Welcome to What’s New?
Hello, and welcome to the first edition of What’s New? – our brand-new quarterly update bringing together some of our latest programme developments. Whether you are reading this as a newsletter or visiting the update on our website, we hope it helps you discover useful information, share learning with others and feel part of the growing work to support a more neuroinclusive Wales.
Each edition of What’s New? will bring together a selection of highlights, including new resources, events, learning opportunities, engagement activity and wider programme developments. It is a chance to explore what has recently launched, discover useful information and see how our wider work is developing across Wales.
In this edition
In this first edition, we look back at some of the highlights from the year so far and share what is coming next. You can read about Neuroinclusion Matters!, new bilingual videos, Welsh-language and cultural work, updated employment resources, learning opportunities, events across Wales and our brand-new podcast series launching this autumn.
Use the links below to jump straight to the updates that interest you, or read through the full edition to see how our work is developing across Wales.
Neuroinclusion Matters!
In March, we were proud to deliver Neuroinclusion Matters!, a coproduced series of live online events held over two days during Neurodiversity Celebration Week. The series explored what neuroinclusion looks like in practice and why it matters for people, communities, services and workplaces across Wales.
The sessions brought together neurodivergent voices, lived experience and practical ideas from across Wales, including valuable contributions from Welsh speakers. Contributors shared examples of good practice and explored themes such as neuroaffirming approaches, Welsh language and culture, inclusive services and supporting neurodivergent people in everyday settings. The series encouraged reflection, learning and conversation, while highlighting the importance of listening to neurodivergent people and valuing different ways of thinking, communicating and experiencing the world.
Recordings and related resources are available on the Neurodivergence Wales website, giving you the opportunity to revisit the sessions, share the learning and continue conversations about neuroinclusion in your own communities, services and workplaces. We will continue to build on this work through future resources and learning opportunities.
New videos: Neurodiversity, Neurodivergence and Neuroaffirming practice
As part of Neuroinclusion Matters!, we explored key ideas about neurodivergence, neuroinclusion and neuroaffirming practice. To support this learning, we launched our new video, What do we mean by neuroaffirming?, during the live events.
The video explains the concept of neuroaffirming practice in simple, accessible terms, helping you understand why language, attitudes and approaches matter when supporting neurodivergent people. It is a helpful starting point if you want to think more carefully about how to create environments where neurodivergent people feel recognised, respected and included.
It builds on our earlier video, What do we mean by neurodiversity and neurodivergence?, which helps clarify common misconceptions around these terms. Together, the videos support a shared understanding of language that is often used in conversations about neuroinclusion, but not always clearly explained.
Both videos were coproduced with an advisory group and are available in Welsh and English.
Welsh language, culture and the National Eisteddfod
Welsh language access has remained a key part of our work this year, from Welsh-language contributions embedded in Neuroinclusion Matters! to bilingual videos helping to clarify terminology around neurodiversity, neurodivergence and neuroaffirming practice.
For us, Welsh language provision is an essential part of meaningful neuroinclusion. It means developing resources, terminology and tools that support neurodivergent people, families and professionals across Wales to access information in the language that matters to them.
This commitment is reflected in practical work across the programme, including Welsh-language films and resources, terminology development, translated tools, bilingual learning opportunities and the translation of Tourettes Action UK’s e-learning for GPs. We also organised a Welsh-language employment webinar, helping professionals explore neuroinclusive workplace practice through the medium of Welsh.
We were delighted to take part in this year’s National Eisteddfod as part of a Welsh Local Government Association Spotlight event celebrating the Welsh language and 30 years of the WLGA. Our presentation shared how the National Neurodivergence Team promotes Welsh across our work and highlighted how Welsh language access can be embedded meaningfully across neuroinclusion work.
Updated employment resources
Building on this wider focus on Welsh-language access and neuroinclusive practice, we have refreshed and enhanced our Employment section to help employers, managers, HR teams, colleagues and neurodivergent people take practical steps towards workplaces where neurodivergent people can feel understood, supported and able to thrive.
The updated resources offer practical guidance on understanding neurodivergence in the workplace, making reasonable adjustments, designing inclusive information, supporting meetings and communication, and creating workplace cultures where neurodivergent people can feel recognised, respected and able to contribute in ways that work for them.
Whether you are an employer thinking about how to make recruitment more inclusive, a manager planning reasonable adjustments, a colleague wanting to communicate more clearly, or a neurodivergent person looking for information to support conversations at work, the Employment section brings together practical starting points in one place.
