Autism Arena

Empowering minds,
transforming futures

Supporting neurodivergent people by strengthening the systems around them.

Building understanding, skills, and support around neurodivergent lives

We exist to help improve the outcomes of neurodivergent people by strengthening their families, environments and opportunities that shape their lives. Our work recognises that support does not end at childhood, diagnosis, or education, but continues into adulthood, through careers, leadership, and wellbeing. By combining social impact with practical workplace expertise, we help neurodivergent people thrive across every stage of their life.

Learn About Us

Supporting families through our non-profit CIC services

Through our nonprofit Community Interest Company, we support families to access funded, practical support that creates opportunities for neurodivergent children and young people to thrive. By considering each child holistically, we help families understand their child’s needs, navigate services and become stronger advocates while supporting carer’s wellbeing, helping everyone to thrive.

Learn more

Building inclusive, future-ready workplaces

Neurodivergence is an increasingly visible part of today’s workforce. We partner with employers to move beyond awareness and create inclusive, accessible environments where all employees can thrive. By understanding differences and supporting wellbeing, organisations unlock higher engagement, stronger collaboration, and improved performance, giving teams the resilience and innovation needed to stay ahead in a competitive market.

We provide practical, evidence-based support including:

  • Employee resource group (ERG) development
  • Sensory and cognitive environment audits
  • Employee voice and co-production work
  • Bespoke training for leaders and teams

This includes supporting previously unidentified neurodivergent adults such as perimenopausal women, high-performing specialists, and monotropic leaders. This improves communication, performance, and psychological safety across organisations.

Partnering with us delivers social value. Fees from our workplace services directly support our non-profit CIC, funding early support for neurodivergent children and young people. This creates tangible social impact while helping your organisation build inclusive, high-performing workplaces.

Learn More

Our Supporters

Become a Volunteer

Contact Us

Follow on Eventbrite

Follow Us

Testimonials

  • Autism Arena have been an invaluable source of advice and support for our family. Their knowledge, expertise and passion shine through. They have empowered us to secure the best possible support for our son.
    LS, Parent, Leeds

     

  • he advice that I have received from autism arena has been invaluable for navigating the health, education and social care systems in relation to my son. It has been pivotal in transforming a very overwhelming and anxiety provoking situation into something more manageable. The information provided by them was very clear and concise which enabled me to more effectively advocate for him in a constructive way. I’m extremely grateful and couldn’t recommend them enough to anyone else who is struggling in similar circumstances. 

     

  • It was a great opportunity for parents/carers to get advice and support from a professional, so that they feel more confident in supporting their children. It also gave them the chance to network with other parents/carers with similar experiences. We would love more of these sessions in this area. 

     

  • Gillian makes understanding neurodivergence and applying it to your work straightforward. The workshop is a fantastic tool for staff development.
    Anthony Waddington, CEO Participate Projects 
  • Gillian delivered a workshop to our staff team, supporting how to work more effectively with neurodivergent people. It is easy to believe she was a GP due to her ability to take complex biological information and relay it in layman’s terms. It was accessible, engaging and I feel in a much better place to support my neurodivergent clients moving forward.
    Paul Kilgallon, Business Coach 
  • 100% said they enjoyed it, 100% said they found it useful/helpful. What they enjoyed most:  found Dr Gillian very approachable, her speech was at a good pace and she had a lot of information to share; The Q&A, Getting a deep understanding of the different responses to situations and environment for neurodivergent colleagues.
    ITV, Employee Resource Group 
  • 100% said they enjoyed it, 100% said they found it useful/helpful. What they enjoyed most:  found Dr Gillian very approachable, her speech was at a good pace and she had a lot of information to share; The Q&A, Getting a deep understanding of the different responses to situations and environment for neurodivergent colleagues.
  • This was very informative and supportive session and will aid me hugely in future practice.
  •  Useful for my role – all parts were very helpful and valuable. I will now try to be more understanding with all the difficulties these students go through 
  • I would recommend this to all my fellow youth workers and anyone who works in an alternative provision or mainstream school! Simple to understand, speaker very  personable, relatable, understanding and kind. Great presentation
  • Really useful session to help development workers understand how to engage/work with neurodivergent people from a person with lived experience. Relaxed and informal learning