The 95 Theses of Neurodiversity

By Christopher Whelan

In Consultation With Over 100 Neurodivergent Self-Advocates Across the Spectrums of Autism, Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity, Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, Dyscalculia, Tourette’s, and Other Divergences

Introduction

  1. The Neurodivergent people hold this truth to be evident through scientific rigours and sound reason: that in a natural state, evolution cannot occur in a linear pattern.  Evolution, in a natural state, sprawls into all possible directions that its environment allows.  
  1. The phenomenon of evolution has resulted in a world of people of diverse developmental characteristics; different heights, body shapes, genders, talents, personalities, abilities, and diversity of perception as environmental factors allow.  Neurodiversity is our word for this diversity of perception.

Preamble

  1. Neurodiversity is the spectrum of communication styles, learning styles, behaviour, cognition, development, and sensory perception that comes from the evolutionary diversity of the brain, and the eternal work of the genome to explore every possible way that it can grow.
  1. Through ages of social caste systems, feudalism, colonization, industrial capitalism, and most recently policies of eugenics, the human genome has been artificially nurtured into a certain profile of characteristics most suitable for extracting compulsory labour from.
  1. Our societies have been built to meet the needs of people with this now most-common relative profile of characteristics (which we have called “Neurotypicals”), to the exclusion of the needs of those who fall outside of this sphere of abilities (“Neurodivergents”).  We have called this the Social Model of Disability; that people are disabled by living in an environment not built to meet their needs, not because of a deficit within themselves.
  1. The Neurodivergent people now proclaim that the worth of a person is not their labour value, but their equal value as persons; that no person is worth less than another.
  1. In keeping with this proclamation, all Neurodivergent people are to enjoy the full rights outlined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: to Life, Liberty, and Security of the Person as outlined in Article 3 of the Declaration, and to not be deprived thereof except in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice.

Reconciliation

  1. The Neurodivergent people observe that a long history of institutional violence targeting our population in particular during the 20th century, including eugenics and post-eugenics policies of extermination, force-sterilization, detainment in psychiatric hospitals and institutions for the mentally ill, torture with and without implements, confinement without due process, segregation in society, and inequal applications of family law and criminal law, have impacted social perceptions of Neurodivergent people and contributed to cultural stigma in the 21st century.
  1. Cultural stigma of Neurodivergent people is perpetuated through segregated education systems, education systems that value student compliance to cultural norms and regulations over success in learning, biased media journalism, hate crime, and exclusion from participating in social events.
  1. Further, cultural stigma influences interpersonal actions of prejudice and discrimination, favouritism, distrust, disbelief, abuse, trauma, non-recognition of Neurodivergent achievements, exploitation of Neurodivergent people for the personal gain of Neurotypicals, and fractured relations between Neurodivergent communities and Neurotypical society.
  1. These deep-rooted perceptions have impacted the social ability of Neurodivergent people to access equal education and equal health care, to secure housing and employment, to be included and find connection in community spaces and social events, and to have a voice in the institutions that hold power in their life.
  1. To fully participate in society and afford equally the enjoyment of life experienced by Neurotypical people, accommodations are required to perpetuate the Love, Self-Determination, and Inclusion of Neurodivergent People.

Articles of Love

  1. All Neurodivergent people are as worthy of love, kindness, compassion, patience, honesty, transparency, admiration, and celebration as people with typical neurotypes.
  1. Neurodivergent people are to be believed, accommodated, and equally loved when they disclose neurodivergence, atypical behaviours, struggles with expected responsibilities, and/or necessary accommodations.
  1. At all times, Neurodivergent people are to be presumed to be competent at all tasks and responsibilities unless they disclose that they struggle with a task.
  1. The choice to live authentically and proud as a visible Neurodivergent person is to be acknowledged, accepted, and celebrated.
  1. “Stimming”, the act of playing with familiar and interesting touch, movement, sound, and visual stimulations, is a natural and necessary part of a Neurodivergent person’s daily life.  Stimming is to be acceptable in all spaces and to be encouraged as a celebration of Neurodiversity, particularly when a Neurodivergent person is in a state of peril as a coping mechanism for overstimulation or unfamiliarity.
  1. If a Neurodivergent person stimulates themselves in a way that causes bodily harm or infringes the physical, verbal, or sexual safety of people around them, they are to be diverted to a different stimulant.  Stimming, even harmful stimming, is to never be punished or reprimanded, but diverted to reduce harm.

