Dr Temple Grandin is the most accomplished and well-known adult with autism in the world. A renowned professor of animal science at Colorado State University, bestselling author and international speaker on her pioneering work on animal welfare and on autism helping professionals and parents understand how to best support individuals with ASD. She is a unique individual that breaks the mold. Her autism does not define or limit her potential. Her example reminds us that each person, whether they have diagnosis of ASD or not, is unique, with talents waiting to be nurtured,

Tony is a clinical psychologist who has specialised in autism spectrum disorders since he qualified as a clinical psychologist in England in 1975. He currently works in his own private practice, and is also adjunct professor at Griffith University, Queensland and senior consultant at the Minds and Hearts clinic in Brisbane.

Sophie is a Senior Fellow in the Health Services Management Centre at the University of Birmingham. She specialises in sexual behaviours and first point assessment in children and young people, sexual health, controversial issues, and teenage parents.

David is the Community Safety & Justice Manager at Midlothian Council where he is the strategic lead within justice services. He currently sits on the NOTA Scotland executive committee and is co-vice chair of the Community Justice Scotland network.

Stuart is a Director at Lucy Faithfull Foundation with responsibility for Stop It Now! services in Scotland and research. He has worked with young people who have displayed harmful sexual behaviour for 20 years and is vice chair of NOTA UK and Ireland.

Betsy is an internationally recognised trauma recovery expert and a psychotherapist with over 30 years of experience of working with vulnerable children, young people and adults. She has trained over 28,000 professionals in 24 countries between 2015-2022. Betsy is also a bestselling author and has written numerous books on trauma recovery, creating guides for difficult topics such as attachment issues, shame and dissociation.

Danny is the Founder of Be-inn Unity, a social enterprise that exists to inspire and educate communities so that individuals are empowered to thrive. Danny and the team work closely with communities ranging from primary and high schools, local authorities, and national businesses, delivering a variety of initiatives that are informed by attachment theory, to build emotionally safe cultures that offer relationships founded in love, kindness and compassion.

Ben was a child and young person in Care. He was moved 51 times and had 33 convictions by 18 years old. Ben has worked on local, National and European projects with Children in Care. He has worked with Children and young people with complex and challenging behaviours. In 2013 he became a published author. He has a passion to promote complex and vital issues of youth justice and protection of our most vulnerable groups of children and young people. Ben started the conversation around ResCareTo21 and is a founding member of Every Child Leaving Care Matters #ECLCM.

Internationally renowned expert on autism, Brenda is a superb and engaging speaker, has made over 3000 presentations world wide and written more than 300 articles and books on ASD. She was acknowledged as the second most productive applied researcher in ASD in the world and formely, professor in the Department of Special Education at the University of Kansas as well as the recipient of the Autism Society of America’s Outstanding Professional Award.

Sally is Head of Education, Research and Practice Development at Strathcarron Hospice in Stirlingshire, Scotland. She worked as a Speech and Language Therapist in the NHS and third sector for over 20 years before completing her PhD, an investigation of goal setting practice in palliative care. Sally is passionate about the importance of multidisciplinary, person-centred care and ensuring that the voice of the person and their family is heard.

Lesley Anne Pratchett is a Clinical Lead Psychotherapists working with Break the Silence in Ayrshire. Break the Silence is a charity that offers therapy for members of our community age 13+ who have been affected by sexual trauma in North and East Ayrshire

Melanie Fieldhouse is a Clinical Lead Psychotherapists working with Break the Silence in Ayrshire. Break the Silence is a charity that offers therapy for members of our community age 13+ who have been affected by sexual trauma in North and East Ayrshire

Dr Peter Vermeulen is an autism consultant, lecturer and trainer at Autism Central in Belgium. He has published more than 15 books and several articles on autism, including “Autism as context blindness”.

As a student nurse, Michelle developed a real interest in older peoples’ mental health. Her career has focused directly on the care of people living with dementia, and this guided her to complete MSc Gerontology and Later Life Studies at UWS, receiving distinction and the UWS Court Medal.

Alison is a Research Professor at Cardiff University, in the Centre for Language and Communication Research. With a background in linguistics, her specialist interest is in how dementia affects communication, not only for people with the diagnosis, but also those who talk with them.

James has worked in support of people with a learning disability for over 30 years. He has worked within health and social care services within that time and experienced roles as a support worker, completed training to become a Registered Nurse (Learning Disability) and spent 10 years working as a senior lecturer teaching the next generations of nurse.

After qualifying from Glasgow Dental School, Maura worked in hospital and general practice, before doing specialty training in Dental Public Health. Since 2010, Maura has led the Caring for Smiles programme in Scotland which promotes better oral care for adults in care homes. From March 2023, she will be a Consultant in Dental Public Health

Donald has worked for many years in the health and social care sectors across the United Kingdom. A particular professional focus has been issues related to dementia, bereavement, palliative care, and individual human rights.

Gillian works as an Advanced Practice Care Home Dietitian for the Care Home Collaborative and Community Dietetics within NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. This post allows her to lead on quality improvement work, promoting nutritional care within care homes

Jackieis a part time practice educator at Strathcarron Hospice in Stirlingshire, Scotland. She has a background in palliative and mental health nursing. Jackie is committed to promoting person centred care, effective communication and has an interest in palliative and end of life care for the person with dementia.

Linzi has worked in the sight loss sector for over 12 years. Her current focus is on developing and delivering training to health and social care professionals who support adults with sight loss and complex needs. Linzi has been involved with the development of webinars, e-learning and podcasts, working in partnership with organisations such as the Stroke Association, Alliance Scotland, and NES.

