Neurodiversity Celebration Week takes place on the 13th – 17th May 2019. Neurodiversity Celebration Week involves over 200,000 international students. Neurodiversity Celebration Week is going to change the way we think of neurodevelopmental conditions. These are things I know.
However, when I first heard of the fast-approaching event, I was less sure. I thought ‘why do we need a Neurodiversity Celebration Week when we already have an Autism Awareness Week?’ and ‘Is it really wise to move to focus on celebrating diversity when the majority of people are only just understanding it?’
As such, while I could sit here all day and explain how I came to learn about the true brilliance of Neurodiversity Celebration Week, I recently pondered how much better it would be to hear it from, not only a believer from the start but the creator itself. So, instead of me giving you the low down on Autism new calendar highlights today, I leave you with the Neurodivergent advocate; Anti-Bully ambassador; ever awesome inspiration that is… Siena Castellon!
(oh and did I mention that Siena also runs Quantum Leap Mentoring? Yeah, I don’t know how she found the time to write this post either!)
What is Neurodiversity Celebration Week?
One of the hardest aspects of being an autistic teen girl is the struggle to feel proud of who you are when most of the world sees your autism as an affliction.
My autism is an integral part of who I am. It can’t be removed, but even if it could, it would be at the expense of changing the very essence of who I am. Yet, every day, I am bombarded with messages that tell me my autism is a tragedy. Whether it’s social media, the press, articles or blogs, the message is loud and clear; autism is seen as a heartbreaking burden that destroys lives.
I am told that I “suffer” from autism, that autism is a “disease” and that some parents love their child, but hate their autism – as if their child and their autism weren’t inextricably linked. I am told that some parents are so desperate to cure their child’s autism that they force them to drink and bathe in bleach and give them bleach enemas. I am told I lack empathy. I’m told that schools don’t want us; that they disproportionally exclude us, leaving thousands of us without a school to go to. I am told that the priority is to find a cure, so that people like me are erased. It’s easy to get lost amongst these dark messages of doom and gloom.
One message I’m rarely told is that autism can be an asset and a strength. I want to change this. I don’t want future generations of autistic kids growing up to be made to feel ashamed and conflicted about who they are.
As a 16-year old autistic student, who is also dyslexic and dyspraxic, and has ADHD, I have found that the most challenging environment in which to feel good about yourself is school; a place where most of us are relentlessly bullied for being different and where we are often misunderstood, inadequately supported and viewed as drains on resources.
One of the difficulties we face at school is that schools focus on our challenges and deficits at the expense of overlooking our talents and strengths. This can make our school experience very humiliating and demoralising. It can also have a devastating effect on our confidence and sense of self-worth.
In November 2018, I launched Neurodiversity Celebration Week, a campaign that aims to encourage schools to change the way they perceive their special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) students. Much too often, we are seen as “problems” and the focus is placed on our weaknesses and what we do wrong.
I want schools to flip the narrative so that teachers shift from only focusing on the deficits of their students with SEND, to also focusing on our talents and strengths. Despite our many challenges, neurodivergent students have extraordinary potential, a message we rarely hear.
Neurodiversity Celebration Week will give schools an opportunity to highlight and showcase the talents of their neurodivergent students and neurodivergent community, many of whom attribute their success to their unique way of seeing and interacting with the world. It will be a week during which schools will focus on highlighting the contributions of people who think differently. There will be neurodivergent parents giving talks about how their learning difference is a “superpower” that helped them to excel in their career. There will be positive neurodiversity posters and display boards around schools highlighting the accomplishments of neurodivergent people. There will be neurodiversity-themed assemblies. The sky is the limit.
There are currently over 270 schools and over 277,000 students from the United Kingdom, Australia, Colombia, South Africa, Qatar and the United States taking part in the first ever Neurodiversity Celebration Week on May 13th to May 17th 2019. The campaign is supported by 22 major charities and organisations, including: the ADHD Foundation, Anna Kennedy Online, the British Dyslexia Association and the Dyspraxia Foundation.
My hope is that every school in the United Kingdom will eventually participate in Neurodiversity Celebration Week so that we can begin to look at SEND students in a different light and begin to change the stigma, negative perceptions and stereotypes that still exist around SEND.
I also hope that Neurodiversity Celebration Week will change the way that SEND students perceive themselves.
The shift in how autistic youth are perceived is already beginning. The formidable sixteen-year old Greta Thunberg, the autistic climate activist and Noble Peace Prize nominee, is challenging most people’s perception of autism. Greta has attributed her passion, single-mindedness, ability to cut through the rhetoric, inertia and politics and “black and white” thinking to her autism, which she refers to as a “gift.”
She is not someone who needs to be “cured” or pitied for being autistic. Her autism-related “special” interest in climate change has been the catalyst that has inspired over a million youth across the world to join her in demanding that governments finally address one of the biggest threats facing humanity. She is a visionary, a leader and a change maker. She is compassionate, eloquent, persuasive, articulate and intelligent – traits not typically associated with autism.
I’ve spent most of my life being out of synch, out of step and out of reach of how to be “normal.” So, when Greta, an autistic teen girl with ADHD stands up and defies the limitations that are much too often placed on us, she paves the way for the world to see us differently and for kids like me to start seeing ourselves in a positive light.
Last week, I attended Anna Kennedy OBE’s Autism’s Got Talent, an event that showcases the talents of autistic youth from around the world. To be very honest, I was expecting the talent and performances to be of a lesser standard than the performances you see on Britain’s Got Talent and similar shows. I was very wrong!
The performances were extraordinary, not just for an autistic person, but when compared to top performers in their field. As I watched from the audience in awe, I realised that this was a momentous event for me. It was the first time in my life in which autism talents and accomplishments were being recognised and celebrated. It was the first time our challenges and difficulties took a back seat to our talents and accomplishments.
With the right support and encouragement, SEND students have the potential to have successful careers and to make significant contributions to society.
I believe that the best way to bring this about is to challenge the stigma associated with autism and to address the stereotypes and misconceptions people still have about autism, dyslexia, dyspraxia, ADHD and other neurological conditions.
Neurodivergent students have many strengths, such as creativity, innovative approaches, the ability to think-outside-the-box, resilience and problem-solving skills – skills that are rarely recognised in the classroom, but which will be the key to our success as adults.
I believe it’s important to empower and encourage students with special educational needs by reminding them of their strengths and telling them that despite their challenges, they can still have ambitions and hopes and dreams, just like everyone else. We are not defective. We are not failed versions of normal. We are not inferior, second-class citizens. We are autistic. And much like Greta, I see it as a gift.
Carry on the Conversation
If you are a headteacher, teacher or SENCO, please celebrate your neurodivergent students by registering on www.neurodiversity-celebration-week.com. If you are a SEND parent, please encourage your child’s school to take part.
For more from Siena, be sure to check out her wonderful site: www.qlmentoring.com or find her on Twitter and Instagram @QLMentoring
As always, I can also be found on Twitter @AutismRevised and via my email: AutisticandUnapologetic@gmail.com.
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Thank you for reading and I will see you next Saturday for more thoughts from across the spectrum.
