Option 1: Video Message

To contribute a short video message:

• What is your name, job title
• When and what did you study at UCD?
• Why is celebrating neurodiversity important to you?
• What career tips do you have for neurodivergent students?
• Why it is important as a UCD alumni who is neurodivergent  to be visible and raise awareness.

Suggested Prompts for Video Message

Options for recording a video message 

1. Record a video via (opens in a new window)Zoom
2. Record a video in landscape mode using a mobile phone.(opens in a new window)
   

Tips for recording 

• Before recording make sure you are centred on the screen
• Make sure you are recording in landscape mode
• Before recording, consider background and sound. Record the video in a quiet place that is well lit and with a plain background. Alternatively, you may wish to use a virtual background.
• Consider including the suggested prompts in your video message

Send your video to (opens in a new window)edi@ucd.ie

Option 2: Blog Post

• Entries should be 100-400 words
• A profile photo of the author (optional). Other photographs/images can be attached as long as people's faces are not visible, due to GDPR
• Entries will be published weekly on the EDI webpage, Neurodiversity Celebration Week webpage and shared on the UCD Culture & Engagement Staff e-zine and the (opens in a new window)EDI Twitter

Suggested Prompts for Blog (100-400 words max)

• What is your name, job title
• When and what did you study at UCD?
• An aspect of neurodiversity which you would like to highlight.
• What career tips do you have for neurodivergent students?
• Why it is important for UCD alumni who are neurodivergent  to be visible and raise awareness.
• Why is celebrating neurodiversity important to you?

Send your blog to (opens in a new window)edi@ucd.ie 

As an autistic consultant anaesthetist and founder of Autistic Doctors International (ADI), my aim is to promote understanding and acceptance of Neurodiversity in Medicine, for the benefit of our autistic and otherwise neurodivergent colleagues but also for the autistic community more widely. ADI is a peer support and advocacy organization for medical doctors who identify as autistic. We are also active in research and education. The group started in April 2019 with an initial 7 members and has grown to over 500 doctors worldwide, alongside an allied group, Autistic Med Students (AMS) which has many more. We know that medicine selects for autistic traits and recognizing the strengths that autistic people bring to our profession will benefit us all.

When I graduated from UCD in 1994, there was little known about autism, and certainly nothing about how it manifests in women. My college years and postgraduate training might have gone a lot more smoothly if I’d known, and so I want to improve the supports available to current and future medical students and doctors who identify as autistic. After graduating with an honours degree, and welcoming a newborn daughter that same year, I struggled to balance the demands of parenting and clinical training, so my natural inclination towards academia was put on hold. I’m thrilled to be stepping back into research and academia at this late stage of my career, and I’m currently undertaking a Master of Research which I am enjoying immensely. My research interests focus on two separate but related areas; firstly the experiences of autistic doctors and medical students, and secondly the healthcare experiences, access barriers and adverse outcomes for the autistic adult community. Tackling healthcare inequalities and removing access barriers are essential to ensure autistic adults can live long, healthy lives.

As a mother of two neurodivergent kids, I am conscious of how the traditional deficit focused approach to neurodevelopmental conditions can negatively impact mental health. The contrast between the pathology paradigm and the neurodiversity paradigm, and the consequent effects on self-esteem are clear to see in my own family and in the wider autistic community. I want to help drive the change towards a neurodiversity-affirmative approach to autism and to challenge the societal stigma and prejudice towards autistic people, so that autistic kids have the chance to grow up content and confident in their autistic identity. Recognising and celebrating neurodiversity will save autistic lives.

Dr Mary Doherty, Founder of Autistic Doctors International

Dr Mary Doherty MB BCh FCARCS

Founder of Autistic Doctors International (ADI)

Consultant Anaesthetist

Our Lady’s Hospital, Navan, Co Meath

Email: drmdoherty@gmail.com

ADI publications: (opens in a new window)https://linktr.ee/autisticdoctors

Where will my video or blog be published?

Your video/blog will be published on UCD’s Neurodiversity Celebration Week webpage and promoted via internal UCD channels and via UCD social media.

By agreeing to submit the above-mentioned video/blog, you acknowledge that the University may also display information alongside, i.e. the following limited personal identifiable information, such as your name and title or programme of study at UCD. If you require that any of this information is omitted from UCD media and publications, please inform (opens in a new window)edi@ucd.ie preferably at the same time that the content is submitted for publication.

Right to withdraw

If you wish to withdraw your video/blog, you can do so at any time by contacting (opens in a new window)edi@ucd.ie. You do not need to give us a reason for withdrawing. If you withdraw your video/blog, UCD will not use your photographic, audio, video and written submissions in any future publications. Your withdrawal of consent does not invalidate the use of your photographic, audio, video and written submissions during the period UCD had your valid consent.

Right of Erasure

You have the right to request that we erase/delete the video, audio, written testimonial or image you have sent from our files, from the UCD website and from the UCD EDI social media channels and, where possible to do so, we will implement this in a timely fashion. If your material has already been shared externally, you need to be aware that we have no retrospective control over those materials. Please contact (opens in a new window)edi@ucd.ie if you wish to have the video, audio, written testimonial or image you have sent from our files, from the UCD website and from the UCD EDI social media channels.

If you have any concerns about how UCD deals with your privacy rights you can contact the UCD Data Protection Officer by email: (opens in a new window)gdpr@ucd.ie