It’s Not a Bloody Trend!

Ellie Middleton, an autistic and ADHD advocate, speaker, and author, is a driving force for neurodiversity. Founder of the (un)masked community, she’s empowered others through workshops for major brands and a TEDx talk. Her debut book, UNMASKED, soared to the top of Amazon’s charts, sparking media features across platforms like GMB, BBC, and ITV, as well as in Glamour and The Independent. With her upcoming book, How To Be You, She continues to inspire and uplift diverse voices.

Kat Brown is a journalist and commentator whose work examining everything from The Archers to mental health stigma has appeared widely across national print, radio, and TV. Her first books, It’s Not a Bloody Trend: Understanding Life as an ADHD Adult, and No One Talks About This Stuff: 22 Stories of Almost Parenthood, were published 49 days apart which feels like both a record and a mistake. She is an Only Connect quarterfinalist, celebrating the work of Jilly Cooper as team captain of The Jillies, and lives in south London with her husband, their dog, and two cats.

Alicja Nocon is a late-diagnosed autistic coach and mentor, and founder of Expand the Circle. Having gone through a journey of self-discovery after receiving her autism diagnosis in her 30s, she now helps late-discovered autistic and AuDHD adults make sense of who they are and work and live more authentically. As a first-generation economic immigrant with coal-mining heritage herself, Alicja is conscious of intersectionality and the impact of multiple marginalisation.
Alicja regularly participates at Autscape, the autistic conference, and writes on her blog. Her Master’s research on character strengths of autistic adults has been published in a peer-reviewed academic journal.