Neurodiversity Celebration Week is happening from the 13th to 19th of March. The celebration week website just dropped a bunch of resources. Whether you are neurodiverse or simply want to build a community that celebrates diversity, consider taking a moment to peruse the resources and perhaps share with your networks. Reading time ~ 2 minutes.
Amy Wyatt is a Senior Lecturer in the College of Medicine and Public Health. She provides some assistance to the Flinders Neurodivergent Study Support and Advocacy Group. She is also great at keeping on top of resources relevant to the neurodiverse community.
She recently notified me that Neurodiversity Celebration Week is coming up in March (13th to 19th).
Neurodiversity is a term that encompasses a wide range of conditions: ADHD, Autism, Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, Dyscalculia, Dysgraphia and Tourette’s.
When I did my clinical training (all the way back in early 2000’s), these conditions were treated primarily as disorders – deficits requiring assessment and some kind of treatment/support.
Nowadays, they are viewed more holistically. Yes, it is still recognised that people with these conditions may need support and treatment. But it is also recognised that individuals with these conditions can bring unique perspectives and strengths into the world, that add to the richness and diversity of the overall population.
The term ‘neurodiverse’ captures this nicely. It isn’t deficit focused, but difference focused. And one of the cultural shifts I’ve seen in my lifetime that I like is a greater willingness to embrace and celebrate difference, in the many forms in which that difference comes. In this shift, some of the responsibility that has been placed on individuals to conform, has instead been put on the broader population to embrace. How much an individual feels like they belong in their community is a function of that individual’s choices AND the extent to which the community is aware of, recognises and celebrates difference. Initiatives like Neurodiversity Celebration Week seeks to advance the latter of these.
The Neurodiversity Celebration Week website just dropped a large number of resources – articles, fact sheets, videos, comic books, stories, books, infographics, and more. They are sorted into categories, depending on the context in which you are accessing them – as a school, university, student, parent, organisation or media.
Staff – you might be interested in grabbing the powerpoint slide deck and including some in your existing lecture materials.
Students – you might wish to peruse the website to see what takes your fancy.
There are different contexts in which you might decide to engage with these materials. Perhaps you:
- have been diagnosed with one of the conditions listed above and are interested in expanding your knowledge about your condition
- know someone with one of these conditions and want to know how you can be a better support/advocate
- are new the concept of neurodiversity and simply want to understand this area
- want to run an event in March or simply promote the materials via your networks
- work or study in spaces where you think placing some of these materials might be helpful
Whatever your context, consider taking a little time to read a few articles, watch a few videos. Every individual who takes a little time out of their day to educate themselves on the diversity of people in our community, makes that community friendlier and more supportive.
If you want to receive ongoing communications about Neurodiversity Celebration Week, you can sign-up at the site.
If you decide to run an event here at Flinders, let me know. We might be able to promote on the blog.
Take care of yourselves and each other.