For the past articles both here and in our Linkedin newsletter "Bridging the Gap", we focused on strengths based approaches and how they can help promote more inclusion in society. The list of Brain Strengths encourage us to appreciate the uniqueness of our brain and how it functions. For us to move from deficits to strengths we need to notice the language we are using on a daily basis. Our list of words/phrases/questions that you can hear within strengths based conversations and those that you can hear from deficits based ones created a buzz from people wanting to be mindful of how their language promotes strengths awareness and strengths building.
In one of the articles, we introduced the concept of niche construction from Thomas Armstrong Ph.D. and the importance of designing our lives with positive role models. This greatly supports our zones of development and in recognising the patterns in which we show up with our strengths. The addition of the "danger zone" is quite new for a lot of people and has created conversations and questions on how we can promote a better understanding of our nervous system state that can promote safety, curiosity and learning (we are working on a learning lab around emotional regulation and co-regulation so stay tuned!)
Our most recent and most shared article was the 36 strengths based questions that you can use for yourself or with others. Questions are powerful ways to uncover our strengths. It can help us in our self-discovery, self-awareness and our self-advocacy. Asking the right questions piques our curiosity, increases our understanding, and expands our critical thinking and imagination.
The last free tool in the strengths based approach series is using the Strengths Compass.
Here are four questions to help you explore your strengths and make them visible:
N- What are the NEEDS driving your strengths?
Needs are universal to us humans. In the practice of Nonviolent Communication or Compassionate Communication that Marshall Rosenberg developed. Needs are key motivators in our lives and tuning in to our needs is a crucial exercise for us to get to clarity and understand our behaviors, desires and longings. Here is a Needs cards from the "WHAT"S STRONG WITH YOU? toolkit to help you explore your needs.
Needs Card from "WHAT'S STRONG WITH YOU?" toolkit
E- What EXCITES you in using your strengths?
Think of a time that you used your strength. How was that experience for you? What makes you energised and excited in using your strengths?
S- Who can SUPPORT you in amplifying your strengths?
Go back to the Circles of Connection exercise and reflect on who are the people in your lives that are influencing your niche construction. Who are the people you can count on as you build your own version of what Dr. Armstrong refers to as "the least restrictive environment"?
W- Which areas of your life do you WISH to use your strengths more?
Look at the different arenas in your life. Which areas would benefit from using your strengths more? How can you share this desire to your circles of connection so they can fully support you on working on these areas?
Your Strengths Compass
Looking forward to knowing how this strengths compass exploration have supported you!
WHAT’S NEXT?
We finally released our strengths toolkit!
You can download the full "WHAT'S STRONG WITH YOU TOOLKIT" and for the period of March, we are giving 40% discount for the toolkit. Use the code BRIDGINGTHEGAP to get your discount.
You can also download free sample pages for those who would like to make use of the tools that we have already released.
We are a small team of volunteers dedicating our time, energy and resources in advocating and creating more awareness around Neurodiversity. Purchasing this digital product financially supports us in continuing our work in providing more tools and trainings especially for groups or organizations that need support the most.
We do not want finances to get in the way of foundations or initiatives doing great work in the world to access this resource. Please do get in touch if you are a non-profit and would like to get the full toolkit for free.
For those where money and funding is abundant, we would love to have your support! Your donation (to Neurodiversity Foundation) can greatly help us in expanding our services to more schools, families and organizations.