{"id":6599,"date":"2024-03-28T04:06:00","date_gmt":"2024-03-28T04:06:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/fortstreet\/?post_type=article&p=6599"},"modified":"2024-03-28T04:06:00","modified_gmt":"2024-03-28T04:06:00","slug":"sofie-andersens-speech-about-neurodiversity-presented-at-our-assembly","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/fortstreet\/article\/sofie-andersens-speech-about-neurodiversity-presented-at-our-assembly\/","title":{"rendered":"Sofie Andersen’s Speech about Neurodiversity presented at our assembly"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hi everyone. I hope you\u2019re doing okay today in this chaotic world. I\u2019d like to begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which we meet today, the Gadigal and Wangal people, who have a rich connection to Country, and a culture of storytelling that celebrates diversity. Today I\u2019m going to be talking about neurodiversity and my experience as an autistic ADHDer in our Western culture, but I would also like to acknowledge the different lens on neurodiversity that First Nations peoples in Australia have maintained for millennia; one of inclusion that doesn\u2019t require labels in order to support and accept neurodivergent people.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I would also like to recognise the significant advantage I have in this world as a white cis person living in a wealthy area of Australia at this incredible school. There are so many things that I am thankful for in my life and many barriers that I do not face, and I think that intersectionality is really important to acknowledge when talking about all forms of diversity and discrimination. I can only speak to my unique neurodivergent experience, so please keep listening to all perspectives.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Next week is the Fort\u2019s inaugural Neurodiversity Week. The Diversity Committee has organised loads of fun events including hands-on fidget and zine-making activities in the SSO Room, optional student-led seminars at lunchtimes, and our Sensory Activism day on Wednesday, when you are all invited to wear sunglasses as a way of showing solidarity with everyone who uses sensory accommodations. We will also be collecting money for Yellow Ladybugs, an organisation that advocates for autism awareness in girls, women, and gender diverse people – who are systemically underdiagnosed and face unique stigma. Keep an eye out for activities next week to get involved in making our school environment feel safe and inclusive for everyone.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Today I\u2019d like to kick off our celebrations of neurodiversity, and talk about my experience as a high-achieving ADHD and autistic girl who doesn\u2019t fit all the culturally ingrained stereotypes which are all that many people know about neurodiversity.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But first, let me slow down. Until a year and a half or so ago I knew basically nothing about neurodiversity. And maybe you don\u2019t either.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Neurodiversity is an umbrella term that describes differences in the way people\u2019s brains are wired, without implying that there\u2019s one \u2018correct\u2019 way for your brain to work. These differences include, among others, ADHD, autism, OCD, dyslexia, dyspraxia, dyscalculia and Tourette\u2019s syndrome. Today I\u2019ll just be talking about conditions that I experience, but there\u2019s always so much more to educate yourself about on neurodiversity. It\u2019s seriously interesting, not to mention important for you to know about in order for you to be a safe and understanding person for your neurodivergent friends to be around – coz, trust me, they are there! You can be part of a shift in culture towards awareness and acceptance of neurodiversity by learning from neurodivergent people. Too often others speak for us.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So, in this vein of self-activism, autism is a neurodevelopmental difference (experienced by an estimated 1 in 100 people) that comprises: differences in social interaction and communication; sensory processing differences; and medically-labelled \u201crestrictive and repetitive behaviours\u201d. I could write an entire essay about my (vegan) beef with the ambiguous and unhelpfully deficit-focused nature of that definition – and I actually have – but I\u2019m sure you\u2019ll all hate me if I talk that long. I prefer thinking of autism as an antenna that means we constantly process massive amounts of sensory, social, and cognitive information – which leads to a different way of interacting with the world. Allistic people (people who aren\u2019t autistic) will often rightly notice these differences, but stigma means that autistic people are often teased or bullied for them.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Dictionary definitions of conditions as multidimensional and diverse as autism are inevitably pretty vague, so I\u2019m going to unpack some of the categories of an autistic experience.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