Andrenais a Social Researcher and fronts the ‘Social Science Insights’ part of DataFakts Ltd. She has an MPhil in History of Medicine from the University of Glasgow and has worked in the area of sensory loss since 2004.

Rebecca qualified as a Speech and Language Therapist in 1988. She has worked with adults with acquired neurological disorders, including dementia, ever since

Margaret was diagnosed in 2016 with frontotemporal dementia at the age of 51, and is currently an active member of the SDWG, EWGPWD and Alzheimer Scotland International group.

Marion is a former carer and NDCAN Committee member. She cared for her husband for 9 years and desperately wanted to fight for change for people living with dementia and their carers, but one voice alone isn’t enough.

Karen is a Highly Specialist Clinical Psychologist, author, and enthusiastic and engaging trainer. She has worked in the NHS and children’s services for several years and also cross-culturally in both Africa and Asia with groups ranging from former child soldiers to survivors of the Rwandan Genocide. Karen has extensive experience in the areas of trauma, parenting and attachment, and works clinically using a range of therapeutic approaches with families, systems and children in or on the edge of care, unaccompanied asylum-seeking young people, and adopted children. She regularly presents at local, national and international trauma, parenting and attachment conferences.

An ambassador for mental health; who loves to research, write, teach and share all manner of ideas and practical strategies on mental health and well-being that work! Her enthusiasm is backed by a PhD in Child & Adolescent Mental Health and her own lived experiences of anorexia, self-harm, anxiety and depression. Pooky is the Director of the Children, Young People and Schools Programme at the Charlie Waller Memorial Trust.

Tony has been working with vulnerable children and families for over 25 years, originally starting his career as a mental health social worker. Following five years in young people’s addiction services he went on to work internationally for the British council developing services for vulnerable children in South Africa, Nova Scotia and Sweden. He has worked as an advisor to Local Education Authorities, schools and charities.

Rosemary Tannock is Professor Emerita at the University of Toronto and continues as a Senior Scientist at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Canada. She held a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Special Education at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education in the University of Toronto from January 2006-February 2013. Her clinical research program, which focuses on the nature and treatment of cognitive and academic impairments in ADHD, has been funded continuously since 1990 from peer-reviewed Canadian and USA federal grants.

Helen Minnis is a Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the University of Glasgow. She spent time working as an Orphanage Doctor in Guatemala in the early 1990s prior to training in Psychiatry, and this stimulated an interest in the effects of early maltreatment on children’s development. ‎Her research focus has been on Attachment Disorder: clinical aspects, assessment tools, and behavioural genetics.

Tina Rae is a Professional and Academic Tutor, University of East London. She specialises in social, emotional and behavioural disorders and difficulties. She has undertaken research in the areas of engagement and disaffection with learning in young people, debriefing following critical incidents, attachment disorders, emotional well being and the psychological assessment of young offenders. Rae is experienced in assessing children and young people with respect to learning difficulties, emotional well being and relationships with carers.

Lisa Cherry is an author and a leading international trainer and consultant, specialising in assisting those in Education, Social Care and Adoption and Fostering to understand trauma, recovery and resilience for vulnerable children, young people and their families. Lisa has over 30 years of experience in this field and combines academic knowledge and research with professional skills and personal experience.

Dr Gillian Harris has carried out research into infant and child feeding behaviour and appetite regulation at the University of Birmingham, School of Psychology, UK, for the past 38 years. She was also a Consultant Paediatric Clinical Psychologist for 30 years, and led a feeding clinic at The Children’s Hospital, Birmingham, UK, where she worked with infants and children who were food averse.

Sarah is a speech and language therapist who developed her interest in feeding difficulties while working at Birmingham Children’s Hospital for twenty years. She began to work closely with Dr Harris and developed a particular interest in avoidant eating and the effects of tube feeding on the development of oral feeding in infancy. This was the subject of her MPhil, completed at Birmingham University. She now works privately with Dr Harris. Particularly relating to Avoidant and Restrictive Food Intake Disorder.

Graeme has spent the past 14 years working in Secondary Education with a particular focus on Pupil Support. His wide range of experience encompasses specialist provisions for students with complex needs, managing Learning and Behavior Support departments, and over 6 years as a Principal Teacher of Pupil Support. He is currently Depute Head Teacher at Woodfarm High School in East Renfrewshire, with specific responsibility for Support for Pupils across the school.

Lauren has been with Childline/NSPCC for 7 years in total, starting off as a volunteer and progressing to supervisor in 2017 and team manager in 2019. Lauren has a particular interest in inclusivity and intersectionality when working with young people and encourages a focus on the individual as well as how young people are treated and operate within our society.

Daniel Smith is Chair of Psychiatry and Head of the Division of Psychiatry at The University of Edinburgh. He has a longstanding clinical and research interest in the causes and treatment of bipolar disorder. More recently, his work has focused on sleep and circadian neuroscience approaches to understanding mood disorders. He leads the MRC-funded SCRAMS Network

Bill is a writer, teacher trainer, educational consultant and a recognised expert on ADHD with a real passion for the subject matter which is clearly demonstrated when he teaches. He spent much of his career in the independent sector before becoming the headmaster of residential special school. Bill contributes at a local level to an ADHD support group, the NHS Autism Assessment Pathway, and to the National Autism Strategy Reference Group (Scotland) and is also an advisor to Mindroom charity.

Bo Hejlskov Elvén is one of Europe’s leading clinical psychologist specialising in challenging behavior. Bo’s field is care and special education, mainly concerning children and adults with developmental disabilities such as autism, Asperger´s syndrome, ADHD or intellectual disabilities. Bo also works in the psychiatric field and in juvenile correction facilities.

