And I'm going to introduce our next person, which is Ben. Thank you.

Yes. Thank you so much.

It's an honor to be here. I'm gonna share my screen real quick. Here we go. Thank you, Ben, for joining us today. I'm going to say bye to you, and we are so excited about seeing your presentation.

Thank you so much. Yes. Thank you. Hello, everyone. It's an honor to be here. I first wanna extend a huge thank you to ADHD Australia and ADHD UK for hosting and setting up this incredible and important event. So today, I'll be talking about neurodiversity one zero one. I'll be delving into universal design for learning as well as talking about a strengths based approach to learning, and then I'll end on, a section on executive functioning. So my name is Ben Vanhook. I'm an autistic and ADHD master's student at George Mason University. I'm currently studying public policy with an emphasis in education policy.

And I currently work at the Organization for Autism Research, which is an organization dedicated to funding applied research studies to better support the autistic community. I'm also a fierce disability advocate in the education and employment spaces, having spoken at the United Nations and at several colleges in The United States from Stanford University to John Hopkins University. So I first wanna ask, did you know these artists were neurodivergent? Many influential figures from different backgrounds, including songwriters, actors, poets, sculptors, and painters are neurodivergent or are suspected to have been neurodivergent from Carrie Underwood to Cher. In addition to those on screen, a few other neurodivergent.

Or suspected neurodivergence include Emma Watson, Tim Burton, Lewis Carroll, Michael Angelo, John Denver, and Emily Dickinson. So before we begin, I wanna take some time to define some terms that I'll be using throughout the presentation. To start out with, neurodiversity is a term coined by Australian sociologist Judy Singer, and it refers to all the ways in which our human minds differ. Just like there's biodiversity, there is neurodiversity. Within this neurodiversity umbrella, there's neurodivergent individuals and neurotypical individuals. Neurotypical individuals refers to people whose minds think in a way society deems as normal, whereas neurodivergent individuals think in ways in which society perceives as being outside the norm.

And this could include ADHD, autism, dyslexia, dyspraxia, dyscalculia, etcetera. In order to support neurodivergent individuals, it's important to promote neuro affirming and neuro inclusive practices. And these are practices that seek to recognize and appreciate neurodivergent individuals for who they are. These practices see neurodivergence for their strengths and see them as people who don't need to be fixed or cured, but rather understood, accepted, and appreciated. These practices also seek to dismantle barriers present in today's society that hurts the ability of neurodivergent people from fulfilling their true potential. So neurodivergent individuals are also more likely to have a variety of co occurring disorders.

Including anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideations at rates much higher than that of the neurotypical population. Research from Medscape, in fact, found that autistic females had an eighty three percent increase for suicide than non autistic females. And research from the National Institute of Health found that autistic people had four times higher rates of depression than non autistics. And there are quite a few reasons behind this. Some societal factors that have led to such co occurring conditions include masking and trauma. Masking occurs when disabled people attempt to hide their disability in an attempt to seem neurotypical.

Many disabled people, including myself, mask so we don't get fired at work or so we don't get sent to the principal's office. Another reason people might mask might be to avoid bullying and harassment from coworkers or peers. Masking can be extremely harmful and has been associated with many detrimental effects on an individual's mental health and well-being. And it's been associated with an increased risk of depression, anxiety, burnout, and suicide. A 2021 study titled masking is life experiences of masking in autistic and non autistic individuals found that masking is associated with identity disassociation, sensory suppression, and suicidal ideation. Another societal factor that can lead to co occurring disorders is trauma.

Many disabled people encounter trauma in their day to day lives, including but not limited to friendlessness, abandonment, bullying, harassment, invalidation, and rejection from their friends and family. This trauma can lead to fear, anxiety, and depression amongst other disorders. Oftentimes, disabled people sometimes mask too well and are invalidated or disbelieved when they disclose that they're truly disabled. Those around them might say, well, you don't look disabled, or ask a disabled person to prove their disability as if a circus animal, which can lead to detrimental effects on one's mental health or well-being. Lastly, there could be unconscious biases that could affect how neurodivergent people are perceived, believed, treated.

