Tara Connolly is a Transitions Specialist with over 20 years experience consulting on the use of inclusive practices to support accessibility in a variety of settings. She has worked in school boards, post-secondary institutions, government agencies and healthcare settings as a content expert, to build capacity in accessible practices.
She was instrumental in designing an innovative student service that neurodivergent thinkers can access to co-create effective and meaningful transitions into and throughout post-secondary environments. It empowers students to leverage the tools they need for success and builds the capacity of the post-secondary community to recognize and effectively incorporate the inherent strengths of neurodiversity on campus. Currently the Assistant Director of Research and Development with the READ Initiative (Research Education Accessibility Design) at Carleton University, Tara provides thought leadership and strategic direction on a diversity of projects that seek to improve accessibility.
In her counselling practice, Tara supports clients, in particular Autistic adults and youth, to thrive on their own terms and navigate the many transitions into and throughout adulthood. She trains clinicians, educators and healthcare providers looking to increase their understanding of autism and learn more about how to create spaces that are increasingly inclusive and accessible to a full neurodiversity of thinkers.
