Neurodiversity Celebration Week Student Panel 2025

Kick off Neurodiversity Celebration week with a lively panel discussion featuring neurodivergent young adults reflecting on their K-12 experiences. We will discuss how students' strengths helped them overcome challenges, what schools and parents can do to best support K-12 2e learners, and hear advice for students who are struggling. Siena Castellon says, "I founded Neurodiversity Celebration Week in 2018 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.”

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Read the transcript below

Thank you everyone for joining us today to kick off neurodiversity celebration week with our student panel. We're so excited to have them here in case you're not familiar with real. We are a local Silicon Valley nonprofit, and we work to ensure that twice exceptional students thrive in school by raising parent and educator awareness and understanding of strategies to address their needs. And I'll go more into that in a minute. So just in case, if you're here, you're probably familiar with twice exceptionality.

But just in case the definition we use is the one from the Bridges Center. and we like to think of being 2 e. As being green. So you have yellow, distinguishing strengths, high abilities or potential in one or more areas. And you can also have complex learning challenges, such as autism, dyslexia, Adhd, anxiety, or others, and you are always operating in the green, which makes 2 E students a complicated profile for educators, because they need to have both their distinguishing strengths and their complex challenges addressed at the same time.

Real has a very robust website with a lot of our previous recorded talks, resources we've created on many topics that you, some of which you can see here. So please go to our site and browse for information on any of these topics. In addition, we are. This is one of our exciting keynote events, and we have another talk coming up may 7th about supporting executive functioning at home. And we also have our bi-monthly parent support group, where you can go into breakout rooms with other parents around your areas of interest and support one another.

So please sign up for those, and soon we'll be releasing our fall schedule. And we are also part of a group that's running the Neurodiversity Education series. And these are a series of talks about all kinds of things related to neurodiversity. And we're very excited to announce that Emily Kircher Morris, who's very well known for her books and support, is going to be speaking about managing all the fields on March 19, th coming up soon, so you can sign up for that on their website. Real also has a private Google group with hundreds of local parents.

You can sign up to ask questions and get advice and suggestions. We're also on Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin and all of our previous recordings are on Youtube. So you're welcome to follow us on any of those. And I'll put those links in the chat in a minute. Real also does educator workshops using our dear, real model.

We talk about the importance of flexibility, strengths, reframing behaviors and developing connection with our educators. So if you'd like to bring us to your school, we've worked with dozens of local bay area schools to do neurodiversity simulations and other workshops about any two-year neurodiversity topics. We also have developed a 46 page Iep guide that's available for free on our website about Iep, specifically for twice exceptional students, although it is designed for the California Bay area, a lot of it is applicable anywhere. Twice exceptional students often have trouble getting ieps in school. So this is a guide to help you understand that process.

So this is Neurodiversity celebration Week, which was started by a student named Sienna Castellan, who founded it because she wanted to change the way learning differences were perceived. She is autistic, has Adhd dyslexia and dyspraxia, and she says everyone always was focusing on her challenges, and she wanted to change the narrative and also talk about strengths and talents. So the neurodiversity celebration week website has all kinds of talks, resources, ways. Your school can join and sign up posters. You can put around all kinds of amazing things so highly recommend visiting their website and recommending it to your school and or attending some of their talks.

I'll put these links in the chat, but we have some ways that you can celebrate neurodiversity celebration week by bringing these resources to your schools. A list of books that your school, library or classroom library might want to carry resources you can share with your educators, etc. And I'd love now to give it to Praveen our moderator for today and introduce you to Ella Reese, Amishi, Lucy Kash, and Ila, who are a combination of high schoolers and college students and recent graduates to give you their perspective. On K. 12.

So Hi, my name is Praveen. I am currently a junior at Los Gatos High School here in the Bay area. I've been really involved with neurodiversity advocacy. Since I was really young, as I have an elder sister who has autism. And I've really been fascinated in trying to navigate how neurodiversity.

Advocacy can lead to better rights and opportunities for neurodiverse people. I was a part of Stanford's neurodiversity project their 2023 S. And P. Reach summer camp, and I'm continuing to pursue that in their Stanford the Nea program, which is a K. Through 12 educational advocacy as well.

I'm super excited for this talk, and my hobbies are playing soccer piano and spending time outdoors with my family. And so now I'm going to hand the mic over to Ella to introduce herself. as well. Hi, I'm Ella. I'm currently a sophomore in the Bay Area.

I have autism, and I enjoy reading, writing, drawing, and humanities focused courses. I'm proud to be part of this meeting and to have worked with neurodiverse organizations in the past, and I'm glad to be willing to answer any questions in the foreseeable future. I pass this talk along to Reese, who is also nice. Hi, thank you, Ella. I'm Reese Langdon.

I'm a senior at the college preparatory school in Oakland, California. I would say I'm a passionate advocate for neurodiversity, both for myself and for others. Like Praveen and Ella. I am a part of Stanford's neurodiversity network for education and advocacy. I lead the social media subcommittee, and, as Ella said, I'd be happy to answer any questions, and in my free time I love listening and playing, music, exploring, fashion, writing and swimming.

Thank you so much, Reese. Handing the mic over to Emmacy. Hi, I'm a freshman at Johns Hopkins University, and I'm planning on majoring in cognitive science. I was diagnosed in 6th or 7th grade with Adhd, and more recently with hypermobile Ehlers-danlos syndrome, which is a connective tissue disorder that shares some of the similar genetic markers. A year ago I created a prototype for a game simulating Adhd in a school setting with the goal of helping develop empathy in the wider audience for neurodiverse students.

And I plan on developing that further in the future. I love to draw and write. And I'm currently working on a very self-indulgent novel. Thank you so much. Amnesty.

Lucy, you want to go next. Yeah. My name is Lucy. I was diagnosed with autism when I was 18, and it explained a lot. I started college and was really interested in how autistic and neurodivergent people learn.

So I started a tutoring business working with neurodivergent students, ages K, through 12. That's not really ages. I am hoping to go to grad school, study cognitive psychology and do formal research in this area. In my free time I run around with my dog, who is about as clumsy as I am. So it's really funny.

She's currently flailing on the couch. Thank you so much, Lucy. Kash, do you want to go next. Sure. Hi!

I'm kosh I am currently a 1st year undergraduate at New York University. Before that I was in high School in California, in Palo Alto, California, at Kajila, Jewish High School. And I am currently studying music specifically classical composition. And so I really want to raise awareness both of neuroatypical people in music and of music, in the community of twice exceptional people where it's often overlooked. I'm excited to share my perspective on being neurodiverse in the creative field and in my spare time I'm a writer, and I make constructed languages.

