Things I have previously been involved or produced:
Positions/Roles
GOSH – November 2021 – Janury 2023 – I worked with clinicians at Great Ormond Street Hospital to help develop the website and resources for their Neurodevelopmental Clinic and Department of Child and Adolescent Mental Health. This has included creating a visual storyboard for the outpatient department, helping gather feedback and suggestions for resources, and evaluating the design of the website from an accessibility perspective.
Bank of England Youth Forum – January 2022-September 2022 – In this position I represented young people and helped to inform policymaking at the Bank of England, particularly around issues such as financial education and youth unemployment. In my subgroup we focused on improving financial awareness amongst marginalised communities, through conducting a survey and research, and ultimately providing a list of recommendations to the bank. My particular interest was in communities with disabilities.
British Youth Council’s Young Leaders Collective – January 2022-August 2022 – I was part of developing the The Young Leaders Collective programme. The programme is facilitated by the British Youth Council and supports young peole in learning how to deliver and lead others to carry out social action effectively. It is dedicated to helping people make a difference on the issues that matter to them.
NOVIS – September 2021-August 2022 – In my final year of university I founded and was president of Cardiff University’s NOVIS (Neurodiversity Opportunity, Visibility, and Inclusion Society). During the pandemic it was especially hard to establish a presence but through hard work and innovative use of technology, we grew a considerable membership of over 20 members, who attended the regular weekly sessions, as well as over 70 active members on a Discord channel. Sessions ranged from simple ‘hangouts’ to Special Interest Swaps and Quizzes, and fundraising events. The Society achieved a Gold Award by the end of the year from Cardiff Student Union, was nominated in the Society Awards for Most Innovative Virtual Activity, and won the Society Award for Best Newcomer Society. I was also runner up for the university-wide Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Award.
Autistica SIRG – September 2021 – September 2022 – over this period I have been part of Autistica’s Embracing Complexity SIRG (a children and young people’s mental health research network, made up of parents of autistic children, professionals, academics, and people with lived experience). We discussed the need for better research and support for autistic people, sharing our experiences and opinions, and driving our focus and work towards a webinar. The webinar was held in 30th June 2022, and focused on how mental ill-health can present differently in neurodivergent young people. It is titled ‘Conversations Not Assumptions: SIRG webinar on mental health’ and can be viewed here.
Hearts&Minds – July 2021-April 2022 – Hearts & Minds was a peer led charity for young people (aged 14-25) who experience distress, isolation and difficulties with their mental health. As a trustee, I was responsible for making sure we put our members – young people with lived experience of mental health difficulties – at the centre of our activities. Unfortunately, due to the impact of Covid, the charity was forced to close.
Student Mentor and Happiness Mentor – 2019-20 and 2020-21 – During my second year of university I was a student mentor, in which I regularly met with a group of first year students to support them with their transition to university and help them deal with academic, emotional and social challenges. My achievement was recognised with the advanced mentoring certificate and the Business School Mentor of the Year award.
In my final year I was chosen to be lead mentor consultant for the Business School, in which I managed a group of mentors and provided them with guidance and advice on how to run their sessions and acted as an ambassador for the program.
The Happiness Mentor scheme was a trial of the Science of Happiness course run by Birmingham University. As a Happiness Mentor (also in my final year) I supported a group of students in the trial as they attended workshops and learnt about how to manage their wellbeing.