This could stem from pop culture. This could stem from movies, from TV shows, or maybe it could even stem from stories from a friend's fifth cousin's nephew's daughter's best friend's grandparents who just so happened to have ADHD. And these stereotypes can be very harmful and lead to unconscious biases creeping into one's perception of disability and neurodiversity. There are three types of ADHD. The first is hyperactive impulsive, and this is characterized by restlessness, difficulty sitting still, frequent interruptions, and difficulties in turn taking. The second is ADHD inattentive, which can be characterized by difficulties focusing, disorganization, and challenges in time management. And the third is ADHD combined.

Which is the most common type of ADHD, and it includes both hyperactive and inattentive characteristics. Many neurodivergent also experience sensory sensitivities and heightened sensory awareness. I often tell people that we're the first to know that a fire is brewing because we can often smell or feel a fire before anyone else does. I personally experience sensitivities in my day to day life with hearing and smell. I live in an apartment outside of Washington DC, which naturally has a lot of noise, from screeching tires of cars to shouting and parting from adjacent apartment buildings to police sirens going off at 2AM each morning.

Many times, I end up subconsciously fidgeting or squeezing anything in my hand or shaking my leg uncontrollably to help me navigate through these, sensory stressors. I also have a fidget toy that I use to help navigate through these difficult moments sometimes. Now it makes sense to kind of delve into the two main models of disability. One of them is is the medical model. And the medical model is more deficits based and focuses on curing disability. It sees the person as a problem needing to be treated. The other model is a social model of disability, and it focuses on understanding, accepting, and appreciating disability.

Rather than seeing the person as a problem, it views society as a problem in attempts to eliminate or reduce societal barriers, structural barriers, or institutional barriers preventing disabled people from reaching their full potential. To give a few examples of these models in action, let's say someone's class is on the top story of a building, and that person is in a wheelchair. That person cannot easily access the class. Someone who supports the medical model of disability might suggest that person takes painkillers so they can walk up the stairs, thus seeking to eliminate or cure the disability. Someone who subscribes to the social model of disability, however, would suggest that person.

Would suggest that, like, that person take the class through Zoom, that the teacher makes a class available online, or that the school implements ramps or elevators so that person can easily get to the class. To give another example, let's say someone is deaf or hard of hearing and they're in a Zoom conference and they're not able to hear the speaker. Someone who supports the medical model would tell the person to get hearing aids to help them hear better, whereas someone who supports the social model of disability was just using closed captioning or subtitles to accommodate the deaf person. I wanna end this section and begin the next one with a quote from Jacqueline and Houting, who's an autistic psychologist, researcher, and activist.

And her quote really illustrates the need to focus on neuro inclusivity and neuro affirmation. Part of her quote is a disabled person a person is disabled not by their impairment, but by the failure of their environment to accommodate their needs. And this is a perfect segue into the next section, which is about universal design for learning. And on screen, you can see a visual representation of the physiology and how universal design works. So the universal design for learning can be beneficial for everyone, but especially to those who are neurodivergent. The purpose of universal design is to provide for the most accommodating and flexible environment from the outset.

It's the framework that illustrates the need to support and tailor instruction towards all neurotypes and all types of learners, not just one. Auditory learners might struggle if the only way of learning is through watching videos or tutorials. Kinesthetic learners might struggle if the only way of learning is through watching someone write on a blackboard and talk for a hundred eighty minutes. There are many reasons universal design is important. The first is that it greatly reduces or eliminates the need of students to disclose private and sensitive information because the environment would have already been very accommodating to begin with. This can greatly benefit people who were misdiagnosed, don't feel comfortable disclosing.

Or don't have the means or knowledge to seek out a diagnosis quite yet. The second reason is that it places accessibility and accommodations at the forefront, like seeking to provide a variety of accommodations to learners and employees from the outset. Thirdly, it's sensitive to individual students' needs as it focuses more on equity rather than equality. It sees every individual as different, having individual needs and individual strengths. And the fourth reason is that it increases self advocacy and offers an opportunity for self exploration as it helps students truly understand what they need as opposed to what they were told or thought they needed. So on screen, you can see a few other benefits of universal design.

On the next slide, you'll see a visual representation of the three branches of universal design. The first is multiple means of engagement. And, basically, this means it's important to have multiple ways to engage and connect students to the material. If a child isn't interested in a subject, it's critical to find a way to connect that subject to their interests. A failure to do so could hurt the ability of that student to learn the concept altogether. For example, if you're teaching maths or science and the student doesn't like maths or science, but they like baseball.

