Blog categorized as Disability, Neuroinclusion & User Experience

26/02/24

One of the many great things to come out of the business coaching pilot organised by Rob Edwards and funded by the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, is the invaluable opportunity to connect with a mentor.

I was fortunate enough to be paired with Chris Naylor, an expert in...

21/10/2024 18:46 - Comment(s)
What is MHLDA?

I’m beginning to think that policy-makers in the health sector have some communication deficits. They also seem to be prone to repetitive behaviours and struggle to interact effectively with the world. We might need a strategy to address it.

With that in mind I set about trying to find an explanation...
21/10/2024 18:29 - Comment(s)
 Is your business turning off ADHD brains?

Conservative estimates put the number of adults with ADHD at 2-4%. Every day we struggle with its effects. Poor working memory, distractability, difficulty managing time, following instructions and, if we are one of the majority with a comorbid condition, poor coordination and fatigue, to name but a...

09/07/2024 15:42 - Comment(s)
A letter to Thom Ryland
Dear Thom,

I went to see Deacon Blue on Sunday in Liverpool.  I stayed over at my boyfriend's the 2 nights before, mislaid my charger due to implementing some random system that involved putting it in an unspecified location for reasons that are lost to time.  So I didn't manage to charge m...
07/07/2024 13:25 - Comment(s)

23rd Jun 2022


In the last of this series of posts about listening to and working with my brain, I’d like to catalogue some of the orthodox advice my brain has rejected. Before my ADHD diagnosis I was caught in a cycle of inspiration, implementation, failure and giving up. I banged my head against the...

23/06/2024 15:15 - Comment(s)
Writing checklist (courtesy of George Orwell)

Worried your words won't do you justice?   Your work is safe in my hands.

03/06/2024 20:26 - Comment(s)
World Creativity Day

Today is World Creativity and Innovation Day and a perfect excuse to reshare my favourite TED talk of all time by the late Ken Robinson. The first time I listened to this I had no idea my brain was any different from anyone else's. Listening to it now with my knowledge about neurodivergence and havi...

24/04/2024 15:45 - Comment(s)
Life-saving software alert

Life-changing software alert. I've recently (belatedly) realised that user-friendly software does exist but it is produced by independent developers who are less interested in harvesting data and more interested in finding solutions to problems.

I cannot overstate the problems that files cause for me...
09/04/2024 16:02 - Comment(s)
Let's wage war on shame

ADHD affects executive function, memory, focus, time management and so much more. But for me, in the decades prior to diagnosis, the corrosive impact on my self-esteem was infinitely more damaging. Conversely, nothing has had a more positive impact on my self-worth than learning that my challenges w...
24/03/2024 17:17 - Comment(s)
It's not them, it's you.

It's rare that I'm genuinely shocked by sexism and ageism (which often go hand-in-hand) as they are so commonplace but this LinkedIn TV ad stopped me in my tracks. My Mum is in her 70s and is certainly no technophobe. As for other people I know who struggle with computers (and feel a deep shame beca...
20/03/2024 17:03 - Comment(s)
Better offline?

Ever wonder why it's harder to find the products you need when doing your online shop? Or why Google search results never seem to give you satisfaction? Wonder if you've become a technophobe? Constantly irritated why everything seems just, well, worse than before? I really recommend listen...

22/02/2024 22:02 - Comment(s)
Why is everything getting worse?

Things have changed a lot since my Embassy days.  It will come as no surprise to learn that standards  have declined precipitously in the last few years. Even international institutions and major multinationals are producing content that is either  barely comprehensible or completely ...

21/02/2024 16:20 - Comment(s)
Agatha Christie

For as long as I remember I have been overcome by the urge to "reset". As a child this presented as excitement over a new exercise book. Maybe this time I could write neatly. As a teen, the urge manifested itself as a longing to move overseas, to be somewhere(one) different....

13/02/2024 16:20 - Comment(s)
Why are we treating neurodivergent kids like convicts?

Several years ago I trained to be a volunteer tour guide at Lincoln Castle. One of the most popular attractions was the Victorian-era prison. It was designed as part the the 'separate system', a form of prison management in which prisoners were kept isolated from fellow inmates in an effort to ...

05/02/2024 20:56 - Comment(s)
Discounting orthodox advice and trusting my process

 Before my ADHD diagnosis I was caught in a cycle of inspiration, implementation, failure and giving up. I banged my head against the “should” wall sporadically, forgetting how much it hurt the first time, telling myself that I could find a way through if I just tried harder. More post-it notes...

11/01/2024 23:34 - Comment(s)
Foreignness, France and Neurodiversity

I’ve been thinking about how my experience of foreignness relates to my neurodivergence. ADHD brains thrive on dopamine and I spent nine years in Paris, the dopamine capital of France. The Metro map was like a colourful board game to explore, offering new rewards whenever I threw the dice. Anonymity...

11/01/2024 22:08 - Comment(s)

As a child I loved to go to my friend Jennifer’s house for dinner. One of the reasons was the family’s meal schedule with specific meals on specific days. Every Tuesday was sausage and beans, Wednesday was fishfingers and chips and so on. This blew my mind and made me question the spontaneous eating...

11/01/2024 22:00 - Comment(s)
My Accessible Information Assessment Scheme

I'm sick of repeating myself when communicating with service-providers so I've created my personal Accessible Information Assessment Scheme. Barclays scored an F.

I believe that the benefit of considering atypical brains in communications and processes far outweighs the investment. ADHD brains deserv...

16/10/2023 16:03 - Comment(s)

2008 was a big year for adults with ADHD. For the first time health authorities in England recognised adult ADHD and guidelines were published by NICE. Whilst medication was recommended as a first line treatment, even back then the experts understood that it wasn’t enough.

27/09/2023 11:57 - Comment(s)