You might notice that I\u2019m wearing earplugs right now or you might have seen me around the school wearing noise cancelling headphones or sunglasses (or both at once). That\u2019s because I\u2019m hypERsensitive (really sensitive) to sound and light, so lots of this sensory input is really painful and distressing and can cause me to become completely overwhelmed. I\u2019m also hypOsensitive (undersensitive) to physical pressure and interoception. Quick background: there are WAY more than five senses – neurologists generally agree on at least 9, but some have put the number as high as 53. And autistic people\u2019s senses are often geared wildly up or down from the norm – so we can find input in some senses extremely overwhelming, and be almost oblivious to others. So because of my hyposensitivity to physical pressure, I often feel like I\u2019m floating, so a weighted blanket is really soothing. I\u2019m also hyposensitive to interoception, so I find it hard to tell whether I\u2019m hungry or not, or if I need to take a break when I\u2019m studying or doing homework. Other autistic people have completely different sensory profiles, and they can really profoundly impact how we interact with the world.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Although I totally reject the use of the word \u2018restricted\u2019, with its connotations of inadequacy and deficiency, I do want to address this category of the autistic experience that really needs to be formally renamed. Routines and schedules provide a needed sense of surety for many autistic people, and it can be really distressing when this plan is altered; I\u2019ve had panic attacks because of last-minute changes to a plan. However, the prevalence of ADHD amongst the autistic community (with current scientific literature showing that between 50 and 70 % of autistic people also have ADHD) complicates things. Schedules can also feel oppressive – I so often will make a beautiful plan that I\u2019d love to follow, and then proceed to completely ignore it. It\u2019s a tricky balance!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Another manifestation of repetition in autistic people is what\u2019s known as \u2018stimming\u2019 – short for self-stimulatory behaviour – which literally everyone does, just not to the same extent. Clicking a pen at the back of the class? Or bouncing your leg in assembly? That\u2019s stimming. Autistic people do this as a way to self-regulate; our nervous systems are often out of balance, and these sensory inputs can be centering. It\u2019s different to Tourettes in that we <\/span>can <\/b>control it, but that\u2019s really unpleasant to do, and besides, stimming is a <\/span>good <\/b>thing! We do it when we\u2019re really happy about something, or to self-regulate when things are overwhelming. You don\u2019t need to worry about it unless we\u2019re hurting ourselves or others. Some examples of stims I do include: hand flapping when Nick and Charlie finally kiss on Heartstopper, humming a melody to myself, twirling my hair in conversation, rocking in my chair when people are too loud, and tapping my shoes together at home to help me focus. There are so many more, and I kinda want to list them all because (if you hadn\u2019t already gotten that idea) I\u2019m really interested in neurodiversity and the autistic experience. It\u2019s called a special interest, and most autistic people have them. It\u2019s the thing that makes you light up and that you could talk about or do for hours. I literally spent 4 hours straight writing this speech during prelims while I was supposed to be studying for an exam the next day. I\u2019m also rather fond of the German language – and I don\u2019t let something as small as their lack of comprehension stop me from talking to my family, friends, and dog in German. If you\u2019ve seen my year 12 jacket you might know that I\u2019m also a bit of a choir nerd – although senior school and the incorrigible exhaustibility of my energy supply have made me downsize, I was at one point in 4 choirs whilst taking singing lessons, I sang in a professional opera at the Opera House last year, and I take every solo opportunity I can get. And I can hyperfocus for ages on these things without getting bored.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Greta Thunberg is autistic and an inspirationally focused and informed advocate for climate justice. Francis Bourgeois is autistic and adores trains, publishing train-spotting videos that seriously cannot fail to make you smile. Grace Tame is autistic and such a powerful activist for survivors of sexual assault. We need autistic people, and so-called \u2018restricted\u2019 behaviours aren\u2019t a bad thing.<\/span><\/p>\n

Another manifestation of autism is social differences. These can manifest in many ways, both internally and externally. Some autistic people are non-speaking or otherwise communicate very differently to the allistic norm. Others do something known as masking, which is difficult to explain and different for each person, but involves adapting your behaviours to \u2018fit in\u2019 with others and social norms, including suppressing stims, ignoring sensory distress, making eye contact (which for some autistic people is painful), and hyper-analysing people\u2019s reactions in order to respond appropriately. Masking can cause extreme anxiety, and, in undiagnosed people, it can progress to the extent that people feel like they don\u2019t know who they are because they have morphed their identity so much just to be \u2018normal.\u2019 But it\u2019s not supposed to be like that! Autistic joy is a thing too! Unmasking can be a long, difficult, and vulnerable process of embracing who you truly are, but it\u2019s worth it. When you feel confident in and are aware of yourself and your needs, when you have the support you need, when you have the time to process what makes you you, things can be awesome! The much, much better alternative to masking is accommodation and acceptance, which is something that allistic (non-autistic) people can impact. And therapy. That\u2019s also helpful.<\/span><\/p>\n