The basis of Bo’s methods is developmental neuropsychology, stress and affect theory. The methods are part of an increasing knowledge base in the tradition often named the Low Arousal Approach

Martin is the Executive Headteacher of the Chatsworth Multi Academy Trust which is based in Salford and serves the needs of children and young adults who have learning difficulties. Martin has worked in the field of autism for over thirty years as a carer, teaching assistant, teacher and school leader and has helped develop provision for children, young people and young adults from across the autism spectrum.

Iain is an independent consultant child & adolescent psychiatrist based in Edinburgh, having worked as an NHS consultant in Scotland for almost 20 years. He chaired the SIGN guideline on ASD (SIGN 98 and 145) and has research interests in autism, early years mental health and trauma.

Adam Ockelford is Professor of Music and Director of the Applied Music Research Centre at the University of Roehampton, London. His research focus is on music psychology, in particular the development of special musical abilities in the contexts of blindness and autism - areas about which he has written widely and lectures all over the world.

Jim is an experienced professional in Autism having worked in the field for over 38 years. Currently working independently, he was formerly Director of Education, Scottish Autism. He is the Chair of the National Autistic Society’s Accreditation Standards Body, and advises a number of UK-wide Service Providers and Local Education Authorities.

Luke Beardon is a member of staff in The Autism Centre at Sheffield Hallam University. He has been working as a practitioner providing support & consultancy in the field of autism and Asperger syndrome for around 20 years. Luke’s research interests are around individuals with autism who have broken the law.

As Director of Education and Learning, Eileen studies both national and international best practice and evidence-based research to inform work at Kibble. Eileen also regularly contributes to, and participates in, national education and employability forums.

Jonny’s passion is working to help children in crisis to recover and he also likes to inspire colleagues to do the same. As well as his employed work as a Practice Change Lead for the Youth Justice Board in Wales, and Harmful Sexual Behaviour Specialist for the All Wales Forensic CAMHS Service, Jonny is a freelance Consultant Social Worker & Criminologist.

Sorrell has a background in psychology. For over 16 years she has worked with challenging and disengaged children and young people, within settings including Local Authorities, children’s homes and Youth Offending Teams. Sorrell believes that every young person should have the opportunity to reach their full potential.

Dan Johnson is a Forensic Psychologist and heads the psychology service at Kibble. He worked as a residential care worker prior to training in forensic psychology in the prison service.  He is currently seconded to develop trauma informed care in Kibble and the wider sector and is a Visiting Researcher at the Centre for Youth and Criminal Justice (CYCJ) at the University of Strathclyde.

Andrew has spent 40 years in teaching – 20 as a PE teacher and 20 as Headteacher of both Special and Mainstream schools. He is passionate about making a difference in the lives of children, young adults and teachers and has been doing lots of work since ‘retirement’ in schools, colleges and alternative provisions throughout the Country around the areas of ‘Positivity, behaviour and culture’.

Annie Smith is a Senior Educational Psychologist with experience of working in 3 Local Education Authorities. She currently works for South Lanarkshire Council, where she has a specialist remit for Language and Communication. Annie has a long-standing interest in Solution Oriented Approaches and uses this as a framework for her work around Autism. Annie believes that understanding the psychology of Autism is key to providing effective education and support. This is the basis of her current work in South Lanarkshire Council, which aims to equip education staff with the competence and confidence to apply their professional creativity to meeting the needs of children with Autism.

David Rex has a first degree in Chemistry and Food
Science, a Post Graduate Diploma in Nutrition and
Dietetics, and a Masters in Food Policy. He is a
Specialist Dietitian for Highland Council’s Care &
Learning Directorate. He also has a lead public health
role for Food & Health in schools, nurseries and
Children’s Residential Units; and for 14 years, has
been providing specialist dietetic advice for children
with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Attention
Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

Dick has been an English teacher, rugby couch and headmaster, the latter for almost 23 years. Circumstances led to him developing a passion for adolescent emotional well-being, within an educational context. Dick is a qualified instructor for Youth Mental Health First Aid and trainer for the Charlie Waller Memorial Trust. he is a much sought after conference speaker and trainer throughout the UK and overseas.

Alex is the former Director of Priory Hospital in Glasgow and Edinburgh and a Consultant Psychiatrist. He has wealth of experience in eating disorders and is widely published in this field. Alex speaks at numerous conferences, training courses and to the media; and will share with you his in-depth knowledge and understanding of eating disorders, delivered in his very easy to listen to manner.

Christine Puckering is a clinical, forensic and neuro psychologist by training with a special interest in infant mental health. She has worked with parents and children both in clinical and academic roles.
Christine has published in the area of infant mental health and been a key-note speaker at infant mental health conferences in the UK, Australia, New Zealand and Russia. She is co-author of the Mellow Bumps, Mellow Babies and Mellow Parenting programmes, a family of programmes designed to help parents build good relationships with their young children. She remains passionate about the importance of infancy for later good development across the life span and across all aspects of life.

Lindsay is a Charted Psychologist and Educational Psychologist, Lindsay is widely recognised as an expert in dyslexia, special educational needs and mainstream education. She has advised governments, lectured extensively internationally and has numerous publications to her name. She was previously the Deputy CEO of the British Dyslexia Association and has spent 20 years as a teacher.

Joy is an experienced teacher, autism specialist, university lecturer, trainer and has written many books on autism.

Kay is a bestselling international author, specialist advisory teacher, university lecturer, inclusion consultant and charismatic autism trainer, with over 40 years of experience in education.

