Elliott Hudson College recently took part in Neurodiversity Celebration Week, which ran from Monday 17 March to Friday 23 March.

Neurodiversity Celebration Week is an annual event created in 2018 to recognise & celebrate people with a huge range of neurodiverse conditions, including Autism, ADHD, Dyslexia, and Dyspraxia.

At EHC, we want to ensure that our neurodiverse students feel supported and have their voices heard as this is part of our core tenet of inclusivity and celebrating diversity.

Throughout the week, we held tutorials in the Hudson Hub focusing on Neurodiversity Awareness, including using a simulation of what Dyslexia looks like on the page. The tutorial also looked at alumni & famous faces with various neurodiverse conditions, with a focus on their strengths & successes.

Staff members displayed posters on classroom doors of famous neurodiverse people and played music in class by neurodiverse artists.

Students were also invited to decorate a silhouette to add to our display to:

• Tell us what makes you uniquely you
• Give an example of a strength neurodivergent individuals may have
• Name a neurodivergent celebrity
• Say what you know about neurodiversity
• Share ideas on how college can be more welcoming and inclusive to others
• Name any neuro-differences you may know

On Wednesday 19 March, we held our Neurodiversity Celebration Fair, where exhibitors from local organisations & universities were present. All students were invited to visit the Fair in their free time, and an Alumni craft competition was held to see who could create the best mask. The craft competition gave students the opportunity to explore how “masking” feels in a creative way. Current students had the opportunity to meet neurodiverse alumni whilst working on their masks and talk to them about their progress in college and beyond.

The response from both exhibitors & students was incredibly positive. Matthew Arnott-Harris, who is a frequent collaborator with EHC and has run the D&D enrichment this year, said that “It was genuinely touching, as a neurodivergent person, to see the amount of information young people now have access to, and the confidence with which they are able to assert their identity!”

The quote from Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a lawyer and jurist, which was displayed around college during the week sums up the purpose of the events perfectly: “We will all profit from a more diverse, inclusive society, understanding, accommodating, even celebrating our differences, while pulling together for the common good”.