Dealing with the emotional ups and downs in ADHD: practical tips based on the latest scientific evidence

Dr. Aja Murray

Emotional dysregulation has ruined the lives of many with ADHD – affecting careers, relationships, education and people’s own self worth. Dr Aja Murray is going to talk about emotional disregulation and ADHD: what it is and how it can affect day-to-day functioning and mental health. She will share some practical tips for emotion regulation based on the latest scientific evidence in this area.

Focus on Fairness: ADHD, Employment Law, and Equity at Work

Emma Thompson, Thackray Williams

How UK employment law supports fairness and inclusion for individuals with ADHD in the workplace. Talking on ADHD and its impact on work, the legal protections under the Equality Act 2010, and the duty to make reasonable adjustments. You’ll learn about disclosure, recruitment practices, and legal precedents that highlight the importance of legal accountability and inclusive leadership. This session offers practical strategies for both employees and employers, focusing on communication, support, and creating neuro-inclusive cultures.

When One Of You Speaks Cat and The Other Speaks Dog: Seeing Through Your ADHD Partner’s Eyes

Anita Hempenius

Transform relationship conflicts into connection by discovering your partner’s unique neurological “language”

Ever feel like you and your partner are living in completely different worlds? You are not imagining it. You truly are. This eye-opening session reveals why it often feels like ADHD and non-ADHD partners are speaking different languages entirely.

Using Thom Hartmann’s groundbreaking concept, we will explore how ADHD brains are wired like ancient hunters while non-ADHD brains operate like methodical farmers and why both approaches are equally valuable.

Instead of viewing differences as deficits, you will learn to see them as complementary strengths. Discover how the ADHD partner’s ability to hyperfocus and think outside the box pairs perfectly with the non-ADHD partner’s planning skills and attention to detail.

Walk away with: A new lens for seeing your relationship conflicts as communication mismatches, plus concrete tools for translating between your two beautiful, different brains.

ADHD and Revision: How to support your ADHD child revise. Without the battles.

Sarah Kennett, Science Cafe

Sarah Kennet runs a specialist business supporting children (and their parents or carers) in helping their neurodivergent minds optimise their revision. Exams are critical educational milestones, and revision is an essential component in achieving success. Sarah discusses the differences and offers direct strategies to make a positive impact.

Seeing ADHD from Both Sides: Navigating Nuance In how We Talk About ADHD

Dr Tom Nicholson

How we see ADHD as a society determines the care people get within services, the narrative within wider society, what research is funded and completed, and the way we treat ADHD’ers everywhere. There are currently two significantly different ways in which people see or conceptualise ADHD. In a medical model, ADHD is a debilitating disorder requiring treatment to reduce disability. However, the neurodiversity/social model describes ADHD as normal human variation, desirable, or even a superpower. Which is right? This talk will explore the strengths and issues within each of these competing ways of thinking, and help you find a nuanced middle ground which takes the best of both worlds to help us bridge the gap between these seemingly competing views.

Why Can’t I Just Start? Rethinking Productivity with ADHD

Tina Squire. Senior business leader, now ADHD Coach.

Tina Squire combines 20 years of senior corporate leadership with her expertise as an ADHD coach to bring fresh insight into productivity. Having managed hundreds of people across blue-chip organisations in sales, HR, strategy, and operations, she understands the challenges of thriving in demanding environments. Following her own ADHD diagnosis, Tina trained as a specialist coach and now supports individuals and organisations to reduce stress, embrace neurodiverse strengths, and create sustainable change. In her talk, “Why Can’t I Just Start? Rethinking Productivity with ADHD”, Tina offers practical, compassionate strategies to reshape how we work and succeed.

Why ADHD is real. Why we need to take it seriously. A science perspective.

Dr Jessica Eccles

(MB ChB, Dip(French), MA, MSc, FRCPsych, PhD, PGCert HE)

There is considerable talk in the media/society about ‘overdiagnosis’ of ADHD and/or autism, and a huge demand for assessments that systems are struggling to meet. This perhaps speaks to wider ‘culture wars’ about identity and ‘wokeness’ and possible scepticism in some circles over whether they are even real diagnoses. In this talk Dr Eccles will suggest these arguments are circular, miss the point and do not disrupt the status quo: available evidence suggests mis/underdiagnosis is real and the prevailing issue is unmet need. In her talk Dr Eccles will discuss, including with examples from her team’s research, why neurodivergent conditions are very real and need to be taken seriously.

Sam Thompson

Celebrity Interview. ADHD UK Ambassador, King of the ITV Jungle, TV personality, Radio Host, Co-host of the podcast “Staying Relevant”.

