Written by Alice (Y13), Emma (Y13), Claudia (Y12) and Shaan (Y11)
The 21st – 27th March was Neurodiversity Celebration Week, and OHS marked this in a variety of ways.
On Monday there was an assembly led by us. During this, we discussed when we were diagnosed and what it felt like, the language surrounding neurodiversity and the benefits of being neurodivergent. Afterwards, Ms Hughes was getting lots of questions from Year 7s, so we also did a Q & A session in a Year 7 assembly. Your questions were very insightful, and if you have any more please feel free to email us! Ms Hughes also put loads of posters up around school so thank you to her!
Regarding the language used, Emma dislikes the term ‘person with autism’ because it seems as though she’s having to remind people that she’s a human being. Claudia prefers the term ASC (autism spectrum condition) as opposed to the more widely used ASD (autism spectrum disorder) because she doesn’t think of autism as something negative. Shaan and Alice like to say that they ‘are dyslexic’ because saying they ‘have dyslexia’ sounds as though it’s unfortunate that they have it, when really it’s just a part of who they are.
Some people might not realise that although there are negatives to being neurodivergent, there are many benefits! For example, being dyslexic made Alice put much more effort into STEM subjects, which she is now really passionate about. Emma solves puzzles in a very unique way, for example approaching physics questions in a different way. Since autistic people often have heightened senses, Claudia has a sort of ‘spidey-sense’, but it’s unfortunately not as cool as Spider-Man’s!
Neurodiversity Celebration Week is great in this way, because it celebrates the awesome things about being neurodivergent. However, in some ways it should be more about just awareness. If more people are aware of the different types of neurodiversity then it would make it so much easier for people who are neurodivergent. Even understanding certain things (for example, Tourette’s – understanding that it isn’t deliberate and it’s not a choice so to be kind and try to make it as natural as possible) can make a huge difference.
