Bring Your Own Brain: April 28, 2021

Because great minds think alike in a million different ways.

View a recording of the webinar

This event was recorded for those who were unable to attend live or who would like to view the panel discussion again. There are two options to view the video: 

• View the webinar on YouTube. This version is captioned with an auto-generated transcript available. Thank you to the Virginia Tech Office of Inclusion and Diversity for including this event on their channel.  
• View the webinar at video.vt.edu (Kaltura). This version is captioned and transcripted, and is available to Virginia Tech students, faculty, and staff. 
• Download a PDF of the webinar transcript. 
• Additional Q&A with the panel. Our panelists provided answers to questions that we ran out of time to address during the event.

Resources

Below are links to resources mentioned during the event, including the intermission slides.

Articles, Books, and Essays

• A Long Walk Down a Winding Road by Same Farmern (book)
• Neurodiversity: Some Basic Terms & Definitions from Neurocosmopolitanism: Dr. Nick Walker’s notes on autism, neuroqueering, & self liberation (blog post)
• Opinion: The Violence of Hostile Accommodations by ChrisTiana ObeySumner (article)
• Sincerely, Your Autistic Child: What People on the Autism Spectrum Wish Their Parents Knew About Growing Up, Acceptance, and Identity (book)
• On Being Included: Racism and Diversity in Institutional Life by Sara Ahmed (book)
• Disability Disclosure in the Classroom by Ashley Shew (article in Inside Higher Ed)
• Becoming Visible: Masking Fallacies and Realities from Echolaliachamber (blog post)
• This #Crip Stays in the Picture: A Past Plaintiff on Opposing H.R. 620, the #ADA Notification Act by Ingrid Tischer (blog post)

Organizations

• College Internship Program
• Autistic Women & Nonbinary Network
• Asperger/Autism Network (AANE)
• Disability Law Center of Virginia (DLCV)

Virginia Tech resources

• Virginia Tech Autism Clinic & Center for Autism Research
• Career and Professional Development
• InclusiveVT (Office for Inclusion & Diversity)
• Accessible Technologies
• Services for Students with Disabilities
• Captioning and transcript services request
• To report an accessibility barrier at Virginia Tech: https://vt.edu/accessibility/barrier.html
• To report a bias-related incident at Virginia Tech: https://dos.vt.edu/express_a_concern.html

Social Media

People to follow on Twitter: @Imani_Barbarin, @GaetaAmy, @Wolven, @blkgirllostkeys

Event slides

• Rich Text Format (text only, no images)
• PDF

About the event

Bring Your Own Brain! is a live discussion exploring neurodiversity in the STEM workforce from the perspective of a panel of five neurodivergent individuals in various stages of their careers.

This event was held as a webinar via Zoom on Wednesday, April 28, 2021. Among the topics our panel discussed include:

• Why neurodiversity should be celebrated and encouraged in STEM fields
• Barriers that highly-qualified neurodivergent individuals face during and after the hiring process
• How workplaces have changed with respect to neurodiversity, and what still needs to be addressed
• What steps educators and employers can take to create a more inclusive, accessible, supportive environment for all employees

Live captioning and sign language interpreters was provided.

Sponsors and Partners

Thank you to the following partners for making this event possible. 

• Division of Information Technology
• InclusiveVT
• Virginia Tech Center for Autism Research
• The Disability Alliance at VT and Disability Caucus
• Virginia Tech Human Resources Talent Development
• Virginia Tech College of Science

Accessibility

This event will be live-captioned, and a recording will be made available following the event. If you are an individual with a disability and desire an accommodation, please contact Angela Correa at acorrea@vt.edu at least 10 business days prior to the event.

Questions?

For more information about the event, please contact Angela Correa at acorrea@vt.edu or 540-231-4202. For help with registration or joining the webinar, please call the Help Desk at 540-231-4357 or submit a ticket at 4help.vt.edu.