Neurodiversity Awareness Week
Neurodiversity Week 2022 (21 – 27 March) focused on challenging stereotypes and misconceptions about neurological differences. At Loughborough High School, every girl had the opportunity to celebrate thinking differently and decorated umbrellas with their strengths. These will be displayed in the Quad over the summer term.
We caught up with Mrs Lucy Travis, Head of Learning Support at LHS, to hear how her role is helping current students:
“Broadly speaking, girls, more typically than boys, can mask their difficulties and there can be a desire to fit in with peers and not be ‘different’. My role, along with other staff, is to help girls understand and learn strategies to overcome the things that they find difficult. I am an advocate for these girls and ensure teachers are making reasonable adjustments to ensure they are not at a disadvantage. I’m so passionate about my role as I believe everyone needs a champion, especially a student who is going through the diagnosis process as this can be challenging and unsettling for them. Raising awareness and celebrating differences through events such as Neurodiversity Week enables girls to have open dialogue with teachers, parents and their peers about their difficulties and receive better support because of it.”
“For a few years now, we have had a Learning Support Prefect who supports in raising awareness of events and Learning Support at LHS. It’s fantastic to have these ambassadors for younger girls to look up to in the school.”
“In the future, I am keen to reconnect with alumnae who are neurodivergent as their stories can show girls what they can also achieve. There can be a reluctance to share a diagnosis with peers and I hope to dispel any perceived stigma to this by celebrating achievements and making it a more spoken about topic.”
Thank you to our alumni who have shared their stories and experience with Lucy
"Having been diagnosed as dyslexic in Year 2 at Fairfield I have learnt to develop with my educational differences. I am now a final year medical student at Cardiff University, being in the top 5% gaining merits. I’ve always used my ‘quirks’ to find out what I am good at. Sport remains my stress reliever, having rowed internationally for Wales and now currently training for the London Marathon which I have elite entry for"
"I didn’t receive much external support for my dyslexia whilst I was at school because I wasn’t failing so I probably flew under the radar. Given that the teachers were so good anyway, it certainly gave me an advantage to other dyslexic people who didn’t attend our school. It only takes one or two teachers to help to change the path you go down – for me, Ms Boon and Mrs Young were able to help me greatly, and I achieved stronger grades because of it."