NeuroKnowHow’s director Joseph Aquilina is speaking at this event which is being organised by UAL’s Design Against Crime department. Further information here
Student Loan ban will hit Dyslexic people hard, says Benjamin Zephaniah
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/feb/26/student-loan-ban-will-hit-dyslexic-people-hard-says-benjamin-zephaniah
COVID-19 Research in HE survey
A Coventry University PhD Research Student is exploring the impact of the pandemic on students who are disabled and/or neurodivergent, studying at University at this time, and would love to know what these experiences have been like during these educational changes accompanying the COVID-19 pandemic.
They are currently looking for students willing to participate in a 15-25 minute questionnaire, both now and in 3 months’ time, exploring their experiences. There is a chance to win a £50 Voucher for completing both times.
The link to the questionnaire can be found here:
https://coventryhls.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_eCWslOGrdpjW7oG
Mind Wandering and ADHD
As the song goes…
“‘Cause I’m a wanderer, yeah a wanderer
I roam around around around, around, around”
Interesting article on the BBC Radio 4 All in the Mind Programme on ADHD and Mind Wandering. UKAAN’s Philip Asherson Professor of Clinical and Molecular Psychiatry at Kings College London and a consultant at the Maudsley Hospital in London talks to Claudia Hammond about recently published research that highlights excessive mind-wandering might be at the core of ADHD. The programme also hears experiences from two teenage girls with ADHD about their experience of mindwandering whilst at school.
AchieveAbility Call for evidence from employees with dyslexia/neurodivergence
Our friends at AchieveAbility who have worked hard for the Neurodiversity movement for over 10 years.
The Westminster AchieveAbility Commission on dyslexia & neurodivergence will be investigating the barriers to employment and identify recruitment processes that disadvantage neurodivergent people (ASD, ADHD, dyslexia, dyspraxia, dyscalculia, Asperger’s). Their aim is to find out how recruitment and probation processes might be improved and highlight good practice in these areas.
The information will help inform the creation of a report with the intention of providing recommendations to the Government to remove barriers to employment and identify recruitment processes that disadvantage neurodivergent people. The Commission will feed into the government goal of ‘Halving the Disability Employment Gap’ by 2020. People who identify with the traits related to neurodivergence, represent the highest percentage of adults who are disabled. This Commission is vital in order to represent the issues for this community, as well as revealing their intellect, value and strengths within the workplace.
Intended outcomes of the Commission
- To close the dyslexic and neurodivergent employment gap
- To demonstrate barriers to recruitment
- To consider how dyslexic and neurodivergent people deal with disclosure
- To profile a set of good practice case studies
- To outline a series of recommendations on policy, law and practice
- To feed into the government’s stated aim of Halving the Disability Employment Gap
If you would like to share your opinions and experiences complete the survey
On another note it’s great to see another organisation using the term Neurodivergent as an adjective rather than “neurodiverse”.
Brain.HE is merging with Brain-e
BRAIN.HE was created in 2005 to provide all higher education students and their tutors with a support network and information covering all forms of neurodiversity. The project aimed to improve the Higher Education sector’s response to neurodiversity, including dyspraxia, dyslexia, dysgraphia, Autism Spectrum (A.S.), Attention Deficit (Hyperactivity) Disorder, Tourette’s and dyscalculia.
The project work was originally funded by the HEFCE (Higher Education Funding Council for England). It was directed by Dr David Pollak, formerly Principal Lecturer in Learning Support and National Teaching Fellow at De Montfort University, Leicester, UK. This site holds information which was previously scattered, as well as new materials applicable to higher education where none existed previously. The majority of the work on developing the site was done by Edward Griffin of the Health & Life Science Faculty at De Montfort University. BRAIN.HE then went on to be funded by the London School of Economics Annual Fund and hosted by the LSE Neurodiversity Team.
The site is in the process of being updated and amalgamated into the NeuroKnowHow website, along with updates and new information to be added in due course.