Thank you so much. Kash. And then last, but not least, Ella. Yeah. Hi, my name is Ila Perinkulum, and I am a second year college student at Santa Clara University.

And I am currently studying neuroscience with a minor in religion. I have been working with the neurodiverse diversity community since sophomore, my sophomore year of high school. And I'm also a neurodiverse student. I have recently started working on a project that focuses on that focuses on creating empathy and compassion between neurodiverse and non and neurotypical people. And in my free time, I enjoy singing, dancing, just watching movies.

Just anything really, in the creative field. Thank you so much, Hila. So now I just want to go ahead and jump right into some of the some of the questions, so we can have a really great discussion and hear everyone's perspective on different topics. So starting with Emsi, what positive experiences did you have at school being neurodiverse. And can you also explain some of the challenges as well.

Sure. So on the positive side of things, it's a little bit of a tougher question. I went to a smaller French school, and culturally, I feel they may be lagging a little bit more behind than American schools. For example, the standard. There is 1 3rd extra time instead of one half.

And that's just like one of the many differences between how Americans treat neurodiversity versus over there. And that, said, I think, being a member of my School's Diversity Committee helped me connect with the neurodiversity community on campus which made me feel a lot less alone. Dealing with being neurodiverse can sometimes feel like a very personal and isolating struggle, and having people to talk to who can relate and understand you allows you to feel a lot less alone. I also think, being neurodiverse at school helped me learn how to stand up for myself and self advocate, because I was often put into situations where there was nobody else to do that for me. I used to be a lot more shy and quiet, but I believe that, like self-advocacy, is a really beneficial skill that is applicable, not just in school, but in many other domains, because.

No wrestling up, no. Knowing how to stand up for yourself, makes people take you more seriously and less likely to take advantage of you. As for challenges, I think one of the main ones was teachers, not respecting my accommodations, which is where the self advocacy came into play. Sometimes it was that they would just not give me the quiet room or not. Give extra time or not like, have basically just not listen to my accommodations, either because they didn't understand them, or because they felt I didn't need them.

Thank you so much. Emmacy. Yeah, I really appreciate you sharing your insight, especially on the accommodations that a lot of schools overlook. Kash, do you want to go next. Sure, as far as positive experiences, I definitely will say, that I think being neurodiverse has helped with learning how to stand up for myself in some ways.

That's also a challenge. I think. some of my toughest experiences were actually. when I stood up for myself a bit too vigorously, as it were. and I think that one of the things that I learned kind of was how to get your message across to people in a way that doesn't put them on the defensive.

in a way that like is fostering constructive dialogue when sometimes that's just very hard to do. And I also will say that sometimes I do feel like it's been actually, really, academically beneficial. And I don't just mean the gifted part of the twice exceptionality. I find that, like as I've progressed further and further into education, like starting second half of middle school moving up through each year in high school. I felt like more and more the ability to hyper focus on things, the ability to kind of jump quickly between tasks, the ability to kind of make unusual connections that people might not immediately think of.

Those things have kind of all turned into things that are things that I'll see a lot of people who aren't neurodiverse struggling with. And then a lot of neurotypical people. having an easier time with. And that was me as well. So yeah, I definitely think that sometimes it really just it will eventually.

And there's hopefully a ray of light at the end of the tunnel. For some people. It eventually starts becoming almost as much an advantage academically as it might be. feeling like a detriment. And there's as far as challenges go as I've mentioned, it's difficult to know when is the time to stand up for yourself or stand up for other people, for that matter?

It's also very hard, because I have, pretty much through my entire life, gone to private schools and their requirements, as far as following accommodations are far looser and far harder to enforce. So a lot of times, I ultimately have actually had more success going through teachers directly than going through a like student wellness center, or a similar situation, which was kind of difficult to figure out. So you know, you have to learn to hack the system a fair bit sometimes. Yeah. Thank you so much.

Yeah. Learning to advocate for yourself is such a such a big it's such a big move. And it really does pay out with its benefits. Reese, would you like to go next. Yeah, sure.

One thing I realized I forgot to mention earlier when I was introducing myself. Is kind of what I have. So. I have. Adhd.

I have generalized anxiety disorder. I have Ocd. As a separate diagnosis, and then I also have executive functioning deficit. So there's a lot going on. But yeah, I'll talk a little bit about kind of my transition into high school as a challenge and kind of how I turned it into a positive experience, and I think it's pretty.

You know, it overlaps with what's already been said. But I think the journey of self-advocacy is always really important to hear. But yeah, so, coming into high school, my neurodiversity became a lot more present in my daily life than it had been in middle school. There was the increased workload, the increased independence, and then increased expectations about what my performance should look like. and I started noticing that assignments took me a lot longer than it would take my peers, and then also I would need to meet with my teachers so much more, and I think, like that has been mentioned.

It can be really isolating to feel this at times, especially because at my school neurodiversity was not openly talked about. And I actually wasn't even sure for a while if there were other students who were neurodiverse because it just it wasn't talked at all. But yeah. So I also had some imposter syndrome, and I was questioning whether you know I truly belonged in such a rigorous environment. But yeah, so then finals happened my freshman year, and I was placed in a separate testing room with other neurodiverse students.

And I realized that there actually was a community. It was just in need of a voice. And I saw that need through talking with other people in the room before and after my finals, and I decided to take action and found the 1st neurodiversity Affinity group at my school as a place where we could discuss our challenges and strategies for navigating school and working together to push for school-wide improvements for all neurodiverse students. Yeah. And so I would say, we've made a lot of progress.

And that has become a really positive experience. I would say, we've worked to standardize accommodations across different classes, so that students don't have to advocate from scratch. Essentially in every course. We also have faculty training every year before school starts on how teachers can best support individualized learning needs. And so I think, ultimately the biggest positive experience for me has been able to see how my self advocacy and advocacy for others like me has made a lasting impact on my school, and I know that this skill of advocacy will help me to the rest of my life, and it's just shown me the power of like collective action.

So I'm excited for continuing this group. But I would say ultimately, that's my most positive experience. Yeah. Thank you so much. Reese.

Yeah, for sure, definitely finding a community and really embracing your passion. To overcome any obstacles is a really great way to self, advocate for yourself, and also bring a community together as well. And in that same vein as well. The next question is, how have your passions, interests, or strengths helped you overcome challenges, or informed your educational decisions. Ella, do you want to start on that.

Of course. So in my school I have a passion for humanities and similar works, which is a lot different from the stem focused careers of the rest of my peers. A lot of my passions come into trying to fold them into avenues that can help me succeed. So, as my passion for writing can help me in improving in English, or within just finding different avenues of work that actually fit my interest rather than the other way around, such as, since I'm interested in art, I find avenues for which I can express that art artistic talents through projects such as mural painting and drawing. Thank you so much.

