Neurodiversity Celebration Week

🌟 Celebrating Neurodiversity with Chapters4Change 🌟

We at Chapters4Change are excitedly anticipating Neurodiversity Celebration Week (March 16–20). This worldwide initiative challenges stereotypes and misconceptions about neurological differences, highlighting the skills, talents, and unique perspectives of neurodivergent individuals while promoting inclusive, equitable communities.

Over the past year, through our collaboration with DSBN’s Mental Health and Indigenous Education teams, we have offered three iterations of the All the Little Monsters literature circle, designed to support mental health awareness, celebrate diversity, and explore intersectionality in learning communities. We are currently completing our third and final literature circle for the year, equipping participants with transformative tools and connections they can carry forward in their personal and professional lives.

A highlight of this series was DSBN's Indigenous Education team arranging for author David Robertson to come speak with our literature circle group! David shared his lived experiences with anxiety and depression with raw honesty, offering hope, connection, and understanding to those navigating their own mental-health journeys. He emphasized the importance of centering kindness and walking together in support of one another, creating a space for our learning community to connect with him—and with each other—around shared experiences and learning.

💡 Neurodiversity Celebration Week reminds us of the power of inclusive, compassionate, and intersectional approaches to education and mental health. At Chapters4Change, we are committed to fostering spaces where every voice is valued, differences are celebrated, and learning communities grow stronger together.

Janice's Top Ten Book Recommendations for Adult Readers

"As a neurodiverse individual myself, I’m thrilled to share my top 10 book picks—each one a chance to spark learning, curiosity, and awareness!"

~Janice Desroches (Director, Chapters4Change)

1) Scattered Minds: The Origins and Healing of Attention Deficit Disorder by Gabor Maté MD

2) Divergent Mind: Thriving in a World That Wasn’t Designed for You by Jenara Nerenberg

3) Different, Not Less: A neurodivergent's guide to embracing your true self and finding your happily ever after by Daniel Aherne (Author), Tim Stringer (Illustrator)

4) Neurotribes: The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity by Steve Silberman (Author), Oliver Sacks (Foreword)

5) It All Makes Sense Now: Embrace Your ADHD Brain to Live a Creative and Colorful Life by Meredith Carder (Author)

6) Unmasking Autism: Discovering the New Faces of Neurodiversity by Devon Price PhD

7) poems of the neurodivergent experience by Jaclyn Pensiero

8) A Life Suspended: A Mother and Son’s Story of Autism, Extinction Bursts, and Living a Resilient Life by Nicole Donovan

9) Lavender Clouds: Comics about Neurodivergence and Mental Health by Bex Ollerton

10) The Power of Different: The Link Between Disorder and Genius by Gail Saltz M.D.

Chappie's Top Ten Book Recommendations for Kids

1) Too Much!: An Overwhelming Day by Jolene Gutiérrez (Author), Angel Chang (Illustrator)

2) More than Words: So Many Ways to Say What We Mean by Roz MacLean (Author, Illustrator)

3) How to Train Your Amygdala by Anna Housley Juster (Author), Cynthia Cliff (Illustrator)

4) Masterpiece: an inclusive kids book celebrating a child on the autism spectrum by Alexandra Hoffman (Author), Beatriz Mello (Illustrator)

5) My Brain Is Magic: A Sensory-Seeking Celebration by Prasha Sooful (Author), Geeta Ladi (Illustrator)

6) Different Thinkers: ADHD by Katia Fredriksen PhD (Author), Yael Rothman PhD (Author), Jennifer Ball-Cordero (Illustrator)

7) ADH-ME by K C Field

8) My Brain is a Race Car: A children's guide to a neuro-divergent brainby Nell Harris

9) A Different Me: Socially Awkward by Dr. Rashawnda Walker (Author), Isaac Walker (Author)

10) Wonderfully Wired Brains: An Introduction to the World of Neurodiversity by Louise Gooding (Author), Ruth Burrows (Illustrator)

Learn more about Neurodiversity Celebration Week!

https://www.neurodiversityweek.com/