My Story
From isolated Autistic and ADHD Child - to fatherhood, Social Worker, Author, Speaker, Diagnostic Clinician, Cat Lover, Skydiver, and Lover of Life and People.
Early Life I was born on the 7th of August 1990 in Derry, NI. As a child, I didn't walk or talk as quickly as other children, plus I lined up my toy cars on the windowsill of our family home. I had the same challenges many kids like me had: didn't have many friends, survived on limited food options, lacked a sense of danger (Paediatric Adrenaline Seeker as I call it), school refusal, and my parents had to battle for me to succeed every single day.
Adulthood and Career My parents had a dream, of becoming empty nesters. So they taught me to do grown up handy things like: driving, making food, using a washing machine, managing money (even though I still bankrupted myself later on. Oops), and encouraged me to join youth groups. I then became a social worker specialising in Mental Health for both adults and children.
From Autistic Child to Autistic Dad My life changed forever when my son Ethan was born on the 23rd of July 2013. I was 22 when Ethan was born, and only 6 years prior, I had a classroom assistant with me in school. I had to make a conscious decision to get support to get myself out of a burnout cycle to be the best parent I could be.
Our Programs and Resources The early years of fatherhood inspired me to write my debut book "Why Does Daddy Always Look So Sad?" on the 29th of April 2018. Following it's release, I found myself being invited to speak at conferences, hosting podcasts, providing training, travelling the world to tell my story, leaving my day job as a social worker, supporting families/adults on a daily basis to access diagnostics, and then becoming a diagnostic clinician myself. I have been privileged to win literary awards, business awards, give two TEDx talks, and want to show you what is possible with the right perspective. My next big goal is to climb Mount Everest.
How I Can Support You/Your Family
First and foremost, I can offer one on one practical advice and support. For years I tried to design "Autism/ADHD Training" but because each individual is so unique, I found it an impossible battle to please everyone with: an hour or so of time, a few slides, and some mildly entertaining anecdotes.
Online research will only yield generic advice. After nearly two decades of working with children, adults, and entire family circles, I have built an almost endless repertoire of handy tips and guidance. I can support with school/learning challenges, home struggles, work struggles, diagnostics, and real world support.
Many speakers and events in the Neurodiversity space tend to be heavy, overwhelming, and fuelled by trauma. My ethos for events is to energise and entertain your attendees/staff whilst giving an impactful helpful message. After more than 10,000 stage hours comprised of training seminars, arena conferences, and expo shows, I have you covered. I am an easy guest/host. I promise I won't request removal of the blue M&Ms. I will make sure you remove the yellow ones though...
