Have Your Say at NWC26

Language shapes how neurodivergence is understood, supported, and lived. This topic explores the power of words, diagnosis, and self-identification—how they influence belonging, stigma, and wellbeing. Delegates will unpack the shift from deficit-based models to neuro-affirming paradigms that empower both practitioners and the people they serve.

Systems can either enable or restrict neurodivergent wellbeing. This topic examines how education, justice, welfare, and healthcare structures impact access, inclusion, and outcomes for neurodivergent individuals. Sessions will explore strategies for systemic reform, trauma-informed policy, and inter-agency collaboration that create environments where neurodivergent people can thrive.

Systems can either enable or restrict neurodivergent wellbeing. This topic examines how education, justice, welfare, and healthcare structures impact access, inclusion, and outcomes for neurodivergent individuals. Sessions will explore strategies for systemic reform, trauma-informed policy, and inter-agency collaboration that create environments where neurodivergent people can thrive.

Neurodivergent experiences evolve over time, intersecting with key developmental, hormonal, and life transitions. This topic highlights approaches that support thriving from early childhood through ageing — ensuring that care, education, and employment pathways remain affirming, adaptive, and inclusive at every stage of life.

Real progress in neurodivergent wellbeing begins when lived experience leads. This topic centres neurodivergent voices as co-creators of research, practice, and policy, exploring storytelling as a form of knowledge, advocacy, and reform. It embraces epistemological pluralism — recognising diverse ways of knowing and communicating lived experience — and celebrates community connection, belonging, and the power of shared narrative. Sessions will also explore what neurodivergent leadership means in practice, challenging neurotypical assumptions and redefining leadership through lived experience.

Neurodivergent experiences and wellbeing often intersect in complex and interdependent ways. This topic reframes co-occurrence through a neuro-affirming lens, focusing on regulation, resilience, and recovery. Sessions explore how to reduce stigma, understand burnout, and support emotional wellbeing through trauma-informed, inclusive approaches.

As practice evolves, so must therapy. This topic brings together evidence-informed and creative approaches that respect neurodivergent experience. It highlights innovations in psychotherapy, somatic and sensory work, and integrative health — helping practitioners move beyond adaptation toward true affirmation. Discussions will also address iatrogenic harm and explore how to bridge the gap between emerging research and real-world therapeutic practice.

Inclusion is more than accommodation — it’s cultural redesign. This topic explores how schools, workplaces, and community spaces can create affirming environments that promote genuine access, participation, and belonging. Through leadership, universal design, and collaborative practice, delegates will consider how systems can evolve to support all forms of neurodivergence.

Inclusion is more than accommodation — it’s cultural redesign. This topic explores how schools, workplaces, and community spaces can create affirming environments that promote genuine access, participation, and belonging. Through leadership, universal design, and collaborative practice, delegates will consider how systems can evolve to support all forms of neurodivergence.

Inclusion is more than accommodation — it’s cultural redesign. This topic explores how schools, workplaces, and community spaces can create affirming environments that promote genuine access, participation, and belonging. Through leadership, universal design, and collaborative practice, delegates will consider how systems can evolve to support all forms of neurodivergence.