Neurodiversity Celebration Week Enters a New Partnership with Lexxic!
Siena Castellon, Nicola James and Aidan Healy have some exciting news that we would like to share with you!
Let’s start with Siena...
What is Neurodiversity Celebration Week?
“I founded Neurodiversity Celebration Week in 2018 because I wanted to change the way learning differences are perceived. As a teenager who is autistic and has ADHD, dyslexia, and dyspraxia, my experience has been that people often focus on the challenges of neurological diversity. I wanted to change the narrative and create a balanced view which focuses equally on our talents and strengths.
The campaign has now grown to nearly 2,000 schools signed up representing over 1.2 million students worldwide. This is also complimented by more than 60 universities and 300 workplaces.
Why are you deciding to partner with Lexxic?
2021 represented a personal milestone for me in that I moved to the United States and started studying at Stanford University. Sadly, this means I have less time to devote to my advocacy work. For the last four years, I have run the campaign entirely on my own and self-funded it with a part-time job.
Since I am now focusing on my studies and have less time to dedicate to the campaign, there was a risk that Neurodiversity Celebration Week could suffer. For the longevity and sustainability of the campaign, I wanted to find a like-minded team I could partner with and delegate work to.
After considering several different options, Lexxic met the criteria of my vision and values for the campaign. They’ve been established nearly 15 years, are neurodiversity-led and have the resources to bring my ideas to life. As part of our partnership, Lexxic are maintaining my creative freedom to implement my vision, providing me with a sustainable platform and empowering me with the resources of a team of people who share my passion.
What will be your role in the campaign?
I will remain involved in the campaign’s governance, strategy, key partnerships, and creative direction.
My role in the campaign will be Founder, with Aidan Healy, Lexxic’s CEO, joining me as a Campaign Director.
Aidan will be helping me to coordinate the day-to-day activities with the support of Lexxic’s wider team, who will also be working on lots of other campaign projects.
What’s planned for the 2022 campaign?
With eight weeks to go to the 2022 campaign, we have limited time to make change since starting our partnership. We will be making some updates and changes to the website and materials.
Since the start of 2022, Lexxic have already helped me create a new logo, secure the domain neurodiversityweek.com and planned some exciting free events which we hope to announce closer to the campaign dates.
What’s your long term plan for Neurodiversity Celebration Week?
After the 2022 campaign, we then have 12 months of planning for the 2023 campaign. And for those who know us, we have lots of big ideas!
I also plan to build a sustainable structure and entity, under a new Community Interest Company or Foundation, to ensure that Neurodiversity Celebration Week has a long-term future.
We want everyone to feel they can take part and Neurodiversity Celebration Week captures the different voices we have in our community. This campaign transcends me as one individual or Lexxic as one organisation.
We want to find a balance of providing the campaign with resources while ensuring that the campaign retains its authenticity and passion.
My partnership with Lexxic is for three years and will be reviewed after the 2024 campaign.
Nicola James, Founder of Lexxic & Chartered Psychologist
Why did Lexxic decide to partner with Neurodiversity Celebration Week?
It’s not easy having dyslexia. You feel you have to work incredibly hard, but I kept on going even when I wanted to give up over and over again, when that book would just not register in my mind and I had read the line what felt like ten times.
I am a believer in the quote “Helping one person might not change the world, but it could change the world for one person”. Real impact can take months and years and often our work of making the world a more inclusive place means making it inclusive for a few people at a time.
But every now and then, I really do believe there are those who can start a ripple effect with the potential to impact millions of lives. If you think one person can’t change the world, you would do well to look at Siena’s story. As a dyslexic individual, I’m continually inspired by how she’s engaged schools, universities, businesses, and the many voices in our community in a unique way that hasn’t been done before.
I wish there was a ‘Neurodiversity Celebration Week’ when I was growing up. We are incredibly excited that Siena approached us to partner with her. And the trust she has placed in our team for empowering, taking care of and protecting the legacy of the campaign she founded.
We also wanted to make a statement with our commitment, a minimum of three years, to show that this is a long-term project for us. It’s time to bring the conversation about neurodiversity to the forefront!
Aidan Healy, Lexxic CEO
What does this partnership mean to you?
As Lexxic celebrates 15 years in 2022, we have grown from one person to a team of over sixty. I am blessed to be leading a team with neurodiversity represented at all levels, who are successful because of our differences, not despite them!
We will be empowering Siena with everything the campaign needs to run successfully. This means administrative support, IT, finance, social media, website design, etc. We’re covering all the costs of the campaign and dedicating our paid staff time.
It also means creating new partnerships with others who are passionate and driven around changing the narrative.
For the next eight weeks, our focus will be on the 2022 campaign. We’re fully committed to getting this right and we know how passionate our community are.
After the 2022 campaign, we will be creating structures to hear your voices and to listen to your feedback. And to ensure everyone, be they an individual, team or organisation, gets a chance to participate.
About Us:
Neurodiversity Celebration Week
Neurodiversity Celebration Week is a worldwide initiative that challenges stereotypes and misconceptions about neurological differences. Founded by Siena Castellon in 2018, currently nearly 2,000 schools and 1.2 million students will be taking part in the 2022 campaign. In addition, over 60 universities and 300 workplaces have signed up to the campaign. The 2022 Neurodiversity Celebration Week campaign will be on March 21–27, 2022.
Lexxic
Lexxic is a psychological consultancy specialising in neurodiversity. We believe in a world where all minds belong, so it’s our mission to inspire a world that empowers and values neurodiversity. With a team of over 60 people, Lexxic partners with organisations, universities and schools to make a positive difference. We help create neuroinclusive cultures, provide training and psychological services to neurodiverse individuals.
Contact Details:
For General Queries please contact our team: hello@neurodiversityweek.com
Campaign Director – Aidan Healy – aidan@neurodiversityweek.com
Founder - Siena Castellon: siena@neurodiversityweek.com