Love in Shared Community

  1. Medical terminologies that have been used to classify people that fit atypical patterns of perception, communication styles, development, and cognition, such as Autism, Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, and Dyslexia, were aimed to be labels of shame and discrimination in our ableist societies.  In the current era, Neurodivergent people use medical labels to find and attract common community with people who perceive the world in similar ways, and who have similar experiences.
  1. Neurodivergent people are to be afforded space to develop their own independent societies within a community, both for wider Neurodivergence and for patterns of atypical neurotype (i.e. Autism, Dyslexia, etc.)
  1. The bylaws, regulations, and orders that govern a Neurodivergent-Lead Organization are to be written, passed, amended, or abolished only by Neurodivergent members of the society.
  1. Neurodivergent-Lead and Neurodivergent-Serving Organizations and communities are never to be segregated or develop exclusionary rules along the lines of functionality or ability to follow cultural norms.
  1. All stakeholding Neurodivergent-serving societies, clubs, charitable organizations, nonprofit organizations, and public services are to maintain a casual community space for the Neurodivergent population they serve, lead by members of the population, and without oversight from the Neurotypical leadership of the sponsor organization.

Love in Celebration of Neurodiversity

  1. The achievements of Neurodivergent people are to be acknowledged and celebrated both in general spaces and in spaces specifically for the achievements of Neurodivergent people.
  1. Discourse about a Neurodivergent person accomplishing goals must not include language of “overcoming” their neurodivergence, or “beating the odds” as this language lends itself to a worldview that Neurodivergent people are less likely to achieve what a Neurotypical person can do, and sours the efforts of the person being celebrated.
  1. The unique expressions, culture, contributions, and accomplishments of Neurodivergent people from intersectionally diverse backgrounds, particularly in regards to ethnicity, gender expression, religion, sexual orientation, and physical and mental disability, are to be especially recognized.

Love in Neurodivergent Childhood

  1. Neurodivergent children are to be at all times in the care of parents, guardians, or social services that ensure the survival, growth, and safety of the Neurodivergent child.
  1. Neurodivergent school-aged children are to have access to an equal education as a Neurotypical child of their age, presented in the child’s preferred learning style that achieves learning goals.  If the child’s preferred learning style is unknown, then a child is to be tested to find which styles achieve the most results.
  1. Neurodivergent school-aged children are to feel safe in their school at all times, and are to receive accommodations that maximize their self-determined feeling of safety.  They are to be taught by educators that make them feel safe and believe in the child’s success in school.
  1. Schools are to offer and organize peer support between Neurodivergent students and Neurodivergent professionals that pass a vulnerability background check, to serve as role models for students.
  1. Sensory rooms within schools, as accommodations for Neurodivergent students that need a break from the sensory overload of public schools, are highly encouraged but must be subject to school board regulatory bylaws about how the sensory rooms will be used, written with consultation from Neurodivergent students and adults.
  1. Rooms used for placing a Neurodivergent student in peril in solitary confinement, nominally in order to protect the bodies of staff and other students, are perpetuating the School-to-Prison Pipeline and are to be dismantled.

Love in Neurodivergent Relationships

  1. Unless the individual specifies otherwise as part of their neurodivergence, all Neurodivergent people are capable of having healthy romantic and sexual relationships, including partnership and marriage.  These relationships are to be observed, bound, and protected by the legal statuses enjoyed in Neurotypical partnerships.
  1. All Neurodivergent people are to be taught how to have fulfilling friendships and relationships, how to affirm a positive self-image, how to communicate needs to a friend or partner, how to resolve relationship conflict, how to observe and give sexual consent, how to identify abuse in a relationship, and what they can do and where they can go if they identify that they are in an abusive relationship.
  1. Neurodivergent people who are in or above the legal age of consent are capable of giving and withdrawing sexual consent in their preferred communication style, and a communication style for giving and withdrawing sexual consent is never to be deprived or disbelieved.
  1. No system of disability benefits is to ever deny financial or social supports to a married or partnered Neurodivergent couple, or a co-habitating Neurodivergent family, on the basis of dependence.

Articles of Self-Determination

  1. At all times, Neurodivergent people are to be assumed to know what is best for them
  1. At all times, Neurodivergent people are to be considered the experts on their own Neurodivergent conditions, experiences, and necessary accommodations.
  1. All stakeholding Neurodivergence societies, clubs, charitable organizations, nonprofit organizations, and public services must make the self-determination of the population they serve a primary organizational goal.