After spending 7 years within the care system as a looked after child, Laura decided her career choice had to be within the care system. Laura has worked in the care system as a Behaviour Support Assistant, Locum Residential Care Worker, Home & Parent Support Worker and Senior Residential Care Worker. In 2015, she became a Development Officer at Who Cares? Scotland, facilitating, organising and contributing to group work, events and other activities at local and national level. Her time at Who Cares? allowed her to become an active campaigner for the charity, speaking at various events.

Martin is Director of Barnardo’s Scotland which runs 140+ community-based services across Scotland supporting over 16,000 vulnerable children, young people and families. Martin was a member of the Scottish Government’s Ministerial Working Party on Child Sexual Exploitation and is now on the Violence Against Women & Girls Joint Strategic Board. Martin initially trained as a scientist and completed a PhD in Geochemistry. He also has an MBA and an MSc in Social Services Management. Martin has worked for a trade union, the National Health Service and charities both big and small. He has over 30 years’ experience of working for children’s charities.

Nicola is an author and public speaker on many aspects of adolescence, teenage brain changes, stress, wellbeing, the effects of life online and the reading brain. She is the author of over 100 books, including award-winners and best-sellers. In 2018, the School Library Association gave Nicola an award for Outstanding Contribution to Information Books.

Stephanie is an International classical signer and Patron of the Dyspraxia Association

Geoff is an International Trainer and Consultant in Autism and has worked with children with autism, adults and their families for thirty-five years. Formerly Head of Social Services with the National Autistic Society and Senior Lecturer in autism at Sheffield University. Geoff’s training has been described as inspirational and very practical.

Anna is a mother of two autistic sons, UK Autism Ambassador, founder of UK Autism Charity ‘Anna Kennedy Online’, author of ‘Not Stupid’, finalist BBC Peoples Strictly 2015 and founder Autism Got Talent UK. Anna is passionate about supporting autistic individuals, to this end she has established two schools, a college, a respite home and a website with over 50,000 international followers and campaigns tirelessly.

Dr Roger Banks is a Consultant in the Psychiatry of Learning Disability. He has 27 years of experience in the field and has worked in Sheffield, Liverpool and North Wales, where he is also Honorary Senior Lecturer at Bangor University.

Naveed Sattar, FMedSci, FRCPath, FRCPGlas, FRSE, is a Scottish medical researcher and Professor of Metabolic Medicine at the Institute of Cardiovascular & Medical Sciences at the University of Glasgow, as well as an Honorary Consultant in Metabolic Medicine at the Glasgow Royal Infirmary.

Robert Lindsay graduated in Medicine at the University of Edinburgh in 1988 and is Reader in the BHF Cardiovascular Research Centre (Western Infirmary, University of Glasgow). He completed his PhD in fetal programming in Edinburgh in 1997 and postdoctoral work with the diabetes epidemiology group of the National Institutes of Health in Phoenix, Arizona. His principal research interests are early life and genetic determinants of diabetes with particular interest in diabetes and pregnancy. Dr Lindsay is the endocrine lead for the combined endocrine/ obstetric antenatal clinic at Princess Royal Maternity Unit and also practices general medicine and endocrinology at the Western Infirmary of Glasgow.

Mike Lean MA, MB, BChir, FRCP (Edinb), FRCPS (Glasgow), FRSE holds the Glasgow University chair of Human Nutrition, based at Glasgow Royal Infirmary, where he is also a consultant physician with NHS responsibilities for an acute medical ward and emergency receiving duties. He has held Visiting and Adjunct Professorships at the Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen; the University of Otago, New Zealand (currently) and at University of Sydney, Australia (also currently). He has been a non-executive director of the Health Education Board of Scotland for 8 years, and chaired the Food Standards Agency Advisory Committee on Research. He was awarded the Rank Nutrition lectureship by Diabetes UK in 2013; the Tenovus Medal in 2017 and elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 2018.

Jason Gill is Professor of Cardiometabolic Health (Institute of Cardiovascular & Medical Sciences) University of Glasgow. He is a past Chair of the British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences (BASES) Division of Physical Activity for Health and a member of the development groups for the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) guidelines for the prevention and treatment of obesity and for prevention of cardiovascular disease. He is the Director of the MSc programme in Sport and Exercise Science & Medicine, and also play an active role in communicating the science of physical activity, diet, obesity and cardio-metabolic risk to the widest possible audience including a number of appearances on TV documentaries and organisation of Understanding of Science events for the general public.

Angie is the Academic Director of the award winning Community University Partnership Programme at the University of Brighton. As part of that role, she is the Brighton lead for the Higher Education Council for England-funded South East Coastal Communities Programme. She is also Professor of Child, Family and Community Health in the School of Nursing and Midwifery in the Faculty of Health and Social Science. She teaches professional courses for health and social care practitioners and undertakes participatory research into inequalities in health and social care in relation to children and families.

Chris is a former British Army Officer with three years operational experience. His training at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and experiences as an Army officer provided a world-class grounding in leadership, motivation and personal and team development. He left to work for a charity clearing landmines in Asia & Africa. In 1995 he was blown up in a supposedly safe area of a minefield in remote East Africa losing an arm and a leg. Within a year of leaving hospital he ran the London Marathon, raised significant sums to help disabled people in the developing world, worked to ban landmines and successfully completed a full time Masters Degree.

Jonathan has worked as a therapist in the field of mental health for thirty years. He trained as a psychotherapist and art therapist, and also has an MBA. He has worked with Place2Be – an organisation that puts counselling and therapeutic services into schools – as Head of Service for Scotland and Wales for 12 years.

Ruth Fidler is an Education Consultant specialising in complex autism, Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA), interactive approaches and emotional wellbeing.

Dean Beadle is public speaker who shares his experiences of life as an autistic person and is also a journalist and patron and honorary president to several autism charities.

