April is Autism Awareness Month. We are delighted to welcome Jody O’Neill, an actress, and writer whose focus in recent years has been to research and develop work that centres on autism acceptance. Join us as we discuss celebrating the idea of difference rather than deficit, access, and inclusion in education and the workplace and shine a light on female autism.

Jody O'Neill Bio:
Jody O’Neill is an award-winning autistic writer and performer with over 20 years’ experience working in the theatre, film, and TV sector in Ireland and internationally. Her critically acclaimed play, What I (Don’t) Know About Autism, premiered in 2020 in co-production with the Abbey Theatre, and in association with The Everyman (Cork) and Mermaid County Wicklow Arts Centre. It will return to the stage in late 2021 for live and internationally streamed performances.

Funded by Dublin Theatre Festival’s Future’s project, she is currently developing a project called Seaside Conversations, working with disability service users to explore their experiences of the pandemic. With support from the Arts Council, she is researching and developing a new play about female autism. She is also working on commissions for new plays from Youth Theatre Ireland and Mermaid.

Helen Smith Bio:
Helen Smith is SUSE’s Tax Director for EMEA & APJ, responsible for all taxes in 30 plus countries and provides support and advice to many teams across the business. Helen has extensive experience of working in-house for FTSE 100 and multinational companies, largely gained in the London market, and within the tech sector in Ireland for the last five years. She is the Women in Tech Local Ambassador for 9 EMEA countries and Controller for the WIT network. Helen is a mum of two, a keen cook and baker, and has a newfound love of sea swimming!