The 2025 UKAGP Residential Conference on Neurodiversity took place on the 26th July at the Engineering House in Bristol with contributions from Matt James, Dawn Wray, Cam Field and Ayhan Alman.
Cam Field
Cam Field is a Somatic Gestalt Psychotherapist and Supervisor based in Birmingham, she’s also AuDHD (Autistic with ADHD). She works in private practice, specialising in trauma work and neurodivergence. She’s also particularly interested in the use of photography in therapy, and power, oppression and ethics. She’s worked in the field since the early 2000s, in various roles and organisations alongside her own practice, including a charity for homeless young people, Universities and the NHS.
Resources for UKAGP attendees
– from Cam (therapycam@yahoo.co.uk if anyone wants to ask for any more or be in touch at all)
The Double Empathy Problem
Milton’s ‘double Empathy Problem’: A Summary for Non-academics
Reframing Autism’s summary, which was the print out at the conference. There are also loads of other useful pieces on this website
https://bpspsychub.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bjdp.12350
Autism and the double empathy problem: Implications for development and mental health study.
Stimpunks resource page on Double Empathy, this has some videos as well as written information. Also a great resource more generally.
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/13623613221129123
The Double Empathy Problem 10 years on, an update to the original paper
Books I’d really recommend The Neurodiversity Reader Collection edited by Damien Milton and On Being an Autistic Therapist edited by Max Marnau as good starting points.
There are absolutely loads of other books, the important thing to check usually is if the author is neurodivergent themselves and if the book is generally respected by other neurodivergent people.
General Autism resources
https://neuroclastic.com/its-a-spectrum-doesnt-mean-what-you-think/ – Autism is a Spectrum not a
Gradient – a good starting point for understanding different presentations.
https://embrace-autism.com/ – Embrace Autism – lots of resources
https://www.autismlevelup.com/ – Autism Level Up – more resources
https://www.thrivingautistic.org/ – Thriving Autistic –Ayhan mentioned this one, a great site.
https://autisticnotweird.com/ – Chris Bonello’s Autistic Not Weird site. Chris drew the cartoon I used at the start of the presentation.
Specifically for girls, women and non-binary folks
https://autisticgirlsnetwork.org/ – Autistic Girls network, useful for parents in particular. Provide various resources and support.
https://www.yellowladybugs.com.au/ – Yellow Ladybugs is Australia based, but has some great info.
ADHD
https://adhd-alien.com/ – ADHD Alien, lovely comics about ADHD experience. She has a book coming out soon.
https://jennhasadhd.com/ – Jenn has ADHD – a blog about ADHD
Groups
There are also groups on Facebook, such as https://www.facebook.com/groups/219116049856887 –
Autistic Counsellors and Psychotherapists group, and
https://www.facebook.com/groups/994803344388959 – Neurodivergent Counsellors and Psychotherapists. There are probably more I am not aware of. I think there is one specifically for trainees but I don’t know it personally.
Ayhan Alman
Ayhan Alman (he/they) is an openly Autistic Gestalt Psychotherapist and independent researcher with an online practice specifically for neurodivergent adults. He facilitates monthly meetups for Autistic adults at Thriving Autistic. In his spare time, he explores creative writing. The UKAGP Editorial Team published his first story titled “The Yellow House,” which gave him the confidence to continue writing, even with dyslexia.
Resources for neurodivergent practitioners:
Join the Neurodivergent Practitioners Directory. It’s free of charge.
Visit Thriving Autistic’s monthly meetups. Tickets are released two weeks prior to the event.
Read books that are written by Neurodivergent folks.
Learn about monotropism (Murray, 2020), gestalt language processing(Boren:2024) and the connection between both (Edgar, 2025).
Find out more about workplace adjustments.
If you are seeking a formal diagnosis, the Adult Autism Practice offers assessments and support, including ADHD.
References that might be useful:
Boren, R. (2024). Gestalt Learning. Stimpunks. https://stimpunks.org/glossary/gestalt-learning/
Edgar, H. (2025). Gestalt Language Processing, Monotropism & Young People. Autistic Realms. https://autisticrealms.com/gestalt-language-processing-monotropism-young-people/
Kansted, T. (2025). Neuro-conformity. NeuroStory Collective. https://www.neurostorycollective.com/blog/neuro-conformity
Milton, D. E. M. (2012). On the ontological status of autism: the ‘double empathy problem’. Disability & Society, 27(6), 883–887. https://doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2012.710008
Murray, D. (2020). Monotropism: An Interest-Based Account of Autism. In Encyclopedia of Autism Spectrum Disorders (pp. 1–3). Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6435-8_102269-2
If you are interested in volunteering to be part of our organising committee we’d love to hear from you! Email chair@ukagp.org.uk for more information or read our flyer.