Get Involved
If you would like to be notified about any or all of the initiatives from the neurodiversity project please register your details below.
If you would like to register interest to volunteer for any activities please let us know below! Note this list will grow as initiatives come along.
Needs analysis – students
This survey has closed. Thank you to all who participated.
Aims
- Identify barriers and enablers for neurodivergent students at the University of Melbourne
- Inform the resources we develop for staff and students
- Inform the development of our neurodivergent peer-peer mentoring program
- Inform professional development workshops for staff
- Bring awareness to the needs of neurodivergent students within the university
- Publish research to help inform best practice in creating neuroaffirming university experiences
Target participants
All neurodivergent students within the university of Melbourne
Workshops
As part of actioning the Framework for Educational Excellence, we are working with Pro Vice-Chancellor (Students and Education) to facilitate workshops supporting staff members at the University of Melbourne to create inclusive teaching and learning experiences that remove barriers for our neurodivergent students (and will most-likely support every student!).
Our pilot workshops are currently underway. Volunteer staff will work with neurodivergent students and our project team to co-adapt their curriculums (what we teach at the University of Melbourne) to better support the full participation and belonging of our neurodivergent students. Staff will be given the opportunity to nominate areas for constructive feedback in a safe environment and to reflect on how they can lead workshops in their own faculties.
Interest for our pilot workshops have closed for now. We are hoping to run more in the future.
Please check this space again for 2025 openings.
Celebrating Neurodiversity Research Symposium
Aim: to showcase research by neurodivergent researchers, and neuro-affirming research by allied researchers.
We are excited to invite all University of Melbourne students and staff to the first Celebrating Neurodiversity Research Symposium to be held at the Faculty of Education on Thursday 14th November and online. This is an exciting opportunity to learn about the innovative neurodiversity-affirming research happening at our institution, as well as a platform to hear from neurodivergent researchers sharing their work in a range of areas.
As a celebration of neurodiversity, this event will bring together our community to connect with each other and is designed to allow people to access the day in ways that work best for them. Alongside the presentations, we will have a number of optional activities and quiet spaces at the venue that attendees can access when/if they would like.
Register here
Community Stories — Featured Staff Profiles
Aim: To connect the community by featuring neurodivergent staff (both professional and academic) from across the University of Melbourne willing to share their experiences and successes on our website.
Our featured staff video interviews launched in May 2024 and Blog Post interviews in September 2024.
Learn more
Featured Research
Aim: to showcase the current, groundbreaking research at the University of Melbourne conducted by neurodivergent researchers (all topics accepted), as well as neuroaffirming research about neurodiversity by allied researchers.
Get involved in Neurodiversity-Affirming research at the university, please see the list of available opportunities here.
Social events
Audience: all neurodivergent staff and students. How these are run will depend on preferences expressed in the needs analysis.
Timeline: late 2024
Student – peer mentor program
Audience: neurodivergent students
Timeline: We aim to begin recruiting interested student mentors for a pilot program mid-late 2025, pending funding.
Needs analysis – staff
The staff needs analysis is closed. A huge thank you to everyone who participated! This was an amazing response and we look forward to sharing the results with you.
Overall, we had 388 completed responses, with 234 responses from people who identify as neurodivergent.
This data is currently being cleaned, so this number may differ from the final number included.
It is likely that there will be another survey next year if you wish to participate. Next year's survey will cover additional enablers and barriers for ND staff that we come across as we continue to work in this space, and will inform any future ND-project activities not included in this survey.
Aims
- Identify barriers and enablers for neurodivergent staff at the University of Melbourne
- Inform the resources we develop for staff
- Inform workshop content
- Bring awareness to the needs of neurodivergent staff within the university
- Publish research to help inform best practice in creating neuro-affirming work environments.
Timeline: The staff needs analysis is in-development.
Advisory Group
Advisory group applications are now closed for 2024, but there will be another opportunity to be on the advisory group in 2025.
For advisory group members: The scheduled meeting dates for 2024 will be on Wednesdays at 11am to 12.30pm on 24th April, 12th June,11th September, and 20th November.