Decoding

Abstract

Decoding delves into my personal experience of growing up in a Western educational system as an undiagnosed neurodiverse student. The purpose of this piece spotlights dyslexia – which in my experience included the daily decoding of written assignments, but also the process of decoding what it meant to be classified as having “poor comprehension” of verbal and social settings in the classroom. I want Decoding to challenge how we think about neurodiversity, and how Indigenous teachings honours the understanding of people in a holistic way in contrast to more compartmentalized approaches found in Western systems. I also intend to highlight areas in communication design which underserve neurodiverse people, as well as non-English speakers, and how those in the arts and sciences can collaborate on solutions in design.