What is the Neurodivergent Young Achiever of the Year award for?
This award celebrates young neurodivergent individuals (21 or under) who have achieved something they did not think was possible. They are someone who has overcome major barriers to succeed in their goals.
Many thanks to the 2023 sponsors…
2023 Neurodiversity Young Achiever of the Year Award
Congratulations to the winner…
Swarit Gopalan
Swarit is a 11-year-old nonspeaking advocate who uses typing to communicate. He is a fierce advocate and did a 30-day SERIES to share his lived experience of being an autistic. Swarit did not have a voice until 10 years. His parents found spelling to communicate and he has been WORKING hard every single day to get to where he is now.
His poetry is beautiful, profound and accessible that leaves readers spellbound and deep in thought about their own lives.
Inspired by Dr.MLK and the civil rights movement, Swarit wrote a song about his dreams for nonspeakers. This spoke to the dreams and aspirations of many like him and was widely acknowledged for its impact.
And to the highly commended finalist…
Lauren Gilbert
Lauren is a disabled and neurodivergent student at Newcastle University and also Disability Officer at the student union. In her time as Disability Officer, she has dedicated over 300 voluntary hours to advocating for disabled and neurodivergent students like herself, alongside studying her Astrophysics degree.
She has managed to pass a motion at Council that will make it mandatory for all live lectures to be recorded and uploaded online so that disabled students can study remotely, and also for captioner job roles to be offered to students to ensure that captions on these videos are accurate and that students have an accessible form of paid work.
2023 Awards were Sponsored by
