Researchers And Students on Neurodiversity (ReASoN) was established in 2021 as one of several “special interest research groups” funded by Emerging Minds, a research network focussing on supporting young people’s mental health.
Our aim was to establish a national network in the UK of people who are neurodiverse, have a neurodevelopmental diagnosis like Autism or ADHD, and charities and academics (researchers, teachers and scientists) who are interested in neurodiversity and neurodevelopment.
We are aware that the terms “neurodiversity” and “neurodivergent” can have very specific meanings for some groups. We are using the term in a broad and inclusive manner to mean anyone who has a clinical or medical diagnosis of a neurodevelopmental disorder, or people without a diagnosis but who self-identify as autistic or ADHD or as being somewhere else on the neurodiverse spectrum. We chose this term because it captures our values: we believe everyone should be equally listened to and respected regardless of their spot on the neurodiversity spectrum. People without neurodevelopmental conditions who are interested in this group might be considered “neurotypical” in comparison.
The focus of the network is on experiences of students and staff in higher education, specifically understanding how universities can or do support neurodiverse students with their studies and their mental health. In 2021 we ran several focus groups looking at the research priorities and support priorities of neurodivergent students in higher education. Read more about these in the ‘Focus Group’ section of the website, and find the results from these in the ‘Resources’ section.
The main ongoing activities for the network in 2022 are our monthly meetings.
To see what we have coming up and summaries of our previous meetings, please go to the ‘Monthly Meetings’ tab of the website.
A note on making monthly meetings accessible and inclusive:
We want to make these meetings accessible to all, so if you are not comfortable with verbal communication, there will be opportunities to type, draw or use gestures to interact with others. If you want to let us know in advance how you prefer to interact in meetings, that may be useful to help us plan ahead, but it is not obligatory.