Ella. Lucy, do you wanna take? Take this one as well. Yeah, I would say, my passions and interests, especially after high school and during college, have really helped me find people to connect to. So in college.

The 1st conversation I had with the professor was actually a placement test for Russian. So I started learning Russian independently, because I'm sort of weird like that. I didn't have a great reason. It just looked really interesting. And the alphabet was intimidating.

So I decided, why not? So I studied on my own, and I had this conversation with a professor. That was also my placement exam. She said I would never be a spy, because my accent was terrible, which is very hurtful, but aside from that, it was great. and so I found my way to the Russian department, and that got me to a group of people who shared this very specific interest.

And it was just I had this ready-made community from the start of college, which is really wonderful. The other community, I found was about halfway through. I was taking psychology courses. I really loved them. So I wanted to do psychology research.

And I joined a lab. And I realized that there, my tendency to talk for a little too long about my incredibly specific interests is actually completely normal. Everyone does that. It's called being a researcher. And so when I got there, I felt so much more comfortable, and started sharing details of being autistic, and found that people were incredibly kind and thoughtful and supportive and happy to have me present without making eye contact, which is really useful.

So I think that those social contexts were really wonderful to discover, and finding people with the shared interests definitely made my college experience a lot better. That's so great to hear. Lucy. Yeah, of course. And finding a community is one is such an important thing because you really have someone to share your passions and interests, and it really makes the whole experience a lot better.

Cost you mentioned. You want to tack this tackle this one as well. Yeah, I mean, firstly, I have to entirely agree about the whole thing with finding a community. I I mean, I found that also, just talking about my interests has honestly helped me find other neurodiverse people to chat with outside of outside of like specific events which you know some people just don't have the time to attend or don't want to attend for one reason or another, and you know there's a kind of community that you can form there, especially around things like constructed languages is one of my hobbies. And that is a lot of neurodiverse people.

So yeah, there's also I hate to keep harping on the academic portion of this, because I know that it's already quite a lot stressed. But I really do think that there is definitely like there's an advantage in most parts of academic, I think. including like getting through the second half of high school getting into college, getting through college, of having very distinctive things that you care about, that you want to do. And I mean as an artist also, or more specifically, as a musician, I think that is, has been one thing that's consistently helped me, because it means that I always kind of have like. if I need to pull a topic out of my pocket, or I need to pull, like like to write an essay on, or if I need to like, convince somebody that what I'm doing is interesting or meaningful.

Then I can talk about music, and that will help. And even within music I often find myself talking about other interests, and that goes over super. Well, when you're trying to make yourself stand out as a musician, stand out as an artist more generally, if you're able to talk about. You know my work is really related to like endangered species or surrealism, or what have you? Because it's it gives you a kind of edge of distinctiveness that makes people remember you.

And it's good to have people remember you in pretty much every part of your life. So yeah. Thank you so much, Kosh. I really appreciate your insight on how like, for example, your passion on music helped pique other interests as well, and also find that community before we move on to the next question, does anyone else want to weigh on that? Weigh in on this, on this topic of how passions helped you overcome any challenges?

If not, yeah, we can. We can feel free to move on. So just from another angle. I wanted to ask, sort of what strategies to teachers or parents undertake, that were either the most helpful or the least helpful. What worked best, and what and what didn't work best.

Ila, we can start with you on this one. Oh, okay, so I think for me. I found that just talking to just talking to parents just talking to my teachers and professors really really helped me. They were able to support me in ways that were more than just like the email that they got that showed my, you know, accommodations. And I think also like, just in terms of parents, just like researching.

You know what your child has and talking to your child. I think that is you know they they can help create. They can help create that conversation and create the support that they need. Thank you so much, Hila. Lucy, do you want to also tackle this one as well.

Yeah, I have a very specific answer to this question. So the context is that as a child I could not summarize to save my life. If you wanted to hear about the book I was reading, you had better be prepared to sit there for 20 min, as I told you every single thing that happened, because I just had no sense of the big picture. And this is a documented feature of autism. It's sometimes called preference for local processing or impaired central coherence depending on which paper you're reading.

But I could not summarize. So I started 9th grade, and I had a history essay assignment, and it was something about the Renaissance. And so I thought, Okay, let me just write down every single thing I know about the Renaissance. Fortunately I did not know that much about the Renaissance. but it was still something like 20 pages single spaced.

And so I bring it in to my teacher. And I say, here's the essay, and she looks at it and goes. Is this 8 pages double spaced? And I said, not technically. And she told me that it's too long, and it has to be shorter.

And I was very hurt by this. What kind of teacher are you to tell me to write less. And how could you? And I think my friends joined in and literally took out pairs of scissors and physically cutting off paragraphs. So it was a whole thing, and for that whole year she made me stick to the word limits, and I was outraged.

I think I wrote some angry haikus about this outrage. I was really upset about it, but it ended up being this incredible gift, because I was really forced to zoom out and see the big picture, and I found that that skill also translated to other contexts. So I would clean my room and spend maybe 3 h on one drawer. Because suddenly I'm just focusing on that one thing and losing track of the entire rest of the room. And so the the skill of forcing myself to zoom out came in handy in a lot of other places, and then became a thing that I started working with on students.

I use Google Maps as an analogy. If you're always in on the most zoomed in mode. You're not really going to get anywhere. And the map is not very functional. And so one of my students turned Google Maps into a verb.

So if I say, Okay, let's time, let's write the introduction of the essay, how should we do this? They'll go. Let's Google maps this. And I'm like, yes, we'll do it. So I realize this is very specific advice.

Make your students adhere to word limits. But that was a game changer for me, so I figured I'd share. Thank you so much, Lucy. Yeah, that was a really great analogy. And I really love the the Google Maps thing it really puts puts it into perspective.

Well, this this question, since we have a little bit of extra time, I mean, I'm sure all of you guys can relate to different strategies of teachers or parents. If anyone else wants to jump in on this on this topic, as well feel free to unmute and just share a couple of words on some of the strategies that parents or teachers said that were either the most helpful or the least helpful. I can speak a little bit. I think something that has been really helpful for me is when sometimes my teachers, I go to a private school, so this might be different at public schools or other places. But sometimes I've had teachers reach out to me before school even fully starts, and ask to set up a meeting when school starts to review my learning plan.

We don't have like ieps at my school, but we have a learning plan which is supposed to be essentially equivalent. But it's really nice when they kind of reach out and want to learn more before I even face any problems or challenges, and just know that they want to support me in all ways. And I think that's something that's been really helpful. I'd also totally agree with what's been said. I think when parents and teachers do research, especially parents on the kind of you know, conditions their children might have and how to best support them.