Finding a way to connect maths to baseball can help them develop an understanding of the concept and maybe even grow an affinity towards that concept because you're tailoring it towards their interests. The second branch is multiple means of representation. And what this branch means is that it's important to have a multitude of ways in presenting the information because everyone learns differently. To fulfill this branch, you could perhaps incorporate a variety of different ways students can learn within your class. So this could include having PowerPoint presentations. This can include having videos, having guest lectures, or guest speakers come in. This could also include having group discussions about the concepts and the readings.

The third branch is multiple means of action and expression. And this branch means it's important to have multiple ways to demonstrate one's knowledge of the concepts. So just as not everyone learns the same way, not everyone can express their knowledge in the same way. Not everyone is good at test taking. So in order to how you can incorporate multiple means of action and expression is through having a variety of ways in which students can demonstrate their knowledge for the material. And this can include allowing students opportunity to present their work through poetry, through drawings, through writing, through music, through group discussions, essays, presentations, and so on. And just it's really important to.

Be flexible in how you evaluate learning because everyone expresses their knowledge for the concepts in a different manner. Unfortunately, many schools have not implemented this style of learning quite yet, and many classes still remain inaccessible to certain types of learners. One of my economics classes, for example, my master's program was antithesis of universal design. This class only had three assignments, a midterm, a final, and a term paper. In addition, the only way that professor taught was through standing at the blackboard, talking for a hundred eighty minutes straight, And as a kinesthetic learner who learns best by doing, that class was very auditory based, and it just was very inaccessible for me.

I ended up doing very poorly, and I just found the class very overwhelming. Oftentimes, I felt like it was information overload, and I spent more time rushing to type up all my notes than I did actually learning the content. I ended up failing both the midterm and the final. However, I did do somewhat well in the term paper. But throughout the class, I just felt incompetent. I felt incapable, and I was very close to dropping out. Universal design can also be implemented in the workplace, and it's important to implement it within the workplace. When I was starting out at the organization for autism research, I felt lost almost instantly. This was my first ever full time position.

And I began to feel incompetent and incapable within three months of the job. This in large part was due to the inaccessibilities with the trainings. The only way I was trained was through having read over 30 overwhelming 10 plus page documents about my position. I felt very confused and very anxious whilst going through the trainings as I just didn't learn that way. So rather than, like, teaching me in a way that was accessible to me, which was, like, showing me how the task was done and then going through the task myself under supervision, giving on the spot feedback, they made me read all of these documents out of context, which made the trainings really difficult.

Unfortunately, my organization didn't really have the capacity at the time to train me in the way I needed, so I struggled for a good two to three months. There was one task in particular that still traumatizes me to this day, but it was managing our online store. And that task really tripped me up due to the complexity and multitude of steps on the documents. And we actually went through the entire month of April, which was autism acceptance month, without having sent out a single resource to our members because I couldn't figure out how to complete the task. It eventually got to the point where my supervisor sat me aside and went through the task with me one on one, gave me the supervision I needed, and I understood the task instantly.

It was like a light bulb went off in my head. I knew exactly what I had to do, when I had to do it, why I had to do it. And we went through two practice sessions together, me and my supervisor, and I made no mistakes whatsoever when she taught me in a way that was accessible to me. Implementing universal design through having multiple means of representation or having multiple ways of presenting the information is crucial when it comes to training and onboarding. Universal design can be implemented through other means as well, including providing meeting agendas ahead of time, using closed captioning and subtitles on different videos.

Allowing the use of accommodations to help with sensory issues like headphones and earplugs and fidget toys. So there's a multitude of ways in which organizations can implement universal design. I wanna begin this next section by giving you an exercise. So on screen, I have four statements, which I'll go over one at a time. But I want you to try to figure out which statements are truth and which statements are myths. So the first statement is accommodations are expensive to provide. Is this a truth or a myth? So this is a myth. The majority of accommodations are actually free. According to the job accommodations network, 59% of accommodations are free, and 39% incur a onetime cost of under $500. The second statement is accommodations.

