Dr Noelle Blackman
Dr Noelle Blackman is the Chief Executive of Respond. She develops staff training and psychotherapy services for people with learning disabilities and or autism who have experienced abuse and trauma.
She is a registered dramatherapist whose PhD researched the understanding of the bereavement experience of people with learning disabilities through psychotherapy.
In 1997, Noelle founded a unique NHS bereavement therapy service for people with learning disabilities which coincided with the closure of long-stay hospitals. She is also the co-founder of the National Network for the Palliative Care of People with Learning Disabilities. She has lectured at many universities including UCL, UEL, Anglia Ruskin University and the University of Hertfordshire.
Noelle has contributed chapters to many books and journals and has presented papers internationally. Her published work includes the books Loss and Learning Disability and Caring for People with Learning Disabilities who are Dying.
