Digest #160: Neurodiversity Celebration Week
Siena Castellon, Founder of Neurodiversity Celebration Week; Image from neurodiversityweek.com.
By Megan Sumeracki
(Cover Image is a screenshot from Neurodiversity Celebration Week)
This week, March 21-27, 2022, is Neurodiversity Celebration Week. Siena Castellon founded Neurodiversity Celebration in 2018. In Siena’s words, the week was founded because “I wanted to change the way learning differences are perceived. As a teenager who is autistic and has ADHD, dyslexia, and dyspraxia, my experience has been that people often focus on the challenges of neurological diversity. I wanted to change the narrative and create a balanced view which focuses equally on our talents and strengths.”
In honor of this week, we’ve rounded up our resources and resources by others all about supporting and celebrating neurodiversity.
1) Neurodiversity Celebration Week Founded by Siena Castellon, @NCWeek
The resources on this website seem endless. You can sign up for specific neurodiversity celebration week events (they have 24 events this year) or just browse their static resources. They have resources for:
2) Digest #48: Tools for Neurodivergent Brains
This digest was created by Alyssa DeYesso, and we published it on our blog in 2017. At the time, Alyssa was a student at the University of Massachusetts Lowell studying Psychology, Disability, and Education.
3) Digest #153: Neurodiversity in Education
This digest was created by Carolina Kueper-Tetzel of the LEarning Scientists and Chiara Horlin, an Assistant professor at the University of Glasgow and expert in neurodiversity and education. She also co-founded The NeuroDiversity Network featured in the digest.
4) Digest #156: Learning (More) About Neurodiversity
In this digest that I (Megan) created, I cover a lot of resources to help readers understand neurodiversity. My favorite was resource 5, which was a compilation of TEDx Talks with individuals sharing their own stories.
5) Podcast Episode 59 - Neurodiversity in Education
In this episode, Carolina interviews Dr. Chiara Horlin. Chiara provides a definition of neurodiversity and talks about challenges in education and ways to overcome them. In conversation with Chiara, it becomes clear that we need to embrace neurodiversity as a real opportunity in education that will enhance learning for all, but it is also important to acknowledge challenges that neurodivergent students and neurodivergent teachers may face and how we all can be allies.
From time to time, we pick a theme and provide a curated list of links. If you have a theme suggestion, please don’t hesitate to contact us! Occasionally we publish a guest digest, and If you'd like to propose a guest digest click here. Our 5 most recent digests can be found here:
Digest #155: The Effect of Stereotype Threat on Cognition
Digest #156: Learning (More) About Neurodiversity
Digest #157: Exam Preparation Tips