The Sunflower Conversations
Welcome to the Sunflower Conversations, the podcast where we explore the experiences of disabled people with non-visible disabilities through the lens of the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower.
This is a space to hear authentic stories from disabled people navigating life with non-visible disabilities such as chronic illness, mental health conditions, neurodivergence, and more. While most episodes focus on lived experience, we also feature occasional insights from experts in healthcare, accessibility, and inclusion.
Whether you or someone you care about wears the Sunflower, our conversations aim to raise awareness, build understanding, and help create a more inclusive and compassionate world.
Empowering voices. Raising awareness. Challenging assumptions - one conversation at a time.
- Update frequency
- every 12 days
- Average duration
- 30 minutes
- Episodes
- 135
- Years Active
- 2021 - 2025
FASD with Jacob Casson-Rennie
FASD with Jacob Casson-Rennie
Jacob is 16 years old and lives with his parents in Ireland, who head up FASD Ireland and Hidden Disabilities Sunflower Ireland.
Jacob talks to us about living with Foeta…
Autism and ADHD with Jen Hankin
Jen Hankin is a musician who composes, teaches and performs. Her creative skills extend to fine arts (digital and watercolour), photography, videography, fashion design and writing. Jen is also autis…
Cystic Fibrosis and Ableism with Izzie Jani-Friend
Izzie is a journalist and is using her lived experience as a young woman with cystic fibrosis to combat ableism through her writing.
In this conversation we discuss how her chronic health condition, …
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and mental health with Chloe Francis
Chloe Francis has a range of health conditions including Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Tourettes syndrome/Tic disorder, Sensory processing disorder, Vestibular processing disorder and Hypermobili…
Bowel and lung cancer, stoma and dialysis with Gemma Savory
Gemma had a missed early diagnosis of bowel cancer because the doctor believed her to be too young to have cancer at the age of 30.
In the past 8 years she has undergone many operations and treatmen…
Tourette Syndrome and Brazilian Jui Jitsu with Khovan Hussein
Tourette Syndrome and Brazilian Jui Jitsu with Khovan Hussein
“With my Tourette's, sometimes my verbal tics can be stuff like swearing, or I might say something that's offensive, but obviously I can't…
Registered blind with Claire Sisk
Registered blind with Claire Sisk
Claire had two strokes aged 29 after which she developed retinal dystrophy and is now registered blind. Following her strokes Claire has had to learn how to navigate …
Tourette Syndrome and Autism with Martin Moxness
Tourette Syndrome and Autism with Martin Moxness
Martin Moxness lives in Denmark and has many talents including being a successful Instagram a_different_spectrum and Tik Tok a_different_spectrum influ…
Cochlear implant with Steven Mifsud MBE
Steven Mifsud, MBE, is profoundly deaf and joined us on the Sunflower Conversations to talk about his cochlear implant. This small, complex electronic device helps provide a sense of sound that enabl…
Travel series – In the air with Shannon Wandmaker
“And I saw that British Airways most recently became involved in the Sunflower program. And that to me makes a lot of sense”
Shannon is an aviation specialist and joins us from Brisbane Australia to s…
Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, FASD with Tristan Casson-Rennie and Jan Griffin
Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, FASD with Tristan Casson-Rennie and Jan Griffin
Tristan is the founder of FASD Ireland, a not-for-profit charity that aims to raise awareness and provide support to f…
Autism diagnosis with Bec Street
Autism diagnosis with Bec Street
Bec works for charity Autism Spectrum Australia, as a Sunflower Advocate and is based in Sydney Australia. Since joining the charity 7 months ago Bec has discovered th…
Long COVID and autism with Linda Dalton
Long COVID and autism with Linda Dalton
Linda contracted COVID in 2020 and has been left battling the effects of Long COVID, the healthcare service and the Government in Ireland ever since.
Once a grea…
Ménière's disease with Lorna Thomas
Meniere’s disease with Lorna Thomas
Lorna Thomas is a musician and has Meniere’s disease which is a long term, progressive condition affecting the balance and hearing parts of the inner ear. Symptoms …
Kidney Disease with Ayesha Edmondson
Kidney Disease with Ayesha Edmondson
Ayesha is a Peer Educator for Kidney Research UK, and she advocates for kidney donors from minority ethnic groups. After experiencing preeclampsia during the pregn…
Endometriosis with Gemma and Aimee
Endometriosis with Gemma Beswick and Aimee Gill
Gemma is a Volunteer Leader for the charity Endometriosis UK. Because of her lived experience of endometriosis she is passionate about supporting people…
Marc Powell, RNIB talks about NaviLens and Kellogg's
Marc Powell, RNIB talks about NaviLens and Kellogg's
If you have a visual impairment how do you know what you are buying, whether it is suitable for your needs, does it contain nuts or other allergens…
Crohns’ disease and Takayasu's with Artie Carden
Crohns’ disease and Takayasu's with Artie Carden
We caught up with Artie who joined us in a Sunflower Conversation back 2020. Artie has hypermobility syndrome, Crohn’s disease and Takayasu's arteritis…
Acquired brain injury with Brooke Simon
Acquired brain injury with Brooke Simon
TRIGGER WARNING, in this podcast we discuss domestic violence.
Brooke acquired her brain injury at the hands of persistent domestic violence. The trauma she expe…
Epilepsy and surgery with Hannah Wilson
Epilepsy and surgery with Hannah Wilson
Hannah has focal impaired awareness seizures and since we last spoke, 12 months ago, they have got progressively worse. Increasing in frequency and duration. T…