Speaker Kit

Get in touch if you’re interested in me facilitating a workshop, speaking on a podcast, appearing on a Youtube channel or perhaps you have another project where I could help…

At a Glance

Emma Leadley (they/them) — Neuroqueer coach, late-diagnosed AuDHD-er, and someone who’s done the “successful on paper, quietly falling apart” thing so you don’t have to figure it out alone.

Based in Sheffield, UK. Working with clients worldwide except North America.

Book Emma / Enquire →

Short Bio (for programme listings, ~50 words)

Emma Leadley (they/them) is a neuroqueer coach helping late-diagnosed AuDHD adults move through rejection sensitivity and emotional overwhelm into genuine self-acceptance — without masking to get there. Diagnosed autistic in 2024 and ADHD in 2025, Emma coaches from lived experience, not just theory.

Medium Bio (for podcast/event pages, ~130 words)

Emma Leadley (they/them) is a coach for late-diagnosed AuDHD and neuroqueer adults — the ones who spent years being “fine on paper” while quietly burning out trying to keep up with a world that was never built for their brain.

Diagnosed autistic in January 2024 and with ADHD in early 2025, Emma coaches from the inside of the experience they help others through: masking, rejection sensitive dysphoria (RSD), and the long, disorienting process of unlearning self-blame. They hold an Accredited Diploma in Transformative Coaching (ICF, EMCC and Association for Coaching accredited) and run sliding-fee coaching to keep support accessible.

Emma is also queer, non-binary, polyamorous, kink-aware, chronically ill, and doesn’t own a filter for any of it.

Long Bio (for detailed features / show notes, ~260 words)

Emma Leadley (they/them) spent decades masking before they understood why — flying under the radar at school, missing the diagnosis everyone else’s stereotypes told them didn’t apply, and building a “successful on paper” life that quietly cost them everything underneath.

It took a diagnosis of autism in January 2024, and ADHD a year later, for the pieces to click. Now Emma coaches late-diagnosed AuDHD and neuroqueer adults through exactly that unravelling — helping them move through rejection sensitive dysphoria (RSD) and emotional overwhelm into real self-acceptance, without needing to mask to get there.

Emma’s approach is future-focused, not “unpick your past” — they describe themselves as a compass, not a controller, guiding clients’ own self-discovery rather than handing out advice. They hold an Accredited Diploma in Transformative Coaching, on a course accredited by the ICF, EMCC and the Association for Coaching, and run their practice on a sliding-fee model so cost isn’t the barrier to support.

Lived experience is the whole foundation here: Emma is queer, non-binary, polyamorous (a decade in), kink-aware, and lives with chronic illness (including ME and fibromyalgia) alongside their neurodivergence. They’re not observing this community from the outside — they’re in it, which is exactly why they also speak on ethical non-monogamy and on relationships where partners’ neurotypes don’t match.

Off the coaching couch, Emma has run workshops at Eroticon, Eastercon 2026 (“Overcoming Writer’s Block for Neurodivergent Writers”), and is booked for Edge-Lit in September 2026 with the same session — bringing neuroqueer-affirming, RSD-literate conversation to spaces that don’t always get this kind of nuance.

Emma is a coach, not a therapist, and is upfront about that distinction — and about where their own expertise ends.

Talking Points / Signature Topics

Emma can speak to any of these — solo, as an interview guest, or woven into a broader neurodivergence/queer/chronic illness conversation:

The RSD spiral, decoded — what rejection sensitive dysphoria actually is, how it shows up in ordinary moments (a Slack message, a look, a silence), and what to do in the spiral, not just after it.
Unmasking without blowing up your life — what it really means to stop performing neurotypical, and why it’s a process, not a single decision.
The late-diagnosis identity crisis — grieving the years you didn’t know, without getting stuck there.
AuDHD myth-busting — why so much of the public picture of autism and ADHD (especially in AFAB/non-binary people) is wrong, and who gets missed because of it.
Neuroqueer at the intersections — what happens when autism/ADHD overlaps with queerness, polyamory, kink, and chronic illness, and why coaching that ignores those intersections misses the point.
Polyamory, from a decade in — practical, lived-experience insight into ethical non-monogamy: communication, jealousy, compersion, and building relationship structures nobody handed you a script for.
When neurotypes don’t match — navigating relationships (romantic, platonic, family) where partners process, communicate, and regulate differently, and why “just communicate better” isn’t the whole answer.

Previous Speaking Engagements

Eroticon — workshop facilitator
Eastercon 2026 — “Overcoming Writer’s Block for Neurodivergent Writers”
Edge-Lit — “Overcoming Writer’s Block for Neurodivergent Writers” (September 2026, upcoming)

What Emma Won’t Cover

In the interest of a good fit for both sides — Emma is happy to be asked in advance, but as general guidance:

Not a therapist — won’t discuss medication, formal diagnosis/assessment processes, or clinical treatment
Doesn’t currently do live panels or audience Q&A formats
Doesn’t cover motherhood, fertility, pregnancy, or parenting topics

What People Say

(Full testimonials: emmaleadleycoach.com/testimonials)

Clients describe Emma’s coaching as steadying them through a genuinely rough patch, and say they were struck by how professional and collaborative sessions felt, even when they weren’t sure what to expect going in.