Sonia Allinson-Penny

Hi! My name is Sonia. I manage my own international consulting business, having semi-retired from a corporate career and I am a long-standing neurodiversity champion.

I am passionate about using my knowledge and experience in the autism sphere to assist families of young autistic children.

I strongly believe that autistic people can thrive both as children and in the workplace, and that sometimes just a few changes are required to make life work much more smoothly for everyone.

I would like to invite you to my home in the south west of France where I have set up a holiday home that is specially adapted for young (2 - 6 year old) autistic children.

If you like, I am happy to share with you some of the knowledge and experience that I have gained over my career and during voluntary work and studies in the field of neurodiversity.

To give you an idea of the experience that I have:

  • Mentor to ADHD and autistic employees

  • Recorded a training module for an online HR academy on embracing ‘The Neurodiverse Workforce’ (2022)

  • Postgraduate Certificate Autism Spectrum from the University of Birmingham (2020)

  • Contributor to a Stanford University PhD paper: chapter on the low state of neurodivergent employment programs amongst the Top 60 employers for diversity and inclusion (July-Sept 2020)

  • TEACCH Autism Program – Greensboro Area Health Education Center (April 2020)

  • Head of Group HR for a company employing 200+ autistic adults worldwide (2018-2020)

  • Applied Behavioural Analysis (ABA*) Initial Tutor Training, Child Autism UK, 2016

  • Applied successful techniques from the Son Rise Program with a 4-year-old autistic child in Sydney (18 month volunteering)

*I attended an ABA course as I am fully aware of the controversial nature of this approach. I wanted to form an objective opinion based on live exposure to the techniques

The Concept

I combine earning a living through my HR consulting business with my passion for the work I do with neurodiverse adults and children.

The 60% of my time that I dedicate to my consulting business funds the autism-friendly holiday home. The remaining 40% of my time is dedicated to pro bono and volunteering work for the neurodiverse community.

This means that I am able to provide stays in the autism-friendly holiday home for free. All I ask you to book for yourselves are your travel and insurance, and for you to use the self catering holiday home to cook your meals.

I understand that for some people this does not sit comfortably, I have therefore set up a donations page. If you would like to contribute to this venture, then feel free to have a browse. This however is by no means obligatory!

My husband Jan is the other half of the team who you will meet at La Beaujardine. He runs his own communications remote business from our base in France and he is the fluent French speaker out of the two of us ;)