The guest speaker in our Patient Education Programme (PEP) planned for Tuesday 9^th September 2025 at 10:00 to 11:00 AM (UK time) is Dr. Patrick Dwyer who is a Research Fellow from the Olga Tennison Autism Research Centre, School for Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, Bundoora, VIC, Australia! He will be talking about his latest research about Sound Intolerance and Attention in Neurodivergent Populations. Joanna Barker (Audiologist, Specialist in Tinnitus, Hyperacusis and Misophonia Rehabilitation) will be hosting this PEP meeting. Although sensory differences in neurodivergent populations have often been described in relatively crude ways (as “hyperreactivity” versus “seeking,” for example), more recent research highlights the greater complexity of neurodivergent sensory experience.  For example, this includes distinct phenotypes of sound intolerance such as misophonia and loudness intolerance/hyperacusis. However, these experiences remain poorly understood.  One understudied factor that may be involved in such experiences is attention.  With a primary focus on autism and a secondary focus on ADHD, this presentation will discuss commonly observed neurodivergent attention patterns such as hyper-focus, monotropism, and hypervigilance, and present data on how these may relate to experiences of sound intolerance as well as mental health challenges.