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Kate is stood leaning against a tree. She is looking towards her left, wearing light grey jeans, a blue and white stripped top and cream jacket.  She is laughing.

Hi, I'm Kate (she/her)

I am a white, LGBTQ+, neurodivergent (autistic ADHD), Speech and Language Therapist and Sensory Integration Practitioner.  I also work as a Relationships and Sex Education Practitioner. Alongside these areas of interest, I have over a decade of experience in both clinical and operational management and leadership and championing intersectionality-focused, neurodiversity-affirming practice in the workplace. 

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I understand that in visiting my website, you may be doing so to decide whether you'd like to get in touch about working together. This is really important. When we're looking to commission a therapist, most people do not have the time, nor resources to audition lots of them, to find the right person.  Therefore, below you will find information about my approach, training, current commitments to ongoing learning, voluntary roles, background and values.

 

I hope this is helpful. ​However, if there is anything else you need to know, please do get in touch with me as I'd be happy to have a conversation.

Who I Work With

Individuals, Families & Couples

Please note, I do not work with early years and children under 8

Schools, Colleges & Universities

Businesses, Charities &  Organisations

Health Professionals & Clinical Services

My Focus Areas

Speech and Language Therapy

Story telling through whatever means works for an individual, is incredibly empowering and healing. I'm a huge advocate for supporting people to develop language for their own and others' experiences.

Through exploration together, utilising an approach which is both collaborative and holistic, I support neurodivergent people to understand their communication preferences and support needs, including identifying any skills they wish to develop.  This can include self-advocacy, perspective taking, developing vocabulary, understanding socially dominant norms and common neurodivergent norms. 

Sensory Integration and Processing

Being dual qualified allows me to support neurodivergent people to understand their own, or their loved one's sensory processing preferences and support needs.

Sensory processing and integration has a close relationship with communication. Through exploration, I support neurodivergent people, their families, educators and carers to understand sensory identity, preferences, support and accommodations needs, including environmental support.

Relationships and Sex Education

I’m passionate about disability and sexuality rights. Influenced by my own lived experiences, I believe everyone deserves the opportunity to safely enjoy relationships, identity expression, intimacy, pleasure, and sex, if they desire.

In one way or another, this has always been part of my work since my days as a Support Worker for people with learning disabilities began, in 2008. I work with neurodivergent people and people with intellectual disabilities, their families, educators, carers and other professionals to provide accessible and comprehensive RSE. Find out more by clicking here.

Intersectionality-Focused Practice

Neurodiversity and the Workplace

With everything I do, intersectionality-focused practice is at the forefront of my mind. Over the last few years, my knowledge and language has grown extensively in relation to Disability Justice, intersectional identities, intersectionality and the systems of oppression which underpin the ableism so many people experience and many of us are working towards dismantling.

 

I’m proud to be a Speech and Language Therapist, however, I recognise the role I can play in decolonialising the profession and utilising privilege meaningfully.  This journey is ongoing and certainly won’t be without mistakes, however, all growth is necessary and crucial for truly neurodiversity-affirming practice.

With over 15 years of experience in management and leadership roles, I know firsthand the impact on neurodivergent wellbeing, when workplace environments and systems do not cater to the diverse needs of its employees. Likewise, I have observed the joys and benefits to individuals, teams and workplaces when they have fostered inclusive and supportive workplaces.

 

I bring both work-based and lived experience to my work with organisations and I’m passionate about helping them embrace neurodivergence, not as a challenge to overcome, but as an incredible strength that drives creativity, innovation, and collaboration.

Values-Led Practice

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Intersectionality and Inclusivity

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Strengths-Based

Leadership

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Neurodiversity-Affirming Practice

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Collaboration

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Anti-Oppression and Disability Justice

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Reflective and Continuous Learning

Neurodiversity-Affirming Practice & Social Justice

Neurodiversity-affirming practice goesbeyond individual support—it requires recognising the broader systems that shape our experiences. Many neurodivergent people face overlapping forms of marginalisation, including racism, ableism, transphobia and other systemic barriers. Without actively addressing these dynamics, therapy can reinforce the very structures that create harm.

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I’m committed to building a practice that not only supports individuals but also challenges those systemic harms—through reflection, unlearning, and action. As a white, neurodivergent practitioner, I approach this as a lifelong process. I don’t always get it right, but I hold myself accountable to listening, growing, and creating spaces that are grounded in justice, care, and inclusion.

