From SNP-REACH to the Stanford Neurodiversity Summit

Today, I had the privilege of speaking at the Stanford Neurodiversity Summit with the rest of my team, Project Ignite.

Our journey started in July, when we all participated in the Stanford Neurodiversity Project’s (SNP) REACH program. Our group leaders, Benji, Nora, and Antu, along with Dr. Lawrence Fung and the rest of the REACH team, taught us so much about neurodiversity.

At SNP, we learned about the 5-step design process: empathize, define, ideate, prototype, and test. It’s a nonlinear, iterative process that we used to build Project Ignite.

During our empathize step, we brainstormed the strengths and challenges of neurodivergent individuals. The main challenge we identified was burnout, especially from masking. Masking is a way of concealing your true personality, thoughts, and actions in order to fit into societal norms. It’s something that neurodivergent individuals do all. the. time. The worst part is, they sometimes don’t even recognize that they are masking!

It’s exhausting, and the primary driver of Autistic/ADHD burnout, especially in high school students. So, this is why we created Project Ignite. “Ignite”, like igniting the fire that’s been burnt out.

So, my team and I got to work, splitting up into teams (project managers, researchers, coding, art). And by the end of camp, we created a fully working prototype - a game that showed what burnout looked like in neurodivergent characters! We also tested our prototype - our feedback form receiving over 20 responses from neurotypical and neurodivergent individuals.

After camp, our next goal was to present at the Stanford Neurodiversity Summit. To do so, we had to present at a different meeting, and demonstrate continued effort from SNP-REACH. So, in the 20 days between the meeting and the end of SNP-REACH, we expanded on our project.

First, we created a podcast featuring interviews with neurodivergent individuals (watch here). Next, our research teams created UDL-aligned introductions to neurodivergent topics on our website - things we learned from SNP! Our art and coding teams also revamped the website, through new logos, new art for our game, and more website features, such as a meet our team page! Finally, our social media team created informational posts on Instagram. As one of the project managers, I had so much fun communicating with and between groups, and making sure we are all on track!

After presenting our work at the meeting, we were selected for the summit! I had the best time meeting new people, reconnecting with my teammates in person, and answering questions! I’m really grateful for this opportunity, and I’m definitely excited for what’s ahead with Project Ignite!

Want to follow along with Project Ignite? Visit our website and check out our YouTube!