In a career spanning more than 30 years, Barry has held the leadership positions of Headteacher, Principal, Academic Director, Chief Executive, Inspector of Schools, Director of the Centre for Special Education at Westminster College and the UK’s first Professorship in Mental Health in Education, at Oxford Brookes University. He is an Honorary Professor at universities in Ireland, Germany and Australia and lectures nationally and internationally. He is also the author of over 150 articles and many texts on a range of learning disability/special needs topics. Barry has been awarded an OBE and CBE for his services to children with Special Needs.

Rita is an Emeritus Professor in Autism Studies, The University of Birmingham. After completing her Psychology degree. Rita taught in mainstream, special and specialist autism schools and later launched and ran a ‘playgroup’ and toy library for children with Autism or severe Learning Difficulties. She then went on to complete further qualifications, obtaining an MSc in Child Development. Rita became a research officer at the Institute of Education in London, and a Deputy Principal of school for children with autism. Since then Rita has developed and run a range of programmes in autism studies and been involved in training events, consultations and conferences internationally. In 2007 she was awarded an OBE for her services to special needs education.

Antony is the Managing Director for Fresh Start in Education. Having been a foster carer and set up an Independent Fostering Agency, Antony set up Fresh Start in Education to provide Engagement and Education Packages for young people struggling to access formal education.

Tricia is a Senior Clinical Psychologist with the All Wales Forensic Adolescent Consultation and
Treatment Service (FACTS) and clinical lead for the Enhanced Case Management Project - a
collaboration between FACTS and the Wales Youth Justice Board applying the Trauma Recovery Model
to youth justice. She is an experienced trainer and presents throughout the UK and internationally.
Tricia also provides freelance consultancy and supervision to local authorities, charities and the
private sector.

Sophie is the Chief Executive of The Silver Line Helpline, a national charity she founded with Dame Esther Rantzen in 2012, that provides 24/7 support for lonely and isolated older people. Sophie began her career in the corporate sector working for Cable and Wireless and Marks and Spencer before moving into social care and managing older people’s services within social housing. She then moved to NSPCC where she had responsibility for volunteering within the ChildLine service. Alongside her professional career she has volunteered for Samaritans for over 25 years and was their national Chair between 2008-2011. Sophie received recognition for this by being awarded the title - Voluntary Sector Achiever of the Year in 2012 and was awarded an OBE in the 2017 New Year’s Honours list.

Caroline has been working at Childnet for six years and leads on The Childnet Digital Leaders Programme. She works alongside the Education Team, managing the delivery of their Activity Days in schools to young people, parents, carers and staff. With a background in informal education, Caroline has had a wealth of experience in the education sector teaching abroad both in Paris and Ghana. Since September 2015 she has been the Project Manager for the Digital Leaders Programme where she is responsible for developing the subject content on the platform and developing youth engagement on the site, she is the main point of contact for the programme.

Robin Balbernie is currently clinical director of PIP UK, a national charity dedicated to help establish parent-infant projects across the United Kingdom. For over a decade, beginning with the Sure Start programme, he worked with the Children’s Centres in the county as clinical lead of the team providing an infant mental health service, known locally and nationally as ‘Secure Start’. He was also involved with the Intensive Baby Care Unit at Gloucester Royal Hospital and ran supervision groups for Health Visitors for over 25 years. He is an advisor to the Association of Infant Mental Health and was a member of the Young Minds’ Policy and Strategy Advisory Group.

Professor Tommy MacKay is recognised as one of the UK’s leading psychologists. Tommy works across the fields of educational and child psychology, health psychology, clinical neuropsychology, psychotherapy, teaching and research, and has won many honours and awards. Tommy MacKay is also an expert witness, covering child and adult cases, both civil and criminal.

Gina is a qualified Speech and Language Therapist who turned her passion for communication development into practical and joyful intervention strategies for parents and professionals dealing with autism. She has worked with hundreds of autistic children in schools, nurseries and residential settings, and directly with parents, carers and families.

Robyn has Asperger syndrome as well as nine other disabilities. She attended mainstream school and is passionate about helping other people have better school experiences than she did. Robyn, has built up her business to high acclaim and travels around the world helping teachers, adult support workers and social workers understand more about Autism. In 2015 Robyn joined the department of health’s autism programme board as an advocate for 2 years and at the NAS professional awards 2015 Robyn was awarded the award for “outstanding achievement by an individual on the autism spectrum”.

Maria is a Consultant at The Mind’s Well Recovery College, which aims to reduce the need to resort
to self-harming behaviours. She trained as a Psychotherapist in Spain and she obtained a MSc
in Cognitive Science by Edinburgh University. Maria has worked in the field of mental health
in Scotland for over a decade. In a national charity she worked as Self Harm Co-ordinator and
gained valuable experience and knowledge of the issues affecting people who engage on self-harming behaviours and those who look after them, professionally or personally.

Louise is an internationally renowned expert in the field of education and
attachment; she is a qualified teacher and therapist, trainer and writer. Louise is the author of
‘Inside I’m Hurting’, ‘What About Me’, ‘Teachers & Attachment’ and ‘Settling Troubled Pupils to
Learn: Why Relationships matter in School’, in collaboration with Dan Hughes. She has worked
in a range of organisations including schools, with individual pupils, classes, whole school
settings, teachers and support staff across both the primary and secondary schools as well as
working with social services and health. Louise has also worked with street children in Bolivia.
Her curiosity, passion, experiences and training have enabled her to get alongside troubled
pupils in schools in creative ways, enabling them to make the most of all that education has to offer.

