Speakers

We are fortunate to be welcoming a series of world-class presenters who will expand your mind with new insights, practical suggestions, and transformative discoveries.

ITAKOM presenters will reflect the neurodiversity of the world. They will address the topic of neurodiversity from personal, practitioner and academic experience.

KEYNOTE

Professor Sven Bölte
Director of the Centre of Neurodevelopmental Disorders, Karolinska Institute, Sweden

Keynote: The Neurodivergent Individual in their Unique World

Day 1, 08:50 – 09:30

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Mr Pelle Sandstrak
Public speaker and writer

Keynote: For The Sake Of Unusualness, my Life with Tourette Syndrome

Day 1, 17:05-17:45

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Professor Sue Gathercole
Chair of the REF Panel for Psychology, Psychiatry and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, UK

Keynote: The Transdiagnostic Future of Neurodiversity Research

Day 2, 16:20 – 17:00

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Paul McNeill
Scottish Football Association, Head of Community Development & Ambassador for Dyslexia Scotland

Keynote: A Life of Two Halves: How Football Saved My Life

Day 1, 16:20 – 17:00

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Dr Kathy Leadbitter
Research Fellow at the Division of Neuroscience & Experimental Psychology, University of Manchester, UK

Keynote: Moving Towards Neurodiversity-Affirmative Supports for Autistic Children and Their Families

Day 2, 12:00 – 12:40

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Pierre Magistretti
Emeritus Professor, EPFL and University of Lausanne, Switzerland

Keynote: The Ever-Changing Brain

Day 2, 08:50 – 09:30

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Holly Smale
Award-winning author & late-diagnosed autistic woman

Keynote: The Masks We Wear

Day 1, 12:00 – 12:40

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Alan Thornburrow & Professor Sue Fletcher-Watson
Chief Executive, Salvesen Mindroom Centre
Director, Salvesen Mindroom Research Centre 

Call To Action: The Future Of Neurodiversity-Affirmative Services And Society  

Day 2: 17:05 – 17:30

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BIG TALKS

Rory Bremner
Comedian, TV Personality, Presenter

Big Talk: ADHD & Me

Day 1, 09:40 – 10:30

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Bo Hejlskov Elvén, MA, Lic. EuroPsy psychologist

Psychologist and Author, PhD student, HELS, Birmingham City University

Big Talk: Processes in Denial of Care

Day 1, 09:40 – 10:30

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Lotta Borg Skoglund

Associate professor of Psychiatry at the Department of Medical Sciences at Uppsala University with a special interest in girls/women with ADHD and autism

Big Talk: We Have Failed the Girls. Total Chaos: ADHD, Hormones, and Gender Stereotypes

Day 2, 09:40 – 10:30

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Yulin Cheng
PhD student, University of Hong Kong

Big Talk: Neurodiversity in Asia: East meets west or east versus west?  

Day 1, 14:00 – 14:50

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Lotta Löfgren
Professor in Health and Society, Field of Sexology and Sexuality Studies, Dept of Social Work, Malmo University

Big Talk: Sexuality and people with intellectual disability: Unmet needs

Day 2, 14:00 – 14:50

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Dr Loretta Giorcelli OAM 
Prof of Child Development & Special Education and Author of “Quality Schools, Inclusive Practices”, Specialist Consultant to Schools & School Systems” Sydney

Big Talk: Neurodiversity in Education

Day 2, 14:00 – 14:50

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Hari Srinivasan

PhD Neuroscience student, Vanderbilt University, USA

Big Talk: Communication & Stigma

Day 2, 09:40 – 10:30

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Dr Nancy Doyle 
CRO, Genius Within CIC 

Big Talk: Neurodiversity and Employment: Where we’ve been and where we’re going 

Day 1, 14:00 – 14:50

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TOPIC SESSIONS

Dr Dinah Aitken
Head of Outreach, Salvesen Mindroom

Home-school partnerships: insights into parents and teachers in partnership

Day 1: 09:40 – 10:30

 

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Dr Kathleen Bechtold, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation

Topic Session: Neurodivergent Journeys 

Transition into Adulthood

Day 2, 11:00 – 11:50

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Dr Lindsay Mizen

Senior Clinical Research Fellow, Patrick Wild Centre; Consultant Psychiatrist, NHS Lothian

Topic Session: Routines for Happiness

Sleep in Single Gene Syndromes and Intellectual Disability

Day 1, 09:40 – 10:30

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Adam Murphy
Father and Full Time Carer

Topic Session: Routines for Happiness

A Day in the Life of an Autistic Parent and Carer

Day 1, 09:40 – 10:30

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Ciara Lawrence 
Big Plan Engagement Lead at Mencap

Topic Session: Quality in Services

You’ll Never Achieve Anything

Day 1, 14:00 – 14:50

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Holly Wagner
Actress, writer and Epilepsy Advocate

Topic Session: Neurodivergent Journeys

My Life with Epilepsy

Day 2, 11:00 – 11:50

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Dr Rachel V. Gow

Registered Nutritionist, Child Neuropsychologist, Nutritional Neuroscientist, Affiliated, King’s College London

Topic Session: Healthy Brains

Smart Foods for ADHD and Brain Health

Day 1, 15:00 – 15:50

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Dr Jamie Marshall

Surf Therapist, PhD Researcher, Edinburgh Napier University

Topic Session: Inclusive Learning

‘Off to the Beach’ Surf therapy – a New Approach to Mental Health

Day 2, 09:40 – 10:30

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Cos Michael
Autistic Autism & Ageing Consultant 

Topic Session: Whose brain is it anyway? 

