Speakers

Dr Beverley Samways brings over 25 years of professional and research expertise focused on supporting young people with severe learning disabilities and autism who are distressed.

She is the Founder/Director of Unique Connections, a social enterprise dedicated to improving the lives of individuals with learning disabilities who experience self-injury or distress. Through close partnership with schools and care organisations, Unique Connections develops tailored, relational, trauma-informed, and emotionally literate approaches that provide meaningful ways forward for people showing signs of distress.

Alongside frontline support, they partner with leadership teams to embed trauma-informed principles into everyday culture and systems. By strengthening emotional safety, empathy and connection at every level, they help organisations create environments where people — staff and those they support — can truly thrive. They believe lasting change happens when individual support and culture transformation grow together.