Neurodiversity: challenges and strengths

LIVE WEBINAR: 23rd July 2024, 1-3pm NZST

Register here: https://book.griefcentre.org.nz/Neurodiversity0724

Who should attend this webinar?

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

As professionals, it is essential that we consider the potential challenges, loss and grief that neurodiverse people might experience in a neurotypical world.

This webinar explores the background, research, appropriate language, challenges, benefits, and, underlining it all, the mental health and wellbeing of those who have had a formal diagnosis, or 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.

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.

Webinar registration details

• Access to the webinar recording 
• Access to a downloadable PDF handout
• Certificate of accomplishment issued on completion of a short quiz

Certificate of accomplishment

We can provide a certificate of accomplishment for all our training courses. Go to the certificate of accomplishment quiz page section of the webinar recording. The requirement for receiving a certificate to confirm professional development for CPD points is as follows:

• You must view a minimum of 80% of a recorded webinar workshop
• You must complete a short quiz on the webinar content.

CPD Points/Credits

We are accredited to provide points/credits to the following organisations, educational institutes, and associations:

New Zealand
FDANZ
NZEA
NZFIH

Australia
AROH

Our training is endorsed or recommended by the following Organisations, Educational Institutes, and Associations:

New Zealand

NZAC
DAPAANZ
CANZ
NZSDRT
The CPD Group

Australia
ACWA
ACA (Australian Counselling Association)

To receive your CPD points/credits, you will need to receive a certificate of accomplishment which you can then provide to your relevant institution.