Equity, diversity and belonging
We don’ t need to have all the answers for creating inclusive spaces, we just need to be brave enough to ask the people who live in them. I felt safe in sharing my experiences with HCPC Council, because I shared with them my diagnosis and in return they asked,‘ How can we change?’” actively encouraged to be my full self. Because of this, I thrived.
Equity, diversity and belonging
Feature
M y name is Dagbjartur( Dabbi) Taylor. As a neurodivergent practitioner, I’ m interested in psychological safety, participation and building more inclusive team environments, and I was recently invited to share my reflections on neuroinclusive practice with the Health and Care Professions Council( HCPC).
The concept of‘ psychological safety’ was one of those abstract terms that only became clear to me once I realised I had been living without it for much of my life.
I first encountered the term during a placement, where its absence was impossible to ignore. I’ d felt that absence many times before and had even come to recognise it as a‘ normal’ state of being – knowing something was deeply wrong, but being unable to articulate it. This time, however, I could.
Each day going into that placement, I felt anxious, consciously choosing the masks I needed to manage the environment, and returning home mentally exhausted. For me, that has been the greatest gift of education; the ability to notice, understand and name these experiences – the gift of language.
As a neurodivergent individual – diagnosed with Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder( ADHD) – going to university to become an occupational therapist was a monumental task. If my prior experiences of education were any indicator of likelihood of success, then this venture was sure to fail – and fast.
But as we learn in our theory, the environment is as crucial to success as your capacity for occupational performance. At this point in my life, I had the loving support of my wife and equally importantly, a university that recognised the impact neurodiversity has on performance. The difference was that I felt not only accepted, but
We don’ t need to have all the answers for creating inclusive spaces, we just need to be brave enough to ask the people who live in them. I felt safe in sharing my experiences with HCPC Council, because I shared with them my diagnosis and in return they asked,‘ How can we change?’” actively encouraged to be my full self. Because of this, I thrived.
Don’ t get me wrong, university was hard. But I belonged, and for the first time in my life I experienced how meaningful the work itself becomes( the doing) when you belong. And, true to my ADHD, I capitalised on it and went all in, grabbing every opportunity that presented itself to me.
Through my experiences at university – where I received the Incorporation of Barbers Prize for Best Overall Achievement – and on an external leadership course run by the Council of Deans of Health, I had the opportunity to become the student representative on the HCPC Education and Training Committee.
In this role, I take an active part in committee discussions, contributing a student voice to decisions that shape education and training for the HCPC-regulated professions.
Through this role I was invited to close a public session, held on 17 July, with a reflection on my experiences with the Education and Training Committee and how, as an organisation, HCPC could become more‘ neuroinclusive’.
This was a moment that brought my personal, student and professional experiences together in a very high-stakes public space. It was profoundly significant for me, because I knew I could not – and would not – do it, unless I was able to bring my full, authentic and unapologetic self.
This is because once I truly understood the language of my experiences – the masking, the hiding, the appeasing – I felt I could no longer consent to it. Instead, I felt authenticity becoming the prerequisite for operating.
So of course, I started my HCPC reflection by pointing out the paradox in the room, which was more akin to a United Nations summit than a public regulatory meeting. I noted the contrary nature of what I was being asked to do, which was to be vulnerable in a space that normally does not invite it.
Of course, that was the very point of my invitation, but it’ s not always clear to those who ask, what they are indeed asking.
Christine Elliot, HCPC Chair of Council, then very genuinely and sincerely asked what HCPC could do to make it more inviting. In other words, what adaptations could it make so the space felt safer?
In response, I immediately started waving my hands in a dance and told the council members and the audience that we could all stand up and do a little dance. While this moment of pure, unfiltered, ADHD didn’ t spark the musical
26 OTnews September 2025