Carly Steel

Professional and lived experience

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Carly has spent over 15 years working across education, mental health and autism support, alongside her own lived experience as an autistic person.

She understands what it’s like to mask, to burn out and to be misunderstood — and what it’s like to slowly reclaim your space in the world. That understanding shapes everything she offers: calm, compassionate support that’s built for real life, not just theory.

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Background

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Carly is a qualified teacher with a Masters (MEd) degree in autism and mental health. She has led teams, trained professionals, supported families and mentored autistic individuals across all stages of life.

Her work is informed by further training and continual learning from the autistic people she works with every day.

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How Carly works

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Carly takes a compassionate, practical and fully tailored approach. Whether supporting a parent, mentoring a child, teen or adult, or training a staff team, she holds space for nuance.

She doesn’t rush, pathologise or assume. Instead, she listens and offers tools that fit the person in front of her. Her approach is focused on support that is sustainable, respectful and grounded in what works — not just what’s expected.

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What matters

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Carly believes support should:

• Honour each person’s identity

• Be free of judgment, pressure or urgency

• Create space to be real, not just “resilient”

• Focus on reducing distress, not increasing demands

• Create something sustainable rather than quick fixes

• Value and develop someone's strengths and interests

• Be based on research, and trauma-informed and neuroaffirming practice​

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For more information or to arrange a chat, contact Carly directly on the details below

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