Help everyone. Is this a truth or a myth? So this statement is actually true. Accommodations have been found to help both neurodivergent and neurotypical employees. One of the reasons universal design is so important is because everyone of all neurotypes benefit from accommodations and will have accommodations they need from the outset to succeed and thrive. The third statement is accommodation requests mostly come from disabled individuals. Is this a truth or a myth? So this statement is actually false. Research from the University of British Columbia has found that 95 of accommodation requests come from nondisabled people. I was actually surprised learning that myself, but, apparently.

More nondisabled people request accommodations than disabled people. And the fourth statement is accommodations give disabled people an unfair advantage. Is this a truth or a myth? So this is a myth. Accommodations level the playing field and provide the bare minimum supports needed to fulfill our role. Due to the stigma surrounding accommodations and disclosure, many disabled people only use or ask for accommodations as a last resort once they've exhausted all other options. It's usually not the first thing disabled people turn to. Usually, they try to fulfill the task without accommodations before resorting to requesting them. So without further ado, let's get into some of these accommodations. The first type of accommodation listing.

Could be environmental accommodations, and these accommodations can help meet people's sensory needs. These can include adjusted lightings, fidgets, and headphones. On screen, you can actually see my own workspace, and you could see all the fidgets laid out on my desk. My favorite fidget toy out of all of these are is probably the popsicle puppet. There are also technological accommodations, and these accommodations can support people when it comes to technology or computer related tasks. On screen, we have text to speech devices. We have closed captioning on conference calls, having subtitles and videos, and having alt text on photos. And alt text is basically.

An image description describing what's being portrayed in the image for people who are blind or are hard of seeing. The last, group of accommodations I wanna go over are communication accommodations. And these accommodations can support people when it comes to technology or other, or when it comes to, like, how people process information and how people interpret different pieces of information. So as you can see, some of these accommodations, some you might notice a pattern. You might recognize that most of these accommodations are actually free to implement. Allowing a person to bring a fidget into work, allowing them to bring a headset into work, allowing them.

The opportunity to have closed captioning, to have image descriptions, allowing them subtitles and videos are all free to implement. And each of these accommodations are extremely beneficial to both neurotypical and neurodivergent learners. So it's cost effective, and it provides great results. It helps neurodivergent and neurotypical employees perform at full capacity to have these accommodations. So in wrapping up, universal design, I want to just leave you with three points. The first being universal design provides for the most accommodating environment from the outset. Universal design has three branches, the multiple means of engagement, representation, action, and expression. And thirdly, most accommodations are free. So now I wanna.

Delve briefly into an alternative or perhaps a complement to universal design, and that's a strengths based approach to learning. So what is a strengths based approach? A strengths based approach is an approach that focuses on an employer's strength whilst acknowledging some potential for growth. Nobody will be good at everything they do, and this framework recognizes this and is based around the idea that everyone has strengths, capabilities, and talents. And this approach is about making these talents the main focus of employment. Rather than incorporating and having the more common jack of all trades approach, this approach recognizes not everyone can do everything and instead focuses mainly on nurturing the strengths of the employees.

An organization is also likely to have employees that come from a diverse range of backgrounds or have a diverse range of skill sets. And the purpose of a strengths based approach is to play into each of these employees' strengths and create the best outcome for the organization in the process. If someone's good at writing, peep the someone who subscribes to this approach would let them write. If someone's good at presenting, they would let them present. And if someone's good at research, you would let them research. One thing that a strengths based approach one thing one other thing I wanna talk about, like, when it comes to strengths based approach is that it doesn't ignore potential growth areas or areas of weakness. Instead, it.

Focuses mainly on the strengths, and the strengths are used to overshadow those weaknesses. Usually, when I present about a strengths of this approach, I like using the example of a movie. So how can we produce or make a great movie? Well, you can make a great movie by letting the writers write. You let the drawers draw. You let the singers sing. You let the actors in the movie act. You let the producers produce, the costume designers design the costumes, and you let the editors edit. You don't, as a filmmaker, put a singer sorry. You don't, as a producer, make put a singer in charge of, like, writing the script. And you also don't have the script writer act in the actual film, or else the movie might not be as well received.