Sam Thompson is best known as a TV personality and radio host, rising to fame on Made in Chelsea before building a wide career across entertainment. But in recent years, Sam has become just as well-known for his openness about his neurodiversity, particularly his journey with ADHD.

In 2023, he invited viewers into that journey through the E4 documentary Sam Thompson: Is This ADHD?, which followed his path towards diagnosis and shone a spotlight on what living with ADHD can mean in everyday life. His honesty resonated and has helped raise awareness and break down stigma around ADHD for a mainstream audience. He talks about positive change for people with ADHD as being the legacy he wants to have.

In 2024, Sam became an official ADHD UK Ambassador, proudly embracing ADHD as part of his identity and using his platform to advocate for greater understanding and support. He has since spoken widely about ADHD, anxiety, and emotional regulation, offering both encouragement and relatability to those navigating similar challenges.

For this conference, Sam will be interviewed by ADHD UK’s CEO, Henry Shelford, in a conversation that promises insight, honesty, and humour.

Making CBT Work for ADHDers: Why Standard CBT Often Doesn’t Land, and What Can Help Instead

Dr Anita Goraya

Tried CBT and felt it didn’t work — even though you were doing it “right”? You’re not the problem! In this compassionate, practical session, ADHDer, CBT therapist and retired doctor, Dr Anita Goraya, explains why standard CBT often misses core ADHD challenges — like RSD, alexithymia, and overwhelm — and shares adapted tools that actually land. You’ll practise a calming skill and get free ADHD-specific resources to keep.

Leading With Lived Experience: ADHD Voices in Government

Cllr Laura Lacey (ADHD UK Ambassador)

Psychosocial Risks in the Workplace

Jodie Hill, Thrive Law

Psychosocial risks are factors that can negatively affect a person’s psychological health. Jodie will talk about the issues around psychosocial risks, and her political campaign for employers to properly evaluate and mitigate them. At present, employers have specific obligations to consider and mitigate physical risk in the workplace, but they don’t have the same requirements regarding considering and mitigating mental health risks. Statistics show that people with ADHD are at higher risk of depression, anxiety, serious mental illness so we’re likely more at risk to the impact of negative workplace psychosocial factors. Jodie will describe the issues and discuss Thrive Law’s initiative and petition to change the law.

Practical Tech and Tools for ADHD Minds: Building Your Own Toolkit

Parul Singh, Founder and Neurodiversity Consultant at Parallel Minds

Parul’s talk focuses on how life with ADHD can often feel like living on hard mode: time blindness, task initiation struggles, and overwhelm that never seems to end and that the right tools can make a huge difference.

This talk explores the use of everyday apps and AI to reduce friction, increase flow, and take the mental load off ADHD minds. Every tool and app covered in this talk has been tried and tested by Parul and by many she has spoken to in the wider ADHD community.

Parul aims to help people struggling with a never-ending to-do list, trying to juggle home and work demands, or finding that nothing they try seems to stick by giving practical strategies, real-world examples you can use straight away, and even a free worksheet to design your own toolkit.

ADHD and Autism Together

Dr Shy Mashru and Dr Sai Achuthan (Consultant Psychiatrists at the ADHD Health Clinic)

The complexity of ADHD and Autism together – how they present, the characteristics shown, and the interactions between the two. A clinical perspective with guidance for individuals.

ADHD in Wales

Ceri Reed and Henry Shelford in conversation.

Ceri and Henry will be talking through the situation in Wales regarding ADHD and ADHD Assessments.

Ceri Reed is the founder of Parents Voices in Wales CIC, Co-chair of the Welsh Government’s ND Ministerial Advisory Group, an ADHD Trainer for Children in Wales and undertakes coproduction in Neurodevelopmental Services in Wales.

She is also a stakeholder in the WLGA National Neurodivergence Team in Wales and a stakeholder in the Wolfson Centre ADHD Research with Prof Anita Thapar. She recently spoke in the Prague Conference on ADHD in spring this year about the culture shift in Wales on ADHD.

Political Advocacy to make a difference. Advice from Bill Morgan. Previously 10 Downing Street’s Special Adviser for Health, Social Care and Life Science.

Bill Morgan and Henry Shelford in conversation.

Together, we are campaigning for positive change for Neurodivergent people in our world – we need to know how to make the noise that gets noticed by those in power, and creates change. Something that is a huge campaign for us is just a normal Tuesday for them. This conversation is about what it is like in Number 10 and what makes a campaign actually work.We don’t want noise – we want change. This session is about learning from the inside what that looks like.

Bill will be talking particularly about the current political situation around ADHD and ASD – what’s the Government thinking, what might happen next, and how can patients, the ND community, and providers shape what happens?

