For Neurodiversity Celebration Week (16th-20th March 2026), our Asking You team’s Project Worker Cheryl Ferris-Stewart shares her experience of how her neurodivergence has helped her in work.

Cheryl talks about how she started working at Advonet and what she has done to support others to speak up when supporting adults with a learning disability for Asking You’s project work.

A few years ago, if you told me I would be delivering training groups, I probably would have laughed, panicked or made a quick excuse to leave the room. Standing up and speaking in front of people didn’t feel like something I could do.

As an autistic and dyslexic person, I didn’t see many people like me leading training. Yet deep down, I knew I could. I’d worked in health care for 14 years, mostly in palliative care and dementia. I understood people. I’d seen gaps in services. I had the experience, but what was lacking back then was the belief in myself.

The belief grew over time. One workshop at a time, I started to realise I could do it and do it well. I’ve surprised myself and I’m proud how far I have come.

Co-delivering

Since starting to work at Advonet in 2020 as a project worker, I’ve co-written and delivered a wide range of workshops, all created with learning disabled people in mind. Each workshop is designed to be accessible, relevant and genuinely useful some of them.

The work has focused on Autism, learning disabilities and LGBTQIA+ experiences, especially the barriers people face when trying to access healthcare. These aren’t just awareness workshops, they are highlighting real problems and helping professionals to do better.

I have also delivered and developed self-advocacy training, helping people to build confidence to speak up, ask questions and make informed choices. It’s not about telling people what to do, it’s about creating spaces where people feel safe to be seen and heard.

Through projects like the Leeds City Council’s “Good Lives Leaders”. I’ve helped co-write training for people with learning disabilities. Good Lives Leaders are lived experience volunteers that visit local day services and give honest feedback. It’s about seeing services from their point of view and using that insight to make things better.

Complex information

Lately, the focus has been on employment workshops. We break down job adverts, build CVs, practice interviews and talk honestly about what it’s like to try and get a job. It’s hands on and straightforward. Making complex information easier to understand. With the right tools and knowledge, these can lead people to feel more confident in their abilities.

Workshops don’t always go to plan and that’s okay. I’ve learned how to adapt in the moment, whether that means changing the language, changing the activities, slowing it down or making them more interactive. Being flexible is part of the job.

Impact on others

Looking back, I can honestly say I didn’t think I would end up doing this type of work, but I am glad I have. It has changed me. The biggest reward has been seeing the impact on others. Watching people grow in confidence, become more independent and start to believe in themselves, that’s what makes it all worth it.

This isn’t about being “inspirational”. It’s about being real. It’s about helping people with lived experience lead the way because we get it. We’ve been there. We know what needs to change and we know how to talk about it in a way that just lands with people.

People like me don’t just belong in training rooms, we should be leading them, not as a token gesture, not to tick a box but because we bring something different. Something honest. Something that’s been missing.

I’m not finished, I’m still learning, still growing, still working out how to make things better, for myself and for others. I’ll keep showing up because I believe in what I am doing. Turns out, I had it in me all along, I just needed the chance and a bit of faith in myself.

Now I’m the one delivering the training, shaping it, adapting it, making sure it works for people. That’s not luck, it’s what happens when you believe in what you are doing and when you don’t give up when it starts to get hard. All we need is that chance to make the changes that are needed.