Dr. Hannah Belcher

I was diagnosed with autism at 23 and ADHD a few years later. Both diagnoses came as a complete surprise. I had struggled with my mental health throughout childhood and adolescence, leaving school at 14, and had spent years trying different therapies and medications. It was an art therapist I had been seeing for several years who first suggested that I might be autistic.

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That diagnosis opened up a whole new world. I began connecting with other autistic people and discovering experiences that felt remarkably familiar. At the same time, I was shocked by how little I had understood about autism. My only knowledge had come from my psychology degree, where I had learned about autism largely through a predominantly ‘male’ lens. I wanted to understand why girls like me had been missed and so I began a PhD.

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My research explored how often autism goes undiagnosed in women, the relationship between missed autism and mental health difficulties and misdiagnoses, and the impact of camouflaging. I passed my PhD in 2022 and published several papers from the research. But the most important thing I gained from my PhD was a much deeper understanding of the importance of listening to autistic people themselves. Research should not simply be about autistic people; it should be relevant to our lives and shaped by the experiences of the people it is intended to benefit.

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Alongside my studies, I worked for national Mind, evaluating services supporting people with mental health difficulties. I also lectured in psychology and mental health and spoke at a range of institutes and organisations. After completing my PhD, I took up a post-doctoral position at King’s College London, developing and evaluating mental health services within primary care, before moving into a lectureship in User-Led Research.

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A year ago, I stepped away from academia to focus more of my time on the work I care about most: working directly with autistic people and supporting the organisations delivering services that can make a genuine difference to our lives.

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I have featured in a range of national and international media discussing my own experiences of autism, as well as current research and debates around autism, including Channel 5, The Guardian, BBC, LBC, Italian Vogue, ABC and New Scientist. I have also spoken for organisations including the National Autistic Society, Autism Research Institute, Autistica and the British Science Festival, as well as universities, schools and grassroots charities across the UK and internationally.

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I continue to contribute to autism research as both an autism and lived-experience expert. This has included sitting on steering committees, reviewing research protocols, methodologies and findings, informing lived experience co-development approaches and supervising student research projects at undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral level.

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In 2022, I published my first book with Jessica Kingsley Publishers, Taking off the Mask, written to help autistic people understand masking and develop practical strategies to support their mental health. My second book, Dealing with Change, Loss and the Unexpected, was published this year and offers practical strategies for managing anxiety around uncertainty and change. My third book, Don’t Ask Me How I Feel, is due to be published in 2027–28.

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Lived experience is at the heart of everything I do. Whether I am researching, writing, speaking or working directly with autistic people and organisations, my aim is always the same: to turn what we know about autism into something that genuinely improves autistic people’s lives.

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I currently live in Essex with my Wife and three cats.