Diagnosis is so key to being able to accommodate and understand our autistic selves in a largely inaccessible society, but, as I mentioned, stigma and lack of awareness mean that autism is chronically underdiagnosed, especially in high-achievers and girls.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So if you feel like you connect with some of the things I\u2019ve talked about, maybe look into autism more. Or even if you don\u2019t resonate with what I\u2019ve talked about and don\u2019t think you\u2019re autistic, educate yourself to be an ally! If we all increase our awareness of neurodiversity, we create an environment in which it is safe to explore your identity and be yourself.<\/span><\/p>\n

While you\u2019re learning, be aware that, sadly, it can be quite confronting to look up information about autism online, because we live in a deficit-focused paradigm that pathologises autistic traits, so please look for content made by autistic people. The hashtag \u2018ActuallyAutistic\u2019 is great for this.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As an incredibly multifaceted condition, autism is inseparable from my identity, which is why I – and many other people in the autistic community – refer to myself as an autistic person (using identity-first language) rather than a person with autism (using person-first language), but all autistic people will have their own preferences. It\u2019s really important in dialogue about neurodiversity to understand that no two autistic people are the same – we all experience the world completely differently, so when I talk about my autistic experience, I\u2019m talking about MY autistic experience, not anyone else\u2019s.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So now that we\u2019ve covered what autism is, I thought I\u2019d dispel some myths and clarify what it isn\u2019t.<\/span><\/p>\n

The formal name for autism is \u201cAutism Spectrum Disorder,\u201d and there\u2019s more than one misconception that comes along with this \u2018spectrum\u2019 description.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Firstly, no we are not all \u2018somewhere on the spectrum.\u2019 It\u2019s the autistic spectrum, so, unless you\u2019re autistic, you\u2019re not on the spectrum.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Secondly, the spectrum is not linear. It\u2019s more like a colour wheel: you don\u2019t rate colours on how red they are. You can\u2019t plot them linearly from \u2018most red\u2019 to \u2018least red.\u2019 They\u2019re just different colours. Similarly, autistic people don\u2019t exist on a linear scale from \u2018high\u2019 to \u2018low\u2019 functioning. This construct has no neuroscientific basis, and was actually originated by psychologist Hans Asperger for the purposes of Nazi eugenics. It reduces autistic people to their perceived value in our capitalist society, and misrepresents \u2018functioning\u2019 as a static quality, when it changes on a daily basis and over our lifetime. Yet functioning labels remain widely accepted and used today, even by medical professionals. Please don\u2019t use them – talk about the traits that you\u2019re actually trying to describe, just like you would for any other person.<\/span><\/p>\n

I would hope that everyone in this room is across this next myth, but – just to be clear – no, vaccines don\u2019t cause autism. I\u2019ve been autistic since I was born, because autism is a genetic condition, and I had no vaccines before I was born, because you can\u2019t do that\u2026 so the logic there doesn\u2019t even make sense.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The next misconception is much more mainstream than simple conspiracy: there are entire organisations and therapies established with the goal of curing autism. You can\u2019t fix autism, and that should never be a goal. I\u2019m not broken – I\u2019m just different, and that\u2019s okay. That\u2019s how I\u2019m supposed to be. Great minds don\u2019t think alike – how would we get anywhere stuck in one way of thinking? People will have different views on this than me, but I think that focusing on \u2018fixing\u2019 behaviours labelled problematic in neurodivergent people makes no sense – I think that the challenges autistics face would be fixed if we stopped focusing on the behaviour, and instead looked at the underlying need; if we decided to cure society of its inaccessibility rather than smothering autistic people who dare to be who they are.<\/span><\/p>\n

I know that, however much I want to, I can\u2019t defeat ableism in one speech, but maybe I can be one of many voices adding to the polyphony of your mind. Thank you for giving me your time and listening to me talk at you. I really really really appreciate it, as my neurotype is such a big part of my identity, so I feel like you all now understand me a bit better. If you want to engage more with neurodiversity, please get involved next week, or feel free to come find and talk to me. My friends – and the length of this speech – will vouch for the fact that I am more than enthusiastic to talk about this.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I hope that you feel your feet on the earth today. Thank you.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi everyone. I hope you\u2019re doing okay today in this chaotic world. I\u2019d like to begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which we meet today, the Gadigal and Wangal people, who have a rich connection to Country, and a culture of storytelling that celebrates diversity. Today I\u2019m going to be talking […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","class_list":["post-6599","article","type-article","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/fortstreet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/6599","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/fortstreet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/fortstreet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/article"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/fortstreet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6599"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/fortstreet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6599"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}