Our resources are available bilingually, including Vicky Powner’s (Welsh Government Disabled People’s Employment Champion) Community of Practice webinar: Reasonable Adjustments for Neurodivergent People, which has helped employers and professionals explore what neuroinclusive workplace practice can look like in everyday settings.
Introducing our new Insight Sessions
Our new Insight Sessions offer a fresh way for you to explore important neurodivergence-related topics, hear different perspectives and take away practical ideas you can use in your own lives – professional and personal.
Open to everyone, these sessions are designed for people who want to build understanding and access useful, relevant learning. Each session creates space to hear from people with lived experience, professional knowledge and specialist insight, helping you reflect on what neuroinclusive approaches can look like in everyday settings.
The sessions are designed to be practical, accessible and thought-provoking. They give you the chance to explore topics in more depth, reflect on real experiences, and come away with ideas that can support conversations, decision-making and more inclusive practice.
We launched the Insight Sessions in June with sessions on ADHD & Diet with Paola Falcoski and Understanding and Supporting Neurodivergent LGBTQ+ Teens with Ian Timbrell of More Than Flags and Rainbows, bringing attention to important areas of experience, identity and support. More dates are coming soon, with future sessions continuing to explore topics that matter to neurodivergent people, families, communities and professionals across Wales.
Whether you are catching up on a session you missed, looking for a resource to support a team discussion, or exploring an issue for personal reflection, our Communities of Practice sessions and Parent and Carer Virtual Advice Sessions are still available to watch as part of our wider recordings library. The recordings offer practical information you can return to at a time that works for you.
The Insight Sessions will sit at the top of the same page, with Communities of Practice and Parent and Carer Virtual Advice Session recordings available below, making it easier for you to explore learning in one place.
Coming soon: our new podcast series
We are excited to be preparing to launch the Neurodivergence Wales Podcast this autumn – a new way to share thoughtful conversations, lived experience and practical learning from across the neurodivergence field. Once launched, the release schedule will include one Welsh language and one English language episode each month.
This brand-new podcast series will bring together neurodivergent people, families, professionals, practitioners, allies and others who are curious about neuroinclusion. Through honest discussions and shared reflections, we hope it will help more people feel connected to a growing neuroinclusive community across Wales.
The series has been shaped through planning with our advisory group of neurodivergent people and professionals, helping us develop themes and questions that feel relevant, respectful and rooted in real experience. We have been busy recording conversations with a range of guests and contributors, and we are looking forward to sharing these with you soon.
Whether you are interested in lived experience, professional learning, family perspectives or practical approaches to neuroinclusion, we hope the podcast will offer something you can listen to, reflect on and share with others. Neurodivergence is everyone’s business, and every conversation can help grow understanding, inclusion and community across Wales.
We will share details soon about where you can listen and subscribe. Please keep an eye on our website and social media channels for launch updates and help us spread the word as we get ready to share these conversations.
Out and about across Wales
Across the year, we have been out and about at talks, workshops, national conferences, shows, fairs and community events around Wales.
Being visible through these opportunities is an important part of our work. They give us space to raise awareness, share trusted information, challenge myths and misconceptions, and hear directly from neurodivergent people, families, professionals and partners about what matters to them.
Every conversation helps deepen our understanding of what neuroinclusion looks like in different communities and settings. Whether we are speaking at a conference, delivering a workshop, attending a public event or chatting with someone at a stand, we value the chance to listen, learn and connect.
We already have more events in our calendar. If you see us out and about, please come and say hello – we would love to speak with you, hear your experiences and share more about our work.
Thank you to everyone who has spoken with us, invited us to contribute, asked questions, shared experiences or shown an interest in our work this year. Your voices, ideas and reflections help shape what we do next – and remind us why this work matters across the whole of Wales.
Thank you for reading
Thank you for reading the first edition of What’s New?. We hope it has given you a useful and inspiring overview of some of the work we have been developing, sharing and learning from across Wales this year.
We invite you to explore the resources linked throughout this newsletter and across our website – use them in your own communities, services, workplaces and conversations, and share them with anyone who may find them helpful.
Please keep in touch, follow us on social media and help spread the word about free, accessible information and learning that supports a more neuroinclusive Wales. You can share this update with colleagues, teams, families, communities and anyone who may find it helpful. Future editions of What’s New? will be published quarterly, bringing together new resources, events, learning opportunities and highlights from across the National Neurodivergence Team.
Contact us at neurodivergencewales@wlga.gov.uk
Follow us on Facebook, Bluesky and LinkedIn