Despite the growth in the neurodiversity movement and the increasing recognition of neurodiverse individuals in society, the voices of students have only just begun to be heard in secondary schools. Our newly-developed advocacy group is a joint initiative between faculty and students at FlexSchool, a school for twice-exceptional (2e) individuals. As a community of neurodivergent individuals, we hope to create opportunities for self-advocacy and increase representation and acceptance in educational institutions and society at large. The group is also a chance for us to better understand our own strengths and weaknesses, and develop the skills to communicate our needs effectively within an educational environment. While students at our school often have advanced academic skills, many of us have struggled in previous schools that did not accommodate their neurodiversity. Our experiences in mainstream schools, including bullying by peers and belittlement and a lack of validation from teachers, motivated us to learn more about the neurodiverse community in order to educate others and advocate.

Although our advocacy group was founded only this year, we have already launched several initiatives that we believe can serve as a model for other K-12 schools looking to incorporate student voices into efforts to build awareness and acceptance in their school communities. In addition, we created a video designed to educate teachers about neurodivergence, which is now being used for professional development in a local school district. Additionally, we are partnering with a local school on Neurodiversity Awareness Week activities and will be delivering a lecture on neurodivergence for teacher candidates at Queens College. We have also reached out to colleges and universities to learn about how they accommodate neurodivergent students and communities on campus. Being neurodivergent high schoolers, we find it crucial to advocate for all individuals under the neurodivergent umbrella, especially those without the same opportunities to self-advocate and express their needs. Through our participatory breakout session, we aim to bring our perspective as twice-exceptional high school students and our experiences around self-advocacy and educational maltreatment. As a result, the hope is for audiences to leave with an understanding of the internal biases that may exist as educators and a newly found flexibility in listening to neuroatypical voices.

Additional Presenters: Nathan Ong, Ari Newman, and Samuel Henderson