Sensory Intelligence: The Intelligence We Rarely Measure
By ION Global
What if intelligence isn’t only about how we think, but also about how we sense the world around us?
Sensory Intelligence: The Intelligence We Rarely Measure explores an emerging idea: that our ability to detect, differentiate, interpret and use sensory information could represent an important dimension of human capability.
Viewed through a neurodiversity lens, the article asks us to look beyond sensory differences purely in terms of sensitivity, overload or impairment, and consider the capabilities they may also bring.
What can you perceive – and what can you do with what you perceive?
Neuroism: A Word for When Neurological Difference Becomes Disadvantage
By ION Global
What happens when neurological difference becomes disadvantage?
In this new article from ION Global, Neuroism: A Word for When Neurological Difference Becomes Disadvantage, we explore the concept of neuroism – prejudice, discrimination or systemic disadvantage arising from assumptions about how people should think, communicate, learn, behave, sense or function neurologically.
The article looks at how everyday expectations can become accepted norms, and how those norms can shape our schools, workplaces, healthcare and wider society – sometimes creating barriers without conscious intent.
By giving these assumptions a name, can we begin to recognise them, question them and design systems that better reflect the neurological diversity of us all?
In the first edition of KC Tales, Kai explores what it feels like to find the people and places where you can relax, connect over shared interests and simply be yourself.
The Places Where I Don’t Feel Alone is a story about friendship, belonging and discovering the connections that help us feel understood and less alone.
What if you had more than one birthday – one marking when you were born, and another marking a moment that changed how you understood yourself and your story?
In this deeply personal article, Alan Robinson reflects on his “neurodivergent birthday”, the date of his first involuntary psychiatric hospitalisation at the age of 16. He explores identity, memory and the power of reclaiming your own narrative – transforming the words once used to define you into literature, reflection and a story told in your own voice.
A thought-provoking exploration of how we make sense of our past, and how telling our own stories can help us see them differently. Thank you, Alan, for this insightful piece.
Neurotypicality: The Unexplored Dimension of Neurodiversity
Join Professor Charlotte Valeur, Founder and Chair of the Institute of Neurodiversity (ION), for the next University College Dublin Neurodiversity Collective Masterclass.
Explore what we really know about the majority neurotype, how ideas of “normal” shape our institutions and expectations, and the emerging concept of sensory intelligence.
📅 24 September 2026, 5:00pm 💻 Online 🎟️ Free admission. Book your place via Eventbrite.
We look forward to seeing you at the next ION Chat on
Friday, 2 October 2026, 10:30am - 11:30am BST
Discover a virtual space where you can talk about what matters to you, hear from others, share your experiences, and connect on a deeper level. Register now to join us and become an ION individual member.
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