I think that's a great way to help as well. Thank you so much, Rhys. I really appreciate that. Yeah. Oh, gosh!

Please feel free. Go ahead. I wanted to second. I know someone had said before, going through going through teachers directly is just a very helpful thing to do a lot of teachers kind of want to help, but really don't understand how. And a lot of times specifics like won't really like your, you know, your generalized accommodations might not apply super well to one specific class.

If you have a class that like requires, say, I forgot to mention any 5 diagnoses. And now realizing. But I have developmental coordination, disorder and lab work was really difficult for me, because I was too uncoordinated to do things like. opened the bottles of water that you need to. I think it was filling fish tanks, and just like sitting down and having a conversation with the teacher about.

And it's not that big of a deal. and I will say the times of teachers have made made a big deal. I think that, you know self-advocacy is a really good thing to learn how to do. And it's a skill that you will need, and definitely one that you want to develop. But there are some teachers, and there are some times when people just really will only listen to an adult which sucks, but having parents who are really willing, when that time is there to step in and be like.

Hey, this is what my students requested. This is what my student needs. Now do. It has been very helpful. Thank you so much, Kash any other thoughts.

All right, sweet, we can move on to the we can move on to the next question. So this is also a very generalized topic that I'm sure a lot of you can touch on. But what advice do you have for neurodivergent children? Scrub struggling in K through 12. Education.

Emsi, do you want to talk about this 1 1.st Sure, so I can mainly only speak for Adhd. But I'm sure what I'm saying is probably applicable to other forms of neurodiversity. The main piece of advice I have is to know your condition well and have empathy for yourself. I've spent a lot of time looking up things about Adhd scrolling through the reddits looking at videos. And it's helped me like, really understand what Adhd is, the different ways it can present, and how many things that are just that I just thought were parts of my personality.

Are things explainable by this disorder. For example, I didn't know until rather, until maybe a couple years ago. That decision paralysis was a thing which is basically, when let me try to think of a good example. you're thinking about different places to eat. And you literally can't choose between whether you want to go eat Italian, or whether you want to go eat Mexican.

They're both like equally good, and you freeze up because you cannot make the choice. And I just thought that was just me. But it's Adhd, and that's a thing with a lot of Adhd traits is that you don't realize until you learn it, and I would blame myself before for these things I would just be like, oh, this is so dumb. Why can't you just pick? But knowing that it was something else that it was Adhd helped me have like more compassion for myself.

and just be accepting of the fact that I'm different than other people in certain ways, and that that's not necessarily a bad thing, and that I just have to work a little bit harder in certain ways other than that, I think learning how to plan is a very like important skill to have, and also time management, and I know those are especially hard things to deal with with Adhd, and it's taken me a lot of time to learn. I've personally found whiteboarding and my notes app really helpful. I know those are kind of like cliche advice, but if you can like, stay on top of them, they are a game changer, and especially when you're on your own, and you don't have your parents managing things in the background. Thank you so much, Amusey, Hila, do you want to add on to that with your own experiences? Yeah.

So I also realized that I forgot to mention. So I have a learning disorder, and I struggle with also struggle with executive functioning. And so, just in my experience, I think that there are really like 2 or 3 things that I think personally helped me. One is. I know that this has been stated multiple times, but I think just advocacy, and just trying to continuously make sure your needs are met.

Is a very, very important thing to do, because I think that that's one of the main ways that you can actually, you know, get help in studying in school and in making sure that your learning is optimal. And I think the other one and this is something that I'm still working on is just accepting that. You know you, you are like this, that there's nothing that you know you can really change. You can't change your brain. And you know, like accepting that and that struggle that comes with having that.

I think those are the 2 that I would say really helped me. Thank you so much, Ela. I really appreciate you sharing your experiences on that. So I wanted to go into more of this education side of it, and especially with neurodiverse people reaching their full potential. And so what do you wish?

What do you wish you could? You would change in schools. So neurodiverse students could reach their full potential and feel confidence in who who they are. And also why are events such as neurodiversity celebration week. So important.

Emmacy, you want to talk about that. Sure. So for the 1st part of the question, I think awareness for people everywhere is one of the most important factors. I think there needs to be better training for teachers so that they can better understand our diversity and how it's not just going to appear in one way. In one student.

There are very diverse profiles of how the same disorder can look. And understanding these like differences. I think, can be really like helpful for these teachers so that they don't just expect things to look one way. And then, when their expectations are disrupted, they're not able to like help the student and also understanding why they're why they're giving the accommodations. Not just that they have to.

If they understand the reason, it's that they can like understand the disorder, and they they'll have like less objections versus if you're if the school is just telling them you have to give this kid extra time, which to them will sometimes feel like an annoyance because they have to keep the classroom open. It takes it's like it can be. It can feel like a bit of an annoyance, but if they understand the reason behind that that allows them to have more empathy And as for the second part of the question, which was neurodiversity celebration week. I think that this celebration is important because it raises the awareness I was just talking about on a larger scale, especially around 2 E. And it promotes acceptance.

I think media has distorted certain perceptions. There's a lot of focus on the archetypes. You're either like a victim or a villain. And that's just not the way things are. People are people.

At the end of the day we're all human. And I think just being able to think of a neurodiverse person, not just by the fact that they're neurodiverse, but just a fellow. Human is very important. And I think this celebration is especially important in a time where there's been a noticeable like reemergence of ableist attitudes. For example, I've personally noticed in my own life that the R.

Slur is being tossed around a lot more. And so I think just keeping up on the progress we've made and not letting things backtrack is something we need to work towards. Thank you. Amnesty. Yeah, I also want to jump in on here, because this also hits very, very personal to me.

And for one of my experiences, because in middle school I had a very, very good friend who was neurodiverse, and he was in my science class, except no one really understood his condition, and no one really wanted to work with him in group projects and everything. And it's and it's not like people were necessarily scared of him. It's just that they didn't really understand his condition, and they didn't really understand why he acted the way he does, because there simply wasn't an awareness about about like the condition he has, and that he is a perfectly capable person of achieving just as much, if not even more, than any of the other students in class, except that he couldn't really reach that full potential because he was limited just by the awareness of of everyone else around him. And I really think that's why events like I mean, discussions like this. And a neurodiversity celebration week is so important just to raise that awareness and also to really embrace the full potential academic potential.

And even outside of school potential for the millions of kids that experience this every single day. So that was a that was a really personal story for me. But if anyone else has any other thoughts on this on this idea, as well, yeah, feel free to jump in. Yeah. So regarding the idea about how well, regarding the idea about how teachers and so can like help neurodiverse students, especially in terms of like helping them academically.

