Bonus: Meet Kate Morris and our New Podcast

G', day, everyone.

Dave here.

This is a different sort of episode.

It's an interview with the wonderful Kate Morris, who I'm starting a brand new podcast with.

As I may have mentioned before, I'm in my mid-40s and in the last few years I've been diagnosed with Both autism and ADHD, just 2 of the things that fall under the broad category of neurodivergence.

It's been a significant journey in understanding myself and the way that God's made me.

The reason I started asking the questions, though, was because of my children.

Some of my kids had received a diagnosis and as parents, we had to work hard to understand them and care for them, to understand how they experience the world, which is so different to how many other people experience it.

Along the way, there have been heaps of challenges, not least of which has been how to think about this Christianly.

What does God have to say about how we love our neurodivergent kids?

You can imagine how excited I was then to meet someone who has not only done the hard work of exploring the best research on neurodivergence, considering how it practically applies to everyday life for families, and also who sought to understand that in the light of what God said in the Bible, that person is Kate Morris.

Kate's written lots of wonderful practical biblical articles for parents of neurodivergent kids.

You can find them on her substack page, which is called An Extraordinary Normal.

I'll put that link in the show notes.

As I looked at all the work she'd done though, I said to her, this needs to be a podcast.

So we put our heads together and.

And I'm excited to say that the podcast is launching on the 3rd of September 2025.

It's called Neurodivergence Family and Faith.

Before it launches though, I thought I'd introduce you to this wonderful lady.

So we're going to have the interview and then afterwards I'll also play the trailer for our new show.

And so for your enjoyment, here is the interview with Kate Morris.

G', day everyone.

I am so excited to introduce you to Kate Morris.

Kate, thank you so much for coming on our show and being interviewed.

Welcome along.

Pleasure.

I listened to your show so it's lovely to come on the other side of it now.

Kate, I'm also excited because we are going to be starting a brand new podcast together, neurodivergence Family and Faith.

And I wanted to introduce people to you so they can get to know you.

Tell me, how did you become interested in Neurodivergence as a topic?

Yeah, sure.

So neurodivergence encompasses a lot of things.

It can be talking about autism, adhd, dyslexia, all sorts of things.

It just means a brain difference.

So I became interested in it back when I was studying education back at uni, I particularly focused on gifted education, but also changing curriculum for all sorts of different needs.

But then it wasn't until I had my own children and I noticed that they had their own particular needs that I started to understand it for us personally, not in a teacher way, but in a mum way.

And as we came to know our children and came to understand that two of our three children are neurodivergent, I decided to spend some time researching.

So I did a research fellowship and now I'm doing some study at university, specifically focusing in on neurodivergence.

And the reason I wanted to do that is because it's so important to come to understand different ways of operating, different things we can do in order to support people around us or people in our family in order to thrive in this world in a way that brings glory to God in a way that makes life a bit more comfortable, that sort of thing.

Yeah, fantastic.

So a lot of parents will find out something new about their children and they say, okay, I need to find out more about that.

They'll do the Google research, they'll ask friends and family and that sort of thing.

You like, took that to a whole nother level, didn't you?

So when you say you did a research fellowship, what did that involve?

Well, it's the sort of thing where you can create a project for yourself and put that forward.

And if you're successful in winning the support, then you have that position.

And my project was to be able to speak to families with neurodivergent members, to neurodivergent adults, to neurodivergent children, all who are Christian, in order to get to know what the experience can be like, not just for my family, but for lots of families, for lots of people to be neurodivergent, what needs there might be, what strengths they have, ways that we can adapt things.

And so it was just wonderful to spend that time with so many families, so many people, and just everyone's experience is so different.

So I think I could have poured years and years into that, actually.

Yeah, fantastic.

But, so the research is great.

But you particularly, you mentioned there, you're talking to Christian people and you've looked at this from a Christian perspective.

Why have you chosen to do it in that particular way or from that angle?

Yeah.

Well, when we first started to understand about our own kids, I asked families I knew who had neurodivergent kids.

Could you send me all the resources you've got from a Christian point of view, so that I can be thinking about parenting as a Christian mum of neurodivergent kids specifically?

And there was a lot of secular stuff out there, but not a whole lot of Christian stuff.

But it's really important that we think about all aspects of our lives from a Christian point of view.

And so that's why I wanted to dedicate time into contributing to the Christian understanding of neurodivergence and life and to take the opportunity to work out what practical things we can be doing as Christian parents or as Christian people operating in this world, whether we're supporting someone who's neurodivergent, whether my readers are neurodivergent, whatever sort of point of view they're coming from.

That's so important, isn't it?

I've heard a lot about neurodivergence from a teaching perspective, so working in schools and that sort of thing, as we've explored things, first through thinking about neurodivergence in our children, but then also discovering it a bit about myself, I've had to find out things, but I was so excited.

We got to be on a podcast together, which is where we've.

Where we first met, but we were both guests on the podcast.

And I was so excited to hear how you were bringing the Bible to bear on this aspect of life that affects.

If someone is neurodivergent, it's their whole life.

And so making sure that God is at the center of that, so valuable and so important.

Can you tell us how.

How did you first become a Christian?

When did you first start exploring that?

Well, I had the joy of having Christian parents who raised me to know Jesus, and they did an excellent job of modeling the Christian life to us, modeling dependence on God.

They shared their Christian walk.

So the things they did right, the things they did wrong, like they were very open about depending on God through the good times, the hard times, turning to God in repentance.

And so they.

I'm so thankful to both of them for that.

And so my understanding grew over time.

Christian parenting is so important, isn't it?

And then when I left home, I came to understand that kind of a bit more for myself.

I wasn't operating in a Christian family in the same way.

