IVCC neurodiversity group promotes equity

Illinois Valley Community College’s newest diversity student organization is finding its voice.

The aptly named Minds of All Kinds is a group for whom neurodiversity is no mystery, and members who formed it last fall have been introducing the group and the concept behind it to classmates.

Now they’re deciding what’s next.

Through leadership on campus and community diversity and equity issues, Tina Hardy said she hopes the group will give members a place to be heard, but she also wants it to be a place to belong.

“It’s a place to be you and to tell others about you,” said Hardy, the coordinator of IVCC’s Center for Accessibility and Neurodiversity. “Students will have a chance to participate in events and activities they never felt they could before. They will see that they can make contributions and be an important part of a community that has respect for them and a place for them. And that’s a big deal.”

The term neurodiversity acknowledges that brains develop differently, including in some cases from medical disorders, learning disabilities or other conditions. It challenges labels that Hardy said leave people feeling “less than” or broken, who “get overlooked sometimes in conversations” about what will affect them.

Organizations similar to Minds of All Kinds have sprouted on college campuses to support an often underserved and underrepresented population, Hardy said.

She said the IVCC group’s formation now is right in a lot of ways: “the right students, the right time at the college, the right time in society.”

What can neurodiversity look like? Hardy cited a few examples.

“Some people struggle to communicate verbally or in writing but do advanced math beyond the scope of most of us,” she said. “Sometimes neurodiversity looks like that. Some people can’t pay attention to boring things but their brains are suited to making decisions, acting quickly and looking at details.

“Some people might be creative or artistic but struggle with math or reading or organizing their thoughts. Sometimes neurodiversity looks like that.”

Unlike some physical differences, neurodiversity isn’t always apparent. But differences created by dyslexia, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism, anxiety and other conditions still create or intensify challenges in anything from making friends or adapting to change to focusing or coping.

Strategies, accommodations or environmental adjustments can help.

“All brains are good brains and have a broad range of skills and abilities that can be valued and used,” Hardy said. “Expectations and environments might be the problem, not the brain or the person.”

Member Alexia Gross said she welcomes questions from classmates.

“It’s good for people to realize that people aren’t less intelligent or cop-outs if they struggle with certain things,” Gross said. “I used to feel dumb because of that.”

“We just think and process differently, but we’re still people,” member Laura Pool said. “It’s the way our brains work.”

Member Sonja Penney, no stranger to self-advocacy, wants to be an example of it to others. Her previous experience with a neurodiversity group, she told Hardy, proved to be a catalyst for the IVCC group.

She said she’s happy knowing neurodiverse students have “somewhere to belong if they want to, where they can find support in ways they need to do better in school.”

“And it’s important to me to know that faculty at the school I attend want to support students and actually create that support,” Penney said.

Neurodiverese students “want to be treated as equals and for our opinions to be recognized,” member Aaron Noble said.

He said he hopes neurodiverse and neurotypical people grow comfortable with each other and the concept.

“The group has given me hope that I can make a positive difference in the world,” Noble said. “I want to create events where we can talk about mental health and how to make it better for each of us.”

Meanwhile, members have found somewhere to belong. Noble said he found a best friend. And Gross said she can relax in the company of people who understand her challenges.

“I haven’t had a connection like this before. We look out for each other,” she said. “It’s just really nice to feel like you can say anything and not have to dumb it down to people who don’t understand. I feel like, where I live, neurodiversity doesn’t get talked about.”

The group’s members share their abilities on and off campus. They are successful students. One’s a business entrepreneur. Two are tutors. One enjoys research and has found a niche as a community activist.

“I can take concepts that I understand and explain them at a basic level to someone who is just getting introduced to the subject,” Noble said about being a tutor. “I know what worked to help me learn, and I can show others that process.”

“People with different abilities build resilience, and that’s a big skill not everyone has,” Penney said.

Member Raul Campos believes the group’s diversity is its strength.

“One person’s good at this, another at that, and another at another thing, so we come together and are good at different things, not just one,” Campos said.