From communication to burnout: Creating an inclusive environment for autistic learners with Joe Fautley

Burnout isn't one big thing. It's lots of smaller things, building and building - until even the smallest demand tips you over the edge.

Joe Fautley, project coordinator at the Council for Disabled Children and neurodiversity advocate, returns to the podcast to discuss burnout, communication, and what it takes to build inclusive environments for autistic learners.

Joe speaks from lived experience. Non-verbal for much of his childhood, he lost hard-won communication skills when he moved to an unsupportive mainstream school, and spent years managing severe anxiety and extended absences. His story is also one of remarkable growth: from a child who couldn't speak verbally, to someone who now delivers public talks and co-facilitates training for education professionals.

Together, Dale and Joe explore the direct relationship between belonging and burnout, why communication and mental health are inseparable, and why the single most important thing a school can do is ask the young person what they need - and actually listen to the answer.

About Joe Fautley Joe Fautley is an Autistic and neurodivergent advocate with over 10 years of experience in a variety of personal lived experience advocacy and professional training work for Autism, neurodiversity and Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).

Joe is a relentless and determined advocate for positive change and engages regularly with professional networks across the SEND community with over 6,000 connections and followers on LinkedIn. Joe has delivered many presentations to various audiences.

Outside of his full time day job at the National Children's Bureau (NCB), Joe regularly contributes to various media, providing practical advice for professionals who support Autistic children and young people and adults using insights from his own personal lived experience.

Joe is the co-chair (a voluntary role) of the Staff Disability and Neurodiversity Network, launched in January 2023, for colleagues at NCB, ensuring they are supported and their feedback can influence positive changes in the workplace.

In 2025, Joe was a guest on an episode of the podcast "SEND in the Experts", hosted by Georgina Durrant from Twinkl Educational Publishing, in which he provided advice and strategies to help support teachers and educators.

Joe featured on an episode of the SENDcast in 2024, the #1 podcast for SEND hosted by Dale Pickles, in which he talks openly about his personal experiences of Autism and provides advic