Lens Not Label
If you want to have more effective conversations with neurodivergent colleagues, we invite you to see things differently with us. Every Friday we offer a new lens on neurodiversity. Plus tips, free resources, and updates on the upcoming books: Lens Not Label and Uncontained.
Make asking easier
Lens Not Label See things differently. 13 August 2026 Happy Friday, Reader! We've been doing a bit behind the scenes, so this week's edition of the newsletter comes from a new email address: info@lensnotlabel.com — please be sure to add this to your contacts or safe senders list so you don't miss out! Plus, doing so helps Google and others know we're legit. Lots of other things to share, so I'll keep the words brief but the value deep: Something for leaders and managers: One thing we learned...
Be in the same conversation
Lens Not Label See things differently. 13 August 2026 Happy Friday, Reader! There has been a lot happening this week. One of the ideas that's helped me stay focused throughout these busy days comes from Lens Not Label: Be in the same conversation. How often are we in two different conversations? You think you’re doing one thing and the person you are talking with thinks you're doing something else. There is a great example in the book about this, between Claire and her daughter, but I don't...
What Poppy knows (and we easily forget)
Lens Not Label See things differently. 13 August 2026 Happy Friday Wednesday, Reader! As we hinted at last week, this edition is coming to you early, as we have something exciting and timely to share. But first, a bit more from our book… Poppy’s Dilemma Great conversations aren’t just about the words you use, or even how you say them, although that matters. Conversations are great when we communicate in a way where we can both be ourselves. My co-author Claire Pedrick takes a selfie with...
You've had thousands of conversations with neurodivergent people
Lens Not Label See things differently. 13 August 2026 Happy Friday, Reader! This is the 7th edition of our weekly email at our new home here at Kit. You can see our past editions here. As you can see, we're finding our feet and figuring things out as we go. So, without further ado, let's get onto today's post… None of this is new. There have always been people whose brains and nervous systems work differently from the majority. Millennia before the Autism label was developed by Eugen Bleuler...
Wildly inclusive and wisely uncontained
Lens Not Label See things differently. 13 August 2026 Hi, nice to see you again! You're here because sometime in the past year, you signed up for the Lens Not Label newsletter, probably from our former home on Substack or lensnotlabel.com This is the place for weekly tips to enable you to see things differently, plus excerpts and updated for our two upcoming books: Lens Not Label (for leaders and managers who want to work more effectively with ND people) and Uncontained (for ND coaches who...
Permission to do it YOU-ly
Lens Not Label See things differently. 13 August 2026 Doing things in a “you-ly” way Last Friday, we were having an epic heat wave here. UK infrastructure isn't made for these kinds of temps and so the railways, houses and people were all melting a bit. How do we cope when things exceed what we can handle? What happens when our coping strategies stop working? When the things we were taught no longer apply? These were the questions on my mind as I was on a 7-hour drive from Liverpool to...
Read this book upside-down (we wrote it that way)
Lens Not Label 13 August 2026 Static Labels & Changing Identities This week's newsletter is on the shorter side, as it's been a busier week than usual. Which is a perfect opportunity to highlight some of the great work of others. Dr. Megan Anna Neff provides an excellent resource to anyone who wants to deepen their understanding of neurodiversity. One particularly useful exploration can be found in her Substack article on neurodivergent identity arcs: “The model I’m sketching out here isn’t...
Lens Not Label, in one word
Lens Not Label 13 August 2026 What’s the best way to work with someone who is neurodivergent? That's the question that inspired the book, Lens Not Label. And here's the short answer: Ask. It is that simple. And simple is often hard. While the long answer (the book) doesn't come out until November, we'd like to tackle one small aspect of the hard part here: the barriers we all face when asking people about what they might need. (The following has been adapted from part of Chapter 8 of the...
Fitting in…but at what cost?
Lens Not Label 13 August 2026 What does it mean to be neurodivergent? In last week's newsletter, we took a deeper look at neurodiversity…what it is and isn't, plus a bit about how to talk about about it. This week, let's go even further and unpack neurodivergent and neurodivergence… In 2000, neurodiversity activist Kassiane Asasumasu introduced these two terms, referring to a person with "any significant divergence from dominant cultural norms of neurocognitive functioning." A person can be...
We've moved! Let's unpack some things…
Lens Not Label 13 August 2026 Welcome to the first edition of the Lens Not Label newsletter! In our new home here on Kit. We'll be doing things a bit differently than we did over at Substack…and we're still figuring out what that means. Regardless, each edition of this Lens Not Label newsletter will include something useful to help you have better conversations with the neurodivergent people in your life. As well as updates on the book, Lens Not Label. Plus, the companion book, Uncontained,...
If you want to have more effective conversations with neurodivergent colleagues, we invite you to see things differently with us. Every Friday we offer a new lens on neurodiversity. Plus tips, free resources, and updates on the upcoming books: Lens Not Label and Uncontained.