2026 Presenters' Bios

Anna Blair

Presenting: Exploring the historical context of the marginalisation of autistic women

Anna is an autistic PhD student. Having studied both architecture (BArch) and digital sociology (MSc), she developed an ongoing interest in digital spatiality. Receiving her late-diagnosis led her to autistic online spaces and her current SENSS-funded PhD project on autistic women’s digital and spatial experiences. Her artistic practice has focused on autistic spaces, online forums and questions of public space, and digital avatars. Her writing on autistic space has been published by Type.ie and in the ‘Autistic Autonomy’ Autistica Zine. Anna is also a member of the Autism@Manchester Expert by Lived Experience Group.

Arden Tsang

Presenting: Proto-neurodiversity and autistic life at a rural care facility in Japan

Having moved from Hong Kong to the UK, Arden has experienced life as an autistic person in many cultures. They are a founding member of the Neurodiversity Group at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, which is currently investigating the effects of support services; and autistic-autistic interactions, autistic-non-autistic interactions and understanding.
Arden has spent the past year as the only autistic care worker at a 農福連携 (combined care and agriculture) facility in rural Japan, which has been operating since the 1960s. They hold a BA in Neuroscience, and will be studying at Edinburgh this coming academic year.

Courtney Ward

Presenting: Changing perspectives writing workshop

Courtney is a neurodivergent and chronically ill writer, artist, published photographer and advocates for others through her creative mediums and helps acceptance come thorough within society.
She speaks the truth loud and clear bravely, turning the heartache into heart-make.
She is also a published poet, having had her work all over the country including with headlines and has been on radios and podcasts, including spoken label and Angelic sit down
She works with Beyond the spectrum as a shadow writer. She is also a member of Enfield town steering group representing inclusivity for a local autism support charity.

Daniel Gill

Presenting: Neurodiversity, Autism, and Academic research

Daniel is an autistic PhD candidate and researcher at Queen Mary University of London, working on robotics and psychology. He aims to understand where neurodivergent people have different sensory and motor experiences experimentally using robotic systems, to design and develop inclusive and truly useful technologies.
Daniel co-runs the QMUL MINDS network, building on his own experiences of a disconnect between neurodivergent people and researchers. Through MINDS, he has hosted inclusive workshops where these two groups can discuss research in an equal space. He’s also done (surprisingly okay) autism/science-themed stand-up comedy on a few occasions.

David Gray-Hammond

Presenting: The autistic Ecosystem: An ecological approach to Autistic community and wellbeing

David Gray-Hammond is a multiply neurodivergent author and independent researcher. He has written multiple books, including "The New Normal", "A Guide To Autism And Psychosis", and "Re-Storying Autism".
He has published research on the topic of substance use in the Autistic community, and is CEO of NeuroHub Community Ltd, a social enterprise creating online peer support spaces for both groups and individuals, as well as providing wider research and training consultancy.

Dr Mary Doherty

Presenting: Proxy disclosure: how “neurodivergent” might perpetuate shame

Mary has been attending Autscape for over a decade. Initially, she was just Mary from Ireland. It was several years before she told anyone she was a doctor. Even longer before she told medical colleagues she was autistic. Now an internationally recognised clinical academic in autism research, her work focuses on autistic people in healthcare, both as patients and providers. She is founder of Autistic Doctors International, and parent to two autistic young adults. Discovering a passion for skiing, she qualified as a ski instructor and teaches autism awareness in snow sports as well as healthcare.

Jorik Mol

Presenting: Neurochauvenism: The start of a conversation

Jorik Mol (he/they) is an activist, author and educator on autism and neurodiversity. He has written several books including 'Breaking the Boundaries', 'Feeling Fast and Slow' and his novel 'Teeming'.
He also works as a DSA-mentor to autistic students, fights to end conversion therapy/ABA, is involved in a variety of activist projects and autistic-led research, facilitates neuroqueer support groups and runs QND. Jorik lives in Frome, UK, with his fiancé Luke and a lot of cuddly toys and books. Though less than we've had before. Thanks be Marie Kondo.
Find Jorik at: https://www.jorikmol.com

Malika Bouazzaoui

Presenting: AI uses for autistic minds: threats and opportunities

Malika Bouazzaoui is a consultant in AI and digital health, with more than a decade of experience in artificial intelligence and digital mental health. She supports the UK government in deciding which mental health solutions to finance to resolve the current mental health crisis at scale. She is also a mental health professional with experience in the NHS and in supporting autistic people.

Marte Dalmo

Presenting: Visibility Logic: When systems only trust what they see

Marte Dalmo is an autistic researcher, author and teacher from Norway. Her work focuses on autistic masking, support systems and neurodiversity-informed education. She developed the concept of visibility logic to describe how institutions interpret and reinforce autistic masking by relying on outwardly visible signs of functioning and distress. Her article on visibility logic was published in Disability & Society in 2026, and she presented the work at INSAR 2026 in Prague. She has a master’s degree in special education, experience as a teacher in Norwegian schools, and has published both poetry and children’s literature.

Sef

Presenting: Playful bookbinding workshop

Sef is a queer neurodivergent artist and writer searching for poetics of transformation through the everyday. They write fragments and make books, and occasionally publish in magazines, show in exhibitions, and participate in zine fairs. They are interested in creative practices that are small, fragmented, discontinuous and drifting. Their favourite thought forms are constellations and weaving. They recently co-edited and partly hand made an experimental book of collective writing titled Missing Out.

Simone Aspis

Presenting: Free our people now

Simone Aspis is neuro-divergent with 30 years’ experience of leading on disability rights campaigns working with People First, Alliance for Inclusive Education and Inclusion London. Simone led on the campaign for the Equality Act and Disability Discrimination Act. She has set up the Free Our People Now after her peer advocate experience working with Autistic inpatients wanting to challenge hospital detention and move into their local community. She has been a SENDIST representative supporting young people and their parents wanting mainstream education placement. She has a Graduate Diploma in Law and MA in Ethics and Law in Healthcare Practice.

Yo

Presenting: But that’s not right! Challenges, complaints and the autistic sense of justice

Yo is a legal trainer with extensive experience of both challenging and working with public services to encourage positive change. She is driven by her autistic sense of justice and has both professional and personal experience through which she has developed her understanding of how to complain and challenge most effectively and also of how to avoid burnout whilst doing so.

Zoe McFarlane

Presenting: What are you good at? A strengths identification workshop

Zoe McFarlane is an educator and coach with a particular interest in using positive psychology tools for supporting autistic adults. She holds an MSc in Psychology, is a member of the British Psychological Society and Association for Coaching, and has published peer-reviewed research on positive therapy experiences for late-diagnosed autistic women. She is herself a late-diagnosed autistic adult and brings both professional expertise and lived experience to her work.