Collaboration is the Cornerstone of Our Work and Mission
Villages Overcoming Intersections: the Collaborative Empowerment (V.O.I.C.E)
Trajectories of untreated neurodiversity in young, under-privileged adults and teenagers, are indicative of chronic, unhealthy lifestyle patterns that often lead to secondary diagnoses and negative outcomes. Intercepting the school to prison pipeline for neurodiverse students/young adults via realistic prevention and effective intervention can yield a return on investment and sustained value added in addressing this public health crisis. Exploration of contributing factors for prevalence of neurodiverse conditions particularly in BIPOC communities reveal a narrative entailing historic systemic inequalities that has set the stage for persistent adverse experiences in marginalized persons’ ecological system, virtually at every level. Further, while genetic expression of stress and trauma occurring during brain development increases one’s susceptibility to neurodiversity as well as physical ailments, much is unknown about the long-term and generational impact, affecting the overall society in stagnating numbers. When additional consideration is given to environmental and contextual factors that create intersections and further compound the experience of individuals, the critical need to better understand this phenomena and intersect it with timely effective measures cannot be ignored or delayed any longer. Too many children unsuccessfully navigate untreated neurodiversity across various critical developmental stages. They oftentimes reach adulthood with significant executive dysfunction undermining their efforts at sustainably managing their emotions, maintaining relationships, and consistent productivity in their occupational or academic capacity. For this population, extensive negative outcomes tend to chronically unfold, resulting in lower socioeconomic status, unhealthy and at-risk coping, compromised/impaired/impulsive decision-making, increased probability for involvement in accidents and overall shorter life expectancy. A proposed way forward is intentioned upon collaborative, public health research that dually creates sustaining infrastructure to mitigate access to care disparities while promoting cultural humility and cultural consciousness in diagnosis and treatment. To that end, our work with other organizations and institutions is comprehensive and entails training, educational messaging, aligning resources, and building a supportive community for families and individuals impacted by neurodiversity.
The ADHD and Neurodiversity Collaborative
...Is a collective effort of V.O.I.C.E for Neurodiversity and The Society for ADHD to create a village and sense of community for people living with neurodiversity who encounter obstacles connecting with essential support. We are working together to connect individuals and families with access to effective information, resources, care, and interventions. Our collective efforts also entail raising public awareness, and encouraging advocacy, and promoting/supporting national policy changes that enhance and sustain access to care.
We're creating a vibrant and active online membership platform that allows individuals to join a community that offers education, awareness, resources and research focused on diverse, neurodiverse communities. Members can: learn about ADHD and neurodivergent conditions and the co-occurring conditions that often accompany them; take classes to enhance executive functioning and lifestyle choices; participate in community events both online and in person; have access to an online library of resources; participate in meditation and a variety of faith-based wellness practices; attend live webinars and have access to recordings; learn about grassroot advocacy; and join virtual support groups. The ADHD and Neurodiversity Collaborative platform also allows us to work with organizational collaborators and partners to offer classes, workshops and culturally conscious professional development to educators, mental health professionals, parents and teens.
meet our board members