About This Directory
Neurodivergent Practitioners is a global online directory of 1,500+ neurodivergent-affirming practitioners, including therapists, counsellors, coaches, psychologists and other professionals, whose lived experience, alongside professional training, informs their work. Founded in 2021, it helps neurodivergent people find support from practitioners who understand neurodivergence from the inside, and is used by thousands of people each month, with practitioners across 28 countries.
Why Neurodivergent Practitioners exists
Finding the right practitioner can be difficult.
Many neurodivergent people are looking for someone who understands neurodivergence through both professional training and lived experience. Someone they do not have to continually explain themselves to.
Yet finding those practitioners has often relied on personal recommendations, informal networks, and chance.
Neurodivergent Practitioners exists to make that search easier.
The directory helps people find practitioners whose lived experience informs their work, while giving neurodivergent practitioners a dedicated space where that experience can be visible and valued.
Who created it
Neurodivergent Practitioners was created by Tara O’Donnell-Killen, an Autistic practitioner.
After discovering she was Autistic, Tara experienced first-hand how difficult it could be to find professionals whose lived experience informed their work.
In response, she founded Thriving Autistic, a non-profit organisation supporting newly identified Autistic adults and helping to build a community of Autistic professionals.
As that community grew, more people began reaching out looking for practitioners who understood other neurodivergent experiences, including ADHD, AuDHD, Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, Tourette Syndrome, and co-occurring or intersectional forms of neurodivergence.
At the same time, many neurodivergent practitioners were finding it difficult to make their lived experience visible through traditional professional directories and referral systems.
There was no obvious place to search.
Neurodivergent Practitioners was created to help close that gap.
Since 2021, the directory has grown into a global network of neurodivergent practitioners and it is where people come to find support, services, and professional expertise.
A portion of all profits from Neurodivergent Practitioners supports Thriving Autistic.
Our shared foundation
Today, Neurodivergent Practitioners brings together practitioners from a wide range of professions, backgrounds, and neurodivergent experiences.
While every practitioner works independently, every listed practitioner shares a public commitment to neuroaffirming principles: an approach that sees neurodivergence as a natural form of human variation to be understood and supported, rather than a deficit to be fixed.
What being listed means
The shared commitment helps people understand the principles every listed practitioner has agreed to uphold.
Some practitioners also carry the Verified by Neurodivergent Practitioners badge. Verification confirms that we have independently checked their professional registration or insurance and found it to be current at the time of verification.
Verification relates only to professional credentials. It is not an endorsement, recommendation, certification, or guarantee of competence.
Interested in joining the directory? Learn more about becoming listed →
FAQ
What is Neurodivergent Practitioners?
If you are looking for support, this is where you can find someone who already understands, so the energy you would normally spend explaining yourself can go into the work itself. Search the directory, read how each practitioner describes their own way of working, and contact whoever feels like a good fit.
What does “neuroaffirming” mean?
In practice, it means working with someone who starts from the position that the way your body and mind work is valid. Sessions are shaped around how you actually think, communicate and process things, whether that comes from being Autistic, having ADHD, dyslexia, dyspraxia or something else. You will never be asked to hide neurodivergent traits, act more neurotypical, or treat who you are as the problem.
How are practitioners verified?
We ask every practitioner listed here to commit to a shared set of standards, and you can read our Shared Commitments for yourself. As an additional mark of accountability, practitioners can choose to become verified. This means they have shared proof of their professional registration or their insurance with us, and we have checked it. If a listing has no Verified badge, that only means the practitioner has not taken this optional step.
Is it free to search the directory?
Yes, anyone can search Neurodivergent Practitioners for free to find a practitioner who suits their needs.
How is this different from a regular therapist directory?
Standard directories list professionals by qualification and location. Neurodivergent Practitioners focuses on practitioners whose own lived experience of neurodivergence informs their work and who commit to neuroaffirming principles, so people can find someone they don’t have to keep explaining themselves to.
Who runs Neurodivergent Practitioners?
Neurodivergent Practitioners was founded in 2021 by Tara O’Donnell-Killen, an Autistic practitioner and founder of the non-profit Thriving Autistic. She is a co-author of two Jessica Kingsley Publishers clinical handbooks on autism assessment: The Adult Autism Assessment Handbook and The Neurodiversity Affirmative Child Autism Assessment Handbook. Neurodivergent Practitioners is a trading name of Luminosity Labs Ltd.