I think that it's interesting to know that. Well, 1st of all, teachers and schools are often a lot like, kinder than you might think they are, will also sometimes admittedly, a lot meaner than you think they are, and that means is that if you're not a lot of times when you're not sure that you're diagnosed with something. It's still beneficial that you might want to ask for accommodations from your teacher one on one they might disagree. But if they do agree that can still help you academically, you don't have to be constrained by the idea that oh, you need a permission in order to like, do this while doctor's permit. Of course, like helps a lot in regards to keeping it like making sure you can't achieve your academic potential a lot of times.

It can just be talking with your teacher and like explaining your circumstances that can help you like help. You get what you need in order to succeed without necessarily needing the messy complications that might are that might are making it a bit difficult for you to get through. Thank you so much, Ella. We can move on to the next question now. Sort of on a more more of a lighter side.

Does any one of you guys want to tell us about any of like a website, an art, a book, etc, that you made that that was like really capture that your neurodiversity experience. Reese, we can start with you. Yeah. So I didn't make like a website or a book. But I hosted an event this past fall, and I thought it'd be cool to talk about it a bit more so.

Last spring I partnered with a Uc. Berkeley graduate student at the embodied Design Research Laboratory, and we crafted a Grant proposal for a cognitive science initiative. And this was aimed at connecting researchers and neurodiverse high schoolers to develop more innovative educational tools to ultimately make education more inclusive for neurodiverse students. And although our proposal was denied, you know, we continued planning and we modified our approach. I reached out to neurodiverse students at high schools in the Bay area that I knew.

I also emailed different learning specialists at different schools in the area to let the students they work with, know about the event, and give them the flyer and encourage them to Rsvp if they would like to go. But yeah, so ultimately, we hosted an event where researchers and nerdware students specifically advocates from local schools got together, and there was vital dialogue. 1st the researchers presented their work, and students then kind of voiced their educational challenges. And once we'd had that full group discussion about what the biggest challenges we're seeing are we moved to small groups where we prototyped new learning tools. So one example that I really liked was a crowdsourced app to capture neurodiverse, conscious instructional methods.

I don't know if you guys are aware of the. I think it's a website rate, my professor, but it was kind of you know, that was a little bit of some inspiration, except rather than having just kind of reviews on. Whether you know I did not like this Professor, or I did like this, professor. We'd have information on how they teach, because something that I've learned is that how a teacher teaches can be just as important for me as the topic in the class, for example, like, if the class is all lecture based versus small group discussion based, I think that's really important to know. And so this app we kind of were talking about and prototyping, we were thinking could be a way for students to kind of know what kind of class they're going to be in before.

Kind of, you know, signing up for it. And yeah, so I think that that's 1 event I hosted. And I'm hoping to continue this work with the students that came and continue talking with them and have a network across different schools in the Bay area. So I'm very excited to do that. But yeah, ultimately this event was to brainstorm some new ideas for educational tools that can make education more accessible and more, you know.

equal 4 Nord of our students who might be struggling compared to neurotypical students. Thank you so much, Reese. I really appreciate you sharing your insight on that, and also your experiences, even if it didn't. Yeah, and especially what you learned over that. Ella, do you want to go next.

Yeah. So actually 2 things. So there is like, kind of a website slash project that I am working on. I know. Yeah, I'll place to the website link in the chat.

But basically working to create compassion and empathy between neurodiverse people and neurotypical people, because I think that you know that is a way that we can really start to bridge this kind of divide that just happens and start to like, acknowledge, and work together, to create a more accepting place. This is like for more than just schools, just stuff in just like groups in general. And so this is a very new project. So I'm still working on a lot of like the events and stuff like that. But when I was in high school, so like 4 years ago.

I, during the summer of my sophomore year, I went to the Stanford Neurodiversity project and and did the summer program for that. And so I created a group that worked with my school district Pausd so we called it price. So pausd respect, inclusion and compassion through education. And so over the 3 years from my sophomore year to senior year, we would host neurodiversity. so education, celebration, type of things.

And I would partner with another neurodiversity group to host a lantern night. Are during neurodiversity celebration week. And so I just it was very nice as a neurodiverse student to just be able to create. You know all of this and see the impact that it had on my school and on just the people within it. Oh, yeah.

Thank you so much, Hila. I can also share my experience on this as well, because during my Stanford, S. And P. Reach experience in the summer of 2023, I actually worked with Reese as she was in my group to develop a photo journal that actually captures the neurodiversity experience, and it was really it was a really great experience working on this, as I'm sure Reese can also say as well. We got so much great information on interviews, misconceptions, creative spotlights as well, that really highlights the neurodiversity, experience and really captures everything.

What we were talking about it over in here and just raising awareness and making it and making that neurodiversity not a stigma, but rather something that's comfortable for people to be aware about. And through the Photo journal which sort of alleviated that really information of just like research articles and stuff like that. We tried to get personal personalized experiences that told stories through through all the different sections, and that was something that the whole S. And P. Reach group really loved.

We were able to present it at the Stanford's International Neurodiversity Summit, and just as a way to share that share that neurodiversity experience as well. So that was also my experience in a piece of art and creative work that that I did for neurodiversity. Celebration. Yeah. So if no one else has any other thoughts on that, we can move on to the next question of, do you think of your neurodiversity as strengths, or as disabilities, or as both?

How do you wish your parents and teachers would understand your neurodiversity, Lucy, we can start with you. Yeah, okay, a couple of thoughts on this one is, I think it's important to acknowledge, especially with autism, that the word autism describes a really wide range of experiences and abilities and support needs. And so there are a lot of people on the spectrum who have an experience that's very different from mine who aren't able to talk, who need round the clock support. And that's, I think, just a side of autism part of the autism world that doesn't get talked about as much that's often left out. So I think it's really important to acknowledge that piece for me.

I would say autism absolutely is a disability, and it's important to acknowledge that, too. And to illustrate that I'm going to talk a little bit about accommodations, because I am just remembering hearing all of you talk. How different it is in high school versus in college, in high school there is an element of a case by case, teacher by teacher basis in college is completely different. You go to a disability office, you submit paperwork, you get an approved list of accommodations, and then you go to your classes, and your professors are legally required to implement those accommodations. So there's not a professors aren't making decisions.

They're just required to do it. And the reason they're required is because those accommodations are protected under the Americans with Disabilities act same law that says, I get to have my service dog who recently leapt onto the couch. I hope she's not too distracting in the background. But if autism were not a disability, then there wouldn't be a legal reason to provide accommodations. So I think for that sort of reason, it's really critical to.

Yeah. I acknowledge that part of it that said, I think there are definitely strengths. And it's hard to say. Is this a strength fundamentally a part of autism? Is it adjacent?

I don't really know. I'm not sure it matters, but I think there are aspects of the experience that I find positives and people seem to think I'm refreshingly honest. Sometimes I get really excited about my interests. So I try to make the most of those aspects. Thank you so much, Lucy.

