Alice Hewson

Alice is an author, writer and speaker based in Gateshead in Northeast England, with a background in charity communications, journalism and youth work. She has master’s degrees in both Community and Youth Work and Magazine Journalism.

From a young age, Alice has always felt different and often struggled to fit in. She longed for a sense of belonging, to be included and valued. She was diagnosed with dyspraxia as a child at the age of seven, and since her teenage years has experienced periods of anxiety and poor mental health. It wasn’t until her 30’s when she was diagnosed with ADHD that she started to make sense of her neurodivergent identity.

After developing her career, which has given her opportunities to work with different communities, understand challenges people face and reflect on her own, she has turned her attention to exploring in greater depth inclusion in the workplace. This thinking was inspired by a recent workplace and line manager who was supportive of growth whatever someone’s differences, identity, or challenges. This is where she learned about systemic inclusion for the first time and understood how it felt to be included. She wanted to share this learning with others.

Moments of reflection throughout her career eventually led to writing and publishing her debut book “Neurodiversity in the Workplace: How to create a safe and supportive environment” which is an achievement she continues to be deeply proud of. It is about promoting systemic inclusion and universal design at work, cultivating community and making the workplace a positive place to be and most importantly be yourself in. The book grew out of her own experiences as a neurodivergent person at work, and passion for change.

Alice wrote 'neurodiversity in the workplace' because she wants organisations to consider what inclusion really means in policy and practice, and to share her dream for a better, fairer and more just world for neurodivergent folk in the workplace. She believes that if we work together, we can achieve that dream.

Shortly after her book was released, Alice went through redundancy, and suddenly understood why her book, and more research and understanding on inclusion in the workplace and during recruitment is very much needed. Redundancy, especially related to neurodivergent people’s challenges isn’t often spoken about. She was suddenly thrown into a world of endless applications, and interviews. Tasks that weren’t written or communicated well, and ambiguous expectations of job adverts. She came face to face with practices that were not built to include. Organisations queried the need for reasonable adjustments and face to face interviews were in busy, noisy environments that were not neurodivergent friendly. As disheartening and exhausting the process felt, she considered how it must be for others, those who don’t have the language to describe inclusion, people who remain undiagnosed due long waiting lists and others who need different methods to communicate. It is for these people that Alice continues to speak and write about the injustices many neurodivergent people face when going through redundancy, job hunting or finding a community where they can belong.

Alice has appeared on national radio, live panel discussions, podcasts and been interviewed for magazine features. She has successfully generated interest from several employers and delivered talks on inclusion for a wide range of organisations across the charity, public and private sectors. She hopes sharing her learning and experiences, will provide hope for others for the future.

Her writing and speaking draws on the challenging, complex, and often difficult to talk about topics, to tackle stigma, normalise difference and being vulnerable, to raise awareness of the issues people face.

She is available for speaking, panel discussions and workshops for workplaces, charities, businesses, schools and youth organisations. She offers both online and in person talks and events and is happy to travel anywhere within the UK.