In September 2022, I presented to the Neurodiverse Leadership Toastmasters club (https://www.facebook.com/NeurodiverseLeadersTM/), an online club which was started by their New York City based founders.
Neurodiversity
At this Toastmasters club, participants from around
the world meet to not only further develop their communication and leadership
skills, but additionally with the purpose of discussing neurodiversity in society.
Anyone is eligible to visit this club and become a
member. People who participate include people
neurodivergent, people with neurodiverse family members, and people other
enabled.
It is estimated that 20% of the world population is
neurodivergent. Another quantity has a friend, a colleague or a loved one who
processes information in an atypical manner.
While a web search indicates many successful people are neurodivergent,
estimates indicate 85% of those neurodivergent are unemployed (North American
statistics).
My Speech to the Club
I was invited to speak because of my role as past
president and board chair of L’Arche Saint John (https://larchesaintjohn.org/),
part of L’Arche International. The mission of L’Arche is to make known the
gifts of people with intellectual disability. I spoke to the club on the topic
of not-for-profit leadership, a valuable topic to assist in organizing teams to
achieve results.
Improved Communication, Leadership and More
There is great power when motivated people meet regularly
in a Toastmasters club with goals to not only further develop their communication
and leadership skills, but to advance shared goals and ambitions.
Neurodiversity Defined
Neurodiversity is a framework for
understanding human brain function and conditions
such as autism, ADHD, and dyslexia, among others. The framework indicates that
diversity in human cognition is normal and that some conditions
classified as mental disorders are differences and disabilities that are not
necessarily difficult to manage. (Definition adapted from The World Health
Organization https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/mental-disorders).
Link to Recording
Below is a link to the 75-minute recording of the
meeting. The club has performed some editing of the content. The meeting presented
is typical of any Toastmasters meeting with prepared speeches, impromptu
speaking practice (table topics) in this example exploring questions on public
relations, inclusion, teaching empathy and more, and group and individual feedback.
https://youtu.be/mUaxZioVkUw?si=MVsmoM56bpdnJ17y
For Further Interest
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