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a heart-to-heart with Siena Castellon

  • Writer: Gloria Gong
    Gloria Gong
  • Aug 3, 2020
  • 5 min read

It’s time for Glos InnerRoom’s first interview! 


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Today, I chatted with Siena Castellon: a 18-year-old, London-based neurodiversity advocate and anti-bullying campaigner. Siena and I connected through the Stanford Neurodiversity Project. Upon our first meeting, I was instantly impressed by all the work she had done to advocate for the neurodiversity population as well as anti-bully. She’s the founder of Quantum Leap Mentoring, a website that mentors students with autism, dyslexia, ADHD, and other learning differences. Siena has won numerous awards for her advocacy: the Diana Award, the British Citizen Youth Award, and the BBC Radio 1 Teen Hero Awards. As I’ve gotten to know her more, I found that she has a bigger aim in life — making a difference in the society where the minority is underrepresented. 



Were there any challenges you faced in accepting your own neurodiversity? How did you learn to accept and find strength in your experiences?

One of my initial challenges was people's reaction to my neurodiversity — autism, in particular. I wanted to tell someone that I was autistic and when I was first diagnosed, it was a big deal to me to speak to someone about it. So, I got this quite frequently: “You can't be autistic if you're a girl. I know someone who's autistic and you're nothing like them, so you can't be autistic.” It was difficult to hear because when you really put yourself out there and you really push yourself to, um, you know, connect with people and to share information like that. And when they react so negatively to discredit your own experience and to tell you that what you're feeling isn't valid, it can be a bit hurtful at times. You cannot separate autism from who I am; otherwise I'll be a completely different individual.


When I was diagnosed at twelve years old, it was very difficult to hear and to believe. But then the older I grew, the more involved I got in the autism community, the more I found people who would respond positively. And, I just kind of moved on. So now when people say negative things like that, I hear just one ear in and out the other, I don't pay attention. 



How did you come up with the idea of a “Neurodiversity Celebration Week”? What are some of your visions for the event?

I had my first website, which was QL mentor. When I first started, people would contact me and ask: I'm trying to succeed in school and I'm trying to get good grades and be happy and do well. I have been listening to what you're saying on your blog. And I'm trying to apply that advice to, you know, improve my life. But there's only so much I can do when I have a school system that is just working against me and teachers who are making my life terrible. At the time, it was something I was actually experiencing as well. I had a teacher who was discriminating against me because of my autism. As a result, I decided that I wanted to start my Neurodiversity Celebration Week, so the teachers could be better informed about neurodiversity. I wish students could get diagnosed and get the help they need. More importantly, I wish students can be in a more productive, safer work environment. My other aim was that through this project, I hope my neurotypical peers aren't bullied for their conditions. When you bully someone for being socially awkward because they have a disability, that is actually a hate crime. It's just an awful thing to do! You wouldn't bully a blind person for bumping into a wall, and the same way goes for an autistic person. For me, I just wanted neurotypical students to be more empowered. 



How did you find the courage to speak publicly about your experience and to become an anti-bullying campaigner?

I just really wanted to make a difference at the beginning when I was being bullied. I've been bullied like my whole life. I reached a point where I stopped being upset about it and started being angry about it, because you just get tired of hearing the same thing over and over again. When I report the situation, the teachers would react in the same way. They would often blame me and say: “Well, they're bullying you for not having any friends. So why don't you make friends? And then you won't be bullied.” Oh, well, if it was that easy, I'd probably do it. I just didn't want to go through it again myself, and I don’t want people like me to go through it. 


I was reading stories and there was this one girl who wrote about how she was partially blind, but she was legally blind. At school, in order for her to communicate, she had to type it on a screen. It would show two or three words at a time so that it was big for her to see. However, students would make fun of her and say stuff like “Oh, that was a really stupid sentence to write. You made a spelling mistake there.” It’s just awful, being bullied for something that you just cannot change. It can cause a lot of anxiety and other mental health problems. I just want to make people feel like they're not alone. 



What are some ways for you to cope with stress during this difficult period? 

With stress, I just try to identify where it's coming from. There was a time in my life where I was like, if I feel any anxiety, I'll pick something from a list of activities that I know calms me. Yet, I found that I didn't really yield great results because I wasn't looking at the root cause. Now when I get anxiety, I just try to figure out where it's from and then react accordingly. 



What are some tips that you can offer for neurodiverse students once school reopens?

I would say just try to predict in advance and come up with coping strategies to target the upcoming stress. For instance, if you're going to get anxiety about being around people, try to ease yourself into it by planning ahead. Before I go to bed, I try to envision the day I'm going to have and think about how I'm going to live life, how I'm going to respond to challenges that might come up. 



Any last words?

Neurodiversity Celebration Week is from March 15th to March 21st. It would be a time for schools to stop focusing only on what we cannot do and begin celebrating the many positive aspects of being neurodiverse. It is important for schools to recognise our many strengths: our creativity, innovation, ability to think outside-the-box, problem-solving skills, unique insights and perspectives, as well as our perseverance and resilience. In order to create a more positive perception about what it means to be neurodiverse, we need to change the educational landscape so that SEN students have positive school experiences.


 


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