Sheila Manzano
Nominee Profile
Location: Cheshire East
"Drama Queen!" For years, I thought I was too much. Too intense. Too impulsive. Too emotional. Too full of ideas.
It turns out I was not too much at all — I was wired differently.
Since receiving my ADHD diagnosis a couple of years ago, in my 50's, I use my lived experience of hidden disability to help other people feel less alone, less judged and a little more at home in their own skin.
I created Wired Differently, The Neurodiverse Hour on The Cat Radio 107.9FM, a warm, honest and very human radio show about neurodivergence, masking, overwhelm, diagnosis, parenting, mental health, confidence and all the messy, brilliant bits in between.
I’m also an ambassador and founding committee member for Cheshire Neurodivergent Community, where my input was building the organisation's website, I write blogs, and created Wired and Wonderful, a newsletter for people who need reassurance, connection and the occasional reminder that they are not the only one.
I mentor a care-experienced young person with autism, and I’m the creator of Different Voices. One Song, a neurodivergent choir running from May to August 2026, with the aim of recording one song for Global Mental Health Day.
Fair Hiring Network, the UK's first people-led initiative dedicated to reforming recruitment from advert to offer has soft launched, with its official launch in August 2026. As founder, the aim is to have th see the processes debated in Parliament with a positive outcome of change.
I do not do this work because I have all the answers. I do it because I know what it feels like to spend years searching for them.
This nomination is not just about me. It is for every person who has ever felt different, difficult, misunderstood, invisible or “too much”.
I’m Sheila Manzano — late-diagnosed ADHD woman, mum of two neurodivergent children, broadcaster, writer, mentor, community mischief-maker and proud believer that different does not mean broken.
It turns out I was not too much at all — I was wired differently.
Since receiving my ADHD diagnosis a couple of years ago, in my 50's, I use my lived experience of hidden disability to help other people feel less alone, less judged and a little more at home in their own skin.
I created Wired Differently, The Neurodiverse Hour on The Cat Radio 107.9FM, a warm, honest and very human radio show about neurodivergence, masking, overwhelm, diagnosis, parenting, mental health, confidence and all the messy, brilliant bits in between.
I’m also an ambassador and founding committee member for Cheshire Neurodivergent Community, where my input was building the organisation's website, I write blogs, and created Wired and Wonderful, a newsletter for people who need reassurance, connection and the occasional reminder that they are not the only one.
I mentor a care-experienced young person with autism, and I’m the creator of Different Voices. One Song, a neurodivergent choir running from May to August 2026, with the aim of recording one song for Global Mental Health Day.
Fair Hiring Network, the UK's first people-led initiative dedicated to reforming recruitment from advert to offer has soft launched, with its official launch in August 2026. As founder, the aim is to have th see the processes debated in Parliament with a positive outcome of change.
I do not do this work because I have all the answers. I do it because I know what it feels like to spend years searching for them.
This nomination is not just about me. It is for every person who has ever felt different, difficult, misunderstood, invisible or “too much”.
I’m Sheila Manzano — late-diagnosed ADHD woman, mum of two neurodivergent children, broadcaster, writer, mentor, community mischief-maker and proud believer that different does not mean broken.