News, events and press

18 August 2021

I’m participating in an Ask Me Anything for Training for Influence. It’s on professional boundaries, which I haven’t talked about before, so I’m quite excited! The event is on Facebook and you can join the group here to participate. It’s at 7pm.

17 July 2021

I was quoted extensively in this article in the Metro about the disability employment gap, along with a number of other people. thanks to journalist Hannah Shewan Stevens for featuring me!

9 July 2021

I’ve was invited to present my new talk on autism and women at the 3rd Autism and Systemic Practice Conference. My talk is called “Autism in women: Under-diagnosed, under-served and under-represented”. This conference was focused on intersectionality and Professor Gail Simon brought together an amazing cohort of speakers. I got some great feedback, including someone calling it the “best show ever!”

17 June 2021

I was featured in this article How Do Proposed Changes To Remote Working Affect Workers? by Hannah Shewan Stevens. It was published by Each Other which is an independent journalism site.

14 June 2021

I spoke at a 5-day ADHD conference for women (all women) the #IAmADHD Conversation. My talk was called: LadyHD – ADHD in women and girls. Sign up for the ADHD conference here if you want to watch the recording.

20 May 2021

I delivered a talk and participated in a panel discussion for BBC Access All Areas, as part of Global Accessibility Awareness Day. I loved doing this – the BBC put together an amazing event and I learnt a lot from my fellow panellists (when I wasn’t singing Oasis songs!). Watch the whole thing (talks and panel) here.

19 May 2021

This was the night for the Roses Awards – and I WON! I got the Bronze Award for Best Poster. To say I’m chuffed is a massive understatement. Thanks so much to Mark and Pete from Caslon & Co (who designed it), Pete Swain, the illustrator, and Joe Coleman who worked with me on the whole shebang. Have a look at the poster here.

5 May 2021

I participated in a Future of Work panel discussion for Diversity Network. This was one of my favourite panels, the other panellists had some really good insights. Watch the replay of the Future of Work discussion here.

28 April 2021

I was nominated for 2 Roses Awards, which are super-prestigious awards in design and advertising. To say I’m thrilled would be an understatement! The awards are for my autism booklet and poster. You can see my nominations, along with all the others, here.

21 April 2021

I was the keynote speaker at Inclusion Summit: Accessibility Forum. I delivered an inclusive, accessible and slide-free talk on neurodiversity at work. You can register here and watch the recording if you missed it.

20 April 2021

I was quoted in this Telegraph article: ‘Autistic women like me are still being failed, stigmatised and misunderstood’ by Lucinda Herbert. “I would argue that the reasonable adjustments required by law actually come second to people’s attitudes. An inclusive workplace needs to be accepting of differences and to enable everyone to work to their strengths.”

14 April 2021

I was quoted extensively in this article on neurodiversity and tech, for IDG Connect (you’ll have to register to read it): Neurodiversity and tech: a win-win equation.

8 April 2021

I was on a panel for Give a Grad a Go. The webinar was to help students and recent graduates with advice on how to get a job in tech, and I hope they found it useful! I love helping out young people when I can.

6 April 2021

I was interviewed live on LBC News radio by Martin Stanford, for Autism Awareness Week. Live radio makes me really nervous but Martin was great, as he’d done his research and asked some really good questions.

30 March 2021

I gave my very first talk to a school! It was my own kids’ school and it was for Autism Awareness Week. I was probably more nervous about this than any other talk I’ve given but it went very well and kids and teachers alike told me it was “brilliant”.

29 March 2021

My episode of the Women and ADHD podcast was released. I was interviewed by Katy Weber (who also has ADHD) about ADHD and autism, motherhood and the perimenopause. Listen to the podcast here.

28 January 2021

I was thrilled to be one of the inaugural speakers at new meetup group The SocialCode. I delivered a **NEW** talk on neurodiversity. It was recorded and you can watch the video here.

28 January 2021

I was featured in The Messenger – the monthly publication of the Manchester Law Society – and cited as being “at the forefront of the neurodiversity movement”! Thanks to editor Julia Baskerville for asking me to comment on proposed reforms to the Mental Health Act – which includes neurodiversity and the criminal justice system. You can read the article here.

16 January 2021

LADYHD – I gave a **NEW** talk on ADHD in women and girls at CAMP ADHD. You can watch the LadyHD video here.

2 December 2020

I delivered a talk on neurodiversity at the INCLUSION 2020 conference. I received a ton of positive feedback, with attendees saying it was “insightful”, “engaging” and “inspiring”. Click here to register for the conference and then you can watch the recording of my talk here.

30 November 2020

I was on Culture Shift’s panel discussion “Remote working and the opportunity for inclusion”. I really enjoyed this event as I learnt so much from the other panellists, Leyla Okhai and Janice Sutherland – and Gemma McCall did a great job of hosting it! You can watch a recording of the panel discussion here.

26 November 2020

I was quoted extensively in the Metro’s article: White people open up about the lessons they learned on racism in 2020.

2 November 2020

We launched the Neurodiversity Association, which I co-founded. We exist to make the world a better place for neurodiverse people. I’m really proud of this achievement and honoured to be working with a wonderful team.

