The DivergAntz Collective

The DivergAntz Collective is designed to be a place of safety for neurodivergent brains and bodies. We are a collective resource bank of ND Affirming Service Providers, Professionals and Individuals. We would like to make it easier to find an ND Affirming professional by having a repository of information regarding services available and methods of access. Please feel free to help us grow this resource bank and community by putting forward yourselves, or others you know to be ND Affirming, who we can link to, and promote through this page and through our network. Further to this, if you have resources you want to share, to make available to professionals, teachers, children, parents or anyone in the wider community, please add it here.

Note: We will review anything prior to uploading and adding to the website. Please make it clear if you have ownership rights to the resources and if you’re the Director/Owner of the business being put forward.

Not sure whether you or your service are ND Affirming?

Take Our ND Affirming Service Provider Quiz

Take Our ND Affirming Professional Quiz

ND Affirming Service Provider Quiz

Are you a ND Affirming Service Provider?

1 / 18

1. Is there anyone in your leadership team who is Autistic, or ADHD and is aware of ND affirming practice methodologies?

1. Yes

2. No

3. Sometimes

2 / 18

2. Does your service provide, or require training from practitioners, regarding neurodivergent communication methods?

1. Yes

2. No

3. Sometimes

3 / 18

3. Does your service have the capacity to change the environment to meet the needs of those with different sensory profiles? (such as dimming lighting, environments with less noise)

1. Yes

2. No

3. Sometimes

4 / 18

4. Does your service prioritise lived experience from neurodivergent individuals OVER the views of neurotypical or ‘educated’ individuals?

1. Yes

2. No

3. Sometimes

5 / 18

5. Does your service work with participants to determine their own benchmarks (developmental, vocational, communication or otherwise), rather than measure progress against neuronormative benchmarks?

1. Yes

2. No

3. Sometimes

6 / 18

6. Has anyone reviewed the policy and procedure framework to check if there is ND affirming language used throughout?

1. Yes

2. No

3. Sometimes

7 / 18

7. Does your service documentation use identity first language? (Identity first is “Autistic Person”, whereas person first “person with Autism).

1. Yes

2. No

3. Sometimes

8 / 18

8. Does your service provider work with participants to determine their own developmental benchmarks, rather than measure progress against standardised benchmarks?

1. Yes

2. No

3. Sometimes

9 / 18

9. Do you have accessible systems to enable people with diverse skills and/or functional limitations equity in access to your services?

1. Yes

2. No

3. Sometimes

10 / 18

10. Do you provide therapies honestly to participants, regardless of capacity of the participant accessing the therapy?

1. Yes

2. No

3. Sometimes

11 / 18

11. Do you consciously provide empathetic and respectful therapy to participants, with transparency regarding what will happen, and when?

1. Yes

2. No

3. Sometimes

12 / 18

12. Do you have some type of ethical response to a participant unable to attend an appointment due to meltdown, shutdown or sensory overwhelm?

1. Yes

2. No

3. Sometimes

13 / 18

13. Do you have principles in place to make sure that you NEVER provide services which are considered dangerous to the Autistic or neurodivergent community? This includes Applied Behaviour Analysis (all forms), neurotypical social skills training, desensitization, tolerance or extinction therapy. This also includes Verbal Behaviour, The Lovaas Approach, Pivot Response Treatment, Natural Language Paradigm, Incidental Teaching, Social Thinking, the PEERS Program, Intensive Behavioural Intervention, Discrete Trial Teaching, Early Intensive Behaviour Intervention. All forms of ABA are considered dangerous, including ‘new ABA’.

1. Yes

2. No

3. Sometimes

14 / 18

14. Does the organisation have Autistic professionals involved in operations for the purpose of providing advice, consultation and feedback regarding service decisions, policies, processes and systems?

1. Yes

2. No

3. Sometimes

15 / 18

15. Does the service consider safety for neurodivergent workers? This could include helping with different methods of record-keeping, calendarization, appointment making and general correspondence?

