How to navigate EGU as a neurodivergent participant

Convener: Lucile Turc | Co-conveners: Ana Cristina VásquezECSECS, Fernanda Matos, Arnaud Beth

Participating in scientific conferences, especially in large events such as the EGU General Assembly (GA), comes with specific challenges for neurodivergent attendees. The term “neurodivergent” describes individuals who think and experience the world in ways that differ from societal norms, including, for example (but not limited to) autistic, ADHD, dyslexic, or dyspraxic individuals. Current estimates indicate that about 15-20% of the global population could be neurodivergent. This amounts to about 3000-4000 individuals among the 20,000 yearly attendees of the EGU GA. Many neurodivergent people have heightened sensory sensitivities, and executive function and communication challenges, to name a few, which come along with specific needs when attending a conference. Some have developed their own strategies to be able to participate in conferences, which often come at a high cost in energy, while others forego participating in some events entirely due to the lack of accommodations. Last year, the introduction of a lanyard that indicates a hidden disability has been a first step towards creating a safer atmosphere for neurodivergent attendees. The aim of this short course is to provide neurodivergent participants with ideas and tools to mitigate some of the challenges they can encounter during the EGU GA, through short talks from neurodivergent peers and discussions among and feedback from participants. We also aim at compiling the suggestions emerging during this short course into a guide for neurodivergent attendees and for more inclusive measures in the next EGU meetings to be shared with the EDI committee. This event is targeted at both first-time attendees and more seasoned participants, who identify as neurodivergent or would like to better support their neurodivergent peers.