Day 1, 15:00 – 15:50

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Charlotte Garnett
Jewellery designer with a speciality in ‘Anti anxiety jewellery’

Topic Session: Creative Careers

Handling It

Day 1, 11:00 – 11:50

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Sonny Hallett

Counsellor, Co Founder of AMASE

Topic Session: Professional Relationships

Counselling for Different Ways of Being

Day 2, 14:00 – 14:50

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Dr Felicity Sedgewick & Sarah Douglas
Research Partnership, University of Bristol

Topic Session: Happy families

Autistic Relationships Across the Lifespan

Day 2, 15:00 – 15:50

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Dr Katie Cebula

Sr Lecturer in Developmental Psychology, University of Edinburgh

Topic Session: Happy Families

Understanding Neurodiverse Sibling Relationships: Where Next?

Day 2: 16:00 16:50

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Lotta Borg Skoglund
Associate professor of Psychiatry at the Department of Medical Sciences at Uppsala University with a special interest in girls/women with ADHD and autism

Topic Session: Creative Careers

ADHD in the Workplace

Day 1, 11:00 – 11:50

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Dr Alyssa M Alcorn
Research and Impact Lead for the LEANS Project

Topic Session: Inclusive Learning

Learning and Teaching About Neurodiversity at School – Sustainably Over Time

Day 2, 09:40 – 10:30

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Dr Andrew McKechanie
Senior clinical research fellow and honorary consultant psychiatrist,
Patrick Wild Centre, University of Edinburgh
 

Quality Services: It takes all kinds of services. 

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WORKSHOPS

Professor Duncan Astle & Natalia Zdorovtsova

MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge
Professor of Neuroinformatics, University of Cambridge  

Workshop: Towards inclusive schools: enabling all students to flourish

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Freya Elise

Research Assistant, CRAE UCL & Autistic with ADHD

Workshop: Pushing forward in Participatory Research 

Day 2, 14:00 – 14.50

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Austeja Ciulkinyte, Katrine Gaasdal-Bech, Aisling Kenny, Danilo Negro, Julia van de Korput

University of Edinburgh, Wellcome Trust Translational Neuroscience PhD students, Cohort 7

Workshop: To treat or not to treat?

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Salvesen Mindroom Centre

Direct Help and Support Team 

Workshop: Achieving positive outcomes for neurodivergent children and young people 

Day 2, 15.00 – 15.50

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Agata Ostaszewska

Autistica, Embracing Complexity Lead

Workshop: How do we Embrace Complexity in Neurodiversity Research?

Day 2, 11:00 -11:50

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neuropo(i)nt –

Salvesen Mindroom Centre’s young people’s stakeholder group. 

Workshop: Neurodiversify your mind: neuroPointers for an inclusive existence 

Day 1, 15.00 – 15.50

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Heather Love & Natalie Frankish
PhD Student,Institute of Genetics and Cancer, University of Edinburgh
Policy & Engagement Manager Scotland, Genetic Alliance UK

Workshop: How can we Build Supportive Communities for People with Rare Syndromes?
Day 1, 11:00 – 11:50

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Supported & Delivered
by Burness Paull

Workshop: Legal Framework for Neuro-Inclusion at Work

Day 1, 14:00 – 14:50

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NEURODIVERSITY THINKERS

Professor Sue Fletcher-Watson
University of Edinburgh, Professor of Developmental Psychology

Neurodiversity Thinkers: Fundamentals of Neurodiversity

Day 1, 14:00 – 14:50

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Kassiane Asasumasu
Content & Coordination Director, Foundations for Divergent Minds

Identity Spirals: Neurodivergent Intersectionalities

Day 1, 14:00 – 14:50

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Nick Walker
Professor of Psychology, California Institute of Integral Studies, USA

Expanding the Creative Potentials of Human Neurodiversity

Day 1, 14:00 – 14:50

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Dr Robert Chapman
Senior Lecturer in Education and Autism at Sheffield Hallam University (They/Them)

Neurodiversity & the Concept of Pathology

Day 1, 09:40 – 10:30

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Holly Sutherland

Autistic Autism Researcher, University of Edinburgh

Neurodiversity Thinkers: Applied Neurodiversity

Whose ‘Support’ Is It, Anyway? A Critical Look at Supportive Environments

Day 2, 09:40 – 10:30

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Whitney Iles
Founder CEO of Project 507, Autistic Woman

Neurodiversity Thinkers: (Un)Supportive Systems

Neurodiversity in the Criminal Justice System

Day 2, 14:00 – 14:50

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René Brooks
Founder of Black Girl, Lost Keys

Neurodiversity Thinkers: (Un)Supportive Systems

The U in Community

Day 2, 14:00 – 14:50

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Dr Max Davie

Consultant Community Paediatrician, Evelina London 

Neurodiversity Thinkers: Applied Neurodiversity

Supportive Care to Support Neurodivergent Children – Barriers and Successes

Day 2, 09:40 – 10.30

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PANEL DISCUSSIONS


No Mind Left Behind…at the Clinic
An expert panel discussion on neurodiversity in health and social care

Chair: Dr Andy Stanfield 
Director of Clinical Research, University of Edinburgh’s Patrick Wild Centre

Day 1, 11:00 – 11:50

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No Mind Left Behind…in the Community
Exploring the neurodiversity paradigm in our wider society

Chair: Dr Joe Long
Research and Policy Lead, Scottish Autism

Day 2, 15:00 – 15:50

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No Mind Left Behind…in the Workplace
What the neurodiversity paradigm means for employers and employees.

Chair: Aileen Shrimpton & Rachel Mathesen
Salvesen Mindroom Centre

Day 1, 15:00 – 15:50

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No Mind Left Behind…in Education
How is the neurodiversity paradigm is shaping education?

Chair: Dr Rachael Davis
Queen Margaret University

Day 2, 11:00 – 11:50

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