Elena is an established trainer, CBT and Person Centred Therapist with 10 years expertise working in the field of Eating Disorders. As the lead therapist in the Specialist Eating Disorder Unit for the Priory Hospital Glasgow, her previous experience includes child and adolescent mental health. Elena has facilitated workshops within the education sector for suicide and self-harm with particular interest in the co-morbid presentation of eating disorders and the treatment of this.

Andrew has worked in, and managed substance misuse services for over 30 years in Ireland, England and Scotland. He has helped create some of the countries most innovative and complex services to best suit the needs of people with drink and drug problems. Andrew is passionate about developing services where the service user is at the heart of their own recovery and where recovery is not only possible but real.

Emma Crawshaw is CEO of Crew, and award-winning national charity reducing harm from psycho-active substance use through advice, peer education, outreach, care and specialist counselling/recovery. Emma is committed to increasing and sharing evidence, knowledge and understanding to empower people to make more informed choices and reduce harm.

Tony is currently Head of Education (Curriculum and Quality) for South Lanarkshire Council, a post he took up in April 2013. Previously, he was head teacher of Calderglen High School in East Kilbride. In his time as head teacher, Calderglen High School was recognised by Her Majesty’s Inspectors of Education for its vision and the delivery of, a Curriculum for Excellence. Inspectors acknowledged the excellent innovative teaching approaches and use of technology; the invaluable contribution of partnerships and innovation; the school’s holistic approach to health and wellbeing and the impact of leadership at all levels across the school.

Dr Mowat joined the School of Education at the University of Strathclyde in 2005 after a lengthy career in teaching, latterly as Depute Head at Vale of Leven Academy in West Dunbartonshire. Her principal research interests are the inclusion of children and young people with social, emotional and behavioural needs and leadership.

Jan Lever spent 16 years as a teacher working with 3-18 year olds before becoming a local authority adviser specialising in Religious Education and Health and Well-being, running training and leading school development projects in 100s of schools, for over a decade. Jan has always been passionate about improving children and young people’s emotional literacy and mental health, believing vehemently that this enhances their learning capacity and improves their life chances.

Dr Tony Bates is the Founding Director and CEO of Headstrong – Ireland’s National Centre for Youth Mental Health. Prior to establishing Headstrong, Tony worked as Principal Clinical Psychologist at St James’s Hospital in Dublin. Since founding Headstrong in 2006, he and his colleagues have been committed in changing how Ireland thinks about youth mental health. He believes that “people who find the inner power to come through the really hard times often become more fully alive than those who have never experienced the depths of suffering”.

Rory O’Connor is Professor of Health Psychology at the University of Glasgow in Scotland and President of the International Academy of Suicide Research. He is a registered health psychologist who is broadly interested in self-regulation and health outcomes. Rory leads the Suicidal Behaviour Research Laboratory at Glasgow, the leading suicide/self-harm research group in Scotland. He has published extensively in the field of suicide and self-harm, specifically concerning the psychological processes which precipitate suicidal behaviour and self-harm. He is the co-author of Understanding Suicidal Behaviour (with Noel Sheehy, 2000) and co-editor of the International Handbook of Suicide Prevention (with Steve Platt & Jacki Gordon, 2011) and the Routledge Major Works series on Suicide (with Keith Hawton, 2012).

Caroline is the Manager and co-founder of user-led organisation Harmless whose work has received large national acclaim in the receipt of many awards including the equivalent of an MBE. After a long self-harming and mental health history Caroline battled her way to recovery and now also works as a specialist psychotherapist within the service. Currently studying for her PhD at Nottingham University, Caroline’s drive is to challenge and influence the field of self harm and suicide by improving interventions, provision and accessibility for vulnerable individuals who are at risk of harming themselves. Her work is varied and includes passionate public speaking, the delivery of accredited training packages, designing and delivering packages of care and providing the vulnerable with a voice.

Angela has studied and worked in Edinburgh since 2001. She is trained in Psychology and Counselling and has worked in the third sector supporting people experiencing mental health problems in the community. Angela started working for Penumbra’s Edinburgh Self Harm Project in 2011, first as a peer worker and then as a part-time project worker. She has lived experience of self harm and recovery and as a result is a firm believer that everyone has the potential to overcome adversity and deal with life’s difficulties in a proactive and positive way. Her work remit is not only to support people who self harm on a one-to-one basis, but to also provide training sessions and awareness raising in educational and community settings to build the public’s capacity to understand, recognise and support people in their own environments.

After initially training as a teacher, Susan has spent more than 30 years working in the charity sector. She became Beat’s Chief Executive September 2002. Susan was a member of the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence guideline development group for the treatment of Eating Disorders. She is a Fellow of the Academy of Eating Disorders and Chaired the Academy’s Patient and Carers’ Committee. She led the development of the World Wide Charter for Action on Eating Disorders, and was the 2008 recipient of the AED Meehan/Hartley award of Leadership in Advocacy and Public Service.

Tam Baillie has worked as a manager and practitioner with children and young people for 30 years, primarily with young offenders; young people in and leaving care; and young homeless people. Tam has worked in Scotland and England and in both the statutory and voluntary sectors. He worked as the Director of Policy for Barnardo’s Scotland from 2003 and worked extensively on children’s policy and rights issues. In May 2009, Tam took up the post of Scotland’s Commissioner for Children and Young People. As the Commissioner, Tam’s remit is: to have regard to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child; to encourage the involvement of children and young people in the work of the Commissioner; and to promote and safeguard the rights of children and young people in Scotland.

