More About Neurodiversity Spark
Strengths-focussed | Trauma-informed | Lived-experience led
Neurodiversity Spark is a lived-experience-led organisation based in Northern Ireland, dedicated to creating environments where neurodivergent people can thrive.
We combine research, education, and advocacy to make workplaces, learning spaces, and communities more inclusive, trauma-informed, and empowering.
Research, education, advocacy
Our work is built around three connected strands:
Research & Insight: Through our Spark Research Lab and collaborations with universities, we explore neuroinclusion, lived experience, and the social impact of late diagnosis, informing practice and policy across sectors.
Education & Learning: We design and deliver workshops, talks, and training for organisations, helping them understand neurodiversity through practical, real-world lenses that centre lived experience.
Trauma-Informed Support & Advocacy: Our developing advocate service and community programmes provide guidance and peer-informed support for neurodivergent adults navigating work, education, and daily life.
Systems that work for all
We’re a growing team led by a CEO and a small executive board of directors overseeing research, education, training and trauma-informed practice. Together with our delivery partners, community members, and collaborators across Northern Ireland, we’re building a connected, compassionate space where neurodiversity is understood and appreciated.
Neurodivergent-led service response
We are not a consultancy in disguise. We’re not a charity with a corporate mask. We an evolving, responsive, human-first space. Built by us, for us.
We aim to be a collaboration machine
We are quickly establishing partnerships with key stakeholders, including charities, universities, and governmental organisations, amplifying our advocacy work.
We understand how it feels
We know what it feels like to be missed, misdiagnosed, and misunderstood and we’re building what we needed ourselves: Support that listens. Services that work. Spaces that heal.
Our vision
To create an inclusion-first society where belonging is built in from the start and every mind is valued for its strengths.
When inclusion becomes the default, everyone thrives!
Our mission
We’re here to ease harm and help people grow.
Through compassionate, trauma-informed, and evidence-based work, Neurodiversity Spark supports neurodivergent people and their communities to feel safe, understood, and empowered.
We bring together empathy, research, and lived experience to raise the standards of care and inclusion everywhere we go.
Our Core Values
Empowerment
We help people build confidence, agency, and self-belief through compassion, understanding, and support.
Community
We nurture a safe, inclusive space where people connect, heal, and grow together.
Lived Experience
We lead with lived experience, using real stories to shape systems that understand, include, and empower.
Co-creation
We work with, not for, individuals and organisations to design inclusive solutions that last.
Inclusion by Design
We champion inclusion as the starting point, not the goal - belonging built in from the start.
Advocacy
We speak truth to power, amplify lived experience, and work to dismantle the barriers that limit potential.
Reimagining Systems
We challenge outdated models and turn understanding into action, building a society where everyone can thrive.
Our work is grounded in:
Lived Experience
Every service we offer is shaped by those it’s meant to help.
Trauma-Informed Practice
We focus on understanding the context, not just the condition. We prefer the term "Neuroinclusive Practice" while respecting the meaning of "Trauma."
Strengths-Based Support
Helping everyone unlock their potential and tackle challenges with a smile. We believe in a positive mindset that opens up endless possibilities!
We collaborate with:
- Employers, third sector orgs, health & education partners
- Neurodivergent individuals and entrepreneurs
- Academic institutions and government bodies
Want to Work With Us?
Let’s build something better, together. Whether you’re:
- A neurodivergent person looking for support
- An organisation ready to change how you work
- A researcher, policymaker or funder interested in collaboration...
Spark is ready to meet you where you are.