10 September 2020

I did my taster workshop “What is neurodiversity and why should you care about it?” for Computer Weekly and Spinks. There’s a great write-up of it on Computer Weekly, written by their business editor Clare McDonald. You can also:

9 September 2020

I did a video interview with Ayoa, talking about remote learning and neurodiversity. Watch the 14-minute video on YouTube here.

1 September 2020

Patricia Keating interviewed me for the Tech Manchester podcast. I talk about neurodiversity and being an entrepreneur, my challenges and superpowers, and how I cope with it all! Click here to listen to the podcast.

25 August 2020

I was featured in the Metro’s article on flexible working for disabled people. Unfortunately they got my name wrong, but they did quote from me extensively which meant I got across some of the positives about flexible working that help neurodiverse people. You can read the article here.

20 August 2020

Thrilled with my first international article! I wrote it for The Bangkok Post (Thailand’s English Language newspaper). It’s called What is neurodiversity and why should you care about it?

21 July 2020

I was interviewed by Lizzie Benton for the Make It Thrive podcast. This was one of my favourite podcast interviews. I talk about the strengths and challenges of neurodiverse people and what companies can do to be more inclusive. You can listen to the podcast here.

7 July 2020

I took part in a series of webinars on neurodiversity. Mine was “How to improve employee well-being and inclusion in the workplace?” I was joined by Caroline Turner from Creased Puddle and the event was hosted by Ross McGee of Ayoa. We did live mind-mapping which was really fun!

2 July 2020

“10 stupidly easy things you can do to be accessible” was my 10-minute lightning talk for Accessibility Manchester. You can watch the video here – my bit starts at around 16 minutes, and the Q&A is at 1 hour and 10 minutes.

11 June 2020

I delivered my taster workshop for Women Lawyers and Mothers. It’s called “What is neurodiversity and why should you care about it?”. Hannah Beko hosted and we had a lovely crowd turn up and ask some great questions.

27 May 2020

I gave my talk “The Power of Change: Learning to be a Weirdo” for Women in the Law. The online event was hosted by Sally Penni, who did a wonderful job of making it welcoming and inclusive, and I had a great audience. Again, it was so popular that they had to release extra tickets (thanks to Catherine for sorting it so quickly).

21 May 2020

I gave a **NEW** talk for A11y Bytes on Global Accessibility Awareness Day. If you missed it, you can watch a recording of the live stream on YouTube. My 10 minute lightning talk starts at 2:05.

13 May 2020

I gave my talk “The Power of Change: Learning to be a Weirdo” at The Landing‘s Wellness Wednesday event. Holly Lindon and Natalie Jameson did a brilliant job of hosting, and Dan Sodergren tweeted about it so much they had to release extra tickets!

7 May 2020

I gave my talk “The Power of Change: Learning to be a Weirdo” to Women in Tech: Nottingham. It was my first online talk and I was really encouraged by how inclusive the event was. Massive thanks to the WiT team, which includes Anna Dodson, Carol Gilabert, Louise Paling, Helen Joy, Andrew Seward, and Jamie Tanna.

6 May 2020

I was interviewed by Una Cottrell for the “45 Not Out” podcast. I talk about my career, neurodiversity and my experience of mental illness. You can listen to the podcast here.

27 April 2020

I was invited to be part of the panel for #FemaleTechFounder as part of the Leeds Digital Festival, organised by Chi-Chi Ekweozor, hosted by Claire-Marie Boggiano and sponsored by Assenty. You can read a write-up of the event here, or watch the video of the event on YouTube.

17 April 2020
Coronavirus: How companies are handling hiring under lockdown is a feature in Prolific North by Josh Peachey. He interviewed me for this piece.

17 April 2020
I was featured in the University of Liverpool’s “Health and Wellbeing” newsletter. Thanks to Dr Nicola Harman for this.

2 April 2020
Annie-May Noonan featured me in her article: Learning from business owners and staff with autism. This was for Real Business magazine.

1 April 2020
My article on neurodiversity was published in “The Messenger” which is the magazine of the Manchester Law Society. You can read the whole magazine here – the link goes to page 7 which is where my feature is. You can see Steven Appleton who chairs the Diversity and Inclusion Committee (and who invited me to contribute) on the same page.

31 March 2020
I delivered a workshop via Zoom on Managing neurodiversity in the workplace. This was for Women in the Law and was hosted by Sally Penni.

30 March 2020
Kevin Gopal, the editor-in-chief at the Big Issue North, featured me in his article on the help being offered during the coronavirus crisis. You can see a pdf of the page here.

30 March 2020
I was part of a panel for Assenty’s “Virtually speaking” webinar, which was hosted by Chi-chi Ekweozor. I talked about running my business from home as a working parent. You can read the write-up of this remote working webinar here.

4 March 2020
I delivered a workshop for Women in the Law at Brabners. This was about managing neurodiversity in the workplace.

11 March 2020
Alex James interviewed me for The Didsbury Podcast. Click here to listen to me talk about my work, my background, and living in Didsbury.

11 February 2020
I delivered my talk: “The Power of Change: Learning to Live as a Weirdo” to the Ministry of Testing in Manchester. Talk notes and further reading can be found here.

19 January 2020
I was interviewed on Theo Smith’s podcast Neurodiversity – Eliminating Kryptonite; Enabling Superheroes. Click here to listen to my interview with Theo.

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