Neurodiversity Community Awareness Advocates
Real voices. Ground-up impact. Real change for Northern Ireland.
Change doesn’t begin in institutions; it starts in communities, in living rooms, workplaces, support groups and even WhatsApp chats.
Our Community Awareness Advocates are people with lived experience of neurodivergence who stand shoulder to shoulder with others.
Local Changemakers
They’re not volunteers or staff – they’re local changemakers, using their stories, networks and skills to challenge inequality, speak truth to power, and influence how neurodivergence is supported in Northern Ireland.
They raise awareness, meet with stakeholders, respond to policy change, speak at events, and represent SPARK’s mission across sectors. Together, they help us fight for better access to services, clearer pathways to support, and a future where lived experience leads the way.
Belfast City Hall 11.30am – 1.30pm 28 June 2025
Meet the Community Awareness Advocates
Trish O’Hara
PDA & Lived Experience Support: Trish is based in Belfast and brings professional expertise alongside lived experience. She’s the founder of PDA Family Hub NI and co-creator of Northern Ireland’s first neuro-affirming, parent-led SEN support system within a mainstream post-primary school. Trish is deeply committed to improving systems through compassion, knowledge, and grassroots advocacy.
Stevie Dooley
Visibility, Intersectionality & Systems Change: Stevie works in tech, where they’ve helped build neurodiversity employee resource groups and shape inclusive pathways within private healthcare. A committed advocate for equity and access, Stevie’s approach centres on intersectionality, linking disability, gender, race, and economic justice in the wider push for policy and social reform.
Kirsty Gillen
Higher Education & Peer Support: Kirsty is a parent and proud neurodivergent woman based in Belfast, living with ADHD and dyslexia. She works in digital technology, supporting staff and students in higher education. Kirsty champions neurodiversity at work through events, awareness-building, and peer support, and is especially passionate about empowering neurodivergent parents before and after childbirth.
We are protesting in June
Across Northern Ireland, some GP surgeries are now refusing to continue ADHD prescriptions for people who began their care privately — even when those patients are under the care of qualified consultants and meeting every requirement.
Protest countdown
Background
This has created a two-tier system:
One tier for people who could wait for NHS care. Another for those who couldn’t - and are now being told to pay hundreds per month for the same medication.
NHS waitlists
Let’s be honest, most people didn’t opt for private care because they wanted to. They went private because the NHS waitlists were too long, the need was urgent, and there were no other options.
Human rights
This protest isn’t just about prescriptions, it’s about human rights not being met. It’s about making sure neurodivergent people aren’t punished for trying to survive a broken system. It’s about demanding fairness, consistency, and action.
Removing Shared Care isn’t a solution
The under-resourcing of ADHD services in the NHS is the root issue – but moving Shared Care isn’t a solution. It deepens the inequality and pushes people further out of reach.
We’re raising our voices to say:
No more two-tier system. No more quiet suffering.