A celebration of different minds over Neurodiversity Week

Over the year, we come together to showcase key awareness dates connected to equity, diversity and inclusion (ED&I).

For the first time at Ardonagh, we’ve been marking Neurodiversity Celebration Week – coming together to learn more about neurodiversity and to recognise the value, strengths and challenges of different minds.

Over the week, we’ve heard stories from colleagues, caught up with ACT Bright Future Prize winner and neurodiversity charity founder Kaydi Scottsville, and explored some of the ways changes are being made around the Group to make the workplace more neuroinclusive.

Neurodiversity is, rightly, building in awareness and growing in recognition. There’s still plenty to be done, but we hope this week has enabled colleagues to learn more about this fascinating and valuable area of diversity, which is so important to a strong and inclusive workplace – and society at large.

We thank all our Ardonagh colleagues for being a part of Neurodiversity Celebration Week.

Sharing stories, gaining insights

Across the week, we were privileged to hear from five colleagues across the Group, who shared their personal experiences of neurodiversity from a range of perspectives and shed light on parenting, adult diagnosis and insights into the positives and difficulties they’ve encountered over their journeys including autism, ADHD, dyslexia and dyspraxia. By sharing their accounts, our people had an incredible opportunity to further their understanding of neurodiversity directly from peers.

A huge thank you to all the colleagues who shared their experiences and perspectives, providing and invaluable insight into the many aspects of neurodiversity. As a thank you, our Group charity, ACT, has made a £500 donation to a charity chosen by each colleague.

Supporting neurodivergent young people and the power of allyship

The Bright Future Prize, hosted by ACT, is an annual competition which searches the world for young people committed to drive positive change.

In 2022, Kaydi Scottsville from West Lothian in Scotland won the Bright Future Prize’s ‘Your Community’ category, securing £10,000 to invest in her self-founded neurodiversity charity, Diversified.

As a young teen, Kaydi left school after not being able to get the support she needed to thrive. Using her own experience of growing up with autism, Kaydi has since been determined that no other young person should struggle and went on to found Diversified aged just 14.

Since then, Diversified – and Kaydi – have gone on to support over 3,000 neurodivergent young people and family members. Earlier this month, we travelled to Scotland to catch up with Kaydi, to hear more about her experiences and insights.

Learn more about ACT’s Bright Future Prize and Kaydi on the ACT website www.ardonaghtrust.org and socials @ArdonaghCT.

Journey towards neuroinclusion in the workplace

By recognising neurodiversity, the workplace can become better, more effective, more inclusive, and more productive for us all. A diverse workplace makes for a stronger business and culture, and this includes diversity in thinking, whether it relates to creativity, analysis, ideation, problem solving and so many more aspects of working life.

Improving inclusion is a constant journey, and we shared some of the ways teams and businesses at Ardonagh are making changes to improve working experience of neurodivergent colleagues, including training, accessibility software, employee communities and policy. This is an ongoing area of improvement, but the journey has started.

Giving back to neurodiversity charities

As a special thank you to the fantastic contributors to those who have shared their invaluable insights and experiences, ACT (The Ardonagh Group’s independent charity) is making a £500 to each of the following causes.

The Girl with the Curly Hair

As chosen by RiskSTOP colleague George Chamberlain and her daughter Zoe

The Girl with the Curly Hair was set up by Alis Rowe, an author who herself has Asperger’s Syndrome. George and her daughter have found the website and books to really help them – particularly the information relating to females with autism.

ADHD Foundation

Chosen by Ardonagh Advisory colleague, Anna Walthew

ADHD Foundation does incredible work across the UK aimed at improving the experience of neurodiverse individuals, including people that identify as ADHD and beyond. It’s programmes of activity cover both education and health to build awareness and understanding of ADHD, as well as providing services to people with ADHD of any age and their families.

Autistic Women & Non-binary Network

Chosen by RiskSTOP colleague, Abbie Davis

Autistic Women & Nonbinary Network is committed to disability justice, gender & racial equity, neurodiversity and trans liberation with a focus on justice in disability spaces. This cause is vital, as understanding of intersectionality is still being developed in the neurodiversity space with autism diagnosis being four times higher in boys than girls, and studies showing that’s those from Black, Asian and Minority Ethic (BAME) communities or those from low-income families are less likely to be identified and diagnosed with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder).

Society for Neurodiversity
Chosen by Atlanta colleague, Jack Neale

S4Nd supports people who identify as neurodivergent, alongside their families, friends and allies. The charity provides a range of social, creative and therapeutic services to help neurodivergent people connect and access support.

ADHD Sheppey

Chosen by Ardonagh Specialty colleague, Samantha Hewitt

ADHD Sheppey are a small local charity. They are a support group which was established in 2012 and meet, weekly to offer information, advice and guidance as well as training on ADHD, Resilience, Coaching Young People for Success and Psycho-education support for ADHD. Samantha and her son have been helped by the charity on numerous occasions and I believe the donation is a fitting way to show their gratitude.

Diversified

As a thank you to Kaydi Scottsville, co-founder and CEO of Diversified.

Kaydi founded Diversified, alongside her mum Nicole, when she was just 14 years old. Since then, Diversified has grown to support thousands of people in and around West Lothian Scotland, and in 2023 was names Scottish Charity of the Year. Kaydi hopes to further expand Diversified and potentially open further dedicated hubs in Scotland.

Coming soon…Ardonagh Allies

Celebrating diversity and keeping conversations open is hugely important year-round, and so we will soon be launching a brand-new internal diversity podcast series, Ardonagh Allies. Ardonagh Allies will be exploring a range of diversity topics and hosted by and featuring colleagues from across the Group and around the world.