Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash
Over the school summer holidays I have attended the Star Institute 2025 Virtual Summit: Neurodiversity Affirming Practice and I thought over the next few newsletters I would pick up on some of topics/thoughts that really struck a chord with me from the summit. This 3-day virtual summit is held annually in June, and I have attended for the past few years and found it invaluable to update my thinking and practice in neurodiversity. All the presentations are then available online until mid-August.
Are you keeping up with the times?
This newsletter is primarily based on the presentation at the conference by Kelly Mahler ‘Modern Emotion Regulation Supports for Neurodivergent Learners: Are you keeping up with the times?
As in all fields there are so many shifts happening in this area right now and it is hard to keep up to date. Practice is constantly changing and moving forwards. I think it is important to put a health warning here, as there are practices and interventions, I used for example 10 years ago that I look back and think ‘Oh no!’. I am sure that this is the case for you as well. I love this quote:
“It doesn’t matter where you are, you can always move forward. You can always do better and be better” Judy Endow, author and international speaker
Our practice is rooted in what we knew at the time, historical beliefs. For example, nurses were taught the correct position of the pillow on a bed was with the opening of the pillowcase placed away from the door. This practice was in place in hospitals when I completed my physiotherapy training in the 1980s. I don’t think it was questioned. This was the correct way to make a bed. Where did this practice originate? The Crimean War! Florence Nightingale transformed hospital conditions with her focus on hygiene, cleanliness and hospital administration. She reduced the death rate of soldiers in hospital from 42% to 2% and her methods formed the foundations for modern nursing. By placing the pillowcase with the opening away from the door, it stopped dirt blowing into the pillowcase from outside. Thereby improving hygiene and infection control. This practice is now based on outdated information.
How do we keep up with the times?
We will all be operating in outdated ways at times, but how do we inform our practice, so it is the most up to date. Traditionally published research was seen as the gold standard but there has been a shift from research/evidence-based models to lived experience informed practice. Yes, evidence-based practice is still important, but we need to be listening to the neurodivergent lived experience as well.
Take Action Now
At the start of a new academic year, you might want to use this neurodiversity affirming checklist for your home, school or organisation to see if you are ‘keeping up with the times’. Are you using outdated practices? How might you change these?