Self-Determination of Neurodivergent Identity

  1. Historically, the people who have received a formal diagnosis of an atypical neurotype have been male youth from White European backgrounds, when Neurodivergence can be found in all nations, cultures, and genders.  To this day, diagnosis has been unfairly distributed to Neurodivergent people based on ethnicity and gender and the discourse on Neurodivergence has been based on how such conditions present in White male youth
  1. In order for the Neurodivergent people to take control of their own narrative the medical institutions cannot be the authority on who is and who is not a Neurodivergent person.  Neurodivergence must be the self-identity of the individual; not handed from an authority figure within the medical or mental health system to the Neurodivergent person.  
  1. The individual knows when they have an atypical neurotype and can claim this identity at any time, at any age.

Self-Determination of Communication

  1. All Neurodivergent people, as all sentient beings, are able to communicate their needs and aspirations, even if that communication is not understood by others.
  1. All communication by Neurodivergent people, whether autonomous or facilitated through electronic aids, sign language, cards, pictures, writing, or other means, is equally valid to communication done in styles preferred by Neurotypical society.
  1. All nonverbal Neurodivergent communication is to be observed and believed as if the Neurodivergent person was verbalizing it.

Self-Determination of Housing

  1. A tenancy contract is to have no stipulations in regards to increased rent, increased deposit, or extraordinary house rules that would not be expected of, or applied to, a Neurotypical tenant.
  1. All Neurodivergent people are to have the final say in matters of where they live, who they live with, when they may come and leave, and house rules beyond what is listed in a typical tenancy contract.
  1. No system of disability benefits is to ever separate the housing of a married or partnered Neurodivergent couple with exception upon the couple’s request.

Self-Determination of Justice

  1. Law enforcement officers and agents of the criminal justice system are to be educated in the behaviours and expressions of Neurodivergent people and trained to look for these expressions, as they are often confused for suspicious behaviour or hostile intention by agents who are not Neurodiversity-informed.
  1. A Neurodivergent person must not be ordered to disclose neurodivergence in encounters with law enforcement, but to be believed when neurodivergence is disclosed.
  1. A legal adjudicator may not order a Neurodivergent person to attend a medical institution or mental health facility, or to be held in such an institution.  A Neurodivergent person convicted of a crime may be offered to attend a mental health treatment program as part of their sentence or as the full sentence, but must not be ordered to attend.
  1. A report, tip, or testimony in court of a Neurodivergent person must not be discarded or disbelieved on the basis of neurodivergence, particularly in the case of a report of a hate-motivated crime.

Self-Determination of Reproduction & Parenthood

  1. The reproductive health of a Neurodivergent person must never again be infringed by a legal court order or public policy to limit the reproduction of Neurodivergent people.  Health care interventions that impact reproductive health may only be undertaken by request of the Neurodivergent person or in the case of life-saving surgery if the person is unable to consent at the time.
  1. A health care or legal professional, health care or legal system, or government or agent of government, must not deter a Neurodivergent person from having children on the basis of Neurodivergence, or incentivize a Neurodivergent person to not have children.
  1. Neurodivergent people are to be considered equally qualified for surrogate parenting and donation of sperm/egg cells as a Neurotypical person under applicable health care regulations and governing laws.
  1. Neurodivergent people are to not have applications for foster parenting or guardianship denied on the basis of neurodivergence.
  1. A Neurodivergent parent is to never lose custody of their children on the basis of neurodivergence; a neurodivergent parent may only lose custody of their children on the basis of demonstrable emotional and/or physical harm to their children.
  1. If a neurodivergent parent struggles with parenting, but demonstrates desire to help their children be safe and healthy, they are to receive community and social supports that adequately aid in their management of the responsibilities of parenting.  A charge of parental neglect must only be laid on Neurodivergent parents that refuse to engage with presented community supports.

Self-Determination of Healthcare

  1. Neurodivergent people whose health goals are to live a healthy and actualized Neurodivergent lifestyle reserve the right to be provided health care by physicians, nurses, psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, counsellors, mental health workers,  and support workers that are Neurodiversity-informed and make it their mission to help achieve their client’s own choices in health care goals.
  1. A Neurodivergent person must be allowed to leave a medical facility at any time and not held in any institution against their will.
  1. Health care providers are to not push an agenda of cure, treatment, or therapy onto their client.  A health care provider may offer these things, but not set the goal of their Neurodivergent client.
  1. A health care system is to offer no incentive for cure, treatment, or therapy.

