I am an experienced speaker, who can engage across a variety of subjects, including autistic experience, mental health and distress, disability, gender, sexuality and women’s sexual health. Below is a list of my most recent engagements:
- The Human Side of Data conference, Horizon Centre for Doctoral Training, April 2022. I presented a paper being prepared for peer review publication: Being, Becoming, Owning: Dialogic Autoethnographies.
- Derby and Derbyshire Transforming Care Summit, June 2021. I was invited to speak to professionals from across Derby and Derbyshire about my experiences of using services as an autistic person and as part of an autistic family.
- Interdisciplinary Autism Research Festival, March 2021. I presented at the IAR with a summary update of my PhD work and thinking to date. The festival was developed remotely. The full schedule of presentations is still available here.
- Digital Content for Derbyshire Autism Services to highlight the needs of autistic women for International Women’s Day, March 2021. I was invited as a guest speaker to the Derbyshire Autism Services Facebook page to develop content celebrating autistic women.
- Interview with AutSpace Podcast, February 2021. Discussion with Hanna and Serena (both autistic academics) included how terminology, the choice of words, is essential in the process of creating an autistic space and the unusual internal sensory differences that I experience.
- Derbyshire Autism Services AGM, January 2021. I was invited to contribute as a keynote speaker at DAS’ AGM, speaking from both an academic and lived experience perspective.
- Scottish Women’s Autism Network, May 2020, Covid-19 webinar on mental health and wellness.
- Autism Dialogue Conference 2018, Sheffield, December 2018. As a participant in the 2018 programme of Autism Dialogue organised by Jonny Drury I was invited to speak about how the dialogical process has affected me. Read my blog post on the conference here.
- Autgensex ‘Intimate Lives’ Conference, University of Birmingham | British Sociological Association, May 2018. After submitting an abstract I was invited to speak about my intimate and sensory experiences and the stigma I have experienced resulting from this dovetailing of these in unexpected ways (Video here, please note there are not work safe images).
- Sexual Health and Disability Alliance, March 2018. SH&DA chair Claire de Than invited me to contribute to a special meeting of SH&DA examining the experience of sexuality and relationships for autistic individuals, where I spoke alongside sex therapist Tuppy Owens. The event minutes, with full details, are available here.
- NHS England, Skipton House, December 2017. I was invited by Luke O’Shea (Director of Clinical Policy and Operations) to speak alongside Sir Bruce Keogh and autism researcher Will Mandy to raise awareness of autism within NHS England.
- Integrated Personal Commissioning ‘IPC Residential’, November 2017. I spoke to the annual IPC gathering of teams from across England involved in implementing IPC alongside other lived experience advisors.
- Institute of Mental Health’s World Mental health Day event ‘Mad Carnival’, October 2017. I was invited to speak about mental health and give a hula hoop performance by the event organiser, Dr Julie Gosling. Photos and more information is available here, in the IMH newsletter.
- South Derbyshire CCG film, October 2017. I was filmed talking about my experience of receiving a Personal Health Budget and the dramatic improvement to my mental health that resulted. The full video is available, here, on YouTube.
- Derbyshire Community Healthcare Foundation Trust Board Meeting, September 2017. I was invited by the Trust’s Director of Patient Experience to speak about my experience with the family planning clinic that the trust provides in Derby City. As a result, I also spoke to the Family Planning Team about recognising and making accommodations for autistic service users.
