I am so glad we found each other!

As you probably gather by now, this page is all about Neurodiversity inclusion.

Like so many other efforts within underrepresented communities, this idea was born out of necessity. So here is our story:

A couple of years back our eldest son reached his senior year and frankly, until that point, our focus was on getting him to finish high school but now we needed to figure out what his next step was going to be. His intellect and aptitude were two great things we had on our side, and college just made sense since his favorite thing in the world is absorbing knowledge.

Searching for the "Right" fit

To create a space where he felt free to explore without parental pressure, we immediately thought about having his aunt and uncle, both whom share similar interests in the STEM fields, talk with him. Luckily for us, not only did she talk with him to get a better understanding of his wants and general direction but she also gather school

options that would work for him.

We then, compared our wants, needs, and "nice to have", and applied to just over a handful of schools. Though we had a few added considerations, this part of the process was pretty close to what you would traditionally expect but between work demands and well, LIFE, having support during this process was not only priceless but also instrumental to setting the stage for independence.

We then, compared our wants, needs, and "nice to have", and applied to just over a handful of schools. Once he was accepted to his top 2 choices and selected a school, we tour the school, visited as often as we could and talked with as many people as possible, to help validate our choices.

Time to connect with DSS

At this point we felt confident in our ability to figure out logistics, create new structures, and given today's climate of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, surely the Academia world would be a place of inclusion, and off we would go into the sunset. Fast forward to not even three months into the accommodations request process, I found myself overwhelmed and questioning every decision leading to that point.

And so here we are...

Because fate rarely calls upon us at a moment of our choosing (pretty sure, I just quoted Optimus Prime), it also happened to coincide with one of the most demanding periods in my career. To this day I wonder, was it naivete, wishful thinking, or denial?

Whatever it was, I am choosing to believe it was the Universe's way to apply enough pressure for me to see the huge gap in support and inclusion that exist in this space.

The moment I saw it, I couldn't "unsee" it. How can it be that these individuals, who pushed through so many adversities to get this far are just met by more barriers. While in our case they happened within the educational system, add in the staggering rate of under and unemployment for college graduates in the spectrum and I just knew that doing for our son alone, would be contributing to the problem.

Our goal is simple, to create safe spaces where neurodiverse individuals transitioning into adulthood can thrive. For some it may be continuing education, for others may be pre-employment preparedness, regardless of what the next stage looks like, we want to help your unique talents dictate the possibilities.

I hope you enjoyed this post and look forward to having you join along as we continue to build this community. Till next time, J