Dialogica

30/04/2026

Neuro-inclusive Mindfulness training?
My understanding is that neurodivergent is any neurological difference that diverges from the majority, acquired or not. So that can include blind and deaf, brain-damaged, anorexia, and dyslexia. Fully accommodating all of this in a mindfulness training would seem to me impossible.
What do you think?

28/04/2026

You might be aware that something's a bit off in how we talk across the neurological divide — especially in autism.
For several years, I've been addressing our limited models of communication in supporting roles, and I've recently developed a short course titled The Autism Dialogue Approach: Foundations.
It's for therapists, coaches, and health professionals who want a more precise, participatory way of working. Less guessing - More contact. 50% off for early sign-up.
https://dialogica.uk/autism-dialogue-udemy-certified-foundations-training-course/

27/04/2026

Counsellors, therapists and coaches, here is a small shift in communication that can change your helping practice quite quickly: be more explicit about the expectations in your practice. Communicate what's going to happen, how long something might take, what's being asked here, and what “finished” might actually look like.

A lot of communication assumes shared meaning. Both helpers and clients fill in the gaps differently depending on factors such as stress, attention, sensory load, and capacity in the moment. Things start to drift because sense-making isn't truly participatory.

When expectations stay implicit, people are left guessing. And guessing is expensive. It creates friction and unnecessary strain.

Being explicit reduces that load. It brings the conversation back into something more grounded. Less interpretation required. More clarity available. There's also something relational in it. It invites equal participation, which helps remove ambiguity.

Making expectations visible quietly shifts the tone of a space — from assumption to shared meaning-making. It becomes clearer what we are actually doing together.

This is one of the practical areas of the Autism Dialogue Approach, where small shifts in how we frame meaning can noticeably change the quality of interaction. Often it's ordinary things: naming timeframes, stating intention directly, checking understanding, saying what is actually being asked and saying what needs to be said, rather than hoping it's understood. Respecting silences more, listening to everything, suspending assumptions and trusting what's present and unfolding.
Small adjustments to change the system.

I’m increasingly aware of how much strain comes from the opposite — from environments where too much is rushed, assumed, left implied, especially when things are already fast or complex, and of practitioners who aren't inwardly regulated.

Slow the pace, make some space.

If something matters, it usually helps to make it even more visible.

Here's a slide from our new course - out on Friday!
https://dialogica.uk/autism-dialogue-udemy-certified-foundations-training-course/

22/04/2026

Sometimes what looks like a communication “difficulty” is actually a mismatch.

When we slow things down and look more closely, a lot more becomes visible.

Remember this easy phrase: "Slow the pace, make some space."

🫵😊

21/04/2026

Recently, we mentioned we've been working on a short course based on what I call the Autism Dialogue Approach (ADA).

The 3-hour Udemy Foundations course is designed for therapists, coaches, and health professionals who want to improve their communication and build trust with autistic, neurodivergent and highly sensitive clients. How do we do that?

Well, firstly, 'dialogue' isn't what you think it is, and we're hoping that this course will change you, not only in the way you engage but also in how you become more comfortable with your own vulnerability and even your built-in prejudices (we all have them).

There are some refreshing, robust theories from autistic social scientists, inner-work reflections, and ready-to-use applications to help you understand and respond to the autistic experience in a relational way, in order to truly benefit all around.

If this course isn't for you, I expect you know someone who'd appreciate it.

I’ve put together a simple page with a bit more detail here

Working with Autistic & Neurodivergent ClientsDo You Go Beyond Behaviour-Based Autism Support? Transform how you understand autism and communicate with more trust, clarity and confidence Move beyond deficit thinking and build deeper understanding, trust and therapeutic connection Apply a trauma-info...

20/04/2026

What is ADA (Autism Dialogue Approach)?

We didn’t set out to create an “approach,” and I’m still slightly wary of calling it one. The work came from seeing where things weren't quite working across research and conversation, and my enquiry into what autism really is, and how dialogue can be universally useful. I found myself focusing on those moments where things felt off, where arguments and conversations didn't land or work at all, and staying with them a bit longer than usual. Over time, certain patterns began to emerge.

What I saw didn’t emerge as a theory or a ready-to-roll framework but showed up in the detail of real interactions — in how people listen, how meaning gets shaped (or distorted), and how easily we default to forms of communication that look right on the surface but don’t actually meet the person in front of us.

The Autism Dialogue Approach grew out of that process. It was an experiment. A Dialogue Lab.

ADA is less about applying techniques and more about how we orient ourselves in the moment. How we listen, how we respond, how we allow meaning to develop rather than forcing it into pre-existing structures. In that sense, it often involves doing less, not more — loosening the impulse to fix, interpret or steer, and instead staying close to what is actually happening between people. The shift at the centre is probably this: moving away from the idea that communication is something we deliver or manage, and towards the recognition that it’s something we participate in and co-create. It draws on things from professional dialogue praxis to ancient storytelling practices, from quantum physics to systemic coaching.

If you want to go a bit deeper into the thinking behind this, I’ve written more here: https://jonnydrury.substack.com/p/autism-is-not-the-whole-truth
There's a link in the article for those who want to explore the training itself.

Busting out of label culture

16/04/2026

There’s a free short live course as part of Derbyshire Council and NHS Joined Up Care. As part of the Quality Conversations programme, our Autism Dialogue contribution is for Derbyshire-based workers in social care, health, education and key work. I just checked, and the first three dates are fully booked! There are more scheduled for September onwards, and they’re setting up a waitlist for those! Do the Core Skills first then ours.
https://joinedupcarederbyshire.co.uk/stay-well/quality-conversations-personalisation/quality-conversations/
Also check out the general offers poster below.
And this post for even more!
https://jonnydrury.substack.com/p/upcoming-live-q-and-a
Cheers!

08/04/2026

A short mindfulness session, suitable for most autistic and other highly sensitive people. Includes three easy-to-follow meditations, adapted for anyone autistic, but beneficial for all.

1. Easing stress meditation
2. Soft spot meditation
3. Loving kindness meditation

With a natural ability to guide and a calming voice to match, Jonny Drury has been meditating since childhood. In 2014, he was informed he met the criteria for Asperger Syndrome and ADHD, and soon realised how much meditation had helped lessen the impact of the world throughout his life. He is writing a book about mindfulness and autism for a major publisher.

A short mindfulness meditation session, suitable for most autistic and other highly sensitive people. Includes three short, calmly guided and easy-to-follow ...

08/04/2026

We share this fabulous conversation with Steve Silberman from time to time. Steve was a massive ally to autistic people, especially after publishing the best-selling Neurotribes: The Legacy of Autism. Enjoy!

Interview with Steve Silberman, 25th April 2019. (32mins).The interview, recorded on 24th April 2019, starts with a friendly exchange around common creative ...

28/01/2026

In person coaching now available at Aldern House in Bakewell

15/12/2025

Silberman’s NeuroTribes didn’t give me an identity — it gave me context.

It softened the ground beneath my own self-identifying, on my terms, and made dialogue feel possible. Steve didn’t tell autistic people who to be. He made space for us to exist without being reduced.

Some people leave behind ideas. Others leave behind the conditions in which better ideas can grow. Steve did the latter — which is why this conversation still matters to me.

Jonny Drury

Steve Silberman, NeuroTribes, and the Long Work of Making Sense Together