1. Yes

2. No

3. Sometimes

16 / 18

16. Does the organisation consider multiple, different, learning styles when delivering information, both internal and external?

1. Yes

2. No

3. Sometimes

17 / 18

17. Do you have unrestricted access to AAC alternatives as replacement for speech for those requiring it?

1. Yes

2. No

3. Sometimes

18 / 18

18. Do you have multiple methods (other than just phone) to access services and communicate cancellations or feedback?

1. Yes

2. No

3. Sometimes

Your score is

ND Affirming Professional Quiz

Are you a ND Affirming Professional?

1 / 18

1. Do you personally believe that intellectual impairment is not synonymous with Autism? (meaning not everyone with Autism is intellectually impaired)

1. Yes

2. No

3. Sometimes

2 / 18

2. Do you believe there is a real and actual lack of control when someone is experiencing a meltdown?

1. Yes

2. No

3. Sometimes

3 / 18

3. Do you use identity first language when you discuss neurodivergence with other people?

1. Yes

2. No

3. Sometimes

4 / 18

4. Have you developed strategies to help those around you manage any sensory aversions they might experience?

1. Yes

2. No

3. Sometimes

5 / 18

5. Have you reflected on your conduct regarding those who need routine, structure and sameness in order to feel safe? If so, have you made accommodations to the way you do things to allow for their diverse needs?

1. Yes

2. No

3. Sometimes

6 / 18

6. If you’re not neurodivergent yourself, do you ask other Au/ADHD individuals for feedback, guidance and support regarding the way you provide services, including the way you speak and conduct yourself? (If you’re ND yourself, please select yes, if you’re open to hearing other ND opinions or no if you’re close minded about what ND affirming means)

1. Yes

2. No

3. Sometimes

7 / 18

7. Do you understand and accept those who constantly interrupt and talk over others when communicating?

1. Yes

2. No

3. Sometimes

8 / 18

8. Have you learned to facilitate, or support other communication methods than verbal speech?

1. Yes

2. No

3. Sometimes

9 / 18

9. Have you considered the actual danger of applying neurotypical developmental milestones to your work and participants?

1. Yes

2. No

3. Sometimes

10 / 18

10. Do you listen to Autistic voices regarding therapies, services, access to support and the importance of understanding sensory needs and passions (special interests)?

1. Yes

2. No

3. Sometimes

11 / 18

11. Do you have an established self-reflection method designed to check / audit that the way you’re practicing remains ND affirming at all times?

1. Yes

2. No

3. Sometimes

12 / 18

12. Do you have methods of accessing a variety of Actually Autistic voices and communities, for the purpose of hearing feedback and being educated about issues important to this sector?

1. Yes

2. No

3. Sometimes

13 / 18

13. Do you ensure that you are honest about the language you use and the methods you apply when engaging with participants and that you only speak about participants using language that you’d confidently use in their presence?

1. Yes

2. No

3. Sometimes

14 / 18

14. Do you have processes in place to ensure that care givers are aware that you don’t want to see images, or videos of Autistic individual’s experiencing distress, or states of crisis, without their actual permission? (remembering children don’t have the capacity to consent to this, so it’s not considered ‘permission’ for children to say yes to this).

1. Yes

2. No

3. Sometimes

15 / 18

15. Do you make sure caregivers know that you don’t want participants bribed, coerced or rewarded in return for them allowing you to provide services to them?

1. Yes

2. No

3. Sometimes

16 / 18

16. Do you have strategies in place to ensure you focus first on creating a feeling of safety for all participants accessing your service?

1. Yes

2. No

3. Sometimes

17 / 18

17. Do you understand the importance of co-regulation and learning strategies to help those you’re working with regulate their bodies and integrate their bodies and minds when they are accessing services?

1. Yes

2. No

3. Sometimes

18 / 18

18. Do you prioritise the experience and journey of others, rather than speak over them by sharing your own perspective and experience?

1. Yes

2. No

3. Sometimes

Your score is

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Not sure whether you or your service are ND Affirming?

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