Our Mission
To promote empowerment, through support, advocacy, signposting and information to neurodiverse individuals to enable them to reach their full potential.
Our Vision
We plan to bring an information support hub under one umbrella to help and support families and individuals navigate the assessment process, diagnosis, educational, employment and support services available for those who have neurodivergent needs.
Our Story
Causeway Neurodiversity was founded in 2022 to address the marked absence of support and information services for neurodiverse individuals in the Causeway Coast area. This has a serious impact on the well-being of individuals and their families. Professionals working with neurodiverse children, adults and their families also find the current lack of support frustrating and detrimental to the potential of those affected.
The formation of this new charity has been steered by Sara Jane O’Donnell, a multidisciplinary team social worker and a mother of a neurodiverse daughter, Yvonne King a founding members of Parents Unite and Kaye Cormack, founder/Project Manager of Phoenix ADHD Project.
We plan to bring an information support hub under one umbrella to help guide families and individuals through the minefield of the assessment process, diagnosis, educational and support services available for those with Autism, ADHD, and associated conditions. At present we are at the planning stage, reaching out to neurodiverse individuals, their families, professionals, and community representatives who have an interest in developing support services in the area. Over te summer months in 2022 we ran five events throughout the Causeway area enabling us to connect with families. Since January 2023 we have been two running monthly drop-in sessions, one the evening and one in the morning in Coleraine and one in Ballymoney.
MEET THE TEAM
Sara Jane O’Donnell
Chairperson
Yvonne King
chairperson
Darren Stevenson
Treasurer
Catherine GaulT
Director
Laura McClure
Director
A qualified teacher, who has supported children and young people with Special Educational Need and Disabilities (SEND) for over 20 years. She is passionate about effective and timely support for children and young people with Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN) and other co-occurring needs. Laura has a PGDip in SEND, is a member of the nasen NI SEN Advisory Group, a NAPLIC Committee member, an RADLD Ambassador and she has just been recently elected to the NASUWT Special Education Advisory Committee.