Education in the neurodiversity paradigm, the neurodiversity movement, and Autistic culture
Together with the Autistic Collaboration Trust we are offering in-depth education in the neurodiversity paradigm, the neurodiversity movement, and Autistic culture based on lived experience.
The objectives of the Autistic and neurodiversity civil rights movements overlap significantly with the interests of those who advocate for greater levels of cultural and psychological safety in the workplace and in society in general. In the workplace the topics of cultural and psychological safety are relevant to all industries and sectors. Committed allies of the neurodiversity movement such as Dr. Zoe Raos (Te Āti Awa), a gastroenterologist in Waitematā, Tāmaki Makaurau, are starting to speak up about the lack of cultural and psychological safety for Autistic patients and colleagues.
Education on these topics is essential for addressing entrenched problems of lacking cultural and psychological safety in the workplace, and corresponding problems of lacking cultural and psychological safety in local communities.
Our comprehensive professional education courses are very different from education about neurodiversity in the language of the pathology paradigm – i.e. Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), and other pervasive developmental disorders, which mainly frames neurodivergent people in terms of deficits relative to the current neuronormative culture, perhaps with a few special splinter skills thrown in for Feel Good Effect.
Inquiry
Via our core team of neurodivergent educators and our extended global network we can delivery professional education in all time zones, and we have the capacity to support large numbers of learners in parallel.
In collaboration with the Design Justice Network and the Autistic Collaboration Trust we develop the intersectional creative thinking practices required to address the biggest issues facing coming generations. We invite you to discover deeper forms of collaboration. Creating and maintaining a culturally and psychologically safe environment is fundamental for the flourishing of all staff.
A genuinely safe environment allows all employees to be themselves, take risks, make mistakes, raise problems, ask questions, and disagree.
Our track record
Our diverse team includes experienced clinicians and professionals with many years of academic teaching experience as well as experience in delivering training courses to executives and knowledge workers in a broad range of industries.
S23M is the main sponsor of the Autistic Collaboration Trust, which develops learning resources on neurodiversity and Autistic culture that are used by a growing number of organisations globally.
“Your insight and opportunity to explore such an important topic seems to have left the students with a desire to facilitate change. For many, they believe the insight has changed their lives and for others who e-mailed me they said the learning has helped them on a personal level. It comes as no surprise that many people can relate to ‘mask wearing’.”
– Liz Gordon, Professional Practice Fellow, Otago Business School
“Thank you! These articles and this collaborative empowering movement has been life saving for me and my family. We were confused outsiders before this community connection. And more than that it has enhanced my own understanding of humanity.”
– Healthcare professional in New Zealand
“This is fantastic. Thank you so much. It’s great to see a description [of Autistic ways of being] from an Autistic person’s point of view – our preferences, our experiences etc. I hope this is used as a basis for research on how to improve mental health for the Autistic community.”
– Feedback on the Communal Definition of Autistic Ways of Being
