SPECIALIST EXPERIENCE
Mindfulness and Neurodiversity
Neuroaffirming practice for ADHD, autistic and AuDHD minds.
Or email us at contact@mindfulnessdevon.com
If you’ve tried mindfulness before and found it didn’t work, the problem may not have been you.
Most mindfulness instruction assumes a particular kind of nervous system. Sit still. Close your eyes. Hold your attention on the breath for twenty minutes. For a lot of neurodivergent people that’s uncomfortable at best and genuinely distressing at worst — and being told to try harder rarely helps.
Our work on mindfulness and neurodiversity starts from the opposite end. The practice adapts to the person, not the other way round. Movement is welcome. Eyes stay open if that feels safer. Practices are short and repeated often, because two minutes done regularly beats twenty minutes endured once.
OUR PRINCIPLES
Four things we do differently
Short and frequent
Two to five minute practices, repeated often, consistently outperform long and rare sessions — particularly where sustained attention is effortful.
Body-led
Anchored in physical sensation rather than abstract instruction. “Notice your feet on the floor” is a great deal more useful than “observe your thoughts without judgement”.
Trauma-aware
Choice is always offered. Eyes open is fine. Stopping is fine. Nothing is forced, and no practice is presented as something you must push through.
Neurodiversity-adapted
Fidgeting and movement are welcomed, not corrected. Stimming isn’t a lapse in concentration — for many people it’s what makes concentration possible.
Techniques we actually use
Not everything works for everyone, which is why we teach a range rather than insisting on one. Finding that a practice doesn’t suit you is useful information, not a failure.
Breath-based resets
The physiological sigh (a double inhale and long exhale) for fast calm; box breathing for a focus reset; 4-7-8 breathing to downshift before something demanding.
Grounding through the senses
The 5-4-3-2-1 practice, progressive muscle relaxation, and tense-and-release work — all of which give the mind something concrete to do rather than asking it to be still.
Visualisation and containment
Safe-place imagery for overwhelm, colour-breathing, and ‘container’ visualisation — a way of temporarily setting down a difficult feeling without pretending it isn’t there.
Co-regulation and rest
Bilateral tapping, self-hug, and yoga nidra — a deep-rest practice that asks nothing more than lying down and listening, which makes it one of the most accessible ways in.
Language, and asking first
Neurodiversity describes the natural variation in how human brains work — it’s a concept, not a diagnosis. Neurodivergent describes an individual whose brain functions differently from what’s considered typical. Neuroaffirming describes an approach that works with those differences rather than trying to correct them.
Some people prefer identity-first language (“autistic person”), others prefer person-first (“person with ADHD”). Both are widely used and neither is universally correct. We ask rather than assume — and we’ll use whatever you use.
We also recognise AuDHD — having both ADHD and autism — as common rather than rare. The two profiles can mask one another, and a drive for routine can sit awkwardly alongside a need for novelty. Support that treats one as ‘primary’ tends to miss what’s actually happening.
Who leads this work
Sophia Roddan leads our neurodiversity work. Alongside her accredited Mindfulness Now teaching, she works as a Health and Wellbeing Mentor specialising in emotional support and neurodiversity, and has undertaken independent, in-depth research into ADHD presentation and support strategies — with a particular focus on neurodivergent teenagers.
She is a Drawing and Talking practitioner at advanced level with additional autism-specific training, a yoga nidra teacher, and a musician who uses sound and rhythm as a regulation tool. Full details are on our qualifications page.
What this is, and what it isn’t
This is mindfulness teaching, adapted thoughtfully. It is not assessment, diagnosis, therapy or treatment, and it isn’t a substitute for any of them. We don’t diagnose ADHD or autism and we can’t tell you whether you or your child is neurodivergent.
If you’re seeking an assessment, a GP is the usual starting point and can refer on to a community paediatrician or CAMHS depending on age and area. In England, NHS Right to Choose lets families select an alternative NHS-funded provider, which can reduce waiting times. The NHS pages on ADHD in children and young people and autism are a reliable place to start.
You don’t need a diagnosis to work with us. If mindfulness has felt inaccessible and you’d like to try an approach built around how your mind actually works, that’s reason enough.
Practices from our collection
These practices from our written collection were built with neurodivergent people in mind. Each can be read in full or used in a session.
- Surfing the Wave — a Tourette syndrome informed practice, where tics are part of the practice rather than an interruption
- Sensory Check-In — for noticing whether you are sensory seeking or sensory reducing today
- Sensory Grounding — for moments when things feel too loud, too bright or simply too much
- Using Natural Sounds — grounding outward through hearing rather than inward through the breath. Free to read
- Chair-Based Body Scan — written for a seated body from the start, not adapted on the fly
FREE 15-MINUTE CHAT
Not sure what you need? Let’s talk
Book a free, no-obligation 15-minute chat with Sophia. Call or message us on WhatsApp. If we’re not available, leave a voice message or send a message, and we will get back to you.
Prefer email? Write to contact@mindfulnessdevon.com, or use our contact form. You can also read about our one-to-one sessions.
Tell us what you need
Get in touch for a free, no-obligation conversation. Tell us what’s worked before, what hasn’t, and anything we should know about sensory needs or how you prefer to communicate — we’ll shape things around that.
Or email us at contact@mindfulnessdevon.com