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This work is ongoing, imperfect, and deeply important. I welcome connection and conversation about how these values show up in my practice—and how they might shape our work together.

“The trouble is that once you see it, you can't unsee it. And once you've seen it, keeping quiet, saying nothing, becomes as political an act as speaking out. There's no innocence. Either way, you're accountable.”

― Arundhati Roy

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Listen to my episode with
The Late Discovered Podcast with Catherine Asta

My Training and Registrations

  • Speech and Language Therapy (BSc), University of St Mark and St John, Plymouth

  • ​Postgraduate Certificate in Sensory Integration, University of Ulster and Sensory Integration Education

  • Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RCSLT) registration

  • Health Care and Professional Council (HCPC) registration

  • Association of Speech and Language Therapists in Independent Practice (ASLTIP) membership

All Speech and Language Therapists are expected to complete at least 30 hours of Continuing Professional Development, per year, relevant to their role.  Some of the CPD I completed during 2024 included:

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  • Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for SLT's

  • Mindfulness for SLT's

  • National Autistic Society's Annual Conference

  • Active Bystander training

  • University of Central Lancashire's Leadership for Allied Health Professions 

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So far, my 2025 CPD has included:

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Above all, I center lived experience. I am deeply curious and committed to lifelong learning, in fact it dawned on me fairly recently, that it is probably a deep interest of mine and that learning, diversifying my knowledge and perspective provides the parts of my neurology that seek it, novelty and stimulation.

 

I believe that it is important to prioritise the voices and knowledge of those often excluded from research, mainstream trainings, and academia. I like to get a dose of learning each day, particularly the wisdom of lived experience which supports me to develop my thinking and practice in line with anti-colonial/anti-oppressive principles.

Kate is sat on a rock on Dartmoor smiling, wearing sports clothing and sunglasses.  She looks towards her right and is smiling.

My Identities and Work

“Nobody’s free until everybody’s free.”
- Fannie Lou Hamer

I grew up in Derbyshire, moved to Cornwall in 2008, and settled in Devon in 2013. It wasn’t until 2017, in a supervision session, that I began to question my neurotype. A comment from my supervisor sparked what would become a deeper realisation—I’m late-discovered autistic and ADHD.

I’m also queer, but didn’t begin exploring that part of myself until my early twenties. Growing up in a predominantly white, middle-class, heteronormative environment, I lacked the language and access to diverse experiences to make sense of myself. As a child and young adult, I often felt like an outsider—moving between groups, observing, adapting, and searching for belonging in systems that weren’t made for me.

Discovering I’m AuDHD helped make sense of these lifelong feelings and sharpened my awareness of how many systems—from education to healthcare to workplace cultures—fail to honour neurodivergent experience.

That’s why the Neurodiversity Paradigm (Walker, 2023) and social justice work are central to my practice. They challenge deficit narratives and affirm that difference is valuable. I believe neurodiversity-affirming practice must go beyond individual support and recognise how ableism, racism, and other systems of oppression intersect and shape our lives.

I don’t see myself as an expert. I see myself as someone committed to unlearning internalised whiteness and ableism, and to building liberatory, inclusive systems. I draw on Talila Lewis’ definition of ableism as a guidepost and acknowledge the ongoing work this requires—reflection, accountability, and active change.

My work is informed by both lived and work-based experiences—including roles in Speech and Language Therapy, leadership, and clinical supervision, working across the public and private sectors. I now work both independently and within the NHS in post-diagnosis adult autism and mental health services. I use a collaborative, values-led, rights-based approach rooted in compassion, curiosity, and co-creation.

Whether I’m supporting individuals or systems, speaking at events or facilitating learning spaces, my aim is the same: to affirm, to reflect, and to support collective movement toward equity and inclusion.

When I’m not working, you’ll usually find me out walking with my dogs, enjoying some parallel play with my wife, or reading something that makes me think.

Voluntary Roles

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Co-Chair

Neurodiversity-Affirming Clinical Excellence Network

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Co-Chair

UK SLT Pride Network

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Co-Chair

Community of Practice for Speech and Language Therapist working in the field of Sex and Relationships Education

Projects

Trainer

University of Essex and Royal College of Speech and Language Therapist: Active Anti-Racism Project (feasibility study)

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New Blog Launched

From time to time, I'll be writing a blog, sharing stories from practice, thoughts on how things may evolve and ideas for support neurodivergent wellbeing. Check back here and sign up to my mailing list below to be kept up to date.

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