I have sought out many opportunities to practice my presentation skills both within and outside of my studies. I have delivered presentations to a range of audiences including at academic conferences, charity-run events and to parent support groups. These have included:• Interviews for Future Learn online autism course videos used as course content. The course has now attracted over 250,000 participants. I continue to contribute to updates of course content and work as a mentor on the course responding to comments and questions. • Kent Autistic Pride – talk on building bridges between the research and autistic communities, transcript available here: https://autisticpridekent.home.blog/• Inside Out Autism Conference – I gave short introduction information about the conference at the start of each day and live-tweeted both days of talks. I also created accessibility information for the conference.• Beyond Stereotypes Conference – I was involved in organising this online conference and prepared guidance for speakers and delegates. I spoke in the welcome sessions and chaired a keynote. I created and moderated a Discord channel for the delegates to use during the conference and prepared tweets for pre-recorded talks as well as live tweeting keynotes. • Scottish Autism’s 50th Anniversary Conference – Short talk on participatory research in the Playing A/Part project at which I also had a poster presentation.• The Autism Show, London 2018 and Manchester 2017 – Perceptions of Autism talk.

As an autistic self-advocate, I frequently engage in consultancy on autism. These consultancy opportunities have given me skills in effectively communicating autistic perspectives and providing constructive feedback. Example consultancies include:• Offering feedback on PhD research projects to provide insight into the views of the autistic community, including for the University of Cambridge, Newcastle University and University of Kent. • I have also consulted on a documentary about undiagnosed autistic women which is currently in production.• Member of the Campaign Autism Advisory Group, a Scottish Autism/National Autistic Society funded campaign and lobby group which is currently in the early stages of planning.• Member of the Neurodiversity Think Tank which is a group of autistic adults steering the direction of North East Autism Society. • Peer reviewer for the charity Autistica, reviewing research funding applications. • Peer reviewer for the journal Autism Policy and Practice.• Contribution to The Tizard Centre’s Autism Friendly Pathways panel which seeks to make Tizard courses more accessible to autistic students.Public engagement• In 2017 I created a short film challenging autism stereotypes called ‘Talking In Pictures’ for World Autism Awareness Week which has had 51,000 views and was awarded the Patricia Collen Memorial Prize for innovation by the Tizard Centre, University of Kent (https://youtu.be/Rg62Fp6RUZs)• I contributed a blog for the Playing A/Part project website about why the term ‘female autism’ is exclusionary: https://playingapartautisticgirls.org/2019/05/29/beyond-female-autism/• I also wrote and edited many pages of the Playing/Apart website.

This role involves leading a steering group which provides autistic input across all areas of an AHRC funded project exploring the identities of autistic girls using creative and participatory methods. I have developed many skills including chairing meetings and collaborating effectively with interdisciplinary colleagues. I have gained extensive experience of research processes from funding proposals to conference organisation and public engagement through social media.

This role enables me to engage with many people worldwide who want to learn more about autism. It has developed my teaching and communication skills. I have contributed to course content and continue to learn a great deal from the perspectives of our participants. During the years this course has been running we have had over 250,000 participants.

In both supported living and residential settings, I supported learning disabled adults to live fulfilling lives. This role taught me many things from formal training on topics such as epilepsy and medication, to informally learning Makaton and coaching one autistic service user to pass GCSE maths. These experiences sparked my interest in autism and provided a practical context for the theoretical knowledge gained in my studies since.