Extraordinary Parents. Incredible Children. EPIC Families. Experience the playbook for raising the unique minds who will change the world. Bay Paediatrics brings you New Zealand's largest event for neurodiverse families — and this year, we're more EPIC than ever. Beyond awareness. Beyond survival. Beyond just getting through the day.
On stage:
Sonia Gray: TVNZ host, actress & host of the award-winning No Such Thing As Normal podcast. Diagnosed with ADHD, raising a daughter under the neurodivergent umbrella.
Freddie Bennett: Guinness World Record holder, adventurer & Managing Director of Bay Paediatrics. On a mission to help families find their ADHD advantage.
Elen Nathan: One of New Zealand's leading OTs and certified Sensory Integration Practitioners,
specialising in neurodivergence and sensory processing.
Spencer McNeil: 'Barber Spence'. Award-winning business owner and mental health advocate for young people.
Sarah Gillum: Expert entrepreneur and mum of a neurodiverse household showing you how to combine neurodiverse parenting with fulfilling your own goals and dreams.
Lisa Cowan: Neurodivergent parent and leading voice on navigating diagnosis, support systems, and everyday neurospicy family life.
The Bay Paediatrics Expert Panel: NZ's finest developmental paediatricians and child psychiatrists, live on stage answering your questions.
…joined by 500 parents, educators and professionals just like you.
Your child doesn't fit the mould? GOOD.
You've felt it. That quiet (or not so quiet) sense that your child doesn't fit the mould. That the systems
weren't built for them. That the advice you're given doesn't quite land. You've sat in meetings where no one really gets it. You've tried strategies that work for everyone else — but not your child. You've
questioned yourself more times than you can count.
And underneath all of it, you know your child is capable of something extraordinary.
They're not broken. They're not behind. They're a Gamechanger: wired differently in a world that's only just starting to catch up.
EPIC Families LIVE is not a conference. It's not a lecture series. It's not another place where you feel judged, overwhelmed, or behind. It's where science meets real life. Where expertise meets lived experience. Where families finally feel seen…and leave with a new way forward.
Across the day you'll gain real, practical tools to help with: emotional regulation and meltdowns, anxiety (for your child and for you), school advocacy, focus and executive functioning, sleep, sensory needs, confidence, and parenting when you're also neurodivergent.
No jargon. No judgement. Just strategies you can use starting that evening.
More than that: you'll be in a room where you don't have to explain your child. Where you don't feel judged for your parenting. Where your questions are valid. Where your family belongs. Expect powerful talks, honest conversations, expert panels, and moments that will genuinely shift how you see your child — and yourself.
This is your shift: From confusion to clarity.
From survival to direction.
From isolation to community.
From doubt to confidence.
Too many families are exhausted. Too many children are misunderstood. Too many parents are carrying this alone. Your child deserves to be seen for who they really are: not labelled, not limited, not left behind. And you deserve the tools, the support, and the community to raise them with confidence.
This is more than an event. This is where you stop second-guessing and start raising your Gamechanger with intention.
Over 450 families came last year. This year will sell out again.
Children are welcome. Our Kid’s Zone — staffed by qualified, police-vetted teachers, with activities, quiet spaces, and Wifi — runs right next door to the main theatre. Your children’s ticket means they also get access to the Kid’s Zone. Further Kid’s Zone information & logistics will be shared once you have purchased your tickets.
Come and find your people. Come and feel understood. Come and raise your Gamechanger.