Self-Determination of Treatment, Therapy, and Cure

  1. The treatment of a Neurodivergent condition is a deeply personal decision which can be enacted only on the request of the Neurodivergent individual.  
  1. All Neurodivergent people have the right to refuse any treatment, therapy, medication, cure, or attempts at cure.
  1. Therapies to improve the lives of Neurodivergent people are to be delivered by accredited, licensed, and vetted professionals, and the license to deliver therapy is to be stripped from professionals found to be causing harm to Neurodivergents through their practice.
  1. Therapies whose goals are to convert a Neurodivergent person into presenting as a Neurotypical person are considered inhumane practices by the Neurodivergent community, and are to be defunded, protested against, and legislated out of legality.
  1. The advertisement of cures, promises of cure, therapies, treatments, and medications with the objective of converting Neurodivergent behaviour and expression into Neurotypical behaviour and expression must be illegal to reconcile relations between Neurodivergent communities and Neurotypical society.
  1. All stakeholding Neurodivergent-serving societies, clubs, charitable organizations, nonprofit organizations, and public services must not use donation money to fund research into cures, treatments, or therapies whose objective is to convert Neurodivergent behaviour and expression into Neurotypical behaviour and expression, and may not use donation money to fund government lobby actions to grant funding to research into cures, treatments, or therapies whose objective is to convert Neurodivergent behaviour and expression into Neurotypical behaviour and expression.
  1. The use of aversive therapy tools such as cattle prods, electric shocks, denial of sleep, denial of food and water, or other methods of torture are to never again be used in the therapy of a Neurodivergent person, and institutions found to be using these torture methods are to be penalized under the same laws that prevent such treatment of Neurotypical people.

Self-Determination of Scientific Research

  1. Research conducted on neurodivergence, neurodiversity, and neurodivergent conditions is to include the first-hand accounts of lived experiences of the Neurodivergent people involved in the research.
  1. Research on neurodivergence, neurodiversity, and neurodivergent conditions is to not be used for any purpose that the Neurodivergent research subjects have not contractually signed for.
  1. Data on Neurodivergent people may not be collected without written consent from the Neurodivergent person whose data is being collected.
  1. A guardian of a Neurodivergent child under the age of majority may not consent to the collection of data for research purposes on behalf of their child.  All contracts must be signed by the Neurodivergent person.
  1. Research contracts must be written in plain language if requested, able to be read by a person with a rudimentary knowledge of the language the research will be published in.

Inclusion in Education

  1. Neurodivergent school-aged children are to receive a mix of classroom time and special education time, to maximize inclusion with their peers while achieving progress in education.
  1. Neurotypical school-aged children, teachers, paraprofessionals and other staff interacting with the students are to receive education on neurodiversity, and in particular the conditions of neurodivergent people found within their staff and student body.  The education is to maximize inclusion with the goal of helping students to know the unique needs of their neurodivergent peers, make friends with them, and help them achieve their goals.
  1. Neurodivergent culture and history is to be taught both within special education courses and general classroom curriculum, as well as in post-secondary education courses.
  1. If an educator or staff member within a school witness the unfair treatment of a Neurodivergent person by their peers, they or another staff member are to meet with the Neurodivergent student and offer to help mediate the conflict.  The student is to accept or refuse the mediation, and a teaching about inclusion should follow in the case of mediation.

Inclusion in the Workplace

  1. Neurodivergent-identifying job applicants are to not be discriminated against in the selection process based on neurodivergence, and are to be considered for positions at all levels of a corporate or organizational ladder based on their experience, education, and references.
  1. Neurodivergent employees are to receive accessibility accommodations in the workplace that are required for the individual to be optimally productive and safe from incident.  
  1. Neurodivergent employees are to only be graded on job performance once their accessibility needs have been met.
  1. A Neurodivergent person is to receive at the very least the minimum wage for labour provided to a contracting employer, and is to receive the same wage for the same labour provided by a Neurotypical employee in the same job position.
  1. Promotions and incentives are to be equally accessible to Neurodivergent employees that go above and beyond their stated responsibilities to ensure the success of the workplace.
  1. Managers and supervisors of a Neurodivergent employee, or managers and supervisors who wish to make their workplaces more accessible to Neurodivergent people, are to take professional development courses provided by a Neurodivergent-Lead Organization or Neurodivergent-Serving Organization in order to learn leadership skills in managing and inspiring a Neurodiverse team of employees.

