Inventing a new way to understand ourselves

Kim's client Alice reveals her artistic side - and the 'new language' she has created to help her make sense of her beautiful brain.

- With Kim Morgan

Alice arrived for our third and final session with a large sketchbook tucked under her arm. She looked a bit sheepish, but her eyes were bright, and full of anticipation.

‘Do you remember what I said last time about feeling like Alice in Wonderland?’ she asked, placing the sketchbook between us. ‘I couldn’t stop thinking about it, and before I knew it, an idea started to take shape – and colour!’

Alice opened the sketchbook. Illustrated characters filled every page: a vibrant Mad Hatter bursting with ideas, a White Rabbit clutching a clock, a Caterpillar whispering ‘Who are you?’

‘I’ve started mapping out an illustrated book called A Different Kind of Wonderland,’ she said. ‘It began as a few doodles after I left our last session, but it’s become something that helps me understand myself and my neurodiversity... and I think it might eventually help others too.’

Alice turned another page to reveal beautifully handwritten phrases beside the drawings: You’re not too much. You were just measured with the wrong ruler. Curiosity counts as focus. You don’t have to mask to matter. You don’t need permission to think differently.