Maria Bell

Training Officer

Before joining the Estia centre in July 2023, Maria worked in the City & Hackney Crisis Pathway where she provided autism training to NHS staff and supported autistic and neurodiverse people experiencing suicidality and psychosis by providing tailored social and mental health support and access to reasonable adjustments. Maria has experience in conducting academic research in autism at University College of London and at Emerson College in Boston, USA, and holds a degree in Psychology from the University of Bath. Maria's background in psychology has informed her passion for supporting and working with autistic people and people with a learning disability. She is passionate about championing the voices and needs of people with a learning disability, in particular by ensuring equal access to mental health services. She has lead on projects to improve reporting of autism and learning disabilities on clinical systems; increasing access to reasonable adjustments; and pushed for crisis services to have sensory friendly assessment environments. She is passionate about co-production and centring the voices of people with a learning disability and autistic people in the development of services and training.