Viv Dawes is an autistic and ADHD lived experience advocate, trainer and author. She has over 25 year’s experience of working with vulnerable people, who were mostly neurodivergent, including as a Snr Practitioner in the NHS, managing teams of forensic drug workers. She also started and ran a community based addiction recovery programme.

Viv trained in CBT, Motivational Interviewing, Solution Focussed Therapy and Relapse Prevention Therapy. She has many years’ experience of running training courses, workshops and webinars.

Viv has provided training for numerous organisations, has been a keynote speaker and will be speaking at the Autism Show in London this June 2024. Viv has also been nominated for the National Diversity Awards for her work around helping people understand autistic burnout.

Helen is a late identified autistic person, parent to two neurodivergent children, former teacher (SEND Early Years / Primary settings), currently working with Thriving Autistic and Beacon NeuroConnect. Helen loves reading and writing about all things related to autism/ /mental health and education. Helen is a guest blog writer for The PDA Space, Neurodiverse Connections, Thinking Person's Guide to Autism and her resources have been shared widely across many charities, organisations, NHS and local authorities.

Tori Rist, founder and CEO of Koala, supports adults and young people who have suffered Autistic Burnout through offering a safe and nurturing community hub, and education opportunities. Peer support groups (in person and online), training, distance learning and tutoring are just some of the services that Koala offer. Tori is also blogs on the facebook page An Unexpected Journey, about being a CEO, autistic parent and advocate.

Hi I’m Carrie,

I am a level 6 qualified psychotherapist and I also proudly identify as a neurodivergent individual, with personal experience navigating life with ADHD, I am also beginning to question whether I may also be Autistic.

Embracing my neurodivergent identity has been a journey filled with highs and lows. As such, I have lived experience and a unique understanding of the nuances of neurodivergence and hope to support others on their own unique journeys.

In my practice, I strive to create a welcoming and affirming space where neurodivergent individuals can explore their identities, strengths, and challenges with dignity and respect. My approach centres around promoting self-acceptance, resilience, and empowerment, so my clients can embrace who they are and thrive in a world that often fails to understand them.

One area close to my heart is  Autistic burnout. It is my aim to help people to understand what Autistic burnout is, how it presents for themselves and those that they support and to raise awareness of this within the field of psychotherapy and broader society.

Laura is an AuDHD (Autistic, ADHD) Nurse, Public Health Nurse & Sleep Consultant who has been rambling about Yorkshire for about 10 years. Laura loves learning and educating on topics that look at where neurotypes and health intersect. In particular, Laura enjoys exploring the areas of self-care such as sleep, hygiene, and food and eating. They also work in the areas of burnout, puberty and understanding distress behaviours. Laura is one of the Co-Founders and Associate Editors of the online magazine Autistic Revolution. They also co-published the booklet ‘Creating Safe Spaces for Autistic People’ with Scott Neilson.

Laura is dedicated to creating opportunities for community members to come together in friendship, leisure and learning and does this through creating and supporting inclusive activities both online and in person.

To connect with Laura, they can be found at Neurodivergent Nurse Consulting or on social media at their Facebook, LinkedIn or Instagram.

Linda Tuxford-Adams is an AuDHD integrative counsellor and educator. Her Australian-based practice, Neurokindred, provides online counselling and peer support for late-identified Autistic adults. She specialises in self-discovery post-identification, trauma and supporting clients in Autistic burnout. Her work is deeply personal; as an Autistic individual and parent to Autistic children, she embodies the lived experience and challenges of the Autistic community she serves.

Linda holds Bachelor’s degrees in Psychology and Education and is currently advancing her knowledge through Masters studies in Counselling & Psychotherapy and Autism. She is a Certified Practicing Counsellor with the Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia (PACFA). Her academic contributions include research on emotional exhaustion in teachers and publications on Autistic experiences with Reframing Autism, as well as insightful pieces on Neurokindred.

I am Sarah I have worked with neurodivergent individuals for over 20 years. Mostly children and adolescents but also supporting adults through burnout in a mental health setting.

I am currently working in private practice on our neurodivergent pathway and also  support parents and carers with their neurodivergent loved ones.

I’m a trauma-informed neurodivergent somatic (body-centred) coach and I help people feel more connected to themselves to understand who they really are, explore their neurodivergence, recover from burnout, and feel less stressed and overwhelmed. So that you can live more in alignment with that, boost your wellbeing and feel better, in small and realistic ways that really work for you as a unique individual. My approach is bottom-up, building mind-body connection through nervous system regulation and somatic practices. I offer 1:1 coaching (online and in-person in Basingstoke, Hampshire) and group coaching.

As a late diagnosed autistic ADHDer and parent to neurodivergent children (including a PDAer in total burnout), I am passionate about working with adults who are neurodivergent or exploring whether they could be, and parents looking to understand their neurodivergent child’s needs or how to support them whilst also taking care of themselves. I am dedicated to holding safe and inclusive space for those I work with.

Dr Joanne Riordan is a neurodivergent Educational and Child Psychologist, specialising in supporting families and schools to create neurodiversity-affirming environments. This is achieved through Educational Psychology assessments, contributing to Psychological Advice for Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs - statutory support in the UK), and CPD and training events for schools, other professionals, and families. Joanne became interested in autistic burn out, when this was experienced by her own child when they were just 6 years old. She now offers advice to adults supporting young people that have experienced autistic and neurodivergent burn out, as well as raising awareness professionally about burn out. Joanne is also a guest lecturer at Royal Holloway, University of London, mentor at The University of Cambridge, and an Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society. She was nominated in the 2022 and 2023 National Diversity Awards.

Rowena is a late identified autistic psychotherapist and supervisor. 

She works with children, young people and their grown ups in both independent work at Fledge Psychotherapy, and as a senior therapist at The Bridge Foundation charity.

Rowena also works as the lead for the Autism assessment team at The Bridge and co-facilitates a parent group there. She has also worked as a peer supporter for Autistic Parents UK. 

She has written for various publications, the latest being an article for Stimpunks..but is not so good at writing bios