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Trusted by the ND community, 100+ FTSE Corporate & Healthcare Teams
Award-winning keynote speaker, author, scientist, and social entrepreneur empowering workplaces, healthcare, and communities to embrace neurodiversity via a whole-person approach.
I’m Dr. Samantha Hiew — an AuDHDer, scientist, storyteller, and founder of ADHD Girls.
Diagnosed with ADHD at 40, after years of feeling lost in a world that didn’t quite fit, I built the platform I wish had existed for me: a community and movement that amplifies the voices of neurodivergent women and global communities.
My career began with a PhD in cancer research and working in communications, but it was my lived experience that turned me into an advocate. Facing the barriers of late ADHD and autism diagnoses, masking, and burnout, I saw firsthand how systems fail those who don’t fit conventional boxes. This drove me to create AuDHD Women: DSM-5 Criteria via a Scientific & Intersectional Lens Advanced Practitioner Programme.
Today, I combine rigorous research, lived experience, and intersectional perspectives to humanise neurodiversity. I’ve spoken to more than 100,000 people, trained over 100 FTSE companies, and led landmark events, including ADHD & Autism in Women: Missed, Dismissed & Reclaiming Your Voice and the Neurodivergent Phoenix Convention.
Along the way, I’ve been recognised as a Difference Maker by PBS America and Positive Role Model for Gender at the National Diversity Awards, and my work has been featured in the Daily Telegraph, Daily Mail, Forbes, Psychology Today, The Guardian, Loose Women, and more.
My debut book, Tip of the ADHD Iceberg, is a compassionate guide to life after diagnosis — helping others self-advocate with clarity and courage.
Through it all, one truth drives me: science tells us how, but story tells us why. My mission is to bring both together so neurodivergents feel seen, supported, and empowered — and so organisations can build cultures where every mind belongs.
Neurodivergents heal through understanding their wholeness, complexities, and unique wiring. My work builds a future that puts the whole person at the centre of their own story. This looks like:
Neurodivergence is not a deficit. It’s a different way of being wired in a world that can be designed more equitably. Neurodivergents heal when they are seen as a whole person, beyond surface behaviours, into root causes, to tailor support to the individual.
Intersectionality isn’t an add-on. Gender, race, class, culture, power dynamics, life transitions – these don’t sit alongside neurodivergence. They shape how it’s experienced, expressed, and missed. Whole-person care must encompass all of it.
Science without story is incomplete. Data tells us what’s happening. The story tells us why it matters. The most powerful thing we can do is hold both, and my work serves to translate them into something that creates real change for real people.
Books, Programmes & Revolutionary Initiatives
Book
October 2025 Release
A compassionate guide for everyone grappling with a late diagnosis of ADHD, ASD and AuDHD — focused on radical acceptance, compassion and self-advocacy.
Programme
June & October 2026 Cohorts
The world’s first CPD-certified programme combining science, intersectionality, and lived experience — built on collective voices of AuDHD women.
Event
9 July 2026
A 2-hour advanced insight masterclass revealing the hidden patterns conventional models often overlook — from burnout beneath competence and chronic masking to nervous system survival, hormonal influences, and the adaptations shaping many AuDHD women’s lives.
Transforming organisational cultures through science-backed insights and powerful storytelling
Uncovers the science and stories behind how neurodivergence presents differently in women — and why traditional approaches miss so many. Too often, autistic, ADHD and AuDHD women are seen as resilient and high-performing while silently carrying the burdens of late diagnosis, masking, and burnout. By blending neuroscience with lived experience, we reveal the hidden strength behind their success and show organisations how to create truly empathetic and inclusive spaces where that strength is understood and supported.
This session offers a revolutionary lens on how identity intersections — culture, gender, class, and more — shape mental health and the neurodivergent experience. By blending science and lived stories, we reveal how these forces impact resilience, visibility, and support. Audiences are invited to move beyond surface-level awareness into true allyship, building inclusive cultures that celebrate the full spectrum of minds.
Designed for managers and team leads, this session shows how to support neurodivergent colleagues without requiring disclosure. Using science-backed strategies, we reframe productivity through an energy-first lens and demonstrate how language, self-awareness, and psychological safety create inclusive teams. Expect practical tools for sustainable leadership that support every brain.
“From the first moment of contact with Sam I was struck by her commitment, passion and professionalism. Sam wanted context, she wanted to talk to our members and find out what they wanted and needed other people to know about their experiences – and what needed to change and why. Sam really cares, and wanted to make the talk we asked her to give as relevant, impactful and powerful as possible. Which she did.”
“Sam’s talk was incredibly powerful and I believe many attendees got a lot out of it. It was part of a half-day event and many of the points Sam raised in her presentation were brought up in the remainder of the sessions. She was an engaging and inspiring speaker, who expertly wove her lived experience and professional experience into her presentation in a way that added depth and complexity.
“Sam delivered a powerful presentation to an audience of over 400 employees on the subject of neurodiversity as well as sharing her own moving story. Her passion for championing positive action in neurodiversity combined with her extraordinary authenticity and confidence to share her vulnerabilities is formidable. I have never heard our auditorium fall so quiet as she spoke, nor a round of applause so loud when she finished.”
“I FEEL SEEN” was the consistent theme of the feedback from employees after Sam’s chat on Neurodiversity and misconceptions and best practices in the workplace.
Sam’s talks are so informative and rich in context. In just 1 hour she will fast track your learning on this topic. She dives deep into the science and brain differences whilst also covering intersectionality and gender equity.
“Sam delivered a powerful, deeply relatable session that was both insightful and emotionally resonant. Through her openness and lived experience, she created a safe space for honest conversation around ADHD, autism, anxiety, and late diagnosis. Attendees shared that her talk helped them better understand themselves and their families, with many describing it as highly educational, compassionate, and transformative. Sam sparked meaningful learning, connection, and lasting reflection across the audience.”
Marsha Dydo
Insights, stories & advocacy
Last week I walked into a storytelling event. Before it started, we gathered in an adjacent room where an artist…
Some practitioners are supporting AuDHD women every day without realising the questions they’re not yet asking to uncover our emotional…
I’ve been quiet. But I haven’t gone anywhere. We’ve been planning the tool behind the scenes. Her name is SAM…
Something amazing happened. As I’m writing this, I am crying happy tears! I got the news that I’ll be speaking…
In the past few months, we’ve seen ADHD medication prescriptions rise sharply in the UK and Australia – especially among…
Yesterday morning, I was on LBC Radio (from min 2:07:35) as a guest to discuss a story that’s been making…
