Society for Neurodiversity
Our website is currently under construction and we're updating our content.
As the Society for Neurodiversity, we aim to:
- raise awareness and spread knowledge about neurodiversity within OIST
- gain structure, and, therefore, more power, to better advocate for rights and adjustment
- create a safe space for neurodivergent individuals and allies which will make them feel seen and supported.
While we are neither clinicians nor specialists, we intend to create a support network for neurodivergent members of the community - as neurodivergent students, ourselves. You can read our bylaws here.
What is Neurodiversity?
It means Neurological Diversity and embraces the idea that different neurotypes have always been and will always be part of the spectrum of human expression. "Neurotypical" persons in society are the majority, and their neurological functioning is what people often call normal, because it is recognized by the majority. "Neurodivergent" persons are the ones whose neurological functioning is a minority (like ADHD, Autism, Tourette's, Dyslexia, and more) and might be both challenging and/or beneficial to society as well as the individual.
Neurodiversity includes all neurotypes and affirms that the human condition consists of and benefits from allowing and expressing diversity, similarly to how cultivating biodiversity benefits our ecosystem.
Here is some reading and audiovisual material about neurodiversity:
A short written explanation on why Autism is a "Spectrum": Autism and Neurodiversity
The Neurodiversity Hub collects resources for students, employers and universities and has some great material.
The Website Neurodivergent Insights is the homepage of a clinician who is neurodivergent herself and a parent of neurodivergent kids. She has great visual and text-based explanations about ADHD, Autism, and more, and includes an especially great series called Misdiagnosis Monday, in which she explains the overlaps between presentations of neurodivergent conditions and psychiatric illnesses, always two or three conditions at a time. As a great starting point, here is the overlap between ADHD and Autism (or all of it, if you have both, called AuDHD): ADHD&Autism
The Neurodiversity Podcast has hundreds of episodes on the topic.
Here is also a short explanation on Executive Functioning, which is something that a lot of people who are neurodivergent might struggle with when their nervous system is overwhelmed: Neurodiversity and Executive Functioning
If you have any concerns, suggestions or would like to get in touch, send an email to Juliana or Vero.
See you soon!