The Neuroconvergence Podcast

Guest: Chloe Victory — Trans autistic writer, filmmaker, performer, and black belt martial artist (Silat). Director of the documentary A Far Green Country, creator of the solo show Elementaller, and advocate for accessible martial arts and creative expression.

Host: Al Bellamy Producer: Ian Lawton

Chloe Victory joins Al Bellamy for a vibrant conversation about martial arts, filmmaking, hypermobility, intrusive thoughts, and creative survival. Chloe shares her journey from black belt to feature filmmaker, reflecting on how Silat helped regulate her nervous system, sharpen spatial awareness, and offer a language for navigating overwhelming mental health mo...

Episode: Reading Between the Lines: Dyslexia, Education, and Real Systemic Change Guest: Rosie Bissett — CEO of Dyslexia Ireland, national advocate for literacy, access, and equity in education. With decades of leadership, Rosie brings systemic insight, lived empathy, and policy-level experience into the conversation around dyslexia, co-occurring conditions, and structural change.

Host: Peter O'Brien Producer: Ian Lawton

In this honest, wide-ranging conversation, Rosie Bissett breaks down the complex realities of dyslexia in Ireland today—from assessment bottlenecks to shame around reading, and from leaving cert reform to AI's limits in education. Rosie reflects on pers...

Episode: Sharks, Scripts & Showing Up Neurodivergent Guest: Tierra Porter — Actor, musician, writer, and neurodivergent artist of Indigenous American, African, and Puerto Rican descent. Tierra has toured internationally with Missoula Children's Theatre, graduated with First Class Honours from The Lir Academy, and recently performed at the Gate, Abbey, and Dublin Theatre Festival stages.

Host: Al Bellamy Producer: Ian Lawton

This joyful and energising conversation with Tierra Porter moves from ocean documentaries to Shakespeare, from overstimulation to art as survival. Tierra shares her journey of discovering she's neurodivergent, emigrating from Georgia to Ireland to pursue ac...

Episode: ADHD, Comedy & Coaching: Building a Life That Works for Your Brain Guest: Elle Felicity — Writer, performer, and ADHD coach; founder of Chaotic Good Coaching; creator of Close All Tabs (Smock Alley, 2024); advocate for lived-experience-led support and sustainable neurodivergent life design.

Host: Al Bellamy Producer: Ian Lawton

Writer, performer, and ADHD coach Elle Felicity joins Al Bellamy for a deeply candid, often funny, and emotionally resonant conversation about late diagnosis, reframing your identity, and working with your brain rather than against it. Elle shares her journey from years of shame and self-help rabbit ho...

Episode: Research, Lived Experience & the Future of Neurodiversity Practice Guest: Dr. Blánaid Gavin — Consultant Child & Adolescent Psychiatrist; subspecialist in ADHD; Chair of UCD's Neurodiversity Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Working Group; Co-lead of Making UCD a Neurodiversity-Friendly Campus; researcher, lecturer, and clinical practitioner.

Host: Michele Van Valey Producer: Ian Lawton

Dr. Blánaid Gavin joins Michele for a deep discussion on the tension—and necessary collaboration—between medical frameworks, academic research, and lived experience within the neurodiversity movement. The conversation moves through the challenges of accessing assessments, the limits of current systems, the shifting understa...

Episode: Relaxed Performance, Representation & Disabled Lives in the Arts Guest: Eleanor Walsh — Autistic actor, writer, disability advocate; performer in Chronically Hopeful, Grace, Yellow, Daughter of God, and What I Don't Know About Autism at the Abbey Theatre; Youth Ambassador with AsIAm; featured in Be Inspired: Young Irish People Changing the World by Sarah Webb.

Host: Al Bellamy Producer: Ian Lawton

Eleanor Walsh joins Al Bellamy for a deep exploration of relaxed performance, autistic representation, and what it means to build a sustainable career in the Irish arts sector as a disabled professional. She sh...

