ARCS is proud to announce the launch of the Celebrating Neurodiversity display at King’s College London, as part of Neurodiversity Celebration Week 2022.
Maggie Owolade and Michele Reilley, with Poppy and Zoë, at the Strand Campus, King’s College London
This is a new student-led display inspired by King’s pre-existing friezes ‘Meet the Professors’ and the ‘Wall of BAME’, and represent the value and dedication King’s ascribe to underrepresented groups at the university, and acknowledge the challenges they continue to face in the higher education landscape.
The stories in the display were collected by the KCL Neurodiversity & Mental Health Society, which launched in 2021 and is the first of any student society to be led by, and speak for, neurodivergent students at King’s.
As winners of the King’s Civic Challenge 2020/21 Award aligned to Education and Attainment, ARCS both sponsored and supported the Society with developing and producing the display and launch.
One in seven people are neurodivergent, but few people are openly so. It is not easy to be neurodivergent in academia.
However, the display reveals that progress and change is happening at King’s, in part due to the dedication and leadership of our neurodivergent members educating those around them.
Students, professors and lecturers from across the King’s community have shared their stories. These snapshots speak of passion and desperation; students speaking out to create change; and professors reclaiming and asserting the value of identities previously stereotyped as incongruent within academia.
Founder member of Neurodiversity and Mental Health Society, Poppy Ellis Logan, and fellow member, Zoë Grisedale-Sherry, said:
“We are grateful to the students and colleagues who have shared their stories in this step towards greater representation and celebration of neurodiversity across King’s. This is a project in its infancy – and we hope this display will grow and diversify.
We also hope the journeys and voices it represents demonstrate to the King’s community and beyond that this is a place where neurodivergent people can, and should, belong.
We also hope that other educational institutions and workplaces draw inspiration from this ground-breaking piece of work and follow suit."
The profiles in their display were written in the first or third person based on individual preferences, and edited by Poppy Ellis Logan. All other content in the display was written by Poppy Ellis Logan, edited by James Tortise-Crawford.
For more information, or to get involved with this project as a KCL student or member of staff, contact poppy.ellis_logan@kcl.ac.uk