Speakers

I have been involved with Autism for the last 17 years when my son received a diagnosis of Pathological Demand Avoidance at the age of 9, and a few years later when my daughter was diagnosed at age 15. I have been to every workshop, training days and conferences that were available to me to increase my knowledge in this new world. The biggest and most important thing I did was to get involved with our Local support group PAACT. 10 years later I find myself chairing the group and changing the direction the group was going in, due to the reduced services available for families. My motivation to help families understand what we need to do as parents comes from the mistakes and struggles I went through due to lack of support or direction. The biggest lesson I have taken from my journey over the last 17 years is there is no answer to get your children to not have a meltdown, to fit into society, not to worry, to accept that I had to change inorder to reduce the pressure I was putting on my children, which in turn reduced their meltdowns, reduced their pressure and they started fitting into society in their own way. My aim is to share my experiences with you from a parents point of view while providing information from professionals that I feel will be useful and helpful to you.

My name is Jude Seaward I am a Nurse Consultant/behaviour therapist whose background lies within learning disability nursing. I live in the North West of England in Wigan. I thank my uniqueness to my chosen profession and the initial training I started in 1985. My training covered the wide aspects of what is needed to support a person with a learning disability; covering psychology, occupational therapy, speech and language, mental health, psychiatry to name just a few area. While working in the NHS I worked in: An adult residential home for challenging behaviour. An assessment and treatment centre for mental health and challenging behaviour. The community, supporting both adults and children working with families, Education, therapists, social services and the voluntary sector to develop packages of care or behaviour management plans of some very challenging people. This diverse and unique grounding has enabled me to understand how areas interact, which gives a more holistic approach to the way I work. By working in an environment that was highly under resourced you learn to be creative and efficient. So again I can bring this to the work I do now, ensuring new ways of working and innovatively bringing this to suit the individual. I have specialised in challenging behaviour and autism and have been completing a holistic functional analysis of behaviours for the past 12 years. I worked within the NHS in I am very passionate about providing a quality and an individualised service which enables people to have a happy and fulfilling life.

Hi there, I’m Briony. I am an adult, female, neurodivergent, fully qualified Personal Trainer and Nutrition Coach. I have over 15 years experience as a medical representative selling to, and educating health professionals on pharmaceutical drugs and medical equipment. I have had a long standing personal interest in nutrition, health and fitness, enjoying various different sports and physical activities, and optimising health and mindset through nutrition. This led me to have a change in career 3 years ago and qualify as a Personal Trainer and Nutrition Coach. I wanted to share all the things I had learnt and experienced, and make the information more simple and accessible to other people. I found myself having something that a lot of other people in the fitness industry don’t, the ability to understand people and their individual needs, rather than just telling them how things ‘should’ be done. As is often the case, neurodiversity runs in my family, and this led me to seek an assessment for myself. I have recently been diagnosed with ADHD and am currently awaiting confirmation of an ASD diagnosis. So, I get it! Because I experience it myself. And now I have my diagnosis, I understand why.. And this is why I am excited to work with PAACT to help you.

A WISE100 woman and Director of the Year, Naomi is an award-winning CEO, Director, Psychotherapist, Consultant & Coach, Researcher, Motivational Speaker and Author. She helps people find their purpose, turn their passions into social enterprises or set up a business and grow in all areas of their lives through coaching and psychotherapy. With over a decade of experience in starting, growing and scaling businesses, Naomi is an expert in ‘profit-for-good’ organisations. Teaching people to lead with their hearts, using their heads to be sustainable and profitable. Naomi is one of the UK’s leading Social Entrepreneurs, as featured by the BBC, Refinery29, Bella Magazine, Happiful and BBC Look North. A natural leader, educator and motivator, Naomi helps people to realise their visions of becoming successful individuals, in relationships, careers and confidence. Naomi loves spending time with her Polish husband Michal and their beautiful fox red Labrador Joy. They love to travel, and they have a holiday home on the English coastline which is their little piece of relaxation.

My name is Lucy Creasey, and I have been an Occupational Therapist since 1996. I have served in Lincolnshire and worked in both hospital settings and the community where I have developed my skills to a high level. During this time I have worked with adults suffering from many types of illnesses and injuries including: Stroke Parkinson’s MS (multiple sclerosis) head injury hip and knee replacements upper and lower limb fractures hand therapy amputations of upper and lower limbs Other medical conditions include chest infections, pneumonia, stress, anxiety and falls management to name a few. Over the last ten years, I have developed my specialism in complex rehabilitation clients. Including people who have multiple diagnoses and neurological problems such as stroke. I have achieved this by completing courses at postgraduate level to enhance my knowledge. A more recent addition to my skill set is completing work assessments and vocational rehabilitation. Supporting clients returning to work and completing the Fitness to Work report that is recognised by the DWP detailing reasonable adjustments for the employee. I believe in being open and honest, offering specialist interventions to all clients using my training and over 20 years of experience to get the best for them. Lucy is registered as an Independent Practice with the Royal College of Occupational Therapists. Lucy is also registered with the Health Care Professions Council

Geoff Evans is an independent autism trainer and consultant. Over the last 30 years Geoff has gained considerable experience as an autism consultant and trainer. His services have been used by Universities, the National Autistic Society, local authorities, providers of children and adult specialist services as well as parent groups.

Dr Pat Frankish is a consultant clinical psychologist and psychotherapist with over 35 years’ experience working with children and adults with complex needs. Dr Frankish has pioneered the development of psychotherapy for people with intellectual disabilities, demonstrating its effectiveness for people with the most complex needs, including those in high secure settings. As a result of her childhood experiences living in the grounds of a long-stay hospital for those with mental handicap as it was then called, Dr Frankish has dedicated her career to improving the lives of this client group. Through continuing her clinical work with both disabled and non-disabled clients, Dr Frankish is able to put theory into practice. Alongside this, Dr Frankish has directly implemented her model of trauma-informed care by establishing a social care organisation together with her daughter. Amara Care provides support to more than 30 clients. Past President of the British Psychological Society, Dr Frankish has presented at conferences across the world. She has authored and edited several books, many of which are available from Pavilion and Karnac.

I found it astonishing that I had studied Psychology at University and never heard of the term Selective Mutism before. How could something so complex and impacting not have been a topic? Since I became aware I have made it my personal mission to raise awareness of this anxiety disorder and advocate for support locally. My aim is to promote early identification and help for people with SM but also to develop greater understanding of communication differences within the community. In effect creating an environment which allows individuals to be confident and comfortable using their preferred communication style. I live with my husband and 4 children in North East Lincolnshire. After I studied at University I became a nurse and I now pre-assess patients for upcoming surgery. My personal interest is in anxiety and mental health. I love animals, learning and holidays.