So if we wanna work as an organization to the best of our abilities to fulfill our potential and produce the best product, we must work to each other's individual strengths. A writer must write must work to their writing strengths. We must have the producers produce. We must have the musicians play music, and we must have the presenters present. If we want to if there is a vacancy and we wanna fill it, we should most likely find someone who has those individual talents who can fill the gap rather than having an already existing employee who doesn't have those strengths, try to learn those strengths and make it a strength. My organization currently uses a strengths based approach with me, and it's helped.

Since I came into my new position. In my old role, there was already a preset list of tasks I was required to do, and some of these tasks weren't really aligned with my strengths. For example, I had to learn how to use Excel sheet. I also had to learn how to resize images in Canva. And both of these tasks, I found really uncomfortable, and I just wasn't really good at doing even with the video tutorials. There was also a period in which I was under the supervision of someone who was very stringent on the rules. I had to do everything his way. And if I didn't, even if it benefited me when it came to processing, I would get a stern lecture, or I would be told, you're doing this all wrong.

So rather than helping me, these lectures gave me increased anxiety, and they just made my day really stressful. But when this person retired, I was assigned a new supervisor, and things dramatically changed. She let me know from the outset that all of my ideas would be welcomed and considered. And as we got to know each other more, she began learning that I was a really good writer, and she began giving me more and more writing tasks, which I began to thrive in. That year, I actually wrote one proposal for my organization to attend and speak at a conference, which actually got accepted. And I also had the opportunity or was given the opportunity to write for three different newsletters at my organization. And.

Since being given these tasks, I've just began to thrive within my role. A strengths based approach also helped me grow in self confidence and self esteem. I went from someone who was actively searching for another job due to feeling incompetent to someone who knew that I could contribute something to the organization. I went from someone who dreaded going to work each day to someone who was actively excited to go into work each day. And in my supervisor using a strengths based approach, I felt valued as a human being, and I felt valued as an employee. There are several benefits in using a strengths based approach. The first of sorry. So there are several benefits in using a strengths based approach. Firstly, it has.

Been found to increase productivity. It's also been found to increase self confidence and self esteem. Lastly, it's meant to build up it helps people build upon existing strengths. So people might find other strengths that are related, but not exactly the same and can help out with different tasks that are related to these similar but different strengths within the workplace. The last section I really wanna go into is how to promote independence and strengthen executive functioning. So as we go into this last section, the first thing I wanna talk about is the impact of an educator. An educator can be extremely influential to a neurodivergent student's learning experience, and there may be the difference between someone graduating.

And someone dropping out. A study from RAND found that teachers matter more to student achievement than any aspect of schooling. Before I talked about my experience in economics and the professor who wasn't as neuro affirming, and as a result, I almost dropped out of grad school. But in the very same term, I had another teacher who was the complete opposite. She was someone who was very neuro inclusive, and she was someone who was very universal design friendly. She was someone who, every single day, asked us how we were doing before class start. She went around the room asking all 24 of us students how we were doing and trying to connect with us through our common interests, through our different interests.

And through our bonded interest in education policy because that was her class. This helped us connect with her better as she saw us as human and we saw her as human, and it helped us make friends within the classroom. I actually became good friends, for example, with someone who was on the board of the Virginia Montessori Association, and I'm actually attending their conference in a few weeks in October. The teaching style was also very extremely flexible. She offered many opportunities for us students to learn. She made clear from the outset that she was not going to lecture more than twenty minutes per class, and instead, it was up to us as students to guide our own learning.

Which we usually chose to do through deep group discussions on the readings or having mini group projects. She also had multiple different assignments in which we could demonstrate our knowledge for the content. She gave us presentations to give to the class. We also had group discussions, policy briefs. We had to write guest lectures, guest speakers come in. So we had a multitude of ways we could learn and present our knowledge of the content. And as a result, I ended up getting a 95% in that class because of the accessibility and because I felt a sense of community and trust in the teacher. Rather than acting like the expert, my teacher empowered me as a student to be my own expert and guide my own learning.

And this kind of brings me into self determination. And self determination can be defined as an individual's ability to control their own life and make their own decisions. When I talk about self determination, I like using a metaphor. So imagine a boat or ship. Soft determination would be neurotypicals and allies kind of stepping aside and serving as a road map or a guide for neurodivergence whilst allowing the neurodivergent individual themselves to steer the ship. Soft determination could be the neurotypical laying out the pros and cons or explaining the impact of certain decisions, but ultimately allowing the neurodivergent to take the wheel and make their own decision. Allowing for self determination is important because it encourages.

