The Neurodiversity Challenge
At The New York Daily News, Rob Hahn writes about his son's college application experience:
In emails I exchanged with the university’s associate vice president of undergraduate enrollment, I addressed, among other things, whether my son’s Asperger’s was adequately considered in the admissions process. Bobby wrote about the condition in an application essay, and his high school counselor also addressed some of the challenges.
The responses I received, one of which focused critically on how Bobby’s GPA compared to other applicants, indicated ignorance or simply apathy when it comes to matters related to autism and other forms of neurodiversity.
Bobby’s experience and my email exchange with the university official led me to create “The Neurodiversity Challenge.” Through this initiative, I communicate with and strongly encourage institutions of higher education and corporations to do a better job in three areas: one, understanding more fully the value of neurodiversity; two, actively recruiting, admitting and hiring more neurodivergent individuals; and three, celebrating neurodiversity by publicly highlighting how these individuals contribute uniquely to the overall diversity of a school or business.
