Available to book
Chris Bonnello
Neurodiversity
Workplace Culture
Employee Engagement
Help your organisation build inclusive, high-performing workplaces with Chris Bonnello, autism advocate, neurodiversity speaker, and bestselling author. Founder of Autistic Not Weird, Speakers Award winner, and member of the Professional Speaking Association, Chris works with employers on workplace inclusion, autistic talent, and employee wellbeing.
Author
Neurodiversity Awareness
Autism Awareness
Inclusion
Business Consulting
HR
Educator
Mentor
Chris Bonnello is an autistic advocate, neurodiversity speaker, and former teacher whose work challenges how organisations understand and support neurodivergent team members.
Chris taught in both mainstream and autism-specific education before founding Autistic Not Weird in 2015. A professional member of the Professional Speaking Association, Chris won his category at The Speakers Awards 2026. He is also the writer behind one of the world's most widely read autism platforms, reaching millions of readers and a community of more than 200,000 followers. He is the author of several fiction and non-fiction books, including the Underdogs series, shortlisted for The Guardian's Not The Booker Prize.
Drawing on lived experience, classroom practice, and years of advising employers, educators, and professionals, Chris explains why many workplace barriers are created by systems rather than people. He translates complex conversations around autism and neurodiversity into practical guidance for organisations that improves recruitment, retention, performance, communication, and inclusion.
Audiences leave with a clearer understanding of meaningful workplace adjustments, stronger approaches to supporting autistic colleagues, and greater confidence in creating environments where different thinking is recognised as a strength. His sessions balance professional insights, personal experience, and humour, making difficult topics accessible while remaining grounded in practical action.
Book Chris Bonnello for clear, credible guidance on building workplaces where neurodivergent people and organisations succeed together.
Topics, sessions and talks
Chris Bonnello addresses why neurodivergent employees often struggle in the workplace, making clear that the issue lies not in reduced potential but in systems built around neurotypical norms. Drawing on the practical realities of recruitment, retention, and performance, he sets out where things go wrong and how organisations can address them meaningfully. Suited to companies of any size genuinely committed to getting the best from neurodivergent staff, the talk leaves attendees with a concrete framework for change rather than good intentions alone.
Chris Bonnello explains what workplace accommodations for autistic staff actually involve, and why they typically cost less time and money than employers assume. Speaking from years of experience, he sets out the practical realities behind "reasonable adjustments" and the tangible benefits of getting them right. Suited to any organisation genuinely committed to supporting its neurodivergent employees, the talk replaces vague good intentions with a clear, low-cost path to better outcomes for staff and the wider team.
Drawing on his background as a special education teacher, Chris Bonnello addresses how organisations can meaningfully personalise care for autistic clients and service users, including those with complex disabilities. He examines what genuine best practice looks like after decades of well-intentioned but poorly informed provision, and how to balance a client's rights and dignity alongside their safety and wellbeing. The talk is aimed at professionals who work directly with autistic people and want to get it right for those in their care.
Having taught in mainstream primary schools, an autism-specific special school, and with teenagers outside formal education, Chris Bonnello draws on that range of experience to offer concrete guidance on building up autistic students. Rather than describing the challenges, he focuses on how staff can actively support students to navigate an education system largely built without them in mind. Aimed at academic staff across all education settings, the talk gives attendees specific, applicable strategies rather than general encouragement.
Chris Bonnello blends personal stories from his childhood, many of them awkward in hindsight, with the practical lessons he draws from them as a former teacher. Rather than a straightforward autobiography, the talk is built around insights the audience can apply directly to their own lives, whether raising, teaching, or supporting an autistic child. Suited to family groups, charities, and schools running events for parents, it leaves attendees with genuinely usable takeaways rather than just an inspiring story.
Chris Bonnello brings lived experience as an autistic person combined with years of teaching experience across mainstream and specialist education. He offers practical guidance that can be acted on immediately, helping organisations move beyond awareness towards practical changes that improve how neurodivergent people are recruited, supported, and retained.
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frequently asked questions
Something we've not covered here?
Email chris.bonnello@getapeptalk.com or call PepTalk on +44 20 3835 2929 (UK) or +1 737 888 5112 (US), and one of our speaker agents will contact you within hours to confirm Chris's availability and fees. If you can, please include your budget upfront – it helps us fast-track your request. It’s also helpful to know the date, format (virtual or in-person), location, and a bit about your audience.
Chris Bonnello draws on a combination of lived experience as an autistic person and classroom practice as a former special education teacher to ground his sessions in concrete, real-world context. Rather than presenting theory, he works through the practical mechanics of workplace systems — recruitment, retention, reasonable adjustments — and delivers a framework attendees can act on directly.
Chris Bonnello speaks on neurodivergent workplace systems, autism-specific accommodation, and supporting autistic clients and service users. He won his category at The Speakers Awards 2026 and founded Autistic Not Weird, an autism platform with a community of more than 200,000 followers.
No. PepTalk adds no booking fee, so you pay the speaker's fee and nothing beyond it. The service, from shortlist through to contracts and event-day logistics, is included. For repeat or multi-event bookings, PepTalk can agree preferential rates with your procurement team.
Share your event date, audience, format, objectives and budget, and PepTalk sends a hand-picked shortlist within 24 hours. Each suggestion comes with a profile, a fee and a recommendation on the strongest fit. Once you choose, PepTalk handles contracts, travel and logistics through to event day.
The typical fee range is the speaker's standard in-person fee in their home market, shown in their local currency. It moves with format, location, date and session length: virtual sessions and shorter slots usually cost less, while international travel and peak dates cost more. Send your brief to PepTalk and the team will confirm the exact fee in your currency.
Not all of them, and it makes no difference to your booking. PepTalk's network of 15,000+ speakers covers talent the team works with directly alongside speakers represented by agents and agencies worldwide. PepTalk approaches the speaker, negotiates the fee and handles contracting either way.
Three to six months ahead is comfortable for most events, and 12 months is better for large conferences, peak-season dates or one specific in-demand speaker. Shorter timelines are workable, and PepTalk regularly fills last-minute and replacement bookings within days. Availability is the constraint, so get in touch as soon as you have a date.
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