Edinburgh International Conference Centre (EICC) has announced it will host a global conference focused on neurodiversity next spring.
It Takes All Kinds Of Minds (ITAKOM), taking place in-person and virtually from 13-14 March, will reveal how better to understand and celebrate people’s differences and provide effective support where needed.
ITAKOM will profile the work of more than 50 speakers from around the world including experts on neurodiversity in the workplace, neuroscientists, clinicians and comedians, among them Edinburgh’s impressionist Rory Bremner, a neurodiversity advocate.
The event will be organised by Scotland charity, Salvesen Mindroom Centre. The charity’s CEO, Alan Thornburrow, said: “With 15-20% of the global population estimated to be neurodivergent, it has never been more important for us to understand more about neurodiversity and how we can design better and more inclusive systems.
“By partnering with Mindroom and championing neuroinclusion in the workplace, delegates can demonstrate their commitment as an organisation that is genuinely seeking to make progress. Not only do we see neurodiversity in the workplace population, but equally with parents and carers of neurodivergent young people. By supporting employees, employers can make a tangible and positive impact to staff and their families.”
He argues that “diversity of thought needs to become much more central to business strategy – in the same way, that issues like gender equality and mental health have become integrated over the last decade. Embracing neurodiversity is key to that”.
Event agenda
The event will have various workplace sessions, including:
1) Creative careers – Lotta Borg Skoglund, associate professor of psychiatry at Uppsala University, Sweden on ‘ADHD in the Workplace’ and Charlotte Garnett, anti-anxiety jewellery designer on ‘Handling It’, her own experience as an entrepreneur.
2) Neurodiversity and the law – Mandy Lawrie, head of employment division at Burness Paull LLP.
3) Diversity in neurodiversity – Dr Nick Walker, professor of psychology at California Institute of Integral Studies, USA, on the parallels between the neurodiversity movement and other rights-based social justice movements.
4) ADHD and me – Rory Bremner on how ADHD has shaped his life and work.
5) Employer Panel – chaired by Mindroom with panellists from the organisation’s Neuroinclusion at Work programme who will share their journey around approaches to neurodiversity in the workplace.
