5th Journal Creative Industries Part 1 Published
Introduction
Neurodiverse Voices: Creative Industries. Issue 5 Part 1. ISSN 2634-0798
All our Journals are housed in the Digital Archive of the British Library
Authors:
Charles Freeman, Becki Morris, Katie Carmichael, Qona Rankin, Katherine Hewlett, Lennie Varvarides, Heather Symonds
Editors:
Professor Emerita Debra Kelly, Lead Editor, Dr Katherine Hewlett, David Hermanstein, Becki Morris
Welcome to Part 1 of AchieveAbility’s investigation into and exploration of neurodivergent thinking and practice in the creative industries. This first part of our double issue focuses on the creative industries; the second part, to be published in 2026, examines neurodivergent creative practices.
aa-creative-industries_2025_issue-5-part-one [pdf]
Together these two themes pose such questions as:
• What is the dialogue that is needed for greater understanding in the creative industries and in the creative practices
which take place there?
• How do we change the current situation?
• What are the steps that can be gradually taken to reach another version of thinking, to be thinking in, with, within the neurodivergent perspective?
• Who decides what is valuable? How can neurodivergent employees be valued?
These are questions that are pertinent to all employment sectors. However, the situation in the creative industries is particularly acute given ND over-representation in numbers, particularly in certain sub-sectors, and ND under-representation in voice and agency as the contributions collected together here testify.
We therefore open this e-journal issue with three analyses providing evidence and analysis on sector and workplace environments, together with professional and personal experiences, and the range of complex scenarios in which these take place:
Charles Freeman on creative education and employment; Becki Morris's survey on the development and analysis of the AchieveAbility Survey; and Katie Carmichael’s Dyslexia Scotland Report, joined by Katherine Hewlett’s Neurodivergent
Advocacy in the UK Case Study. Qona Rankin’s powerful critique of the educational environment in art schools from the 1970s to the present brings decades of experience, as both student and teacher, bears witness and serves as a bridge here to two closing reflective contributions also founded, nonetheless,on research-based – as well as personal – insights.
Katherine Hewlett and Lennie Varvarides share their own perspectives on profound questions lying at the heart of the relationship between neurodivergence and creativity; Heather Symonds brings a neurodivergent sensibility to artistic creation and appreciation and, along the way, demonstrates her ground-breaking work in the assessment of creative
practice in higher education.
Our contributors take us from the origins of the term ‘creative industries’ to the, often quoted but less acted-on, value of the creative economy in the UK; from the importance of creative education to the ND community to the laying bare of enduring
myths – and truths – concerning the obstacles and opportunities within the sector. Problems are explained and addressed; solutions are explored and offered. Resistance, resilience and advocacy confront struggle, misunderstanding and systemic barriers; all of these terms occur and re-occur throughout the contributions here.
As always in the work of AchieveAbility and within the pages of the e-journal, the personal and the professional join forces in powerful ways; research evidence and creativity work together to consider old problems and pose new questions.
Through this research, we articulate a positive call for action towards improved understanding of neurodivergent thinking and for the facilitation of spaces for neurodivergent creativity to be expressed. Advocacy and Self-Advocacy will, and must, provoke this broader cultural, social, and political shift.
Neurodiverse Voices: Creative Industries. Issue 5 Part 1. ISSN 2634-0798
All our Journals are housed in the Digital Archive of the British Library
Authors:
Charles Freeman, Becki Morris, Katie Carmichael, Qona Rankin, Katherine Hewlett, Lennie Varvarides, Heather Symonds
Editors:
Professor Emerita Debra Kelly, Lead Editor, Dr Katherine Hewlett, David Hermanstein, Becki Morris
Welcome to Part 1 of AchieveAbility’s investigation into and exploration of neurodivergent thinking and practice in the creative industries. This first part of our double issue focuses on the creative industries; the second part, to be published in 2026, examines neurodivergent creative practices.
aa-creative-industries_2025_issue-5-part-one [pdf]
Together these two themes pose such questions as:
• What is the dialogue that is needed for greater understanding in the creative industries and in the creative practices
which take place there?
• How do we change the current situation?
• What are the steps that can be gradually taken to reach another version of thinking, to be thinking in, with, within the neurodivergent perspective?
• Who decides what is valuable? How can neurodivergent employees be valued?
These are questions that are pertinent to all employment sectors. However, the situation in the creative industries is particularly acute given ND over-representation in numbers, particularly in certain sub-sectors, and ND under-representation in voice and agency as the contributions collected together here testify.
We therefore open this e-journal issue with three analyses providing evidence and analysis on sector and workplace environments, together with professional and personal experiences, and the range of complex scenarios in which these take place:
Charles Freeman on creative education and employment; Becki Morris's survey on the development and analysis of the AchieveAbility Survey; and Katie Carmichael’s Dyslexia Scotland Report, joined by Katherine Hewlett’s Neurodivergent
Advocacy in the UK Case Study. Qona Rankin’s powerful critique of the educational environment in art schools from the 1970s to the present brings decades of experience, as both student and teacher, bears witness and serves as a bridge here to two closing reflective contributions also founded, nonetheless,on research-based – as well as personal – insights.
Katherine Hewlett and Lennie Varvarides share their own perspectives on profound questions lying at the heart of the relationship between neurodivergence and creativity; Heather Symonds brings a neurodivergent sensibility to artistic creation and appreciation and, along the way, demonstrates her ground-breaking work in the assessment of creative
practice in higher education.
Our contributors take us from the origins of the term ‘creative industries’ to the, often quoted but less acted-on, value of the creative economy in the UK; from the importance of creative education to the ND community to the laying bare of enduring
myths – and truths – concerning the obstacles and opportunities within the sector. Problems are explained and addressed; solutions are explored and offered. Resistance, resilience and advocacy confront struggle, misunderstanding and systemic barriers; all of these terms occur and re-occur throughout the contributions here.
As always in the work of AchieveAbility and within the pages of the e-journal, the personal and the professional join forces in powerful ways; research evidence and creativity work together to consider old problems and pose new questions.
Through this research, we articulate a positive call for action towards improved understanding of neurodivergent thinking and for the facilitation of spaces for neurodivergent creativity to be expressed. Advocacy and Self-Advocacy will, and must, provoke this broader cultural, social, and political shift.
Please click on the button to donate within the above link for
aa-creative-industries_2025_issue-5-part-one
For the Special interactive report of the Creative Industries please click on the link below
Also see our new survey - please do contribute
aa-creative-industries-report_2025 [pdf]
AchieveAbility E-Journal Special Report: Understanding Neurodivergent
Thinking in the Creative Industries and in Creative Practices
Hosted by the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama (RCSSD), the AchieveAbility 5th double edition
e-journal will be a two-part publication in 2025 and 2026 focusing on creative industries and practices.
The call to submit
Theme 1:
Leadership Accountability in the Creative Industries
Theme 2:
The Neurodivergent Identity in Creative Innovation
Theme 3:
Collaboration within the sub-sectors of the Creative Industries
Theme 4:
Managed Inclusion with Cognitive Empathy in the Creative Industries
You can also explore your own themes for the Creative Industries and submit to us.
