Barney is an autistic trainer, writer and education consultant with many years’ experience of leadership in education, including community-based alternative provision, special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) provision in schools and colleges, and local authority management. He has advised boards on parent support and neurodevelopmental assessment, and he is currently an advisor on several vocational projects, including an international initiative to bridge gaps in vocational training for young autistic adults. 

Barney has delivered training to a wide range of audiences across education, including governors and tribunal lay members. He divides his time between representation, mediation, mentoring and research. Barney is an expert witness at independent review panels and has represented autistic undergraduates and postgraduates in matters of access and equality at British universities. He continues to mentor young people with developmental language disorder (DLD), ADHD and autism. 

In 2021, Barney’s article, Single, separate and surprising souls: the past, present and future role of research in SEND, was published by John Catt Ltd as a chapter in The researchED Guide to SEND (Karen Wespieser, Ed.). Barney is on Twitter @aspiedelazouch