Self discovery of the neurodivergent individual, and it allows them to make their own decisions. This can foster and lead to the development of many critical independence and socio emotional skills, including self confidence, decision making, and boundary setting. The teacher I just talked about, who was very UDL friendly, allowed us as students to guide our own learning. She empowered us and allowed us to foster a sense of self determination. So teachers who can foster a sense of self determination can really support the neurodivergent student when it comes to developing important critical life skills. Executive functioning is the group can be defined as the group of cognitive skills that help individuals manage activities, goals.

Stay organized, and effectively plans future events. And executive functioning skills are important as they encompass all areas and aspects of our lives, and they're transferable across different contexts and different situations. Some of these skills can include remaining organized with tasks and responsibilities, problem solving, managing one's emotions, and setting priorities. There are a few ways in which neurodivergence are impacted by executive functioning. Firstly, time management can be very tricky. This presentation was very hard for me to create because I knew I had to keep it under forty five minutes. I would have gone on and on had I not had a time limit. I've also been in many other situations in which I feel underestimate.

I underestimated like the time I had. You've probably told your students or your children a thousand times, don't procrastinate. Don't procrastinate. Don't procrastinate. And if they're anything like me, they heard you. They laughed it off. They forgot about the assignment or the task, and they spent the rest of the evening playing video games. It was my freshman year of college, and it was in my history since 1945 class. It was the first day of class, which was syllabus day. To me, syllabus day meant a free day of class with no learning whatsoever. We would basically introduce ourselves, go over the syllabus, and if we were lucky, we would leave early. So we got to class. We went over the schedule.

And we were told quite clearly by the professor that we had a midterm paper due in September and to keep tabs on the assignment as, according to the professor, and I quote, in the past, many students have forgotten about this assignment and have had a hard time catching up. So can you guess what happened? It was late September, and I finally checked the syllabus and found out that my midterm paper was due in three days. I realized that not only had I not written the paper, but I was also 250 pages behind in the readings. Needless to say, I spent the next three days in the library skipping meals just to catch up on the readings. By the end of two of those three days, can you guess how many pages I read? I read 60. 60 pages out of 250.

So what did I do? I basically gave up on the reading and decided to just start writing the essay without knowing what I was talking about. Can you guess how many pages I got done? I got done six pages by the time the essay was due. Well, one of the pages was the cover page, and one of the pages was the work cited page. So I actually got four pages done. Needless to say, I got a low score on the assignment in part because I was just expected to know how to manage my time and advocate for myself. I also have challenges with organization of my thoughts. When I'm asked to write a paper or an essay, I oftentimes have hundreds of thoughts floating around in my head. And as a result, I never know where to begin. Even if I create an outline.

I don't know which ideas to put in the outline and which to leave out. There have been times when I hadn't been able to finish an essay, not out of laziness, but rather because I've been so overwhelmed with all the ideas I have, and I just don't know which ones to prioritize or which ones are the most relevant. So on screen now, you can see a LinkedIn post I created, and this is an email to my professor explaining how my ADHD impacts my ability to organize my ideas. And I'll read it aloud for those who might not be able to read it. So it says, dear professor, I hope you're doing well. This is Ben Vanhook from your 11AM on Tuesday and Thursday. I'm writing I'm reaching out to provide you an explanation as to why I turned my paper in late.

I turned my assignment in late not because I was lazy, unmotivated, unproductive, or incompetent nor because I didn't study or was clueless of the material. In reality, the exact opposite is true. My mind was filled with too many good ideas and pathways as to where to take the assignment, and I couldn't begin to comprehend where I should start. In doing my research, I became even more curious as to the subject matter, leading me down rabbit hole after rabbit hole, filling my mind with hundreds of ideas in which I struggled to fit in a 10 page paper. I quickly became overwhelmed with existential dread, and I began to shut down whilst trying to figure out which of the many ideas to include in my paper.

