Anna Kennedy Online is supporting one of our past Autism Hero Awards winners Siena Castelon with Neurodiversity Celebration Week!

Please click here to participate and take this very important pledge

According to the Department of Education, 15% of students in the United Kingdom have a learning difference. I am one of those students. I know what it feels like to have your classmates assume you are not smart, because you cannot spell and because you struggle to read. I know what it feels like to be frustrated, embarrassed and humiliated at school.

Like me, many neurodiverse students have negative school experiences. At school, we are required to do things we find incredibly challenging and we are constantly reminded of what we can’t do. This can be very discouraging and demoralising.

It is time to change the way schools, teachers and other students perceive us.

Schools should stop focusing on what we cannot do and should begin to acknowledge and celebrate the many positive aspects of being neurodiverse.

It is important for schools to recognise our many strengths: our creativity, innovation, ability to think outside-the-box, problem-solving skills, unique insights and perspectives, perseverance and resilience.

We are the dreamers. The pioneers. The change-makers. The future business leaders. We are the trailblazers. The adventurers. The discoverers. We are the Einsteins and Bransons of tomorrow.

Yet, our ability to fulfil our potential is being threatened by the stigma associated with having a special educational need and the misconceptions many people still have about people with learning differences.  We are also more vulnerable to being mistreated. In a 2017 bullying report by Ditch the Label, 75% of autistic students and 70% of students with learning differences reported being bullied at school.

It is time to create a more positive perception about what it means to be neurodiverse. In order to change entrenched perceptions of autism and learning differences and in order to reduce the stigma, myths and misconceptions associated with having these conditions, we need your help.

Please support your students with learning differences by pledging to take part in the first ever Neurodiversity Celebration Week:  https://www.neurodiversity-celebration-week.com/.

Here are a list of the participating Schools: https://www.neurodiversity-celebration-week.com/list-of-participating-schools

Channel 5 quoted: ‘Autism’s Got Talent!’ Showcases the talents of adults and children with autism. Participants told us that autism is not something to be ashamed of – one described his Asperger’s as ‘like a superpower’.