A celebration of different minds over Neurodiversity Week
Over the year, alongside our Ardonagh colleagues, 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 – joining together to learn more about neurodiversity and to recognise the value, strengths and challenges of different minds.
Over the week, we’ve heard personal and powerful 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, ACT has made a £500 donation to a charity chosen by each colleague.
Supporting neurodivergent young people and the power of allyship
Each year, we host the ACT Bright Future Prize, an annual competition which searches the world for young people committed to driving 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.
You can watch all the videos on ACT’s Instagram or Facebook, @ArdonaghCT, and our long-form catch-up with Kaydi on the news section of our website.
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.