Claire began her career as a youth worker in East Sussex as she felt passionate about supporting young people to overcome barriers in their lives and to offer them a different experience. Claire built on this passion through the management of health services targeting disadvantaged young people within East Sussex. With an interest in people and wanting to develop her skills and knowledge, Claire pursued training in Counselling Psychology and Psychotherapy. She now has ten years’ experience working with young people in a psychotherapeutic capacity, supporting young people to work through a range of issues including addictions, self-harming, relationships, loss, bereavement, anxiety and depression.

John J Reilly (BSc PhD) is Professor of Physical Activity & Public Health Science at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow. He was previously Professor of Paediatric Energy Metabolism at the University of Glasgow. His research on children and adolescents focuses on: the prevention of obesity; the effects of physical activity (including effects on cognition and educational attainment); the development and health effects of sedentary behaviour (sitting, screen-time); Knowledge Translation in these areas, including the Active Healthy Kids Scotland Report Card 2013. He is an editor of the journal Paediatric Obesity. He chaired the working group for the development of UK guidelines on Physical Activity for the Early Years (Start Active Stay Active 2011), and was a working group member on the ‘Start Active Stay Active’ guideline for school-aged children and adolescents.

Chris O’Sullivan is Policy and Development Manager for the Mental Health Foundation, leading a team of staff delivering programmes across a range of mental health themes. Chris has a longstanding interest in the potential of the internet to be a power for good in mental health, leading Scotland’s first major event on the internet and mental health in 2011 and participating in and designing several innovation events on this theme since. In previous roles Chris has worked for Scotland’s national anti-stigma programme ‘see me’, Bipolar Scotland and the National Union of Students.

Jacqui Ashton Smith is Executive Director of Education: National Autistic Society. Jacqui is a qualified teacher with post graduate qualification in education, special needs and autism. She has a MBA (Masters of Business Administration) in Educational Management. Jacqui is a Principal trainer for The National Autistic Society and delivers training nationally and internationally on autism and education related issues. She has presented papers on autism, education, transition, person centred planning and autism specific quality assurance at three World Congresses: Australia, South Africa and Mexico and she is an Associate Tutor for the Christchurch University, Canterbury delivering ‘First time with autism’, a training package for mainstream teachers.

Denise Connelly is Hospitality, Tourism and Events Manager at Zero Waste Scotland and offers advice and support for the industry to improve resource efficiency. Since 2010, following a career in manufacturing and strategy consultancy, she has worked with the food, drink and hospitality sectors to reduce the amount of waste produced, particularly food and packaging waste, and to recycle more. She manages a programme of support for the sector that includes online advice and tools, a technical helpline and individual specialist support services and provides specific advisory assistance to Scottish signatories of the UK Hospitality and Food Service Agreement.

Jackie McCabe is The Royal Environmental Health Institute of Scotland (REHIS) Director of Training.
Jackie started her career in the Health Service as a manager of support services and undertook further studies within the Health Service Graduate Management Scheme.After a break to travel overseas, Jackie decided to take on a new challenge. She went back to study at Fife College and graduated as Chartered Member of the Institute of Personnel and Development. Jackie concentrated her career purely in the learning and development field and joined C J Lang in 1999 as their Training Manager. Jackie was responsible for designing and delivering training to meet the needs of the business which involved all aspects of compliance training and the development of an in-house management development programme which she had accredited by the Institute of Leadership and Management. Jackie was responsible for the design and delivery of this programme and was delighted when it won the Supreme Award at the National Industry Training Awards, London in 2009.

Garry is currently Head of Department at New College Lanarkshire, Motherwell Campus and has been in the Education sector for the best part of 32 years. He started his career as a chef and has worked as a chef lecturer at the Glasgow College of Food Technology, Reid Kerr College and Kilmarnock College before joining Motherwell College in 2006. An exam setter for SQA, Garry also works with education Scotland and has close links with the Food Manufacturing sector as part of his role in New College Lanarkshire.

Andrew is Insights Manager for Scotland Food & Drink. He moved to his current role from MediaCom, one of the world’s largest communication agency groups, where he headed up the Consumer Insights division of the Scotland office. He has spent the majority of his career to date researching consumer habits, analysing market intelligence and forecasting future trends for companies both large and small, from the UK to Australia.

Fin is one of the leading behaviour and learning experts in the UK and Europe. He was the Head teacher of the Centre Academy from 1996 -2002, the first specialist school in the UK for students between the ages of 7-19 specialising in issues related to ADHD, ASD and ODD. He is currently a Behaviour and Learning Consultant and Trainer for a number of educational and commercial organisations both nationally and internationally. He is an associate lecturer for Leicester University, the National Association of Special Needs, the Institute of Education and the Helen Arkell Dyslexia Centre, Vice Chairman of the UK ADHD Network and a board member of the European ADHD Alliance. Fintan is the author of several books and has published articles on the subjects of ADHD, Behaviour and Learning issues.

Susan McGinnis was coordinator of children and young people’s counselling projects and training at the Counselling Unit, University of Strathclyde from 2002-2013 and continues to work as a counsellor for young people in school settings. She is an active researcher, a member of COSCA’s Children and Young People Standing Policy Group and was a member of the Expert Reference Group for the development of the CAMHS competences for NHS Education Scotland. Susan has a special interest in working therapeutically with children and young people with behavioural needs as well as an expertise in ethics and child law as it relates to therapy. As a trainer, she is committed to developing and communicating non-directive theory and practice as a therapeutic approach with children and young people.

Sheena is a part-time Lecturer in Art Psychotherapy, MSc in Art Psychotherapy at Queen Margaret University. Her research areas encompass Group Analytic Art Psychotherapy with Children in an In-patient Psychiatric Setting and art Therapy with children with Chronic Health Conditions. She has used her expertise within her field to contribute to multiple seminars and publications on the benefits of art therapy for children who face emotional, mental and physical difficulties and has been involved with the publication of two books regarding health and well being of young people and children in difficult environments.