Awards and Certifications
- Cardiff University – Advanced Mentoring Certificate 2021
- University of Birmingham – Happiness Mentor Certificate 2021
- Cardiff University – Business School Mentor of the Year 2021
- Cardiff University Awards – Runner Up Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Award 2021
- Cardiff University Awards – Best Newcomer Society 2021
- MS Excel Specialist 2018
- Highly Commended in SLAMbassadors 2016
Published Writing
- Co-author of a research paper on the impact of violent experiences during adolescence on mental heath at adulthood – Latham, R.M., Arseneault, L., Alexandrescu, B. et al. Violent experiences and neighbourhoods during adolescence: understanding and mitigating the association with mental health at the transition to adulthood in a longitudinal cohort study. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-022-02343-6
- ‘Priceless Tokens of Understanding’ co-author of a blog post about my work with REBLE (also was responsible for creating the featured infographic) for the Social Research Association – link
- ‘Autism and relationships: what is ‘normal’?’ co-author of a blog post for Ambitious About Autism – link
- ‘How to explain autism to friends and family’ author of a blog post for Ambitious About Autism – link
- ‘Being autistic, bisexual and proud’ author of a blog post for Ambitious About Autism – link
- ‘My journey of discovery’ author of a blog post for Ambitious About Autism – link
- ‘Being autistic and navigating my sexuality’ author of a blog post for Ambitious About Autism – link
- ‘Ambitiously co-producing mental health support’ co-author of a blog post for University College London about the peer support sessions run by Ambitious About Autism – link
- ‘Exploring my sexuality as an autistic young person’ author of a blog post for Ambitious About Autism’s campaign in collaboration with Vanish – link
Webinars and In-Person Workshop/Course Delivery
- Autscape Presentation August 2022 – I presented at the National Autistic Conference, Autscape, alongside Vera Pudilova – our workshop was titled ‘Interdependence at Work: Self Advocacy and Balance’ and focused on the support available to help autistic individuals get into, and manage, employment, as well as sharing the ‘interdependence at work toolkit’ we created.
- SIRG Webinar August 2022 – as part of my work on Autistica’s SIRG, we produced and then held a webinar entitled ‘Conversations Not Assumptions: SIRG webinar on mental health’. It can be viewed here.
- AET Course June 2022 – I co-delivered an anxiety course at Tolworth Girls’ School & Sixth Form, for teachers and teaching staff. This focused on school-related anxiety for autistic young people.
- Deloitte Presentation April 2022 – I co-delivered a presentation on the History and Language of Neurodiversity to Deloitte New Zealand, as part of Deloitte’s Neurodiversity Week.
- NCC Webinars 2020-2022 – I have co-delivered numerous webinars for Norfolk County Council while volunteering for Ambitious About Autism.
- CYPMHC and Embracing Complexity Event September 2021 – I spoke at a ‘Lunch and Learn Webinar’ alongside Suzi Sapiets and Liz Wood. This webinar was part of the CYPMHC’s series of Lunch and Learn webinars and focused on the links between neurodevelopmental conditions and children and young people’s mental health. It can be viewed here.
- Autscape Presentation Summer 2021 – With Vera Pudilova, I ran a workshop at the National Autistic Conference, Autscape, on Self Advocacy and Emerging Art Forms. We discussed some of the possibilities within art for self expression and shared our own self advocacy projects, such as illustrations and poetry.
- Training for Birmingham Women and Children’s NHS Trust March to May 2021 – I helped the team to design and develop training for this NHS trust on understanding autism and how to put in place reasonable adjustments. I also codelivered the webinar.
- Autism Myth Busting webinar, ‘Autism Explained’ January to March 2021 – I was part of co-producing an ‘autism myth-busting’ webinar to educate employees of Marsh&McLennan (MMC), who Ambitious About Autism were partnered with for charity of the year.
- Know Your Normal Toolkit May to October 2020 – With Ambitious About Autism, I was part of producing the content for a webinar on how mental health issues affect autistic young people and what professionals can do to support them. I helped to co-deliver the webinar on two occasions.
Other Notable Work
- Meeting the Minister August 2022 – As part of my work with Ambitious About Autism I was lucky enough to be one of five Youth Network members to represent autistic young people in a meeting with Children’s Minister Will Quince.
- Be Ambitious Campaign May 2021 – I was part of a fundraising campaign with Ambitious to raise £250000 (across the whole charity) in 36 hours, as an Ambitious Champion. I shared the campaign via my social media networks and was part of a promotional video, and our group raised over £1300.
- Development and Delivery of a Children and Young People (CYP) Autism Train the Trainer Programme for Inpatient Facilities November 2020 to January 2022 – I was part of the CYP Tender Evaluation Panel, assessing bids by potential providers of the training. Later, I provided feedback on the training materials that had been developed, including looking at the curriculum and learning outcomes.
- Meeting the Minister November 2020 – I represented autistic young people in a virtual meeting with Justin Tomlinson (from the Department of Work and Pensions), to discuss how the government can better support people with disabilities in education, health, and work environments.
BBC News Interview 7th September
I was featured on BBC news speaking about my experiences of healthcare treatment as someone who is autistic and has mental health problems, on BBC Breakfast and News at One. If you missed it, here is the clip: