Late Diagnosis and Your Career Panel with Jody O’Neill, Dr. Mary Doherty, Neil Burke Kennedy and Ian Lawton

Facilitated by Dee Roycroft

Venue: Meeting Room 7, UCD Student Centre                 4:30pm - 5:30pm

Dee Roycroft (She/Her)

Dee is an award-winning neurodivergent writer and performer living in Dublin. An alumnus of the Abbey Theatre’s Next Wave Playwrighting initiative, she is a recipient of the Mountains to the Sea Bursury 2025, Arts Council funding to develop her play Faun, and a residency at Birr Theatre and Arts Centre to develop her play an angel in centra. Dee regularly mentors and teaches for organisations including the NTAA, Creative Skillnet, IWC, and Cartoon Saloon -including courses specifically for blind/VI, disabled, and neurodivergent writers. She has been a speaker at X-pollinator, is facilitator for Dublin Theatre Festival’s Next Stage programme 2025, and earlier this year co-designed/facilitated a week-long cross-disciplinary residency for neurodivergent artists at IMMA with the support of DCC, Creative Skillnet and ADHD Ireland. In 2023 she set up The Pit Collective, a community of professional artists exploring creative exchange supported by an Arts Council Theatre Bursary.

Dr. Mary Doherty (She/Her)

Dr Mary Doherty is an autistic Consultant Anaesthetist and Clinical Associate Professor at University College Dublin School of Medicine. As founder of Autistic Doctors International, Mary has brought together a vibrant community of autistic doctors from across the world, with a focus on peer support, advocacy, research, and training. Her research interests include healthcare for autistic people as well as experiences and support needs of autistic medical students and doctors. Current projects include the experiences of autistic psychiatrists and reasonable accommodations for autistic clinicians. She developed the Autistic SPACE framework for meeting the needs of autistic people in healthcare and other settings including education. As mother of 2 neurodivergent young people, Mary is passionate about optimising mental and physical health for autistic people and she believes that moving from traditional deficit framing of autism to a neurodiversity affirmative approach is the way forwards.

Jody O’Neill (She/Her)

My name is Jody O’Neill. I work as a writer, performer, producer and accessibility consultant. Following the success of my Abbey Theatre co-production, What I (Don’t) Know About Autism in 2020, I began to work a lot in the area of neurodiversity and disability inclusion. As well as being driven to create work that’s artistically excellent, I’m passionate about finding ways to include people who have traditionally faced barriers in accessing a quality arts experience. As we develop Neuroconvergence, I look forward to having the chance to develop a model and ethos that includes those who have been left out in the past, ensuring that the model we create is representative of the full experience of neurodivergence.

Ian Lawton (He/Him) 

I am an Autistic advocate and founder of NeuroHive, an online platform providing bespoke peer support for late‑diagnosed autistic and otherwise neurodivergent elders. My work is grounded in lived experience, navigating life as a late‑identified Autistic man with ADHD, and in creating supportive, accessible communities where people can genuinely thrive, both in person and online.

Neil Burke Kennedy (He/Him)

(DIP. ARCH, DIP. PROJ. MAN., MRIAI) spent six years working with his father, Paul Burke-Kennedy, in his firm, Burke-Kennedy Doyle Architects—one of Ireland's leading architectural firms. At BKD, Neil was involved in many major projects, including the Earlsfort Centre, the reconstruction of Lower Leeson Street, the Conrad Hilton Hotel (1989), and The Square in Tallaght, which was the largest shopping centre in Europe at the time (1990). In 1993, NBK Architects was established. His motivation to set up his own practice was based on his desire to push the boundaries of architecture by considering landscaping, interiors, and environmental aspects from the early stages of the design process. He believes that successful architecture does not end with the building envelope; rather, it is the attention to detailing, the manner of delivery, and the consideration of context that merits professional recognition—and ultimately, public enjoyment. This commitment to architecture has meant that the focus has never been solely on larger projects. The office has always enjoyed working on smaller, niche designs, which will always remain an important part of the portfolio.