Inclusion in Society

  1. Neurodivergent people are to be consulted on any decisions made by the owners of a business, by the board of directors of a business or nonprofit organization, or by government officials to make a business, public space, or event more accessible to Neurodivergent people.
  1. Supermarkets are to provide sensory-friendly shopping hours during the day time, for a minimum of two hours every week, where a sensory-avoiding Neurodivergent person may most comfortably meet their basic need of acquiring food and necessities for housing.  The management of a supermarket instituting sensory-friendly shopping hours is to consult with a local Neurodivergent-Lead Organization, or a local Neurodivergent-Serving Organization if one cannot be located, to determine the best hours to serve a sensory-friendly shopping experience.

Inclusion in Public Policy

  1. Within 30 days of a municipal, provincial, state, or federal election, but not less than 7 days prior to election day, a toolkit for helping Neurodivergent people go through the steps of casting a ballot in the current election must be made free and available to take home from all elections office overseeing the election, and by all Neurodivergent-Lead and Neurodivergent-Serving Organizations within the borders of the election that serve a Neurodivergent adult population.  The toolkit is to list electors, the political parties that they represent, a brief overview of the platform of each represented party, the addresses of local voting stations, photo(s) of the building that is hosting the voting stations, directions to find the voting station leading from the front door of the building to the voting station, and what to bring to the voting station. In a direct democracy where ballots are also cast on specific bills, the elections toolkit will also list the bills being voted on and a brief overview of what the bill entails.  Elections toolkits must be written by elections offices under the jurisdiction of the government, by Neurodivergent-Lead Organizations, or by Neurodivergent-Serving Organizations.

Inclusion in Neurodivergent-Serving Organizations

  1. Neurodivergent people are to be present on the board of all Neurodivergent-Serving Organizations in order to lend the expertise of learned experience to the decision-making processes of the board and to serve as a role model of leadership to the Neurodivergent people served by the organization.  When a Neurodivergent-Serving Organization serves a population with a particular neurodivergent condition (Autism, Downs’ Syndrome, etc.), they are to have people with that particular neurodivergent condition on their board of directors.
  1. Neurodivergent-Serving Organizations are to list the members of their board of directors in a publicly available space and identify which directors claim an identity of neurodivergence.
  1. Neurodivergent board members of a Neurodivergent-Serving Organization are to be offered a chance to speak at all events where the President or a member of the Board of Directors has been offered an opportunity to speak, and at all events hosted by the Neurodivergent-Serving Organization.  Neurodivergent-Serving Organizations that serve a population with a particular neurodivergent condition must first offer this opportunity to board members with that particular condition.
  1. Neurodivergent-Serving Organizations are to handle and distribute flyers, posters, and marketing materials for local Neurodivergent-Lead Organizations and Neurodivergent-Lead community initiatives.

Inclusion in Stories About Us

  1. Journalism about neurodiversity, neurodivergence, neurodivergent conditions, and especially about people with neurodivergent conditions are to include present-day interviews with people with those lived experiences.
  1. When a news story, blog post, or promotional release from a Neurodivergent-Lead Organization or Neurodivergent-Serving Organization is written about a Neurodivergent person’s neurodivergence, the publisher is to interview the person they are reporting on, taking the person’s preferred communication as the medium of communication equally valid to a verbal interview.
  1. Media articles are not to be published about individual Neurodivergent people who have not yet learned a preferred medium of communication.
  1. School libraries, public libraries, and research libraries are to be stocked with books written by Neurodivergent people about their lived experiences, at all reading levels.

Terminology

Abuse: When somebody in a position of power over an individual uses their power to commit violence against the person.

Aversive: The act of applying a negative consequence to an action in order to incentivize a person to not take that action any more.

Caste System: A social system where people hold different rights and freedoms in society based on their race, gender, ethnicity, family background, religion, disabilities, sexual orientation, and other differences.

Co-habitating: Living together.

Colonization: The perpetual process of establishing control of a land and social control of the people living on that land.

Competent: Able to predictably perform a task

Disability: Unable to perform certain tasks, or unable to perform certain tasks predictably or without pain.

Discrimination: The act of treating a person differently than you would treat another person, due to their race, gender, ethnicity, family background, religion, disabilities, sexual orientation, and other differences.

