Virginia Spielmann (she/her), PhD, OTR/L
Executive Director
STAR Institute
USA
Host

Virginia is a well-travelled speaker, coach and educator on topics including sensory integration, DIR/Floortime, child development and infant mental health. She has conducted trainings in Kenya, Australia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Hong Kong, and the USA and leads workshops at international conferences.

Virginia is a founder and former Clinical Director of SPOT (Speech, Physical, and Occupational Therapy) Interdisciplinary Children's Therapy Center in Hong Kong, where she led a large and widely respected inter-disciplinary team.

Virginia obtained her BSc in Occupational Therapy in Oxford England (2002) and her Masters in Occupational Therapy from Mount Mary University, Milwaukee (2018). She is a DIR/Floortime Training Leader and Expert and clinical consultant for the Interdisciplinary Council for Development and Learning (ICDL). Her extensive pediatric experience includes children on the autism spectrum, as well as those with Sensory Processing Disorder, infant mental health issues, adoption, developmental trauma.

Virginia has considerable post-graduate training, she is certified on the SIPT and is currently completing her Ph.D. in Infant and Early Childhood Development with an emphasis on mental health, with Fielding Graduate University, in Santa Barbara. She is a published author and contributed to the STAR Frame of Reference as part of the 4th Edition of Frames of Reference for Pediatric Occupational Therapy, alongside Dr. Miller and Dr. Schoen.

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Kieran Rose (he/him)
Consultant, Writer, Advocate
The Autistic Advocate
United Kingdom
Co-Host

Kieran Rose is a published Writer and International Public Speaker whose essays at www.theautisticadvocate.com have been read by over a million people and cited in numerous research papers.

With a background in Education and service delivery, Kieran delivers his own specialist Autism training to families and Professionals and provides private consultancy for charities and organisations across the world that support Autistic children, adults and their families. An experienced international public speaker, Kieran regularly delivers paid webinars and has also guest-lectured at Universities across the UK.

He is Founder and Chair of The Autistic Cooperative , an International network and lobbying group for Autistic Professionals; and is Managing Director of the Social enterprise Infinite Autism, which supports Autistic people and families through funded partnership working in the North East of England.

Kieran is an executive board member of the Therapist Neurodiversity Collective, a US-based non-profit international network and lobbying organisation of Neurodiverse positive Speech and Language Therapists and Occupational Therapists.

He has also consulted on a number of research papers covering Autistic Masking, Autistic Burnout,  Autistic relationships, the voices of young Autistic people and Mate Crime in the Autistic community; and is co-producing research into Autistic masking  and Victimisation.

Kieran was diagnosed Autistic in 2003 at the age of 23; He is married with three children, two of whom are diagnosed Autistic. They all live in the UK with two cats and a collection of co-occurring conditions. Kieran is invested in challenging the current Autism narrative, supporting the Neurodiversity paradigm and is an advocate for the rights of all Autistic people.

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Amy Laurent (she/her) PhD, OTR/L
Developmental Psychologist, Occupational Therapist, Co-Director
Autism Level UP!
USA

Dr. Amy Laurent is a developmental psychologist and a registered pediatric occupational therapist. She is a co-author of the SCERTS model, a comprehensive, evidence-based model for supporting autistic individuals across the lifespan. She frequently lectures and provides training throughout the United States and internationally on topics related to neurodiversity and helping others to understand and honor the implications of "different ways of being" in relation to navigating the physical and social world. Her research interests include emotional / energy regulation and active engagement in natural contexts. Dr. Laurent strives to practice what she preaches and uses her love of play and movement to meet her own regulatory needs.

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Jacquelyn Fede, PhD
Psychologist, Autistic Self-Advocate
Autism Level UP!
USA

Jacquelyn Fede, PhD is a super fun, Autistic Self-Advocate, developmental psychologist and program evaluator.  Her research interests include immigration policy, autism, and community engagement.  She uses her experience to help educate others about autism through lecturing, blogging and consulting on evaluation projects.  A full scholarship Division 1 athlete in college, Dr. Fede continues to meet her sensory needs by seeking extreme physical activity.  She also enjoys the use of creativity and art for expression.  

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Amy Pearson (she/her), PhD
Assistant Professor
Durham University
United Kingdom

Amy is an Assistant Professor in Developmental Psychology at Durham University and a core member of the Centre for Neurodiversity & Development. Amy is an autistic researcher, and her work focuses on understanding factors which impact on positive outcomes among autistic and neurodivergent people across the lifespan, particularly interpersonal relationships and identity. In 2023, Amy was awarded the Rosalind Franklin Society Award in Science for her research which explored the interpersonal abuse among autistic people. Her most recent project, funded by the Violence, Abuse and Mental Health Network, explored the support and recovery needs of autistic victim-survivors of intimate violence and abuse. This work led to the development of  An Autistic Guide to Healthy Relationships. Her work has been published in leading peer-reviewed journals, and she is on the editorial board for the journal ‘Neurodiversity’ (Editor), and Autism in Adulthood (Deputy Editor). Amy has extensive experience developing and delivering training for external organisations, including the Association of Child and Adolescent Mental health. She is the chair of North Tyneside Council’s Research and Evaluation group for the Neurodiversity Transformation Strategy.

