BIO

Jonathan Drury is a leading practitioner and advocate in the field of Autism and neurodiversity, drawing on both personal experience and professional expertise since 2017. He is the creator of the Autism Dialogue Approach, a therapeutic and strengths-based method designed to empower autistic and neurodivergent individuals, as well as their families, allies, and professionals who support them. 

Jonathan's approach is rooted in a unique synthesis of communication and awareness-raising practices, inspired by physicist David Bohm’s Dialogue method, which he first encountered in 2010 prior to receiving his own diagnosis of Asperger’s and ADHD. This transformative experience led him to pioneer the first Autism Dialogue sessions, marking the beginning of a movement that has since grown into a national community. 

Through his organisation, Dialogica, Jonathan provides coaching for autistic adults and Dialogue-based training for a wide range of care-based professionals, enabling better communication across neurotypes and fostering inclusive environments where neurodivergent people can thrive, raising self-awareness and reframing their difference as a launch pad for growth and dynamic integration. 

Recently, Jonathan served as a trainer of trainers for The Anna Freud Centre and AT-Autism, helping to shape the next generation of NHS Autism Trainers as part of the National Autism Trainer Programme. 

His new book, The Autism Dialogue Approach Handbook, Transforming Communication in Neurodiversity (Routledge, 2025) offers practical tools and insights for applying the method, as well as its philosophical background, and makes a case for the urgent need for dialogue everywhere. It is set to become a key resource for practitioners, autistic people, and anyone passionate about neurodiversity and human communication. 

WORKSHOP OVERVIEW

The Autism Dialogue Approach.  Transforming Communication in Neurodiversity. 

This workshop introduces the Autism Dialogue Approach (ADA), a holistic, relational method designed to transcend and respect neurotypes, heal what Damian Milton calls ‘the double empathy gap’ and transform both group process and 1-1 client work. Grounded in the philosophies of Enactivism, David Bohm, dialogic practice, and influenced by mindfulness and neurodiversity thinking, ADA invites participants into a different kind of therapeutic space - challenging medicalised assumptions, and shifts to being-in-relation-with. Following a short introduction, participants will engage in a structured, interactive ADA exercise, then reflect on its real-world application in their own practice. 

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1. Understand the core principles of the Autism Dialogue Approach (ADA) as a relational and systemic practice. 
2. Explore the dialogic and philosophical foundations of ADA and integrated neurodiversity-affirming perspectives. 
3. Recognise how ADA contrasts with deficit-based approaches in both group and individual therapeutic work, and in society. 
4. Experience a guided ADA-based exercise and reflect on its application to 1-1 client interactions.[Text Wrapping Break] 
5. Learn practical ways to integrate ADA into existing therapeutic, coaching, or mental health practice.