ARE YOU A NEURODIVERSITY-AFFIRMING CLINICIAN?
Seeking engaging social emotional learning concepts, visuals and session guides, to support your work with young people, while continuing to deepen your understanding of neurodiversity-affirming care?
Developed through co-design, research and lived experience, Social Stencil supports clinicians in their individual work and small-group programs.
Crossing disciplines for a shared goal
Social Stencil was developed by Psychologist, Dr Connie Buckingham (PhD), over more than 16 years, integrating both clinical practice and research. A lesser-known part of the story is that while Connie was undertaking her 10-year PhD evaluating Social Stencil in schools, she was also developing and trialling the program alongside her multidisciplinary allied health team at The Allied Health Studio Collective (formerly, The Social Learning Studio).
Working closely with Occupational Therapists, Speech Pathologists, Social Workers, Psychologists, and Therapy Assistants gave Connie the opportunity to better understand the intersections across these disciplines, and consider how Social Stencil could help create shared understanding and collaboration across clinics, schools, and home environments.
Today, Social Stencil supports clinicians across Australia working with neurodivergent young people through creative, inclusive, and neurodiversity-affirming approaches to social and emotional learning.
All Social Stencil programs are designed to be delivered to young people in small groups, whole classes or individually.
When Social Stencil is delivered by clinicians (small groups or 1:1), we support you to individualise the program to suit your clients individual needs. As a clinician, you do not need to deliver our programs in the order presented. We support you to individualise the sequence or selection of concepts based on client voice, client goals and agency.
The Free Resource Share portal is a collection of free resources designed to help everyone learn more about the Social Stencil approach. You’ll find sample concepts, and discover practical strategies for clinicians, families and educators a like.
Junior Social Stencil is for 5 - 8 year olds and older children with intellectual disability. It addresses foundation social and emotional developmental needs. Themes include belonging, appreciating difference, interoception, emotions and strategies to help.
Social Stencil is for young people aged 8+, designed to help build awareness of themselves and others. Young people learn listening styles, emotions, friendship concepts, why conflict happens, and strategies to support conflict management.
When you acquire the Social Stencil Portal (to the left here) you also now gain access to the 1:1 supplement to support you when sharing Social Stencil concepts during individual sessions with young people.
Dr Connie Buckingham PhD
Psychologist | Program Author | Researcher | Sessional Lecturer | Speaker
Social Stencil is created by Dr Connie Buckingham (PhD), a psychologist driven to develop effective and engaging ways for young people to learn about emotions, relationships, acceptance of self, and strategies to navigate life’s challenges. As a child survivor of domestic violence, this work is deeply personal.
While undertaking her PhD research in Social Stencil, Connie founded and directed a multidisciplinary allied health practice across Victoria from 2009–2025, first known as The Social Learning Studio, and later The Allied Health Studio Collective to reflect its neurodiversity-affirming evolution.
At The Allied Health Studio Collective, Connie continually refine the Social Stencil program, collaborating with colleagues to understand the intersections across psychology, occupational therapy, speech pathology, social work and education. What resulted is a shared framework to support collaborative practice.
In 2021, Connie invited Australian neurodiversity-affirming advocates to critically review Social Stencil, leading to a significant redesign and the neurodiversity-affirming program it is today.
Connie continues to develop Social Stencil, creating practical tools evaluated by continued academic research in her roles as a Research Supervisor and Sessional Lecturer at the University of Melbourne. In 2025, she was awarded the University of Melbourne Arts Alumni Giving Award for bringing neurodiversity-affirming learning to the Master of Educational and Developmental Psychology and Clinical Psychology programs.
