationships. A qualified and experienced pre-school, primary and high school teacher in both Aotearoa, Australia and Europe, including working as an RTLB and a Ministry of Education Special Education Advisor.
I currently work mainly in Australia as a senior industry research fellow at Griffith University, co-chair of the Australian Autism Alliance, owner and director of Healthy Possibilities Consultancy, a life coach and the National Manager of Content and Research for an Australian Autism Education project. I am widely published and an experienced keynote speaker.
I am Tongan/Pākeha and the parent of three awesome children including at least two on the autism spectrum, with my wife Michelle. The struggles experienced in the education and health sectors have driven me to share the resulting insights, especially those from Emma, and successes for my autistic children to be understood and propelled.
Emma’s guidance and insights have proved invaluable in raising our daughter in the context of medical and education systems that have all too often misunderstood or reacted poorly t oour daughter. I’m regularly meeting people with similar challenges in their families who struggle to find experts to guide them. There’s a real shortage of genuine experts in this area in Aotearoa, which drives us to address this gap. Through the guidance and support from Emma, our own extensive research, our lived experiences applying the techniques we’ve learnt, and by working with the wider team of experts we’ve gathered around our daughter, we’ve built a firm knowledge base.
I aim to support both my whānau and the people I work with to be the best they can be. I am bringing this mindset to Atype, working with genuine connections and deep insights. I have had a career spanning people leadership, regulation and compliance, employment relations, and tax. I graduated from the University of Otago with an LLB and a BCom majoring in information science and is an enrolled barrister and solicitor, now working as a Team Leader in a crown agency.
My husband Duane and I are parents to our three unique and awesome kids. I have both an LLB and BCom from Otago University, but I can put my hand on my heart and say I haven’t worked as hard in my life as I have to understand my youngest daughter as a very unique neurodivergent individual. In our home and within my culture, she is as valued as anyone else in the whānau. Like us all, she has hopes and dreams and with the right support and tools she will be able to accomplish what she wants. Like all of us, she has strengths and weaknesses; when it comes to weaknesses, we either go around or we build bridges and go over them. My aim for the future is for her to be in charge of her life, for her to reach her full potential and for others to see that potential and not limit her, to be a valued individual within society.
[BoT experience, Kindy, Iwi]
Just like a lot of Māori and Pacific peoples, I see myself as needing to be selfless; a tool to support and provide for my family and the wider community, often to the point of exhaustion, sleep deprivation and financial stress. This means I don’t take notice of my body’s messages regarding my health, emotions and even connections to our families and friends, until my body, mind, or unwanted behaviours, forces me to stop and take notice and demand change. Working with Emma on improving my and the whole family’s understanding of and skills in interoception has made such a difference that we decided to take this to the wider community.
Dr R. Michelle Schaaf (Samoan, Tongan) is a Senior Lecturer in Te Tumu School of Māori, Pacific & Indigenous Studies, University of Otago. In 2011 she became the first Te Tumu staff member to graduate with an Otago doctorate in Pacific studies, with her thesis, “Pacific participation in Aotearoa/Niu Sila Netball: Body image, family, church, culture, education and physical education.” Michelle has worked for 20 years at the university. She was formerly the coordinator of Te Tumu’s Pacific Islands Studies programme, and is currently coordinator of Te Tumu’s Master of Indigenous Studies Programme and the Associate Dean (Pacific) for the Division of Humanities.
[Governance, community service, other achievements]
Dr Matani Schaaf, was born in Tongatapu. He attended Haveluloto Primary, Fanga ‘o Pilolevu Primary, Atele Si’i Primary and Tonga High School until 4th Form. His family migrated to New Zealand where he attended a number of secondary schools that recruited him for his sporting abilities. On the completion of Form 7 he completed a Trades qualification in Mechanical Engineering at Auckland University of Technology. After a short stint at the University at Waikato he returned to Auckland where he attended MIT and completed a NZCE in Mechanical Engineering. A rugby injury abruptly ended his career as a Fitter and Turner. He was forced to re-train and relocated to Dunedin where he completed a PhD thesis titled “Motivation and Burnout in Professional Pasifiki Rugby players.” University of Otago, 2016, Master of Teaching and Learning (Secondary Teaching) College of Education, University of Otago (2017) and BA(Hons) Māori Studies University of Otago (2003).
Matani is a teaching professional with over 20 years’ experience in the education sector over different levels, from being a tutor and lecturing at university, teaching at High School, teaching adult night classes, and teaching primary children with disabilities. He has taught in a variety and diverse range of settings. His next challenge is finding an opportunity that allows him to expand on his teaching experiences and continue to build and manage effective positive relationships in the education community.
[Governance, sport, community]
Both physical and mental health, as well as family health and relationships, all suffer when we don’t maximise our interoception and learn to listen to and respond to our bodies. Nga mihi
Michelle Te Hiko
Our Reflections
Michelle’s open testimonial to interoception
Our child’s traumatic birth and health issues have taught us the importance of having good interoception, not only for neurodiverse individuals, such as her, but also neurotypical thinkers, such as myself, who might consider that they have awesome interoceptive ability. My journey has shown me that I can help individuals, families, professionals and service providers to not waste years of research and heartache. I will do this by sharing; my and my whānau’s journey to date, our effective practical strategies, life hacks, tips, what we have researched, learnt, combining our knowledge and skills, with others in the Atype team and their expertise.
