In Ryther’s Aspiring Youth Programs:
 

We’re not about fitting in. We’re about authenticity.

We’re not about learning from a curriculum. We’re about learning from positive peer communities.

We’re not about teaching them social masking. We’re about celebrating their true selves.

We serve incredible neurodiverse youth. We have a duty to them to nurture neurodiverse affirming communities in our groups and summer camps.

 

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We seek to meet this goal by following several practices:

 

• Kindness. We don’t teach “social norms”. Instead, group members and facilitators are focused on collaborating to foster authentic kindness and building supportive peer communities.

• Being Flexible. Creating neurodiverse affirming groups means that our group facilitators and leadership team work to create a comfortable group environment. This includes being aware of each group member’s preference in how to participate in the groups. This also means being flexible with how we discuss neurodiverse identity; we know that for some of our group members, their neurodiverse identity is really important. For other group members, it is not as important.

• Learning from peers. Through our interactive activities, group members get to practice new skills and feel more comfortable connecting. A positive peer community provides an incredible opportunity to build confidence.

• Strong communication with parents and caregivers. Our entire staff team works to create an environment where parents and caregivers feel supported and connected. Neurodiverse affirming practices means building a holistic community with tight communication with parents and caregivers.

• Fostering a neurodiverse team. While we do not track the proportion of team members who identify as neurodivergent, we can safely say that it is sizable. And we center neurodivergent voices on our core team, including the dedicated position of Advocacy and Outreach Specialist. Because we believe that our group members deserve to see mentors who know what it’s like to be in their shoes.

 

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Aden Lindholm, Program Director

July Huss, Program Manager

Gabi Indivero, Program Manager

Ajay Pellegrini, Program Manager, Operations

Peter Jung, Advocacy and Outreach Specialist

Hadley Marris, Intake

Jarmaine Santos, Administrative Specialist

 

Ben Wahl, Program Founder

Karen Brady, Ryther CEO