I was off as a university student on my own and so working out what that looks like and.

Yeah, haven't.

Haven't turned back.

Fantastic.

I mean, I hope my kids are able to say that they've always known Jesus and they've always seen that in their family and they've grabbed hold of that themselves.

So it's so exciting to hear it from someone who's been through that experience.

But of course, it always is.

It's an ongoing growth, isn't it?

So, I mean, you obviously, you went and studied education, you explored that, but then you had a radical change in career.

I guess in some ways it did.

Yeah.

Tell us what you did.

What was that change?

Sure.

So right through university, actually right throughout my life, I was praying for missionaries overseas, and particularly for a few families who were in France working with university students there.

So right from a very young age, it was on my heart that the gospel needs to go out.

Not just around Australia, where we live here, but beyond into different cultures, and that the gospel is for everyone.

There's absolutely no one we're going to meet in this world who doesn't need the gospel, and that includes me.

And so praying for these groups overseas meant that I fell in love with the idea of being able to, you know, God willing, be someone who could take the gospel overseas.

So studying teaching was one of the things that actually would serve to get overseas if I wanted to go over with that platform.

And so after studying, did.

Worked for a little bit, and then I did some ministry apprenticeship for a couple of years, studied at a theological theological college for a year, and then we headed overseas to France with a mission organization, and we joined a French group there who are reaching out to French people.

And it was just such a privilege to work alongside brothers and sisters who are French who we had never met, but it's the same gospel.

And so it was a huge joy to be there.

And we returned to Australia after being there for about nine years.

Yeah, that's so good.

I mean, so good to hear that there are Christians in France who are brothers and sisters, who, you know, we're gonna stand together with on the last day, but also that, you know, you'll be able to.

You were able to travel over there and share your experience and care and that sort of thing.

We're also.

We're really glad that you're back, though, because it means you came back, you were able to do your research, and now you're contributing so much to this really, really important topic.

So we're going to be launching this podcast very soon.

Tell me, what are we aiming to do in the podcast, what are some key things?

Yeah.

So we want to get alongside families and be working with them for some, I think just some shared experience for one thing, but also some really practical tips, practical ideas, realistic insight.

So we're basing this on your experience and my experience, Dave, but also the families I've interviewed over this research time, the people I've interviewed, we're looking at some in depth, up to date research papers as well.

We don't just make grand assumptions.

This podcast is about actually grounding things in research, in understanding.

But even more than those things, we're going to be standing firmly on the Bible and looking there to see what God says about what family is.

And it's really interesting because it's very clear how to raise your children, how to operate in a loving Christian home.

But sometimes we can forget that we have kind of cultural assumptions in our family where we think dinner time has to look this way.

And so if our children's needs are outside of that, maybe we're not being Christian, that sort of thing.

But how wonderful.

And it can get even more spiritual, can't it?

So we think Bible time has to look like this.

We think prayer time has to look like this as a family.

And you don't just want to throw these things out the window.

But at the same time, when it's quite complicated for some people and for some neurodivergent people, they will find complications around those things or for people with other needs, it's not just neurodivergent people who might have needs that mean that we can't meet this.

What a privilege and joy to turn back to the Bible and say, well, what are we trying to do?

What are our goals?

What does love look like?

What does family look like?

What does teaching our children look like?

See the freedoms and flexibilities that God has given us.

See how we can work with the people God has given us in our family and work out ways to be lovingly supporting each other.

And so that's what our podcast will be doing.

Great.

But if people want to think more about this and they want to go even deeper, they don't even need to wait for the podcast, do they?

Because you have been producing some really great resources, some really great writing.

Can you tell us about that?

Oh, yeah.

Thanks, Dave.

So I write online on a platform called Substack.

So if you'd like to read my writing, you can go to an extraordinarynormal.substack.com that'll be in the show notes to click on that link and that'll take you through to.

I've got over 30 articles there that do the same thing.

Diving into research, hearing from lots of different people, working out practical tips, and most of all, working to read the Bible to gain hope, understanding, comfort from there as we work to bring glory to God in our lives.

Yeah, so good everyone.

I thoroughly recommend Kate's work.

She has done some really helpful thinking in this area and helping us to think about it from a Christian perspective in a fresh way.

And so if that's something you're thinking about, something you want to explore more, please check out her substack sign up or get ready for our podcast as well.

That's going to be coming soon.

It should be.

There'll be a trailer release soon.

You'll be able to find it on your listening app.

But for now, Kate, thank you so much for joining us for this quick bonus and look forward to talking again soon.

Thank you.

Bye.

Hi, I'm Dave Whittingham.

And I'm Kate Morris.

And we're so excited to tell you about our new podcast, Neurodivergence Family and Faith.

God's made neurodivergent children and loves them heaps.

And as parents, we love our kids.

As well because we love them.

We want to find the tools to care for them really well.

So Kate, what are we going to be doing?

Well, Dave, we're going to be getting super practical thinking through how to help neurodivergent children and their families thrive, how to manage energy levels, how to support children with sensory differences.

What do you do when church is really hard for members of your family, that sort of thing.

This is such an important area for both of us.

I'm neurodivergent myself.

I'm a dad of neurodivergent kids.

I've done theological studies and I've worked in ministry and school teaching.

Yeah.

And my husband and I also have neurodivergent kids and I've got training in education and biblical studies and further study in neurodivergence.

So as we get practical, we're going to be guided by the best up to date research and a deep commitment to the Bible.

No one knows us, our children and this world better than the one true God.

And so we're going to be listening to him for comfort, for joy, guidance and wisdom.

So make sure you find us on your listening app, hit follow and we'll be launching on Wednesday 3rd September.

We can't wait to talk with you on neurodivergence, family and faith.