October 2025 Wellbeing Hub Talk- The Path to Belonging: Overcoming coercion and cultivating connection by Alexis Quinn

Date: October 16th 2025
Time: 19:00 – 20:30 
Location: Online

Alexis Quinn will deliver a talk entitled The Path to Belonging: Overcoming coercion and cultivating connection.

Alexis recently took part in our May webinar alongside Dr Georgia Pavlopoulou, and we are delighted that she is returning to take part in our monthly webinar series.

Talk Description:
We all share a fundamental human need for belonging and connection. It is the soil in which we flourish and thrive. For many autistic and neurodivergent people, however, this need is often unmet. Instead of connection, we experience a culture of neuronormative expectations, beliefs and action which ultimately can feel/be restrictive.
This talk moves beyond the obvious discussion of physical restraint to explore the far more common, and often invisible, world of soft restraint or informal coercion. Drawing from professional experience within the Restraint Reduction Network, personal experience of being restrained, and as a parent to children with additional needs, I will illuminate the profound impact of these subtle yet powerful practices. We will delve into:
· Cultural restraint e.g., the limiting beliefs and attitudes held about a person or group, which is especially damaging for those in intersectional communities.
· Psychological restraint e.g., subtle threats and manipulations that shape behaviour.
· Blanket restrictions e.g., one-size-fits-all rules that disregard individual needs.
By situating this discussion within a vital human rights framework, we will explore our fundamental rights, and how are they intersect with often unseen restrictive practices?
Finally, we will return to where we began: our human need for connection. We will explore how creating environments of safety, understanding and ‘therapeutic love’ is not just a ‘nice thing to do’, but something essential for the well-being and development of children, young people, and adults across the lifespan. Join me to explore how we can begin to dismantle these unseen walls and build true communities of belonging.

About Alexis:
Alexis Quinn is a former schoolteacher, professional athlete and author of two books: her ground-breaking memoir, Unbroken, and Autistic & Expecting, a guide for autistic parents to be. Alexis speaks on neurodivergence, trauma, restraint and mental well-being. She is a psychotherapist and works as Manager of the Restraint Reduction Network.

 

The Centre for Autism Wellbeing Hub
The Wellbeing Hub is a new initiative, funded by University of Reading Alumni. The aim of the Hub is to bring together autistic people, their families, practitioners and researchers to co-produce and deliver neurodiversity-affirming activities that support autistic young people and their families to thrive and flourish.