Episode: Understanding ADHD Across the Lifespan: Lived Experience, Leadership & Looking Ahead

Peter O'Brien speaks with Ken Kilbride about ADHD Ireland's mission, the realities of ADHD across the lifespan, medication and self-regulation, comorbidity, workplace culture, and the deeper human rights implications of ignoring adult ADHD. Ken shares personal motivations, organisational strategy, and why ADHD awareness must evolve into acceptance in schools, workplaces, and wider society.

ADHD is lifelong, not a ch...

Episode: Autism, Advocacy & the Changing Landscape of Ireland Guest: Adam Harris — Founder & CEO of AsIAm; leading national advocate for autistic rights; writer, speaker, and policy influencer.

Adam Harris traces his journey from early childhood in Ireland—when autism was barely understood—to founding AsIAm, now the country's national autism organisation. He speaks openly about early school experiences, stigma, sensory and executive-function challenges, and autistic burnout. Adam and Peter explore the growing self-advocacy movement, the post-COVID cultural shift, structural barriers that persist, and why societal attitudes lag behind public awareness. The conversation moves into education, universal design...

A clear, lived-experience guide to the Autistic SPACE framework—how sensory needs, predictability, acceptance, communication, and empathy transform care in clinics, hospitals, and classrooms.

Guests

Dr. Mary Doherty — Autistic physician and researcher; lead author of the Autistic SPACE framework for healthcare.

Elaine McGoldrick — Autistic educator and former special-education teacher; co-author on applying SPACE in schools.

Host: Michele Van Valey • Producer: Ian Lawton

What we cover

What "SPACE" means: Sensory needs • Predictability • Acceptance • Communication • Empathy
Plus three supports: Physical space, Processing time, Emotional space.

Healthcare realities: Barri...

The Neuroconvergence Podcast — Show Notes

Episode: Meeting Children Where They Are: Neuro-distinct Needs, School Stress & Strengths-Based Parenting Guest: Dr. John Sharry — social worker & psychotherapist; Clinical Director, Parents Plus; Adjunct Professor (UCD School of Psychology); Irish Times parenting columnist; author of 25+ books including Positive Parenting series; developer of the Parents Plus ADHD Children's Programme.

John Sharry explains why "diagnosis" frames neurodivergence as disorder, and offers a discovery-led, strengths-based approach. He maps common school attendance difficulties to unmet sensory, autonomy, and safety needs; shows how coercion backfires; and outlines practical, bespoke accommodations that reduce distress and rebuild conn...

Show Notes — Neuroconvergence: Unity, Creativity, Collaboration Episode Title

"UMAAP, ACT, and the Power of Small: ADHD Support that Works"

Host Michele Van Valey speaks with Aisling Leonard-Curtin, senior psychologist on ADHD Ireland's UMAAP programme, co-director of ACT Now: Purposeful Living, and co-author of The Power of Small. They unpack how UMAP (Understanding & Managing Adult ADHD) blends evidence-based psychoeducation with Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT), why no formal diagnosis is needed to join, and how "toward vs. away" moves, values, and tiny, sustainable actions can transform day-to-day life.

Aisling Leonard-Curtin — Senior Psychologist, UMAAP (ADHD Irel...

Show Notes — Neuroconvergence: Unity, Creativity, Collaboration Episode Title

"Neuroconvergence: Building a Neuro-affirming Movement"

Host Michele Van Valey speaks with Peter O'Brien, Jody O'Neill, and producer Ian Lawton about Neuroconvergence—a neurodivergent-led movement creating spaces for unity, creativity, and collaboration across Ireland. The conversation covers origins, language (neuro-affirming vs. neurodivergent), what inclusive events look like, and details for the UCD event on Saturday, 18 October.

Peter O'Brien — Events/festivals producer (Happenings); late-identified ADHD; parent to an autistic, minimally speaking son. Co-initiator of Neuroconvergence.

Jody O'Neill — Autistic writer/producer; creator of What I Don't Kn...

www.neuroconvergence.ie/podcasts