Service categories: Information, advice and advocacy, Social care and residential services, Support groups, social programs and branches

Service URL: https://michelleshaw.co.uk/advocacy-services-for-professionals/

Secondary URL: https://open.substack.com/pub/michelleshawuk

The Advocacy Bridge CIC provides structured advocacy and navigation support for autistic and neurodivergent adults experiencing burnout, reduced capacity, or significant life transitions.

We support individuals navigating complex systems including benefits, housing, health services, employment, education, and Access to Work.

Many of the people we work with may appear articulate, capable, or “coping” in structured settings, but this can mask significant difficulties with processing information, organising thoughts, initiating tasks, and following through after interactions. This often leads to repeated breakdowns in support, missed opportunities, or being seen as “not engaging.”

Our work focuses on this gap.

We provide time-limited, consent-led support that helps individuals:

• understand their rights and options
• prepare for appointments and assessments
• organise and prioritise next steps
• communicate their needs more clearly
• remain engaged with systems that would otherwise feel inaccessible

Support is paced to individual processing needs and designed to reduce overwhelm, prevent escalation, and create the conditions needed for effective engagement.

We can help with:

• Breaking down complex information into manageable steps

• Preparing for meetings, assessments, or applications

• Drafting clear, structured communication

• Supporting follow-through after appointments

• Signposting to appropriate services

• Providing an agreed advocacy presence where appropriate

This is bridge work — supporting individuals from overwhelm or disengagement to a place of stability where they can participate more effectively in the systems around them.

We work particularly with individuals who have:

• experienced repeated breakdowns in support
• struggled to access or sustain services
• been misunderstood or deemed “hard to engage”
• fallen between services due to not meeting thresholds

We are a not-for-profit Community Interest Company working within agreed scope and capacity.

We are not a crisis or emergency service and do not provide legal advice.

If you have urgent safeguarding or immediate crisis concerns, please contact appropriate statutory services, your GP, NHS 111, or your local crisis team.

Aimed at: Adult , Adult sibling, Anyone with an Association to Autism, Businesses, Parent/carer of an adult, Parents or carers, families, adults, Partner, Professional

Referral Sources: Education, NHS and Private, NHS Consultant, Social Care, Yourself

Specialisms: Autism and Neurodivergent , Has autism-specific elements, Has autism-specific elements, Staff and volunteers get autism awareness training

Other specialisms: Adult neurodivergent advocacy and structured system navigation; late-diagnosed and self-identifying autistic adults; burnout, overwhelm and reduced capacity; Access to Work, benefits and statutory processes; life transitions and instability; self-advocacy, communication and rights awareness; consent-led, paced and processing-aware support.