I really appreciate you sharing your thoughts on that. Hila, do you want to tackle this one next. Yeah. So I think that it's a nuanced. And I think that it's a personal question.

And at least for me, I don't think it's 1 or the other. I think it's a mix of both. I think that we do. You know, I do have to acknowledge that it, like, Lucy said. It is a disability, you know, like I cannot do certain things, or it is harder for me to do certain things.

We cannot. I think that like by, you know, pushing it to the side, and by saying that you know I I'm you know I'm able to go to school and stuff like that. It doesn't count as like a disability, but literally in the name. It's a learning disability. It makes it harder to do certain things.

But I think, on the other hand, it's also a strength. I mean, it got me to go to college when you know I was really struggling when you know, and it helped. It's helped bring me to like this panel to just the people that I know and who I'm friends with. So I'm not going to say that it is one or the other, because I think that. And I'm sure other people here would agree.

It's just. It's a mix of both. And I think it's also just a very personal thing that you know. Each person has to decide for themselves. Thank you so much, Hila.

Reese, do you want to handle this one. Yeah, sure, yeah, I totally agree with what everything that has been said. I think for me, I see my neurodiversity both as a strength and disability, but I also see all parts of it as beautiful, if that makes sense because it brings real challenges. So I struggle with time management, needing extra clarification and support on most every assignment, and trying to make sure I can put in the right amount of effort without falling into my habit of perfectionism in my schoolwork. But at the same time it gives me so much being.

Neurodiverse allows me to see the world in a unique way. It makes me more creative, thoughtful, hardworking, determined, and also deeply empathetic. And I'd say that my journey with managing my Ocd. Specifically has been incredibly difficult, but it has also taught me resilience, and I think that's a really core part of who I am. and it's shown me that no matter how hard things get, I can always keep pushing forward and not just for myself, but for others.

And I think that connects back to the advocacy piece, and how important it can be to advocate for yourself and also others. And then I would say, I'm really grateful that my parents, I think, recognize, you know, all aspects of my neurodiversity. at least to the ability that they can, as they see it as a strength and disability as well. I think many of my teachers see it like this, too. I do go to private school.

So I'm having, you know, a lot more personal connections with my teachers than maybe some other people would at public schools, so I can't speak for public school or college yet. I haven't gotten there quite yet, but in my school I can say that I'm happy to say that my teachers, for the most part, I think, seem to see it as both a strength and a disability. What I would say is that I hope more people in the future will understand that neurodiversity isn't something necessarily to be fixed. It's a different way of thinking and experiencing the world, and I think that difference, like most differences, is very valuable, and I think. seeing only the difficulties can lead to serious stigma, which I've definitely seen at my school and also in the media, but also while seeing only the positives that can overlook the need for support which was talked about, I think, by Lucy.

and that's definitely a big part of it as well. And so that's why I think, seeing it as both a disability and a strength is important, at least for me. Of course everyone should see it in the way that best supports their own needs. But yeah, how I see it is that the struggles. They're not separate from the strengths.

They're very deeply connected, and they both deserve to be recognized and embraced. So yeah, I like to think of myself kind of as mosaic in a way so like each challenge and each strength, each unique piece coming together to create something whole and meaningful. And I think just like a mosaic. It's the combination of those pieces that makes neurodiversity truly beautiful rather than you know. Maybe just focusing on a specific piece.

Only I think all pieces come together and make you who you are, and that's why I think I see all parts as beautiful. That was really amazing. Reese, yeah, thank you. Especially that that mosaic part of it is so important because, especially in a modern state of society which focus on so many different things. Really, having a balanced, balanced sort of idealistic view is something that's really important, especially for self progression and sort of in that similar idea like, How like, how do you identify and nurture strengths which are not stem like math or science, related something that most society caters to modernly right now, Ella, do you want to have some thoughts on that.

Yeah. So like, I said before, my primary interests are in the humanities which aren't math sciences and stem, which I think that in order to It's kind of important to understand and accept that a lot of people aren't going to prioritize the humanities as a research field which requires people to have to search out opportunities and systems and organizations and other people to learn from instead. This can be a hassle, but I do think that a good resource, in order to receive the proper information and net information like necessary connections, in order to like apply for and get these positions in places where you can like. Put your interest to use and practice are just by searching out online and just reaching out to more people, and which is kind of cliche, but at the end of the day it does work. I, personally am very interested in history, which means that a lot of my dream colleges, and like places and applications like different summer schools and like organizations, have always been like history related, and that has worked in getting me, like several history, based like research opportunities such as in pioneer and in my personal life, my interest in art has encouraged me to reach out to organizations within my community.

In order to like practice, art projects for the community as well. So in the end of the day a lot of it is just reaching out making connections and just knowing that no matter what you don't have to go to stem, there's always an opportunity, and you shouldn't just stop searching for it. Thank you so much, Ella. I really like, I really like that idea that it's not just. You don't need to follow what society normalizes what you feel that it's important and what you feel connected to cost.

Do you have any thoughts on that. Yeah, I will say, I really agree. The Internet is a wonderful thing, and it is something that you can and should use. There are all kinds of opportunities out there. And one of the wonderful things about being in a society that prioritizes math and science and technology is that there are a lot fewer people going for those opportunities.

It's really remarkable. and that means that, you know, if you are someone who is naturally interested in those stuff. That's something that you want to pursue. There are a lot of avenues that are really open for that. I'll also say, finding communities online, even has been something that I've just started to do.

And while obviously it can be a bit treacherous, because, you know, the Internet is the Internet, it's something that's really helpful. And you can find people who share interests. And you can have discussions with people about things that aren't necessarily science and math focused. I also think that on the community level it is very. It's very apparent how much like, you know, you might not know what.

Like many math and science people. And while sure for your like project, you're like, if you're like doing a video for a charity that you're trying to raise money for, or whatever you can use, like stock graphics or like. buy stock music for your soundtrack. People like having a personal touch, people like having things that they can do, and that is a chance to, you know. Engage with your community through the medium of art.

It's a way that, and I find that oftentimes, if people might not even know that they want someone who is an artist or who is in the humanities until you actually suggest, hey, I'd be really interested in writing music for your project, or something similar. Music is a lot of my experience with doing this. And so like. In fact, I have a stordy My high school required that we do a Senior capstone project. and I wanted to do something related to music because it's supposed to be related to the field that you want to go into professionally and I assumed that I would be like trying to do some work at a music library or something, and I was talking with my music teacher about how to do this until I mentioned that I mean, I suppose if I could write for like an orchestra or something I could do that turns out that the guy was able to get me a position as a kind of young composer in residence for like 6 months, and I think that that is less uncomp.

