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Dr Emily Compton-Smith | Clinical Psychologist | ADHD & Autism

@drcomptonsmith

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🧠ADHD + Autism assessments | Therapy
🫶Untangling shame + self-doubt so strategies finally work
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To celebrate ADHD awareness month, we've got a giveaway for you!

🩷Spot the mistake in the book title and drop your answer in the comments!

🩷Make sure you're following @JKPbooks and @drcomptonsmith. One person with the correct answer will be randomly selected to win the prize.

What's the prize? 2 books from this marvellous stack of books all about #ADHD.

Giveaway closes: 15th October. UK applicants only.

Find the Ts and Cs in our bio

#ADHDawarenessmonth #ADHDbooks

@sheldon.press @sarah_marsh_journalist @sheldon.press @lottaborgskoglund @alex_partridge_100 @drmiguelmateas

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This is the live debrief with @drcomptonsmith of the channel
4 programme ADHD the myth. What’s your view ? Here is ours. If you are feeling affected by this programme know that you are believed, your journey and your lived experience is still valid and we will not stop or be pushed back. Let us know your views on it below if you couldn’t join the live with us 🩷 @channel4 @channel4pressteam @drcomptonsmith #adhd

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Spread this message. Join my insta live tonight with @drcomptonsmith 9pm to debrief on the channel 4 programme the myth of ADHD. My morning leads me to refute this title. Too many already let down. #adhdgirls #adhdwomen #adhdisreal

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How many do you relate to? 🤣

Inspired by @giftofthegabbi (who btw is an AMAZE artist @pawtraitsbygabs ) ⭐️

I wonder if these behaviours from adhd were spoken about as often, would people still think it’s fun and trendy 🫠

#adhd #adhdawareness #adhdproblems #adhdbrain #adhdsupport

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One Conference. Endless Connections.

Join global experts at the 8th Euro-Global Conference on Pediatrics & Autism.

📅 Aug 14–16, 2026
📍 Paris, France

✨ Meet international speakers
✨ Network with researchers
✨ Discover new collaborations
✨ Build lifelong professional connections

🤝 Connect worldwide.

🔗 https://researchersfusion.com/conferences/pediatrics/

#pediatrics #autismawareness #childhealth #pediatriccare #globalnetworking #medicalevents #autismawareness #healthcareprofessionals #PediatricResearch #futurehealthcare #researchcommunity #parisfrance

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Early signs don’t mean a diagnosis.
They mean early support 💙

Some common early signs parents notice:
1. Avoiding eye contact or not responding to their name
2. Preferring to play alone vs interactive play
3. Delayed speech or unusual speech patterns
4. Repetitive movements like hand-flapping or rocking
5. Intense focus on specific objects/routines

Important: Every child develops differently.
One sign ≠ Autism. But noticing early helps.

Autism is not a limitation. It’s a different way of connecting.
Early support helps them grow with confidence.

If you notice these signs, talk to a pediatrician or child psychologist.
Trust your instincts. You know your child best.

Recognize Early. Support Early.
Every Child Deserves Understanding.

👇 Tag a parent who needs to see this
📩 Therapists: DM “AUTISM” for AI video samples for your clinic

#autismawarenes #autismsign #earlyintervention #childdevelopment #autismparents

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April was Autism Awareness Month and for those of you who don’t know, i am autistic!
this post is very late as i wanted to gather my thoughts and articulate myself as best i could and i was struggling lol 🫶🏻
I was diagnosed as autistic in September of 2025 and it honestly came as a big shock because no other health professional had ever mentioned it to me. It made a lot of sense though especially since women tend to be diagnosed a lot later in life!

finding out i was autistic had such a huge impact and was incredibly validating for me. I spent my entire life feeling as though something was inherently wrong with me because i felt like no matter what i did, i never fit in anywhere. I did my best to try and mimic mannerisms and behave similarly to those around me hoping to find acceptance, but i couldn’t understand why everything seemed to come naturally for others but not for me.

one of the hardest parts about getting diagnosed was acknowledging how often i’d been made to feel bad for things that were simply part of being autistic. i have often been perceived negatively due to behaving differently than what’s considered socially acceptable. for example, I’ve always been someone who gets overwhelmed and overstimulated easily, which is common when you’re autistic. however i have been made to feel bad for this which has led me to internalise things and shut down instead of expressing myself.
i also feel things very deeply but i often struggle to know what i’m feeling in the moment and may need time alone where i feel safe to be able to process things fully. this has caused people to see me as unemotional or unempathetic when in reality i’m hyper-emotional and empathetic, i just process things differently.
there are so many misconceptions and stereotypes about what autism is and how an autistic person should behave, especially when it comes to women. i think that’s part of why awareness is so important because in showing the different ways autism presents itself, it can allow people to feel less alone in how they may be feeling.

there’s so much more i could say about this topic but instagram has a word limit 💀💗

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Before you label a child, ask what happened to them. Not what's wrong with them, what happened to them.

The ADHD conversation is everywhere right now. But the trauma conversation is being left out of it entirely. Hypervigilance looks like hyperactivity. Dissociation looks like inattention. A dysregulated nervous system looks like a naughty kid.

We are diagnosing and medicating symptoms without asking what caused them.

This matters. Share it with someone who needs to hear it.

#traumainformed #adhdawareness #childhoodtrauma

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This info graph by @drcomptonsmith needs to be seen by everyone 👌✨️❤️

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Credit @drcomptonsmith

The autism spectrum isn’t a line from “a little bit autistic” to “very autistic.”

All of these areas - communication, sensory needs, emotional regulation, masking, all of it - show up differently in every autistic person. How much, in what way, in what context. None of it is the same.

It’s also why “everyone’s a little bit on the spectrum” isn’t a thing. You’re either autistic or you’re not. What varies is how each of these areas presents. Not whether autism exists.

You’re not looking at one thing on a sliding scale. You’re looking at loads of different things, all interacting with each other.

Also shout out to all the people who pointed out that when I shared this image last year, I didn’t have a label for one of the boxes. Fixed it 🤪🧡

#neurodivergence #autism #actuallyautistic #autisticwomen #autismawareness

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Good morning y’all!

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