Introduction to the neurodiversity movement

Intensity: 3 hours

Education about the neurodiversity movement builds on the neurodiversity paradigm. It answers three important questions:

  • Why is there an urgent need for a paradigm shift?
  • Who is involved in the shift?
  • Who must learn from the neurodiversity movement?

Please note that this course is not intended to answer all the questions that you may have about Autistic culture, and Autistic people and their needs. Instead it is intended to raise your level of awareness about human ways of being that lie beyond your own lived experience and beyond your own cultural background and internalised social expectations, and thereby to assist you in understanding the relevance of the neurodiversity movement at this critical juncture in human history.

Registration

You can book a scheduled course
via our online booking system
Price
(incl GST)
Price
(excl GST)
For healthcare professionalsNZD 248.00NZD 215.65
For tertiary studentsNZD 112.00NZD 97.39
For members of low income householdsNZD 56.00NZD 48.70
If you are unable to pay, S23M can offer a grant

In case there is no suitable scheduled course, you can register interest and indicate your availability. We will coordinate accordingly and contact you once suitable courses are open for bookings.

This professional education course has been developed by and with Autistic and otherwise neurodivergent volunteers from the Autistic Collaboration Trust. In order to continue to develop and deliver high quality education, we have partnered with S23M, a healthcare solutions advisory company in Aotearoa New Zealand that is operated entirely by Autistic and otherwise neurodivergent educators and digital health technology professionals. 80% of the revenue from this course is used to fund course delivery and provide livelihoods for S23M employees and their families, and 20% of the revenue is donated to the the Autistic Collaboration Trust, to support and scale peer support initiatives and advocacy campaigns.

For bulk registrations for larger organisations and teams, please use our online inquiry form to outline your needs, and our team will contact you to confirm the most appropriate delivery format, the cost, suitable dates and times, and as needed the location(s) for on-site delivery.

Content

  1. Historic background
  2. Cultural bias against creativity, critical thinking and transdisciplinary collaboration
  3. What is happening in the neurodiversity movement right now
  4. Behaviourism in parenting, education, workplaces, economics, and the sciences
  5. Disability in a sick society
  6. Cultural safety and the human rights perspective
  7. Psychological safety
  8. What therapies and medical practices do Autistic adults consider unsafe / safe / useful?
  9. Autistic communities
  10. Towards comprehensive bans of conversion therapies
  11. Overcoming cultural inertia in a time of exponential change
  12. Design BY and WITH neurodivergent people
  13. Advice process
  14. Introduction to Open Space as a transformational tool
  15. Guidance for making good use of Open Space
  16. Critical thinking tools for creative experimentation

Your learning journey

This course combines multiple ways of learning:

A. Self-paced learning

You can start your learning journey as soon as you receive the payment confirmation email with access details to the course workspace and the learning materials: 

  • A 75-minute video and a corresponding course handbook that presents educational content in a visual format, including additional references
  • Approximately 15 minutes of reflection on your own experiences and on the course content, to identify questions for interactive discussion 
  • Asynchronous and / or 15 minutes of interactive Q&A depending on your preference
  • 60 minutes of interactive participant driven discussion in Open Space break out groups, together with Autistic and otherwise neurodivergent volunteers from the AutCollab community
  • Completion of the courses via a 15-minute comprehension quiz

B. Asynchronous collective learning

During the course you have continuous access to a dedicated anonymous online workspaces for Q&A, Open Space discussion, and collective learning in a safe environment.

C. Interactive learning

After you have worked through the visual content of the presentation or the course handbook, and have noted down your questions, including perhaps one or more topics for discussion in Open Space, you are ready to join the scheduled Zoom meeting for interactive discussion. As needed you can protect your identity by submitting potentially sensitive questions privately, via text chat to the course facilitator.