It's weird, but it's less weird than you might think. There are a lot of. There are a lot of opportunities that people just kind of have open for people who are really interested in art, people who are really interested in humanities. And yeah, I'm droning on a bit. But one thing before I stop is that I think that it is very useful if you can to have someone who kind of knows about what you're interested in and can function as a tutor or a mentor, or just a person who knows about the stuff that you know about, or that you want to know about.

And for that sometimes it's just knowing people. I will also say that the cold email is a surprisingly effective technique for that. Just write to someone they might be interested. Yeah. Thank you so much.

Kosh before we move into the Q. And a. I wanted to end with a really important and also meaningful question as well that, I'm sure, applies to a lot of the people in the audience. What do you want to tell any 2 E students and their parents, who are feeling any sense of discouragement. Or are, are not really feeling motivated?

Ella, do you want to handle this one. Yeah, I think that one of the biggest things I would say is, just keep going. Keep advocating, because eventually, you know, like the advocacy will start to work, and you will be able to get the accommodations the just the things that you need in order to succeed. In education. I think that you know like, if you just keep pushing, keep pushing you know people will listen to you, and people will take into account what you what your child is experiencing.

Thank you so much, Ila Kosh. Any thoughts on this. I will say again, like it gets better, and at least from my experience, it will. Starting in like 6th grade, I think, for me was when it peaked and like, Oh, my God! This is awful!

I cannot deal with this, and then just started like getting better. People got more receptive opportunities got more present, and I found that a lot of the stuff that I went through in the 6th grade, and a lot of kind of the things that I was worried about would end up being consequences of that just didn't matter nearly as much as I think that people might worry that they do. It's. I think, that kind of this environment. being in school is an environment possibly uniquely ill-suited to neuroatypical people.

And which is very unfortunate. But it is something that. Yeah, not that, you know, there's definitely going to be a lot of work along the way, and I think that it is really important to the parents out there. To listen to your kid is what I'd say 1st and foremost, like that is, I think, the biggest thing. and if you do that, you can get a lot of cases.

Yeah. Thank you so much. Kosh. so that wraps up our preset preset questions. So I'll now be moving into the the QA that.

You guys have been populating in the chat. So the 1st one it's it's a little bit long. But here I'll I'll try my best to read it all out. So I'm trying to create an affinity group similar to the one Reese mentioned at my son's middle school. He is in 7th grade and dyslexic.

Primarily because I've realized he feels really alone and thinks he is the only student with the learning challenges with privacy needs around student with Ieps. I'm finding it challenging to find other students with similar learning challenges any recommendations on how to find these students to see if they would like to join a group such as this. It is not a topic discussed between students at school. Thank you so much. If anyone has any thoughts on this feel free to unmute and talk.

I can talk about this a little bit. So I would say, there's a few different ways that I've found, you know, other neurodiverse students. So at my school I kind of mentioned this a little bit earlier, but something that was helpful for me was just, you know, starting conversations with the people around me. So I have a separate room accommodation for assessments like finals. And so, even though neurodiversity wasn't something talked about at my school, really, at the time I would talk to.

I was in a room with people that I knew were also neurodiverse, even if they hadn't necessarily told me that. And so we could kind of just have a conversation in a safe place where we know that we both are struggling, but also you know, just having the same thing in terms of having neurodiversity, though, of course, that means a variety of different things for different people. And I think that's also one of the things that makes it beautiful. But I would say, if there are already communities at your school that is really important. But then I know that sometimes schools don't have a lot of communities like that.

I mean for my school. I had to create one, and I'm really happy about that. It went very well, and I'm very happy with all the progress we've made. But I also understand that some people, especially, you know, middle schoolers, might not be ready to create something like that, and that makes total sense. So I would say, outside of school has been important for me as well, I would say, joining committees or attending panels like this has been helpful for me, especially attending like conferences.

I actually went to the Ocd. Conference this past summer, and that was pretty life changing for me because I just. I don't know that many people personally who have Ocd. Or at least the intensity of it that I do, and I was in a place where it was completely celebrated. and that was a 1st versus, you know some of the comments I'd hear at my school that I'm sure many other students have heard, like, I'm so Ocd and stuff.

So I think, seeing other people celebrate our differences was really impactful for me, and then also hosting events or attending events. I talked a little bit about how I hosted my own event, but I think there's so many events that you can find on the Internet, or I can also help you find some, if you'd like. I know of a lot just from my event, and talking with other nerdverse students who are trying to do similar things. But I will say that for how I reached out for the event, the learning specialists at my school actually helped me reach out to other learning specialists at other schools. And so she would ask the learning specialist at the other schools to give the students a flyer or my email, and that they could reach out to me if they wanted to be a part of the ongoing committee I'm creating.

I don't have a website for it yet, unfortunately. And then also the event that I hosted in September, and I'm hoping to do another one. So I think I would say a lot of, you know, reaching out to people that can be hard. But if you have someone like a learning specialist or someone at your school who can help with that, I would say definitely, utilize that resource if you're comfortable with it, because it has been very helpful for me in not only, you know, getting my accommodations, but forming communities in a place where I didn't think I could. Thank you so much, Rhys.

Any other thoughts on on this question. Alright cool. We can move on to the next one. So the speakers have embraced the labels that they were diagnosed with when they were younger, did they? The speakers have embraced the labels that they were diagnosed with when they were younger, did they feel differently?

How did they overcome any shame or isolation they may have felt when they were younger? My son is in denial of his diagnosis. He is in 6th grade, and I'm not sure how to approach this topic as a parent. Thanks, Lucy. You mentioned you want to start with this one.

Yeah. So when I 1st got diagnosed, actually, before I was diagnosed with autism, the prospect was raised. I was 18 at the time, and I didn't want to hear any of it, because I just heard the term and thought great, here's another thing wrong with me that people can criticize me, for I don't think that was me purely projecting in fairness. There are a lot of really negative messages about autism, and so I perceived the diagnosis as just another tool to pick me apart and pathologize. I got on board with it when it was explained to me that they wouldn't see autism as something to fix, or something wrong with me.

That it was a different way of being, I think, was the the way this particular doctor put it. And I think another thing that helped actually was reading online articles about other autistic teenagers and women and realizing that my understanding of autism didn't quite match that. So all that is to say, I think it's really important to just understand better what your son believes about the diagnosis. How does he understand whatever word or label. It is what it means to him.

And just to get his perspective. I think if you go into the conversation with the goal of getting him to accept it. That's going to make it difficult to understand. And really, if that's not the label that he wants to use to describe his experience right now. That's fine.