Eugenics: A medical and social process where groups of people who are deemed by powerful people to be a burden on society are killed, imprisoned, sterilized, have their property seized, and are otherwise prevented from having children and continuing their communities.

Exterminate: To kill.

Evolution: The process by which life forms diverge and diversify from their ancestors.

Feudalism: A social system where one class of people live to serve the economic interests of people in a more privileged social class.

Force-Sterilization: To sterilize somebody against their will.

Functionality: A person’s abilities and/or disabilities.

Genome: The “package” of genetic material in a cell that determines the characteristics of living cells, and ultimately what the organism will be.

Incentive: Something offered to motivate or encourage a person to take a certain course of action.

Industrial Capitalism: A social system where industries are privately owned by people not representative of the government.

Institution: A powerful structure in society which determines social rules and norms.

Institutional Violence: When a powerful institution in society uses its power to conduct legal or illegal violence against a person or group of people.

Intersectionality: When a person holds more than one divergent identity, holding a unique intersectional culture and history, and facing a unique set of challenges to overcoming oppression (i.e. a Disabled Person of Colour, a Neurodivergent person with physical disabilities, etc.)

Labour: The paid or unpaid work a person does.

Neurodivergence: Having a set of characteristics in sensory perception, communication, development, cognition, behaviour, and learning style that diverges from what a society has considered to be typical.

Neurodivergent: 1. A person with characteristics of sensory perception, communication, development, cognition, behaviour, and learning style that diverges from what a society has considered to be typical.

Neurodivergent-Lead Organization: A for-profit or non-profit organization that delivers services to the Neurodivergent community or their families, and/or provides community education on neurodiversity, whose leadership is fully staffed by people claiming a status of Neurodivergence.

Neurodivergent-Serving Organization: A for-profit or non-profit organization that delivers services to the Neurodivergent community or their families, and/or provides community education on neurodiversity, whose leadership is wholly or in part staffed by people who do not claim a status of Neurodivergence.

Neurodiverse: 1. Having a wide array of neurotypes present in a community. 2. Claiming an identity of an atypical or divergent neurotype.

Neurodiversity: The diversity of the human genome in regards to brain development.

Neurotype: A person’s profile of sensory perception, communication, development, cognition, behaviour, and learning style.

Neurotypical: 1. A person perceived as having the most common neurotype.  2. What a society has considered the most normal of characteristics in sensory perception, communication, development, cognition, behaviour, and learning style.

Perpetual: Something that is continued

Perpetuated: To continue something

Prejudice: To have personally-informed negative views of a person or group of people.

Reconciliation: To move forward from a past of poor relations between groups to a future where groups work, build, and live together as equals.

School-to-Prison Pipeline: The social phenomenon where the conditions of an education system set up a person for a life in and out of the criminal justice system.

Segregate: To keep separate.

Sponsor: A hosting organization.

Self-Determination: The ability to determine your own course of action or how things in your life will be done.

Sterilization: A medical procedure that results in a person being unable to reproduce.

Stigma: Holding a culturally-informed negative view of a person or group of people.

Therapy: A regimen undertaken to lesson, or make less noticeable, the symptoms of a biological condition, often involving an interpersonal professional relationship with a mental health professional.

Trauma: When a person’s abilities and perception of the world have been changed by things that they have experienced, or things that they have seen or sensed. 

Treatment: A medical regimen undertaken to lessen, or make less noticeable, the symptoms of a biological condition.

Violence: Causing physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual harm to another person.




The following people have signed The 95 Theses of Neurodiversity and have committed to standing by its principles:

1. Christopher Whelan, Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada, Neurodivergent Self-Advocate.
2. Arlo Gladis, Fort Chipewyan, Alberta, Canada, Neurodivergent Self-Advocate
3. Tammy Ly, Brampton, Ontario, Canada, Neurodivergent Self-Advocate
4. Kelly Lapointe, Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada, Neurodivergent Self-Advocate and Caregiver to Neurodivergent Children
5. Karin Wilds, Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada, Neurodivergent Self-Advocate and Caregiver to Neurodivergent Children
6. Rishav Banerjee, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Neurodivergent Self-Advocate
7. Madeleine St. Pierre, Neurodivergent Self-Advocate
8. Sam, Nova Scotia, Canada, Neurodivergent Self-Advocate
9. Alex Kronstein, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada, Neurodivergent Self-Advocate
10. Oliver Anon, New York, Neurodivergent Self-Advocate