Neurodiversity: challenges and strengths

Date: Tuesday 22 August 2023
Time: 11.00am – 1:00pm NZT
Register: https://book.griefcentre.org.nz/neurodiversity6

Who should do this course?

Anyone who works in a professional care role or supports people through all forms of loss and grief. Our content is applicable to a wide variety of professions including counsellors, social workers, teachers, emergency response teams, medical, corrections, mental health, hospice, volunteers, caregivers and more. 

Overview

This interactive (through the chat function) webinar explores the background, the research, the appropriate language, the challenges, the benefits, and, underlining it all, the mental health and wellbeing of those who identify as neurodiverse, and how we can best support them.

Today, neurodiversity has evolved from a focus on neurodivergent individuals who may have a formal diagnosis of a developmental or learning disability such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), dyslexia or dyscalculia, to also embrace a broader group of people who may self-identify as neurodivergent.

Our understanding of ‘neurodiversity’ has widened extensively since Australian sociologist, Judy Singer, on the autism spectrum herself, coined the term in the late 1990s in acknowledgement that everyone’s brain develops uniquely. At the time, she wanted to shift the idea that autism was a disability, rather viewing it as natural variance in neurobiology. She defined it as a social justice movement that promoted equality for what she called ‘neurological minorities’; people whose brains work in atypical ways. 

In a broad sense, the term ‘neurodiversity’ acknowledges that all human brains and minds differ from one another. As professionals, it is essential that we consider the potential challenges, loss and grief that neurodiverse people often experience in a neurotypical world.

Key Learning Points

• Exploring the neurodiversity paradigm, including the associated terminology
• Insight into common neurodiverse developmental and learning disabilities – Australian and New Zealand statistics
• Current research, particularly related to mental health and wellbeing; the growing awareness of the benefits of neurodiversity
• Neurodiversity in the workplace: challenges, strengths, benefits, changes, and support
• Supporting neurodiverse clients – those with a formal diagnosis of a developmental or learning disability, and those people who self-identify as neurodiverse
• Resources and additional readings