Change of Mind

Sometimes reality hits you harder than you expect. And when it does, you realize just how much you've been protecting yourself from feeling the full weight of it. In this episode, I share something raw and unfiltered: the moment I got a rejection letter for my son's school placement. Why? Because he requires too much one-on-one care to be accepted. It was one of the first times someone told me, in...

In Part 2 of my nursing story, I share the operating theatre experience that sparked my love for neuroscience. Early in my career, I assisted in a deep brain stimulation procedure for a patient with Parkinson’s disease. Watching tremors stop in real time — and seeing a lifelong musician play his flute again — was a defining moment. But this episode goes deeper than surgery. I talk about: How deep...

Why do we choose the careers we choose? In this episode, I share the story of how I became a nurse... and the 15-minute moment that shifted my entire life path. At 16 years old, newly CPR certified and certain I didn’t belong in healthcare, I found myself at the scene of a serious motorcycle accident. What followed wasn’t dramatic heroics. It was something much quieter - holding a stranger’s hand...

Self-care gets talked about like it’s spa days, journaling, and perfect routines… but for a lot of us, it just feels like another thing we’re failing at. In this episode, Johanna (nurse and mum of three boys including one with additional needs) breaks down why “self-care” can feel triggering, guilt-inducing, and unrealistic in the season of life where you’re exhausted, overstimulated, and just try...

The debate around Autism Barbie has been loud, emotional, and deeply divided. But I think we’re missing something important. In this episode, I unpack why the backlash isn’t really about the doll — and why compassion has been in short supply on all sides of the conversation. As a nurse, a parent, and someone who works in brain science, I explore a less-discussed angle: that many autism parents are...

In this episode of Change of Mind, Johanna Kate unpacks the one quiet reason your nervous system won’t settle, even when you finally sit down: unfinished business. The Zeigarnik effect explains why half-done tasks linger in the mind, and dopamine explains why your brain keeps poking them like a sore tooth instead of letting you rest. By the end of this episode, you’ll understand why “just relax” i...

Silence gets mistaken for absence far too easily. And when that happens, people who don’t use speech end up carrying the cost — socially, emotionally, system-wide. In this episode of Change of Mind, Johanna Kate breaks down eight common mistakes adults make around non-speaking people, especially autistic people and those with complex communication needs. Not in a call-out way. More in a “we were t...

In the last installment of this six-part conversation, Temple Grandin and I continued to chat after the official part of the interview wrapped up. I wanted to share some of these candid moments because they show a side to her that I fell in love with - witty, caring, and brilliant as ever. Part 6 of a 6-part interview series with Temple Grandin. About the podcast Change of Mind is a long-form podc...

In Part 5 of this six-part conversation, Temple Grandin reflects on ageing, legacy, work, and the principle that has guided her life: assuming capacity. At 78, Temple is still teaching, mentoring, designing, and advocating. She shares why practical skills matter more than labels, why success looks different for every autistic person, and why parents and carers must sometimes risk disappointment to...

In Part 4 of this six-part conversation, Temple Grandin tackles the biggest questions—meaning, belief, morality—and one of the most controversial issues in autism today: facilitated communication and RPM. Temple shares her views on God, values, and what it means to live a good life, before turning to the ethics of assisted communication, independent typing, and authorship in non-speaking autistic...

Should stimming be limited, shaped, or simply understood better? In Part 3 of this six-part conversation, Temple Grandin shares her lived experience of stimming, sensory regulation, and learning how to function in a world that isn’t built for autistic nervous systems. She explains why control and context matter, how sensory sensitivities can change over time, and what helped her build impulse cont...

In Part 2 of this six-part conversation, Temple Grandin reflects on what it was like to see her own brain—and why that mattered. This episode explores sensory regulation, stimming, deep pressure, and how early experiences shaped Temple’s ability to learn, self-soothe, and build independence. We talk visual thinking, motor memory, skill-building, and her “hardware vs software” model of the brain, a...

In this first part of my conversation with Temple Grandin, we go right back to the beginning — her childhood, her early experiences of being misunderstood, and the moment that changed everything. This episode is about what happens when adults stop deciding what a child can’t do and start assuming capacity instead. Not competence. Capacity. There’s a difference, and it matters more than most system...

This episode is a hello... and a bit of context. I’m Johanna, a registered nurse with nearly 2 decades of experience across operating theatres and high-pressure healthcare environments. In this first episode of Change of Mind, I share who I am, why this podcast exists, and what we’ll be exploring together. In this episode, I talk about: Who I am and why I'm here Everything I love and know that I w...