Why we started PANDA and what we want to do.

PANDA was set up in 2024 by two of its Directors, Helena Bryant-Taylor and Melissa Trimingham, in conjunction with Nicola Shaughnessy of the University of Kent Drama Department. All three founders have worked together on research projects exploring neurodivergent creativity and the autistic imagination. This work of the last 15 years has taken them to many schools in Kent and further afield, including Limpsfield Grange in Surrey and all six National Autistic Society schools in the UK;  arts centres such as The Atkinson at Southport and MAC in Birmingham; and innumerable events such as Autistic Cafes and invited lectures here and abroad.

The team felt it was vital that the legacy of so much research and impact work under the umbrella of Imagining Autism and subsequent projects should not be lost for future generations. Melissa Trimingham’s retirement form the University of Kent prompted the formation of PANDA Arts to secure a legacy for the work hitherto done under the auspices of the AHRC (Arts and Humanities Research Council) and the University of Kent.

In the teens, Imagining Autism and other projects shifted focus from talk of neurodivergent difficulties to recognition of valued differences. The work was underpinned by neurodivergent practitioners and neurodivergent voices informing the shape and direction of work. PANDA accommodates neurodiversity- that is, neurotypical and neurodivergent- recognising different levels of need and support and endeavouring to offer a warm and welcoming environment to practitioners and audiences alike.