ION Chat: A Global Gathering of Neurominority Voices

By Professor Charlotte Valeur, Global Chair, the Institute of Neurodiversity

June's ION Chat was a remarkable convergence of neurominority individuals from around the world, sharing their lived experiences and insights. The conversation was both eye-opening and heartwarming, revealing the depth of understanding and solidarity within our community.

Recognising Generational Neurodiversity

A significant topic of discussion was the common misconception that older neurominority individuals don't exist. Having turned 60 this year this is very much on my mind personally. Many of us grew up unaware of our neuro differences, only to have these brought to light when our children and grandchildren received diagnoses. This familial revelation has often led to a newfound understanding within families, fostering greater empathy and connection across generations. It was inspiring to hear stories at the ION Chat of how this awareness has transformed family dynamics and strengthened bonds.

Expanding the Neurodiversity Movement

Another critical theme we talked about was the need to broaden the neurodiversity movement. While there are passionate advocates and initiatives in various countries, there is a vast middle group of people still unaware of neurodiversity. Our discussion emphasised the importance of reaching out to this group to promote awareness, acceptance, and appreciation of neurominorities and of human neurodiversity. We brainstormed strategies to amplify our efforts globally, ensuring that everyone can contribute to this important cause. One way is to ensure we all reshare good content in our wider networks and ask those to also reshare. This way we can cascade out information about neurominorities and the neurodiversity movement beyond our own community and circles.

Addressing Trauma and PTSD

The chat also touched on the pervasive trauma many of us experience throughout our lives, often resulting in PTSD. Mostly our trauma derives from how society and families handle our differences. So far more often than not we are not understood and the onus is on us to adapt to a world set up for one neuro type only. This lifelong struggle of not being understood, feeling excluded and being discriminated against in so many ways, underscores the importance of creating supportive environments that recognise and address these challenges faced by our community. Being not only accepted but also appreciated for who we are is a significant key to making us thrive. The North Star is to have a world where people of all neurotypes can flourish equally.

Misunderstood Dyscalculia in Education

A particularly poignant discussion revolved around dyscalculia and how it is not understood well within the educational system. Participants shared their lived experience and frustrations of it not having been recognised during our early education. We discussed the urgent need for schools to gain better insights into neurodifferences.

In response, ION plans to publish an open letter to schools worldwide, offering guidance on becoming more neuro-inclusive and highlighting the growth, voice and impact of our global community. This letter will also be a resource for members and allies to use in their advocacy efforts with schools. If we all share the letter with our local school and help get the schools starting the neuro-inclusion journey, then we will have significant global impact for change.

Challenges with Therapists

Many of us shared in the chat that we have faced challenges with therapists who dismiss new diagnoses like ASD, ADHD etc. This significantly undermine us and hinder our self-growth work. This dismissiveness is not only unhelpful but can also be detrimental to our mental health. Our conversation underscored the necessity for therapists generally to receive better training and awareness regarding neurodiversity. We will be considering how we can ensure this happens and what we as a community can do now that we have identified this issue among us.

Sensory Sensitive Clothing

We also delved into the topic of sensory sensitive clothing. The need for clothing that accommodates our highly developed sensory systems was a lively discussion point. One of our participants, who is actively working in this area, will share more in a separate article. The prospect of clothing designed with neurominorities in mind is exciting and much anticipated. We all agreed that this kind of clothing would be of interest to all humans because of how comfortable it is to wear.

Looking Ahead

This ION Chat was a busy, enriching session filled with valuable exchanges and actionable insights. As we head into the month, we're reminded of the strength and resilience of our community. We look forward to continuing these important conversations next month.

Happy June to all, and see you at the future ION Chats first Friday of every month!