One of the most critical aspects of exceptionality is the impact of culture, ethnicity, and identity on students. Recently, teachers, parents, students, and practitioners came together for The Future is Inclusive - Neuro and Culturally Diverse Symposium. This virtual conference was the first event of its kind to specifically address how to support culturally diverse twice-exceptional students and to discuss the intersectionality of neuro and cultural diversity and its implications for students’ education and well-being. Bridges 2e Center organized and hosted the symposium.
The symposium opened with a panel discussion of parents and students from a wide range of cultural backgrounds. The speakers shared their lived experiences. Common themes for the parents’ discussions were about honoring their cultural backgrounds while carving new paths for their own children and families. After each panel member spoke, participants moved into small breakout discussions, giving them the opportunity to converse and network with one another. One of the primary goals of the symposium was to create a community of unique voices and allow people to come together by sharing their personal stories.
Dr. Joy Lawson Davis, a cultural diversity expert, focused on the urgency of championing the inclusivity movement now when so many children face educational, social, and emotional hardships due to a lack of awareness about how to best support diverse students. Dr. Davis invited the participants to “help the nation, help the world, help the land understand these children better – how to meet their intellectual needs, their academic needs, their psychosocial needs.”
In the “Applied Knowledge is Power” session, Dr. Anne Gray, Dr. Nielsen Perei...
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