It doesn't have to be. It's his experience, and that is likely to change, because 6th graders do change a lot as they get older. But I think, starting with understanding his perspective, what would it mean for him to have this label? And why doesn't he want that? Or what about that is difficult is a good way to begin, and and just, I think, be ready to have this evolve over time.

Thank you so much, Lucy. Any other thoughts on this? Any of you guys had experience with this, or want to share a little bit of insight. I think, also potentially showing your son some positive representations of whatever diagnosis he has in media in shows. Might like, give him a better understanding, and maybe a more positive outlook, so that he's not just associating the negatives of the disorder.

For example, with Adhd. At least, there are some more like benefits like being more creative, etc. And some people look at hyper focusing as a positive ability to be able to completely dedicate yourself to a task for an extended duration. So I think just maybe finding some shows or some comics with that like do a good job of showcasing, not just the negatives, but also the positives and giving him some role models, could be a potential option to look into. I think another thing, might be just letting your done have the time to process his diagnosis, because I think that time would probably be one of the best ways to you know, kind of come to terms with that, and to just kind of understand how it affects him specifically because it can.

Be it. It's different for everyone. And so, you know, trying to force him into you know, accepting it, I think, like, Lucy said. Is not going to help him in anyway. Thank you so much, Hila.

If there's no any other thoughts on this, we can move on to the next question, where did any of the and did any of the panelists have social communication disorder? And how do they manage it? Anyone feel free to unmute and speak on that. I believe if that is the same diagnosis as social, pragmatic communication disorder, then yes, that's me. I think that there are a lot of different ways that you can look at social, pragmatic communication disorder.

I, for one thing, I do not think it is entirely something that put makes you disadvantaged. I think that like a lot of disorders, there's an upside for me that was that I throughout pretty much the entirety of my high school experience never really got into, felt some of the peer pressures that I did just because I was kind of, and I think also in retrospect. I think I was somewhat oblivious to some of the teasing that was going on. I just didn't register it, and I think that's honestly the best way to deal with that. So that was part of my experience, as far as actually handling it.

I was in the therapy for it, and I am still entirely undecided as to whether it worked. I think that it definitely can for some people, and I'd certainly suggest considering it. I also don't think that it's a perfect catch-all solution. And I think that it's also one of the best things to do is to find people who appreciate, or at the very least don't mind the fact that your not necessarily picking up on all the cues that you aren't necessarily speaking the most clearly that you aren't necessarily that maybe, at least for me. I definitely know that one of the ways it manifests is that I'm much more brusque, I guess, straightforward than a lot of people, and that definitely can be something that people appreciate.

So I think that part of it's just finding good friends which can be intimidating. But there are people out there. Thank you so much. Kash, yeah, I definitely agree. Finding the community as we mentioned before, it's it's really important to find that right support audience to help you guide you through your your journey to be a much, a much.

Have a have a much better experience. Lucy. This question was specific to you in problems where you wrote very long context for shorter ones, and it would affect your other assignments. How how did you balance that. May I quickly say one thing about the social communication, and then answer this.

Yeah, yeah, for sure. Go ahead. I didn't have that particular diagnosis, but of course, autism, there's some overlap. So I found it helpful. One.

I had a friend in middle school, who's just an extraordinarily good conversationalist at age 12, and would beautifully volley a question back and keep the reciprocity and the conversation balanced, and she was great for just teaching me how a good conversation feels. So if you can find a friend for the kid who's really patient and understanding and and is okay with the peculiarities and can hang out with them and kind of model that could be really useful. I also watched a lot of sitcoms. I didn't realize, as I was doing it, that this was helpful. But actually, I learned so much about communication and the nuances, and I'd have to watch an episode, maybe 4 or 5 times, and the 5th time I'd understand this insinuation, or why this thing was funny, so that could be good, and I don't think I have a 3rd thing, so I'll answer the other question, how did it affect my my other assignments?

I just spent too long on everything and did not sleep enough in high school. It was not good, I would not recommend it, and this is my tendency for most tasks, because I'm so detail oriented. I can spend way too long on pretty much everything. So I have to be pretty rigorous and setting timers and keeping myself focused. Thank you so much, Lucy.

I really appreciate you sharing your insight on that. Any other final thoughts from any of the other panelists on your neurodiversity experience school outside of school. Any other final closing thoughts. I have one, I guess. Final thing that I can say.

It connects back to an earlier question about how I think, have your passions helped you with your neurodiversity. And I think something that I've realized is that so I have a passion for neurodiversity, advocacy and learning more about neurodiversity. And I think, while I know, that's not everyone's passion. Of course, I think it's really important to educate yourself on your own neurodiversity, because I think the reason why it's so important to me. And I think it is to so many neurodiverse.

You know, students, I mean, it's very common for neurodiverse students to major in something related to the brain and how it works, and I think that relates to this a little bit. But I think understanding myself has been a journey. And I think that is very important, because, being neurodiverse, you can often feel like you can't be understood, or at least I have. And it seems like a lot of the other panelists have touched on that a little bit, and I think that is what really is so isolating is feeling like, no matter what, you always be different in a way that other people won't fully be able to understand. And I think I've learned to see that as like a beautiful thing, and that makes me unique.

And I think it took me, you know, a bit to get there, though, and I think what really helped me was learning not only, you know, the science behind. Why does my brain do this like? Why is my friend able to do this? And I'm not able to. I don't understand.

And I think that frustration really kind of went away more when I saw that this is just how my brain works literally. And you know, then I learned how I think I was more open also to accepting it. I will say that there were times where I wasn't as open to accepting different parts of my neurodiversity. But I think the more I understand about it, even to this day I'm always learning more about it, and it really helps me. So I would definitely recommend for everyone, not just people who are neurodiverse, but especially for those who are learning as much as you can just about how your own brain works, because it is truly a thing that you can adapt and help like you can make it help you in whatever way works for you.

If you know how to. And I think it's just it's a journey. So yeah. Thank you so much, Reese. That was such a really great closing note to wrap up this amazing discussion.

We heard so many great perspectives, experiences thoughts, also advice as well. And I I just wanted to say I really appreciate all the panelists for taking the time out of their day to share their experiences. And I'm sure it helps so many people in this audience and gave so much insight as well. With that. Yeah, I'll hand over the closing, closing mic to you to close it.

Close this thing off. Thank you guys so much. This was an amazing panel. I took pages of notes. I hope all the I assume all the parents on the call.

And everyone that watches the recording is going to get so much out of this to support their neurodivergent learners. You guys are all so inspirational. We're getting kudos in the chat as well, and I just put a feedback form in the chat. We hope that all of you are able to join us at future real events and go to our website to get more information. And I'll put the the panelists websites in here one more time as well.

and thank you all so much for coming tonight. Thank you. Everyone. Really, appreciate.