AUTISM TO ADHD: Navigating Education and Advocacy for Black and Brown Neurodivergent Students

Why is it essential to tailor advocacy efforts for neurodivergent children within the Black community? In this episode of the Southern Soul Livestream podcast, host Calvin introduces a panel discussion that explores this topic with detailed analyses and engaging dialogue. The panel features four leading experts in neurodiversity and advocacy: Cheryl Poe, Cori Fonville Foster, Destiny Huff, and Maria Davis-Pierre. Drawing from their personal and professional experiences, each panelist brings a unique perspective to the discussion:

• Cheryl Poe, founder of Advocating 4 Kids, discusses her work in helping parents navigate services for children with disabilities. She emphasizes the importance of using neuro-affirming language in Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) and protecting families from racial microaggressions. 
• Cori Fonville Foster, a CEO and homeschool educator, shares her reasons for homeschooling her neurodivergent children, citing the limitations of the public school system and the benefits of a tailored educational environment supported by a community network. 
• Destiny Huff, a licensed mental health professional, talks about her experiences with late diagnoses of autism and ADHD for herself and her son, advocating for systemic changes to incorporate neuro-affirming practices in educational and professional settings. 
• Maria Davis-Pierre, CEO of Autism in Black, highlights the need for culturally responsive autism advocacy and discusses disparities in diagnosis and treatment for Black autistic individuals.

The panel examines the importance of tailored IEPs and 504 plans for meeting the unique needs of Black neurodivergent students, addressing systemic barriers, and emphasizing the need for advocacy and representation. This episode also includes a Q&A session that allows the audience to engage with the experts, reinforcing empowerment through informed advocacy and culturally responsive support for the neurodivergent community.

Quotes

• “Special education is not a location. It is not a classroom. It's a service. There's nothing that should prevent your child from going into a general education classroom if they have the skill to do it, if they have the ability to do it. That should always be your goal.” (23:38 | Cheryl Poe) 
• “I have been noticing that there are just so many resources out there where we can give undivided attention. We don't call them IEPs in homeschool, but they are. Basically, we are individualizing our children's ability to grow. We're able to focus on things that they need and offer them more support.” (28:12 | Cori Fonville Foster)
• “When you go in there and you have a 96% chance of having a non-Black healthcare professional, and they are using an evaluation that was not created for Black people, that leads to misdiagnosis. That leads to Black kids constantly getting pushed into a behavioral diagnosis that leads to, ‘Oh, autism is not a Black people thing.’ ...I like to use culturally responsive or cultural humility as the terms. I do not believe that anybody is competent in anybody's culture.” (33:29 | Maria Davis-Pierre) 
• “When you are that Black person in the room sitting across all white faces, and my husband being in the military, he can't be there all the time for the meetings, right? So it was predominantly on me. You feel judged for everything. You feel like you're not a professional. You feel like your child is doing all these wrong things and you don't know how to help him and you don't know how to support him. You feel like a failure as a parent. And then you feel like because you're Black, they view you as less than, right? Even though I had the mental health experience. And so it goes back