At Atype, we go on a journey with you, teaching you what interoception is, and what it might look like to you. Improving interoception by doing simple activities, with the aim to become mindful, while you become more positively connected with yourself and those around you. Encouraging you not to ignore the messages your body and emotions are telling you and finally developing personalised tools and strategies and having them at your fingertips for everyday use. Strategies that you have identified with the guidance and support from us at Atype, that work for you. The Atype interoception programme is based on a highly successful evidence-based programme designed and run by Dr Emma Goodall. This has been based on her research and then further optimised based on evidence from its extensive implementation. Our programmes are reviewed and supervised by Dr Emma Goodall.
Reflecting on my journey, I have come to realise:
We all use interoception, but don’t always understand what we are doing and why we are doing it. When we do consciously, it is so much more powerful and beneficial. Interoception only works if we choose to listen to the messages our body sends us and then do something about it, before our emotions or our health react negatively.
A lot of parents/caregivers, tell themselves overworking to exhaustion is necessary, “I am so selfish to think I have needs, everyone else in the family comes first” “I don’t have time for myself, my family needs me”, “I will rest when I am dead”, “My mother/father worked so hard for me, they died too early in their 40’s/50’s. To honour them I have to overwork myself too but hopefully I don’t die early, I will look after myself better than them” or worse “Do as I say and not what I do”.
In my experience, poor health can be because you ignore the negative/changing signs of your body and/or emotions and use excuses why you should ignore what your interoception is telling you. “I can’t afford to go to the GP to check on my health”, “My heart flutters are just from my nerves.” Both physical and mental health, as well as family health and relationships, all suffer when we don’t maximise our interoception and learn to listen to and respond to our bodies.
Dr Michelle Schaafs’ reflection
My journey as an advocate is a familial one. When I was eight years old, I became an advocate when a teacher chastised me for always helping my youngest brother to tie his shoes, make his lunch, pack his school bag, get him dressed and help him with his homework. On his first day of school, my brother ran away from school when he was forced to tie his shoelaces by himself. Unable to do so, he ran home and hid under this bed. My mother was outraged by this teacher’s lack of empathy.
From that day on, I became my brother’s keeper and champion during his schooling years. I reflect on our growing up during the 70s to 90s, it was difficult to know when someone is on the spectrum because there was little awareness of autism and other spectrum disorders.
Siblings of individuals with autism, like myself, have a bond that can be complex, changing and evolving over time. But perhaps one of my greatest joys as a sister was watching my brother become the best father to his sons. Being my brother‘s sister has made me a very compassionate and understanding person. I always listen to others and try to understand where they are coming from, because I know that everyone has a backstory.
From the moment my niece came to live with us, my husband and I became autism advocates. A forced engagement with the health and education system resulted in a late diagnosis, of only 40% hearing in one ear, which led to delayed speech development and muffled speech when she talked. We noted that her voice did not vary in tone or volume. She was obsessed with drawing hula girls. She felt anxious about going to new places or being in social situations with a lot of people. She excelled at school because she was streamed into a class with other neurodiverse students. Today she is a reliable caregiver of her nieces.
In 2016, I was gifted the privilege of ‘Nan’ with the birth of my first grandson. For three years, we lived in the same town. We witnessed his growth from a new-born to toddler. He loved learning songs and scripts by heart, enjoyed reciting, singing, and dancing along with videos. He also thrived on structure and routine (bedtimes, food, sleeping arrangements, toileting). I witnessed my grandson’s preferences for order and structure in whatever he does. The key is to ensure this order and structure is maintained, as mess and/or variation will cause heart ache. I am passionate about the direction Atype moving and the awaking new insights across the spectrum will bring.
Dr Michelle Schaafs’ reflection
My journey as an advocate is a familial one. When I was eight years old, I became an advocate when a teacher chastised me for always helping my youngest brother to tie his shoes, make his lunch, pack his school bag, get him dressed and help him with his homework. On his first day of school, my brother ran away from school when he was forced to tie his shoelaces by himself. Unable to do so, he ran home and hid under this bed. My mother was outraged by this teacher’s lack of empathy.
From that day on, I became my brother’s keeper and champion during his schooling years. I reflect on our growing up during the 70s to 90s, it was difficult to know when someone is on the spectrum because there was little awareness of autism and other spectrum disorders.
Siblings of individuals with autism, like myself, have a bond that can be complex, changing and evolving over time. But perhaps one of my greatest joys as a sister was watching my brother become the best father to his sons. Being my brother‘s sister has made me a very compassionate and understanding person. I always listen to others and try to understand where they are coming from, because I know that everyone has a backstory.
From the moment my niece came to live with us, my husband and I became autism advocates. A forced engagement with the health and education system resulted in a late diagnosis, of only 40% hearing in one ear, which led to delayed speech development and muffled speech when she talked. We noted that her voice did not vary in tone or volume. She was obsessed with drawing hula girls. She felt anxious about going to new places or being in social situations with a lot of people. She excelled at school because she was streamed into a class with other neurodiverse students. Today she is a reliable caregiver of her nieces.
In 2016, I was gifted the privilege of ‘Nan’ with the birth of my first grandson. For three years, we lived in the same town. We witnessed his growth from a new-born to toddler. He loved learning songs and scripts by heart, enjoyed reciting, singing, and dancing along with videos. He also thrived on structure and routine (bedtimes, food, sleeping arrangements, toileting). I witnessed my grandson’s preferences for order and structure in whatever he does. The key is to ensure this order and structure is maintained, as mess and/or variation will cause heart ache. I am passionate about the direction Atype moving and the awaking new insights across the spectrum will bring.