Bill has advised Prime Ministers, health ministers, policymakers and the world’s leading life sciences businesses in a career in health policy spanning more than two decades. Before works at Newmarket Strategy. Prior to that he worked at the highest levels of the Department of Health and Social Care, co-founded and co-led a life sciences consultancy until its successful acquisition, and served as 10 Downing Street’s Special Adviser for Health, Social Care and Life Sciences. Bill is also a Lecturer in Health Policy at Imperial College, London, a Visiting Professor at the University of Greater Manchester, and a member of the Advisory Council of The Social Care Foundation. Bill is working with the NHS right-to-choose provider Paloma Health.

Ben Branson

Celebrity Guest and Huge Inspiration

Ben Branson has ADHD and Autism. He is a British entrepreneur, creative, and innovator best known as the founder of Seedlip, the world’s first distilled non-alcoholic spirit. Launching in 2015 from his kitchen in the Chilterns, Ben turned a simple curiosity about 17th-century herbal remedies into a drinks revolution. Within just a few years, Seedlip was stocked in top bars, Michelin-starred restaurants, and retailers in over 30 countries – reshaping the way people think about alcohol-free choices. He sold a majority stake to Diageo in 2019.

Beyond Seedlip, Ben has gone on to found the Hidden 20%. A charity and podcast focused on destigmatising neurodiversity, that talks directly about the invisibility of many diagnoses, the shame many carry, and how society frequently misunderstands people who “think differently.

Seeing Ourselves Clearly: The Transformative Power of Community for Adults with ADHD

Kaye Heyes

Feeling like an outsider is a common thread for adults with ADHD, shaped by years of masking and viewing ourselves through society’s neuro-normative lens. It’s like we’ve been looking at ourselves in a funhouse mirror. In this session, Kaye Heyes reveals how genuine belonging, connection and community offer the clear mirrors we need, so that we can see our true selves with compassion, honesty, and radical acceptance. Kaye will be joined by two participants of the Find Your WayPower group programme, who will share how a safe and brave community has provided the foundation for developing their courage, self-trust, and agency so they could move out of overwhelm and burnout and move towards creating a life they love.

How to select and work with an ADHD Coach. Talking through Coaching Approaches.

Esther Barrett. ADHD coach and trainer of ADHD Coaches.

Esther talks about the ADHD Coaching process and how to use it for significant positive change. Esther is the founder of the ADHD Coach Training company Barrett Coaching and Training.

RSD & Overwhelm: Navigating these Hidden Struggles of ADHD

Neurochicks (Katherine Mengardon & Lex Harvey-Bryn)

Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria (RSD) and overwhelm are two of the most challenging – and often misunderstood – experiences for ADHD minds. In this engaging and practical session, NeuroChicks (Katherine Mengardon & Lex Harvey-Bryn) will dive into what is known about RSD and overwhelm, share lived experience, and offer real-world tools for regulation, self-compassion, and resilience. Expect honesty, humour, and strategies you can take away to support yourself or others.

The Beautiful Contradiction: Embracing Your Autistic ADHD Brain

Lisa Kerr ACC CALC MCIPD FCA FCSI
ADHD Coach. Think Exceptionally.

“What’s it truly like to live with the “beautiful contradiction” of being both autistic and ADHD? It can feel like a constant argument in your head, often leading to late diagnosis, as the strengths of one condition mask the struggles of the other, leaving you feeling like you’re drowning whilst everyone else thinks you’re swimming beautifully. Through honest storytelling, humour, and the hard-won wisdom of lived experience, Lisa Kerr will explore the exhausting years of masking and trying to fit neurotypical expectations, through to the liberating moment of late diagnosis and beyond. She’ll share practical strategies for self-acceptance, giving you a renewed appreciation for your multifaceted brain, and the confidence to show up authentically as your wonderfully contradictory self“.

The NHS and ADHD – an update on local provision and Right to Choose.

Dr Tim Kendall CBE and Henry Shelford (CEO of ADHD UK)

Tim Kendall is a distinguished psychiatrist and leader in UK mental health. Until late 2023, he served as National Clinical Director for Mental Health at NHS England, steering national policy and transformation around mental health services.

He founded and directs the National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health (NCCMH), through which he has led the development of more than 30 NICE mental health guidelines, including chairing the NICE guidelines on ADHD.

He was awarded a CBE in 2024 for his services to mental health.

He continues clinical practice as a consultant psychiatrist working with homeless populations via Sheffield Health and Social Care NHS Foundation Trust. He is Chairperson of CareADHD, a leading NHS Right to Choose provider of ADHD Assessments. He is therefore uniquely placed to understand the NHS framework for ADHD Assessments and the changes that are being implemented.