This presentation explores the deeply personal and professionally rigorous journey of Tim Sanderson, a psychologist who has spent over four decades tracing the hidden patterns of neurodivergence. From graduating in Human Psychology at Aston University in 1982 to receiving his own diagnoses of Autism and ADHD at age 60, Tim’s story is one of insight, legacy, and radical reframing.
Tim invites fellow psychologists, educators, and allies to move beyond silos and see neurodivergence as part of a broader, purposeful and valuable genetic story.
Key Themes Covered:
- Personal and familial legacy: Tim was born into a neurodivergent family and later faced the devastating loss of his stepchild to undiagnosed neurodivergence. These lived experiences inform his clinical mission: to name and honour what was previously unseen
- Relational and generational patterns: Neurodivergence is shown not as an isolated condition but as a relational, heritable, and ecologically embedded set of traits, often shared across families and partnerships
- Adaptive strengths: Challenging deficit-based models, Tim argues that traits such as creativity, emotional intensity, and sensory sensitivity are functional adaptations - critical to survival, connection, and societal progress
- Biodiversity framework: Drawing from David Attenborough’s reflections on ecological diversity, Tim positions neurodivergence as human cognitive biodiversity - vital for resilience and evolution
- Couples and family systems: His clinical observations reveal high concordance in neurodivergent partnerships and familial patterns, underlining the importance of viewing diagnosis through an ecological lens
- Rethinking diagnosis: Tim advocates for a systemic approach to adult neurodivergence rather than a purely medical assessment (deficit approach) - one that embraces and includes history, relationships, and the full ecosystem of cognitive traits and inherent attributes (strengths based approach).
About our presenter: Tim Sanderson
Tim Sanderson is a psychologist in private practice who specialises in adult neurodivergence, offering Telehealth assessments and clinical support across Australia. His compassionate approach is grounded in over four decades of experience spanning special education, rehabilitation, university equity, advocacy, and educational leadership in inclusive education. Tim’s work is both analytical and deeply human - drawing upon research, personal narrative, and complex systems thinking.
His professional path began at Aston University in Birmingham UK, where he earned a degree in Human Psychology in 1982. But it wasn’t until nearly forty years later, at age 60, that Tim received his own diagnoses of Autism and ADHD - an experience that profoundly reshaped his clinical perspective and completed a journey he had unknowingly begun as a young graduate. Back then, the word ‘neurodivergence’ didn’t exist, but the mission had already taken root: to support, understand, and redefine what it means to be wired differently.
Tim’s questions upon graduation – ‘What is the rest of this? How does it all fit together? What's missing?”- was both philosophical and personal. His early work in the university’s Dyslexia clinic under Dr Margaret Newton, as well as involvement in Dr Ron Easterby’s ISO Geneva study on international symbols and design cognition, left a lasting influence. These formative experiences became the first pieces in a lifelong puzzle - each one shaping his understanding of mind, meaning, and the unseen patterns beneath human behaviour.
Tim’s practice honours and validates his clients lived experience but also his own richly neurodivergent family - and especially those whose traits were never named in time. Through radical affirmation and clear-eyed empathy, he challenges the notion of ‘disorder’, inviting fellow psychologists to look for intelligence, connection, and powerful purpose and potential in every unique expression of neurodiversity.
Webinar timing: 7:00 – 8:00 pm AEST
Access to the recording of this webinar: A recording of this webinar will be available through the CPD Webinar Library, but for the best experience and the opportunity to ask your questions, join us live. Everyone who registers will be advised via email as soon as the recording is available. Members have unlimited access to the recording, and non-members will have access for 6 months.