Neurodiversity Navan

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Neurodiversity Navan Proudly promoting Neurodiversity and inclusion of neurodivergent people and families in the Navan �

It's hard not to notice the irony.For generations, autistic and ADHD women and girls were overlooked.Now that women are ...
21/10/2026

It's hard not to notice the irony.

For generations, autistic and ADHD women and girls were overlooked.

Now that women are finally being identified, there are concerns about overdiagnosis.

Isn't it ironic how it becomes a problem when women start getting answers.

Perhaps the bigger question is why so many girls were missed in the first place.

*Note the timeliness in the image is illustrative. The irony of moving from generations of underrecognition to claims of "overdiagnosis" is not.

Parents shouldn't have to become advocates just to access their children's basic rights.Yet so many of us find ourselves...
20/10/2026

Parents shouldn't have to become advocates just to access their children's basic rights.

Yet so many of us find ourselves learning legislation, challenging decisions, gathering evidence, and fighting battles we never imagined having to fight.

Not because we want to, but because too often, it's the only way to get our children's needs recognised.

And somewhere along the way, we've normalised this expectation that parents must fight, persist and challenge just to secure what our children should already be entitled to.

Advocacy should be about driving change, not securing access to rights that should already exist.

15/10/2026

Why are Autistic children still fighting for a place in education?

Yesterday, I spoke with Gerry Kelly on LMFM about the reality of trying to secure a post-primary school place for my autistic daughter.

What should be an exciting milestone for any child and their family is instead an incredibly difficult and uncertain experience.

The lack of autism class places is deeply concerning. But beyond the numbers, there are also significant barriers for autistic children simply trying to explore their school options, including attending open nights that are often inaccessible to the very children these schools are supposed to welcome.

We talk so much about inclusion in education, but inclusion has to begin long before a child walks through the school gates.

Autistic children deserve more than whatever place happens to become available. They deserve genuine choice, accessible environments and the opportunity to attend school within their own communities.

Grateful to Gerry Kelly and for giving this issue a platform.

I wish we had more conversations with our children about disability and difference. 🩷Not just when a question comes up o...
10/10/2026

I wish we had more conversations with our children about disability and difference. 🩷

Not just when a question comes up or when they meet someone who does things differently but as part of everyday conversations.

Sometimes, we underestimate just how much children can understand when we give them the opportunity.

People communicate differently, have different needs, and experience the world in different ways. And that none of those differences make someone less deserving of understanding, friendship, or belonging.

I'd love for more children to grow up seeing difference as something completely ordinary. Because that is exactly what it is. 🌸✨

The education system, and particularly our recent search for a school place, has brought so much reflection and some unc...
07/10/2026

The education system, and particularly our recent search for a school place, has brought so much reflection and some uncomfortable realities.

We can be genuinely grateful for the people who make a difference while still questioning why so much of our access and inclusion depends on favours and goodwill.

Kindness matters enormously. But rights should never feel like favours. 🩷

A personal Opinion piece from me in the paper this week.I’ve written before about the lack of autism class places, but I...
06/10/2026

A personal Opinion piece from me in the paper this week.

I’ve written before about the lack of autism class places, but I also wanted to share an account of what it actually feels like as a parent trying to find the right school for your child, and the toll that process takes.

The sleepless nights. The worry. The constant calculations. And the uncomfortable reality that, when places are so scarce, autistic children and their families are expected to feel grateful for whatever they can get.

Our children deserve more than that. They deserve choice, too.

Grateful to Meath Chronicle for giving space to a reality that is all too common for far too many families. 🩷

For too long, disability support has been shaped by a charity, grace, and favour model where support can feel like somet...
05/10/2026

For too long, disability support has been shaped by a charity, grace, and favour model where support can feel like something kindly given, rather than something a child needs and has a right to access.

And that shapes us as parents too.

We learn to feel lucky. To be grateful for whatever we get. To worry that asking for more might make us seem demanding or ungrateful.

But our children’s rights should never depend on goodwill, generosity or whether someone decides to say yes.

Having their needs met shouldn't be based on postcode, it shouldn't be based on the school they were lucky enough to get, and it shouldn't be based upon how strongly their parents can advocate.

Having their needs met shouldn't feel exceptional. It should feel ordinary.

For too long, disability support has been shaped by a charity, grace, and favour model, where support can feel like some...
05/10/2026

For too long, disability support has been shaped by a charity, grace, and favour model, where support can feel like something kindly given, rather than something a child needs and has a right to access.

And that shapes us as parents too.

We learn to feel lucky. To be grateful for whatever we get. To worry that asking for more might make us seem demanding or ungrateful.

But our children’s rights should never depend on goodwill, generosity, or whether someone decides to say yes.

It shouldn't depends on their postcode, their school, or how strongly their parents can advocate.

Having their needs met shouldn’t feel exceptional. It should feel ordinary.

If you know, you know. ✨It really is the little things… that aren’t actually little at all. 💛
03/10/2026

If you know, you know. ✨

It really is the little things… that aren’t actually little at all. 💛

Sometimes it feels like the easiest option is to just accept that this is the way things are. That this is how the syste...
30/09/2026

Sometimes it feels like the easiest option is to just accept that this is the way things are.

That this is how the system works.

That we should be grateful for whatever is available.

But accepting inequity is how it continues.

If we wouldn't accept it for every child, we shouldn't accept it for autistic children either.

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