ABOUT
Changing the way professionals understand, communicate with and support neurodivergent children.
I'm Amy Dalwood-Fairbanks, Founder of the CLEAR Framework and a Neurodiversity-Informed Practice Specialist.
Before creating CLEAR, I spent many years working as a teacher, youth worker and safeguarding lead, before specialising as a paediatric clinical hypnotherapist supporting neurodivergent children and their families. Alongside my professional experience, I also have more than 18 years of lived experience with my neirodivergent family.
But CLEAR wasn't born from a business idea.
It was born from a moment that changed everything.
My autistic daughter, who is also selectively mute, was referred for trauma counselling. Before her first session, nobody had taken the time to understand what had caused her trauma or what her biggest triggers were. Within moments of the session beginning, the counsellor cheerfully suggested, "Let's play a game about school." School was one of her triggers.
My daughter immediately hid under the stairs, screaming.
The counsellor wasn't uncaring or incompetent. They simply didn't have the understanding they needed. And I realised this wasn't an isolated incident. It reflected a much wider gap across education, healthcare, therapy and community services.
Too often, professionals are expected to support neurodivergent children without the practical knowledge or confidence to understand what sits beneath behaviour.
That's why I created the CLEAR Framework.
CLEAR is an evidence-informed framework that helps professionals look beyond behaviour, understand the wider context, communicate more effectively, work collaboratively with families and create safer, calmer and more effective experiences for neurodivergent children and young people.
Today, I train professionals across healthcare, education, therapy and community services because I believe better understanding leads to better communication, and better communication leads to better outcomes.
Alongside CLEAR, I continue to work directly with neurodivergent children and families through Magic Minds Family Hypnotherapy. That clinical work keeps me grounded in the real challenges families face every day and continually informs the development of the CLEAR Framework.
I'm an international speaker on neurodiversity-informed hypnotherapy and practice, helping professionals understand that lasting change begins with safety, co-regulation and connection. I'm also an internationally bestselling co-author of Children's Mental Health Matters and the founder of a multi-award-winning practice, including being recognised as South West England Prestige Award's Neurodivergent Therapy Clinic of the Year.
My vision is simple:
To make neurodiversity-informed practice the standard, not the exception, so that every professional has the confidence to create environments where neurodivergent children feel understood, safe and able to thrive.
Because when we understand children first, everything else becomes possible.
