Navigating Neurodiversity & Events, Self Employment, How Havas Put a Spotlight on Neuroinclusion at Cannes & Hearing The Words of Non-Verbal Autistic Adults. Oh and we were finalists for an award!
Summertime! Packed with industry events, awards, parties, overstimulation and... exhaustion or maybe even avoidance altogether?
This month’s blog comes after a whirlwind of events, partner launches, festivals, and family holidays. I’m mentally drained—I couldn’t even write last month’s post as my brain just shut down. But for the first time in years, all this activity didn’t lead to neurodivergent burnout, I slowed down and set some boundaries instead.
At a recent event, I nearly left due to sensory overload—background noise, people moving around and distractions made it hard to focus. My body tensed, my heart raced and I wanted to leave. In the past, I’d have masked it with a burst of extroversion before finding a way to leave. This time, I paused—put in my Loop Switch earplugs, took deep breaths, used a fidget spinner and moved when I could. I felt out of place, but when I looked around the room feeling like I had a target on my back, no-one noticed my subtle coping strategies.
Since my diagnosis four years ago, I’ve been slowly unmasking and becoming more self-aware. I initially thought understanding what was going on was helping me prevent burnout, but I was often just delaying it.
What’s changed today is planning ahead. I schedule downtime after events, practice yoga and mindfulness (still working on consistency) and prioritize rest and sleep. I’ve been learning about the nervous system and energy resets. The idea that “busy = productive” doesn’t work for me—rest and movement help me thrive. Most importantly, I’ve learned to treat myself with kindness, not judgment or bloated expectations.
I wonder in part if some of my mental relief, is seeing a shift in the narrative around neurodiversity - the NHS ADHD Task Force published the first part of their report this June, recognising that ADHD, despite what you may read online, is largely under-diagnosed in this country, with unacceptable waiting list times, acknowledging a new approach to diagnosis and early intervention, even without a formal diagnosis is required. It also highlights the economic impact of not treating ADHD is almost £17bn - "Many of these costs are avoidable, as with appropriate, early support, people with ADHD can thrive."
“the economic impact of not treating ADHD is almost £17bn”
The Chris Packham BBC Series “Inside our Minds” has also moved me greatly, expanding the previous “Inside our Autistic Minds” series into episodes highlighting the lived experiences of ADHD and Dyslexic individuals. The format is brilliant, with each person (from different ethniticities, genders, age ranges, lived experiences etc) producing a 5 minute film to communicate with their friends, family, peers, colleagues, school teachers about what their day to day experiences are. The one that moved me most personally, is Murray’s story - watch it here for yourself.
So, what's happening in the media industry right now when it comes to Neurodiversity?
Havas took the La Croissette with their "Neuroverse" initiatives at Cannes Lions, recognising the strengths of neurodivergent talent in their workforce as something to be celebrated. Going "Beyond the Brief" and recognising the future of creativity with several panels
“The New Creative Alchemy: Neurodivergent Minds & AI as Industry Catalysts”, "Neurodivergent Minds: They Don’t Need Advertising—Advertising Needs Them.”
The agency behind the Vanish "Autism & Me" campaign from 2023 (that led to an increase in awareness and the highest month of autism diagnosis following going viral on TikTok) recognise the creative potential neurodivergent talent brings, as well as understanding their needs.
"Havas is building infrastructure to support neurodivergent talent. The agency has developed training programs and partnered with an architecture firm to design more inclusive spaces, complete with VR simulations to illustrate sensory processing differences in the workplace."
Read more in the Adweek article here
We love to see acceptance and neuroinclusive workspaces in action, thank you Havas for publicly sharing this information and inspiring those who are looking to create more inclusive environments. We know that ND talent will thrive in the right conditions, but we also still see many companies and people don’t really know what good accomodations could or should look like, or they have a hard time getting others to buy into it.
Our 4S Manifesto provides practical recomendations built around: Systems, Spaces, Systems and Support. Our aim has always been to inspire those looking to make change in their organisations with actionable and practical accomodation check-lists.
We’re revisting the 4S and are looking for your feedback - how actionable is it? What have you successfully managed to implement? What hurdles do you come up against?
Please take this short survey to share your thoughts with us!
We talk a lot about workplaces and neurodiversity, but what about those navigating self-employment as neurodiverse individuals? NDIM Co-Founder (and author of the 4S Manifesto) founded his marketing and media consultancy Archmon 6 years ago.
Sign up now for Simon’s Fireside chat with IPSE on this exact issue on 14th July 2025.
Idris Elba @ SXSW and the launch of "Talking Scripts"
Idris Elba took to the stage at SXSW to shine a light on a number of initiatives he’s involved in, supporting the African creative communities, as well as neurodiverse individuals. Launching “Talking Scripts” to make the film industry more accessible to neurodivergent individuals.
Idris shared how he struggled with his dyslexia throughout his career, even though he “didn’t know it at the time”, he found “reading scripts very difficult”.
Stefan added that Talking Scripts could help people of different backgrounds get into the film industry. “It kind of came out of necessity, and realising that any sort of neurodiversity, ADHD or people with English as a second language, have that same fear of getting into it, and even people who want to be in the creative industry who don't want to have to read everything.”
Read more here
We've been busy too! Some NDIM updates and content you can dive into:
IAB & Paul Wright - Leading with Dyslexia
Following Paul’s appearance at the IAB UK Leadership Summit in April, he sat down with James Chandler to talk about his journey leading with dyslexia. Paul continues to be an important voice for embracing neurodiversity in leadership, and we are so glad to have him as an NDIM industry champion. Thank you to the IAB for using your platform to highlight these important conversations.
Pivotal & Pedro Ramos
In this episode, Pedro shares his personal journey of late AuDHD diagnosis, why he believes calling neurodiversity a ‘superpower’ can be misleading, and what businesses can do to support neurodivergent talent in a meaningful, practical way.
Disabled By Society/Evenbreak x Jaz Poke
I appeared on the Unlearning Ableism podcast hosted by Co-Founders of Disabled by Society Jamie Shields and Celia Chartres-Aris, in the sponsored slot by Evenbreak, a disability job board. In this episode titled “Mindful Access”, I share some of my personal lived experiences and talk through the NDIM 4S Manifesto. Dustin Giannelli, Founder of HearsDustin is the podcast guest for this episode, sharing his lived experiences of disability, being diagnosed clinically deaf at 5 years old and how to approach advocacy and inclusion. It’s an inspiring episode and can only thank the team for inviting me to participate.
On a final note, our little campaign for inclusion and Neurodiversity in Media 'CREATIVE FOR GOOD AWARD, MEDIUM BUDGET'! was recognised as a finalist in the Prolific North Awards this June!
Thank you for this recognition! We continue to operate with no funding or commercial incentives and put small amounts of our own money and time in to continue this platform, relying on word of mouth and advocacy of others to spread the good word. Recognition such as this goes a long way to helping us spread the word. Thank you!
Don’t forget, we want to hear from you. Another chance to take our Survey
Take care, and see you again for the next newsletter.
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