Derbyshire 'autism coach', author and podcaster on business awards shortlist

Nicky Collins, 38, has 15 years’ experience as a professional coach but following her own spectrum disorder diagnosis at the age of 34, she gravitated towards helping people in similar positions and set up online business the Autism Coach during lockdown.

Today she can list private clients from Australia to the USA and across Europe, particularly specialising in helping later-diagnosed women and business owners – or ‘autrepreneurs’ – to navigate a world which is not always attuned to their ways of thinking.

Along with a booming audience for her podcast Autism Unmasked and her recently published debut book, Nicky’s success has now garnered her a regional finalist spot in the Celebrating Small Business Awards, run by the Federation of Small Businesses.

Nicky said: “I’m absolutely over the moon. It’s validating, and amazing to see that what I’m doing is having an impact – not just by myself but through the people I work with.

“What I do is very niche, but when I realised there was nothing like this out there, I felt I had to do it. The more people like me who are having this kind of impact, the more things will start shifting for every autistic person.”

She added: “In workplaces, these people are being misunderstood or misjudged, being made to feel different or like outsiders. There’s a lot of bullying that goes on.

“People have to fake who they are so they can pass as ‘normal’. We go through life not knowing who we are and putting on masks to fit other people’s expectations. It’s exhausting and leads to lower employment rates and a much higher suicide rate among autistic women compared with other groups.”

Nicky’s services range from pre-diagnosis assessment and referrals, to advising organisations on how to foster more inclusive environments.

She said: “The most challenging thing about what I do is knowing that I can’t help everybody. There are so many areas that need to be improved on, and so much stigma attached.

"But the transformation is rewarding. People come to me with little to no confidence, maybe with this new information of a diagnosis which they don’t know how to process.

“It’s literally like watching a butterfly emerge from a cocoon as they come away with all the tools they need to improve their life, work around the things they struggle with and communicate what they need. I’m in a privileged position to help facilitate that change.”

Her book, Though Autistic Eyes, is available from Scarthin Books in Cromford and other booksellers, and collects the stories of women around the world who opened up to Nicky about their experiences.

She said: “It’s about how their lives changed when they realised their neurology made them different – their inspirations, challenges and triumphs. I hope it can also help people who aren’t autistic to see things through that different lens.

“The feedback has been mind-blowing, and so many people have been coming to me and opening up after reading it."

To learn more about Nicky’s work, go to www.theautismcoach.co.uk.

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