A new monthly event will explore the gap between outward success and the internal experience of adults living and working without understanding their neurodivergence.

Twenty years after beginning his engineering career just a short distance from Campfield, chartered engineer and neurodiversity coach Matthew Menzies, from ADHD Remapped, is returning to the area to launch a free monthly event.

Rethinking ADHD & Autism will take place for the first time on Tuesday 8 September 2026 at Campfield in Manchester, with venue hosts Campfield sponsoring the event space.

The event will bring adults together for honest and practical conversations about how ADHD and autism can shape ambition, work, relationships, health and the way people understand themselves.

Matthew began his career in Manchester in 2006 after graduating from Manchester Metropolitan University. Within two years, he had progressed from graduate engineer to leading major electrical projects, a level of responsibility that would typically take considerably longer to reach.

Although he had the intelligence and technical ability to succeed, maintaining that performance without understanding his undiagnosed ADHD and autism came at a significant personal cost.

“My career was progressing, but internally I was suffering,” Matthew said.

“The difficulty wasn’t a lack of ability. It was trying to maintain a high level of performance without understanding the conditions and internal pressures that shaped how I worked.

“During the week I pushed myself relentlessly. At weekends, I tried to outrun the stress through heavy drinking, clubbing and staying out until the sun came up.”

Matthew later received diagnoses of both ADHD and autism. He says diagnosis did not make the difficulties disappear, but helped him understand why they were happening and respond to them differently.

“I still struggle, but my relationship with that struggle has changed,” he said.

“I am kinder to myself, more aware of my thoughts, emotions and needs, and better able to communicate them. I make more intentional choices because I understand what works for me, what drains me and what actually matters to me.”

Matthew believes professional achievement can sometimes conceal the extent to which someone is struggling.

“Promotion and achievement weren’t just professional ambitions,” he said. “They became evidence that I belonged and that I was enough.

“When achievement is proof that you belong, then the struggle is proof that you are not good enough.”

Matthew created the event after seeing a need for more face-to-face spaces where adults can explore the practical and personal impact of ADHD and autism.

The monthly meetings will use lived experience and facilitated conversation to explore subjects including work, relationships, wellbeing, identity and the pressures often hidden behind competence and responsibility.

“This event is not about telling my story,” Matthew said.

“But the hope is that my story opens a wider conversation that people can use to reconsider their own lives. Many people are not failing. They are succeeding in ways that may be costing them too much.”

Rethinking ADHD & Autism takes place on Tuesday 8 September 2026 at Campfield, Lower Byrom Street, Manchester.