A key focus for me this coming year will again be Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND). A couple of months ago I was appointed as the Vice-President of the British Dyslexia Association. I’m excited by the platform this will provide me to campaign at a national level for changes to help support not just dyslexic individuals but all neurodiverse individuals.

Neurodiversity describes the idea that people experience and interact with the world around them in many different ways. This applies to people not only such as myself who have dyspraxia and dyslexia, but also individuals with ADHD, autism and other associated conditions.

This week I met with the Chief Executive of the British Dyslexia Association to discuss the strategy for the organisation and how I can best make a difference as the new Vice-President. I was pleased to hear that the organisation doesn’t just focus on supporting school age dyslexics but also adults and engages in debates about how to improve awareness within the workplace. This is often something I’ve felt has been overlooked as you don’t stop being neurodiverse the moment you leave school. The reality is that there are still huge numbers of adults living with conditions such as autism, dyslexia, dyspraxia, and ADHD that don’t know it.

There are some particularly depressing statistics out there about the number of autistic adults who are out of work. This is a travesty not just for these individuals and their loved ones, but also for society.

At a local level this week I’m holding a roundtable pulling together a number of different experts on SEND including those involved in the education sphere and the world of work. I want to leave this meeting with some clear recommendations for what those attending think can be done locally to improve SEND provision in schools and also how to get more neurodiverse adults achieving their full potential. I already have many of my own ideas about what I think should be done, but I’m really looking forward to getting some new insights and clear themes following the roundtable meeting this week.

On dyslexia specifically and my new Vice-President role. Two key focuses that I discussed in my meeting this week with the Chief Executive of the British Dyslexia Association were firstly on improving teacher training so that all teachers have a greater awareness and understanding of different types of neurodiverse needs. The second was campaigning to ensure Ofsted works in a way which places a premium on first class SEND provision.

Finally, having completed the Armed Forces Parliamentary Scheme, I will be launching a new All Party Parliamentary Group, “Neurodiversity in the Armed Forces”. This Cross-Party group will look specifically at what more can be done to attract and accommodate those with conditions such as ADHD, autism, dyslexia, and dyspraxia. Throughout the course of the year I spent on the Army scheme, this is an issue that came up in many conversations I had with armed forces personnel. I actually think this is of growing importance as cyber warfare is only increasing as an issue. Having individuals with the capacity to think outside the box and see things differently from how others see this couldn’t be more important. We know that so often it’s in this space where neurodiverse individuals thrive.

We have exceptional armed forces and I certainly don’t want any corners to be cut. However, I can’t help but have this nagging suspicion that as it stands our armed forces are missing out on the talents of large numbers of neurodiverse people who feel that the armed forces can’t possibly be for them when, with a few adjustments, it absolutely could be.