Ashley Finley (’15 BSW) is a neurodiversity-affirming educator, children’s author, and inclusion strategist committed to advancing equity for ADHD and Autistic children. With a Master of Social Work from Barry University, her work bridges social work, education, and child psychology to help professionals move beyond deficit-based models and embrace strength-centered, culturally responsive practices. Through training and coaching, Finley equips educators, clinicians, and community leaders with practical tools to better support neurodivergent children and their families.
Ashley Finley ('15 BSW) poses for a photo. (Courtesy Photo)
Q: What inspired you to pursue a career in social work?
A: What drew me to social work was both the importance and the vastness of the profession. As someone who has always been interested in education and social service, pursuing a career in social work positioned me to be able to serve my community in a plethora of ways.
Q: How did your experience at the UTA School of Social Work shape your professional path?
A: My experience at UTA was life-changing. As a non-traditional student who transferred in from a community college setting, I found being a social work major at UTA to be both small, having a community feel, and massive in terms of university reputation and service-oriented opportunities. Professionally, this shaped me by providing opportunities to explore different avenues of service, while connecting one-on-one with experienced professors who mentored and guided me as both a student, and a professional.
Q: What is one project, initiative, or accomplishment you’re especially proud of?
A: I am especially proud of the current focus of my community work: creating neurodiversity-affirming spaces where autistic and ADHD individuals can thrive. Whether working with schools to provide professional development courses focused on inclusive strategies, or serving as an organizational consultant that designs sensory-rich spaces for patrons, I am honored to be doing the work of making the world a more inclusive place for neurodivergent individuals, like myself.
Q: What are some of the challenges you’ve faced in your work, and how have you navigated them?
A: In my work, I sometimes encounter systems that view and interact with neurodivergent individuals from a pathological lens. From this paradigm, compliance and external behavior change, exclusively, are often the ideal outcomes. However, due in part to my social work education, I have learned to ask deeper questions, with the purpose of getting below the surface. Understanding the inner working of others’ nervous systems, lived experiences, and needs have led to the opportunity to engineer environments that affirm who people are, and serve as a catalyst for their growth.
Q: Who or what has been a major influence or source of support in your career?
A: When I was completing my master’s degree in clinical social work, I had the most amazing field instructor. She helped me not only bridge academic theory, with real-world application, but she encouraged me to ask the deep hard questions that I referred to previously. She supported me in critically thinking about things beneath the surface, and considering the purpose and impact of our choices as social workers.
Q: What advice would you share with current social work students or recent graduates?
A: In lieu of advice, I would ask current students and recent graduates to ponder a few questions.
1. Who are you?
2. What is important to you? Why?
3. How can you use all that you know, and all that you have experienced to support others?
4. What do you want your legacy to be?
5. And if, by chance, you don’t know the answers to these questions, are you willing and ready to make time to explore them?
Many times, we can find direction, affirmation, and purpose hidden in the answers to these questions.
Q: How do you stay connected to the values and mission of social work in your everyday life?
A: I stay connected by learning, evaluating, and adjusting. I practice being present with who I am and what I have experienced, while at the same time, being a lifelong student. I welcome opportunities to become more efficient, empathetic, and supportive. In short, I am always evolving and I never stop growing.