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Hillary Crow (she/her), MA, CCC-SLP
Speech-Language Pathologist
Crow Autism & Speech Therapy Consulting Services, Inc
USA

Hillary Crow, MA, CCC-SLP is a Speech-Language Pathologist, an educator and author, and the founder and owner of Crow Autism & Speech Therapy Consulting Services, Inc. As an Autistic individual herself, Hillary brings both professional expertise and lived experience to her work and commitment to neurodiversity-affirming practices. In addition to providing direct speech-language therapy services to clients of all ages, she frequently collaborates with other Autistic and otherwise-neurodivergent individuals to publish on topics related to neuroaffirming care and speak at agency, state, and national events. Hillary is also the secretary on the board of directors for the Infant Development Association of California (IDA), and she recently contributed as a subject matter expert to the creation of ASHA’s updated Autism and Autism Spectrum Disorder Practice Portal. When Hillary is not working, she loves playing/reading/singing/dancing with her daughter, playing boardgames with her husband, snuggling her extra fluffy ginger cat named Tiger Lily, reading, dreaming of Scotland (she is a bonafide caledonophile), and looking up etymologies of words and origins of idioms— because she is a word nerd in both her professional and personal lives. 

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Hanna Bertilsdotter Rosqvist, PhD 
Professor
Södertörn University
Sweden

Dr. Hanna Bertilsdotter Rosqvist is a neurodivergent sociologist, professor in Social Work at Södertörn University, Sweden, and senior lecturer in social work at Karlstad University, Sweden. Her research focuses on neurodiversity and neurodivergence. She has published several articles and books on the topic, among them Neurodiversity Studies. A New Critical Paradigm (eds Bertilsdotter Rosqvist, Chown & Stenning, 2020, Routledge); The Palgrave Handbook of Research Methods and Ethics in Neurodiversity Studies (eds Bertilsdotter Rosqvist and Jackson-Perry, 2024, Palgrave) and Exploring Autistic Sexualities, Relationality, and Genders: Living Under a Double Rainbow (eds Bertilsdotter Rosqvist, Krazinski & Day, 2024, Routledge). 

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Naureen Hunani (she/her), RD 
Registered Dietitian
RDs for Neurodiversity
Canada

Naureen Hunani is a multiply-registered dietitian with over 18 years of clinical experience. She is the founder of RDs for Neurodiversity, an online continuing education platform dedicated to neurodiversity-informed care for healthcare professionals.

In her private practice in Montreal, Canada, Naureen supports children, adults, and families navigating feeding and eating challenges through a trauma-informed, neuro-inclusive, weight-inclusive, and anti-oppressive approach.

With extensive experience working with neurodivergent individuals, she advocates for early identification of feeding differences, inclusion, and acceptance. Naureen has shared her expertise at national and international conferences and is deeply passionate about helping professionals build neurodiversity-affirming practices.

In 2023, she was honored with ASAN’s "Nothing About Us Without Us" Award for her commitment to advocacy and inclusion related to neurodivergent feeding differences and her work in eating disorders.

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Kelly Mahler, OTD, OTR/L (she/her) 
Occupational Therapist
USA

Dr. Kelly Mahler earned a Doctorate in Occupational Therapy from Misericordia University, Dallas, PA. She has been an occupational therapist for 22 years, serving school-aged children and adults. Kelly is winner of multiple awards, including the 2020 American Occupational Therapy Association Emerging and Innovative Practice Award & a Mom’s Choice Gold Medal. She is an adjunct faculty member at Elizabethtown College, Elizabethtown, PA as well as at Misericordia University, Dallas, PA. Kelly is a co-principal investigator in several research projects pertaining to topics such as interoception, self-regulation, trauma & autism. Kelly is an international speaker and presents frequently on topics related to the ten resources she has authored:

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Megan Anna Neff, PhD
Clinical Psychologist
Neurodivergent Insights
USA

Dr. Megan Anna Neff (She/They) is a neurodivergent Clinical Psychologist and founder of Neurodivergent Insights where she creates education and wellness resources for neurodivergent adults. Additionally, she is co-host of the Divergent Conversations podcast.

As a late-diagnosed AuDHDer (Autistic ADHD), Dr. Neff applies their lived experiences from a cross-neurotype marriage and parenting neurodivergent children to their professional focus. They are committed to broadening the mental health field's understanding of autism and ADHD beyond traditional stereotypes. This personal-professional blend enriches their work and advocacy within neurodiversity.

Dr. Neff is the author of Self-Care for Autistic People and a forthcoming book on Autistic Burnout. Additionally, she has published in several peer-reviewed journals on topics ranging from neurodivergence, place attachment, relational psychoanalysis, social psychology, and integration of spirituality into psychotherapy.

Passionate about distilling complex research into visually accessible formats, she translates research into visual pixels which you can find on her website, Instagram, and digital workbooks. Additionally, Dr. Neff is passionate about community building and creating digital communities by and for neurodivergent individuals.