A charity for the 1–4% of people on the aphantasia spectrum, whose mind's eye pictures little or nothing at all.
The Aphantasia Foundation is the advocacy organisation aphantasia doesn't yet have in the UK, working with teachers, doctors and therapists so it's properly understood.
What is aphantasia?
Aphantasia is the word used to describe the spectrum of our ability to voluntarily create mental images in our mind's eye, ranging from a reduced ability to picture things through to a complete inability to do so. If someone asks you to picture a beach or imagine your kitchen, most people see something, some vividly and some only faintly. People on the aphantasia spectrum see much less than that, or nothing at all. Estimates suggest that somewhere between 1% and 4% of the population sits somewhere on this spectrum, yet most people with it go through life without ever having a name for what they're experiencing.
It isn't a disorder or an illness. It's simply a different way that some brains work. But that difference has real, practical consequences, particularly in education and healthcare, where a lot of teaching, memory technique and clinical practice quietly assumes that everyone can visualise.
Building the advocate aphantasia doesn't yet have
We're building the advocacy organisation that aphantasia doesn't yet have in the UK. One that works directly with the professionals people with aphantasia encounter, including teachers, doctors, therapists and examiners, to make sure aphantasia is properly understood, accounted for, and no longer an invisible barrier. We're working toward:
Pushing for aphantasia to be properly and consistently understood within relevant medical, psychological and educational frameworks, so people have somewhere to turn when they ask what this is and whether it has a name.
Helping teachers, doctors, therapists and other professionals understand aphantasia and account for it in their day-to-day practice, not just their training materials.
Many teaching techniques, and some therapeutic ones, lean on visualisation as if it's universal. We want to help build genuine alternatives, not just point out the problem.
As we grow, we want to contribute funding and support to the academic research that underpins all of the above.
Where we are right now
The Aphantasia Foundation is currently an unincorporated charitable association. This means we operate as a genuine charity under UK law, with a formal constitution and named trustees, but we haven't yet registered with the Charity Commission as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO). We plan to make that move once we've built the team and track record to do it properly.
We think it's worth being upfront about that. When we ask for your trust, and eventually your support, we want you to know exactly where we are.
Started from lived experience
This Foundation started from lived experience. Its founder has aphantasia, and went through school without that environment being built with people like them in mind.
That's the gap this organisation exists to close: the distance between what professionals assume and what's actually true for a meaningful slice of the population.
What we're doing now
- Building clear, accurate public information about aphantasia
- Reaching out to researchers, clinicians and educators already working in this space
- Drafting practical guidance for teachers and other professionals
- Growing our trustee team as we work toward CIO registration
We'd love to hear from you
Lend your expertise
Know about aphantasia research, education, medicine or charity governance? We're always keen to hear from people who might want to get involved.
Get in touchShare your experience
Have aphantasia and want to share your experience? We'd love to hear from you as we shape what this organisation focuses on first.
Share your story