What do the following people have in common? Albert Einstein, Bill Gates, James Dyson, Ingvar Kamprad (Founder of IKEA), Jamie Oliver, Jennifer Aniston, Jo Malone, Keira Knightly, Maggie Aderin-Pocock (Space Scientist), Orlando Bloom, Richard Branson (Billionaire), Salma Hayek, Steven Spielberg, Tommy Hilfiger, Victoria Beckham, Walt Disney and William Hewlett (co founder Hewlett -Packard) all have a specific learning disorder in reading (aka dyslexia).
And what about Ryan Gosling, Scott Kelly (astronaut), Emma Watson, Justin Bieber, Justin Timberlake, Simone Biles (Olympic gymnast), Will.i.am (Black Eyed Peas) and Zooey Deschanel (to name a few) have in common? ADHD.
And very few people in the world have not heard of either Greta Thunberg or Pokemon… well Greta and Satoshi Tajiri (Creator or Pokemon) both are autistic, but we know many more brilliant and creative people who have this type of brain – I bet you can think of at least one person who you have known in your life who may have contributed their special strength in some way. I know so so many.
And whilst this is definitely not an exhaustive list of the various types of neurodivergence, it is thought that around 20% of this country’s population have neurodivergent brains.
Neurodiversity Week is coming up beginning Monday 17th March and wow, how far we have come in our understanding of the diversity of the human brain. Neurodiversity week challenges stereotypes and misconceptions about what it means to be neurodivergent. We realise that in this world, diversity is what makes for greater understanding, more discoveries, better innovation and amazing creativity. It takes all of our different types of brains to contribute in order for progress to occur and creating a world where all different types of brains CAN contribute is the work we all have ahead of us. Use Neurodiversity week to raise awareness of the beauty of diversity and smash these negative stereotypes that can hold us all back. In the words of the amazing Maya Angelou:
#NeurodiversityCelebrationWeek2025
#CelebrateNeurodiversity
#InclusionMatters
#NeurodiversePride
#DiversityIsStrength