Michael Bready is the founder and director of Youth Mindfulness, a Glasgow-based social enterprise dedicated to teaching mindfulness to children, teenagers and young adults. He is the author of the Youth Mindfulness Kids Programme and has led the development of a mindfulness programme for young offenders in collaboration with the University of Glasgow and the Scottish Prison Service. He holds degrees from the University of St. Andrew’s, the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Aberdeen.

Since 2000, Dr Henderson has been the Scottish representative for the Primary Care Dermatology Society. The society’s aim is to raise awareness of dermatology in Primary Care through educational meetings and their website and is one of the organisers of the Annual Scottish Meeting. He is the Primary Care Advisor for Skin Care Campaign Scotland, represents primary care and NES on the Cross Party Working Group on Skin Conditions and Associated Rheumatic Diseases and West of Scotland Skin Cancer MCN.

Jim Pearson has been with Alzheimer Scotland for 15 years and is currently the Director of Policy and Research. Jim is responsible for all of Alzheimer Scotland’s national and international public policy engagement and research activities. He has a background in welfare rights, and is particularly interested promoting a human rights based approach to the support, care and treatment available to people with dementia and those who care for them. Jim recently completed a Masters degree in Business Administration and is currently a member of the Alzheimer Europe Board.

Following 18 years nursing and nurse teaching in the NHS, where she specialised in the care of older people, Barbara joined Alzheimer Scotland in 1990 to establish their first support service in Glasgow for people with dementia, their families and friends. Barbara has worked in a variety of roles with Alzheimer Scotland - service manager, regional manager, heading up a national practice development team and most recently joining the organisation’s policy team. For the last 5 years Barbara has been part of the training team of Scotland’s national dementia champions, in partnership with colleagues at the University of West of Scotland (UWS) and she works closely with Alzheimer Scotland’s network of Dementia Nurse Consultants and AHP Dementia Consultant colleagues.

Sarah Laing is a singer and actress based in Edinburgh. She began performing at a young age, taking part in various productions while at school and also in amateur dramatics societies. Sarah graduated from University with a BA Honours degree in Musical Theatre in 2014. While at university Sarah created a show called ‘The Music of Doris Day’ which she performed for the residents of several care homes in Edinburgh. She feels very passionately about performing to this type of audience and wanted to bring musical theatre to them. Since leaving university Sarah is now regularly performing in care homes in Edinburgh and beginning to move further afield. In addition to performing in care homes, Sarah took her show The Music of Doris Day to the Big Burns Supper Festival in Dumfries in January of this year.

Richard hasworked in the mental health arena for over 30 years, in a variety of settings having worked in Government, managed a Care Home and being involved in the Scottish Prison Service. He has a keen interest in ‘suicide prevention’ and was Choose Life co-ordinator for Renfrewshire when the strategy was introduced. Additionally, Richard works with Breathing Space (NHS 24) confidential telephone service and enjoys training and teaching others. In 2011, he was a recipient of the “National Unsung Hero” award in recognition of his work within the mental health profession.

Since June 2013, Jane has worked for ‘nasen’ firstly as an Education Development Officer then the Chief Executive. Prior to this she was a Professional Educational Consultant and she has over 15 years experience of headship and senior leadership experience within primary special schools and SEND support service sectors. Jane has extensive experience in teaching with nearly 30 years teaching and leading experience within special and mainstream schools. She has delivered training independently and for nasen including leading and delivering national training for SENCO’s and School Leaders and has delivered presentations at key educational events both nationally and internationally.

Twenty years ago Stuart launched his own National Training and Auditing Company ‘Raising Standards’. The Raising Standards’ team deliver not only compliance training, but also a range of topics including management, team building, leadership and communications. He enjoys training teachers and learning assistants who are taking our children from their early learning to finding jobs, launching careers and building lives. Raising Standards are extremely proud of their employability and personal development programmes. Their ‘Catering Academy’ caters for schools and community projects and is not just about the cooking as they believe confidence, self belief and key life skills are also part of the recipe for success.

Since 2018, Jen has been working with Child Bereavement UK in a development role, which has involved developing local and national networking opportunities to join up services and make accessing bereavement support easier across Scotland

Richard is the Development and Communications Manager at Winning Scotland, a charity that builds confidence and resilience in young people. Currently, he leads the charity’s fundraising and marketing strategies, and manages multiple partnerships across the public, private and third sectors.

Dr Karen McMahon is Clinical Lead/Service Manager for the child and adolescent eating disorder service in NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde. She has worked within Child & Adolescent Mental Services across both inpatient and community settings supporting young people presenting with a range of complex mental health presentations.

Paul is the founder and CEO of GAMTALK UK. At 18 years old his life fell apart due to a crippling gambling addiction, which drove him to the brink. He fought incredibly hard to regain control of his life and now his passion is to ensure as many young people as possible, avoid the misery he had to endure.

Aqualma has international experience in social work and has been in the social work field for over twenty five years. She has worked with a wide range of client groups from varied ages and ethnicities. Aqualma started her career in the residential sector, working with disabilities and then specialising with young people in care. She has worked in area offices as a child protection social worker and has specialised with children and adults who have experienced sexual abuse. She has managed a Youth Offender team, Secure Children’s home and been a service manager in a secure training centre. More recently, she has worked as a Local authority Designated Child Protection Officer (LADO) and a training and community partnership officer for a large London Local Authority, where she addresses allegations against professionals and ensures that faith and community groups are equipped to safeguard children in their care.