Understanding trauma and neurodiversity: Seeing the whole child
Hosted by Kids Inspire and Inspire Wellbeing Services, our Beyond Behaviour: Understanding Trauma and Neurodivergence conference brings together professionals from education, health, and social care. We’ll share research, practice, and insights into the links between trauma and neurodivergence.
One of our keynote speakers is Sue Bell OBE, DL, Founder and Clinical Director of Kids Inspire. Her work as an Integrative Arts and Relational Somatic Psychotherapist has shaped national conversations about children’s mental health. Sue’s session invites delegates to look beyond diagnosis and behaviour to understand the body-based stories beneath.
Read her thoughts below for a preview of her talk and why this work is so essential today.
“We need to move from ‘What’s wrong with this child?’ to ‘What has happened to their body, heart and nervous system?’” Sue Bell OBE, DL
Exploring the links between trauma and neurodiversity
Sue will take to the stage to explore one of the most vital and complex areas in children’s mental health today - the intersection of trauma and neurodiversity.
Drawing on her decades of work as an Integrative Arts and Relational Somatic Psychotherapist and NeuroAffective Touch® practitioner, Sue will show how trauma and neurodivergence live not only in the mind but also in the body.
Her talk will unpack how these experiences overlap and shape a young person’s nervous system, influencing everything from emotional regulation to relationships, attention, and learning.
“Too often, young people are seen through the narrow lens of a diagnosis. When we meet a child as a whole being - body, heart and nervous system - we start to see what’s really going on underneath behaviour.”
From labels to lived experience
For more than twenty years, through founding and leading Kids Inspire and Inspire Wellbeing Services, Sue has listened to thousands of children whose lives have been reduced to acronyms and case files.
“Children don’t just tell their stories in words - they show them,” she explains. “In breath, in posture, in silence, in restlessness. When we learn to listen with body as well as ears, we uncover not only pain, but resilience and creativity.”
Her message is simple yet powerful:
Children are not their labels.
Behind every behaviour is a nervous system trying to survive. Behind every diagnosis is a child longing for safety, belonging, and recognition.
Practice that changes lives
Sue’s keynote will speak to anyone supporting children and young people - from teachers, social workers, therapists, and foster carers to volunteers, youth workers, and health professionals.
“If you’ve ever sat with a child whose behaviour didn’t make sense, or whose diagnosis didn’t tell the whole story, this talk is for you,” Sue says. “You’ll leave with practical tools, deeper understanding, and a renewed sense of why this work matters.”
Her talk will explore:
masking and sensory overwhelm
co- and self-regulation
embodied approaches to safety and connection
the power of adults who can truly walk alongside young people
At its heart is a call for integration: to bring together what our systems often separate. Trauma and neurodiversity are not opposing categories - they are intertwined realities that require compassion, curiosity, and relational safety.
Why this matters now
With rising levels of anxiety, school exclusions, and mental health referrals, Sue believes this conversation is more urgent than ever.
“Children don’t live in silos, but our systems often do. One team for trauma, another for autism. Coming together to share learning and compassion is how we start to change that.”
“Children don’t live in silos, but our systems often do. One team for trauma, another for autism. Coming together to share learning and compassion is how we start to change that.”
Events like our Beyond Behaviour conference invite us to slow down, listen differently, and imagine new possibilities. They remind us that healing is relational, that understanding is embodied, and that the only way forward is to see children as whole human beings
Join the conversation
If you work with or care about children, this event is for you.
You’ll leave not just with knowledge, but with renewed courage - to keep showing up, to keep listening, and to keep helping children feel seen and understood.
Book your place at Beyond Behaviour: Understanding Trauma and Neurodivergence
About the author
Sue Bell OBE, DL is the Founder and Clinical Director of Kids Inspire, a charity supporting children, young people, and families recovering from trauma. She is an Integrative Arts and Relational Somatic Psychotherapist, Somatic Experiencing Practitioner, and faculty member of NeuroAffective Touch®. Her work bridges science, art, and compassion - inspiring systems to see every child as a whole human being.