I tried creating an outline, but just couldn't decide which ideas to eliminate. I tried using the writing center, but left feeling even more confused and with a lot more self doubt. I was wondering if I can meet with you during office hours in which we could plan effective strategies for breaking down and prioritizing my ideas. Kindly, Ben's ADHD. So I wanted to use this example because I think it's a useful example, not just, highlighting the challenges that we might encounter in prioritization and organization, but also because it's a great example of how self advocacy and reaching out for help can manifest within the classroom.

It's also a good example of how I didn't use my ADHD as an excuse, but rather as an explanation as to why writing an essay was a little bit difficult this time around. So on screen, you could see a few supports that individuals with ADHD could use to, support their time management skills, to support their organization skills. I myself benefit from lists and calendars, having a calendar, having different events lined up so I know what's going on at what time, and so I can understand how much energy I'm putting into each event is really important to me. So here are just a few examples of systems people can use to support their executive functioning. There we go. So lastly.

I wanna go over the benefits of using executive functioning strategies for neurodivergent individuals. The first benefit in executive functioning strategies is independence. Many of the strategies and tools laid out in the previous slide can help foster independence and a sense of self advocacy within the student. Teaching someone how to use a calendar, for example, can help one recognize not only what they have going on throughout the day, but also help them understand the amount of spoons, the amount of energy each of these tasks take so they know for the future. Secondly, it can create a positive self image by helping them gain the self confidence they need to advocate for themselves and, support themselves.

And their executive functioning. Lastly, it can create an increased productivity. Many of these executives' functioning strategies and tools can lead to this increased productivity through decreased stress and increased communication and time management. So I want to thank you all for being an amazing audience. Below is my contact information, and I'm also on LinkedIn under my name, Ben Vanhook, if you wanna connect there. Once again, a huge thanks to ADHD Australia and ADHD UK for hosting this incredible event, and thank you all for attending.

Oh, wow. Thank you, Ben. Oh my I have learned so much from you. I really have enjoyed the way that you've structured your presentation. Now let me just well, let's get let's bring this down. I know, Ben, you've answered a lot of my questions, but I have one for you, if I may, just to really round out all of your experience that you shared, your personal story. It's just so brilliant. And I hope this doesn't put you too much on the spot. But what is I've got it's it's a two bad question. What makes you the happiest about your ADHD, and what and what and what makes you the saddest? And if you could start with sad first, happy last, so we can end on a high note, I'd really appreciate that.

I think the most difficult part about ADHD could be my could be, like, impulse control. And sometimes especially when it comes to friendships, and I might send a message. And if I don't hear, like, a response within, like, one hour, two hours, three hours, I get, like, really anxious. I get really nervous because I'm like, what's going on? Did I offend this person? Did I say something that may have, like, upset someone? So I think just that constant anxiety, if I don't hear back, like, within a few hours of sending a message to someone I really care about could be one of the most difficult parts. But one of the best parts about my ADHD is probably my ability to, like, create thousands of different ideas at once.

It might be hard organizing them, but I just have so many ideas on the back burner in case, like, plan a doesn't work out. I have, like, plan b, plan c, plan d all the way to plan zed, and it's just, like, there's never, a lack of creativity.

How wonderful. And I think just within that, you've almost answered this next piece because I I because you've covered so much with such great insight. If there would be one piece that you could distill for our audience across the globe, what what would be a one piece of advice in terms of a a strategy that you've used with a as a fail safe? What what would be the one thing that you could give to our audience today?

I would be the one of the best accommodations I have found throughout my time as, like, an audiotchy person is communication and conversation. Starting the conversation, bringing neurotypicals and neurodivergent together in the same room to learn from each other without judgment and to really seek to understand each other. So I think understanding acceptance and appreciation are the best accommodations a neurodivergent can have.

So wonderful. And so as you probably heard as well earlier, you know, there's a couple of talking points that each of our guests and also to The UK have spoken through in and around trailblazing and a com, equity and growth mindset. And I think accommodations is just wonderful because it's, you know, it's it's not excessive. You know? There there's there's no real huge gap between present and future in terms of making small and incremental accommodations. It's not a big ask. So I thank you, Ben, very, very much. I hope that we can do more together and I hope that, yeah, we we get to hear more of you and and your brilliant work as you progress.

So thank you very much, Ben. Thank you so much, and thank you again for hosting this incredible event.