Huge multi-coloured 'Umbrella Project' planned to celebrate and embrace neurodiversity in Milton Keynes
Hundreds of multi-coloured umbrellas are to be suspended in the air at the city shopping centre in the biggest installation it has ever seen.
The uplifting Milton Keynes Umbrella Project will take place next year and its aim is celebrating the intelligence, ability and talent of every child and adult in the city who is neurodiverse and has a “different brain”.
Neurodiversity is a term used to describe the naturally occurring variations of the human brain, including conditions such as Dyslexia, ADHD, Autism, Dyscalculia, Tourette’s Syndrome and Developmental Coordination Disorder (Dyspraxia).
In the UK one in five people (over 10 million) have some form of neurodivergence. Confirmed diagnoses are lower as many adults - especially women - remain undiagnosed.
Some 15% to 20% of cchildren and young people are neurodivergent, figures show.
The Umbrella Project is the brainchild of the neurodiversity charity the ADHD Foundation and installations have already been held in other parts of the country, including at Heathrow airport.
Coordinating the Milton Keynes project is Jane Lambert, head of the city’s ECG Training and Makewell Clinic, which provides private autism and ADHD diagnostic services for local people.
She said: “We are going for the largest display (in Midsummer Place) ever done and we’d like to get the word out to everyone in MK about how they can get involved.”
Businesses can sponsor the individual umbrellas and have their logos displayed, she said.
"We want to find out what services/businesses/organisations already have ‘inclusive’ areas and policies so we can share good practice going on in MK.”
Jane is also appealing for marketing and production support for the massive project, which is described as “a celebration of human potential and endeavour.”
Dr Tony Lloyd CEO of the ADHD Foundation, said: “Our aim is to promote the fact that our brains are as unique as our fingerprints. Whatever your age, race, sexuality, faith, nationality, 1 in 5 of you will be neurodiverse and many will not even know.
"Many will have more than one of these learning differences, affecting how they process information from the world they live in and how they interact with the people in that world.”
He added: “A Neurodiversity Paradigm challenges the outdated concept of intellect and employability in our education system and business culture. We hope to replace the conventional ‘deficit model’ with a strength-based approach to learning and ability, focussing on what an individual can do.
"In the 21st century, it is crucial that we take neurodiversity into account, and treat it in the same way as other forms of social diversity. ability and talent of every human being.”
The Umbrella Project can also involve local schoolchildren, asking them to sign and decorate the umbrellas with their gifts, talents and abilities – their “super powers”.
MK schools may even ve invited to have their own mini Umbrella Project installations, suspended from classroom ceilings, in the hope of educating students, school governors and local community leaders on the strengths that neurodiversity can bring.
Anybody who can help with the project should email Jane Lambert at [email protected].