Welcome to the January OUL Bulletin! This month has brought challenging winter conditions and icy weather. We hope you're staying warm and comfortable at home, enjoying good books and engaging activities. The OUL team and I are doing well at home and staying safe, but we haven't forgotten to prepare the January Newsletter. If you wish to share information with us for the next newsletter in February, feel free to email oulorg22@gmail.com . If you're not yet subscribed to our O

Note: This is an advocacy piece calling for systemic change in education. If you're looking for practical strategies to help neurodivergent students right now, see our companion guide " When Education Becomes Trauma: A Guide for Parents and Educators. " Key Points If you read nothing else, know this: The crisis is real : Neurodivergent students face 10x the mental health risk of their peers, with autistic children 46x more likely to experience severe school distress. The num

Week 10 The Core: Identity as Liberation At last, we reach the center. We have peeled away the thin skin of visibility, the fragile bridges of access, the layered misunderstandings of communication and education, the ache of isolation, the rebuilding of community, and the discovery of culture. And what remains here is not emptiness. What remains is the core . The core is identity , the unshakable truth of being Deaf, of being autistic, of being ADHD, of being fully and una

This is the first post in a new series exploring education trauma and its impact on parents, educators, and neurodivergent learners. Every Wednesday, we'll dive deeper into a different aspect of this critical topic—from a guide for parents and educators (this post) to why school is failing neurodivergent students to a resource guide for students with LD, ADHD, and autism. Whether you're a parent, educator, therapist, or advocate, this series will provide you with the knowledg

Week 9 The Layer of Thriving: From Surviving to Growth At this layer, the onion no longer feels sharp or heavy. The tears have already been shed. The lessons have already been learned. We are close to the center now, the heart of life revealing itself. Here, the question changes. We move past how do we survive? and begin to ask: what does it mean to thrive? Survival is where many of us begin. It’s the quiet strength of navigating schools without language access, of worki

Week 8 The Layer of Family: Connection and Community The next layer we reach is about connection , the bonds that shape us long before we can name them: family and community. For many Deaf children, family is the first and most powerful test of belonging. Some grow up in homes where parents learn ASL, where conversations flow in the language of the hands, where laughter is visual as much as audible. In these homes, Deafness is not treated as loss but as another way of bein

" Masking is an autistic trait, but autistics don't mask because we are autistic. We mask because we have been traumatized from being in a society where everything we do is criticized because we don't fit the norm. " - autistic advocate Morgaan Foley. This quote shows what many autistic people experience: masking isn't a natural part of being autistic. It happens because society treats autistic behavior as wrong and constantly criticizes it. This is what autism masking really

Week 7 The Cultural Layer: Identity and Shared Belonging As the onion opens further, we arrive at culture , the layer where identity begins to take shape not just inside the individual, but in the shared space between people. This is the point where I am becomes we are. For Deaf people, this layer is called Deafhood . Deafhood is not a diagnosis or a label. It is not about what is missing, but about what is made. It is the process of becoming, the unfolding of self throu

"Just focus." People with ADHD hear this all the time. From teachers, parents, bosses, and friends who mean well. The message is simple: if they just tried harder , everything would be okay. But this advice gets it wrong: ADHD isn't about focusing. It's about controlling where your focus goes. The Myth of the Attention Deficit The name "Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder" is misleading. It suggests that people with ADHD don't pay attention to things. But anyone who actu

Hi everyone, We wanted to take a moment to reach out to all of you and extend our warmest greetings as we embark on this new year together. May this year bring you happiness, success, and prosperity in all your endeavors! Never give up and keep trying with determination and perseverance to chase after your dreams, goals, and aspirations throughout this entire year and beyond! With warm regards from all of us, OUL TEAM!

Week 6 The Layer of Language: Self-Worth and the Right to be Understood Deeper into the onion, we reach the layer where learning and living touch the heart: language and self-worth. Language is more than vocabulary, grammar, or even expression. It is the mirror through which we come to see ourselves. When a child grows up with full access to language, whether through ASL, Auslan, or any form of genuine communication something profound takes root. They learn that their thou

First: take a breath. Whatever you're feeling right now is okay. You might feel overwhelmed, relieved, confused, or scared. Maybe all of these at once. That's completely normal. You might be thinking about what comes next. Or looking back at your life in a new way. You might worry that things just got more difficult. We understand. Many of us have been right where you are now. This diagnosis isn't the end of something. It's the beginning of finally understanding yourself. Her

We are wishing you and your loved ones a very happy and joyful Kwanzaa! Let's come together to celebrate this wonderful occasion! OUL Team Videos: Kwanzaa in ASL (Alice Rash) ASL What Is Kwanzaa? National Black Deaf Advocates Kwanzaa: Cultural Holidays by Sheila Anderson

To the World of Community, Welcome to the December OUL Bulletin! This holiday season is the perfect time to spend quality moments with family, close friends, and beloved pets. Thank you for being an integral part of the OUL journey this year. We've had our ups and downs—with both the website and our team—but we remain committed to our mission. As Cristina Berdickevsky always says, "Never give up." In 2026, we'll continue moving forward with website improvements and our regula

Week 5 The Educational Layer: Misunderstood Intelligence Peel again, and we find the classroom. For many Deaf children, and for many who are also autistic or ADHD, school is the first place where the story of being “misunderstood” begins. Intelligence, for them, is often measured by how closely they can fit into hearing norms or neurotypical expectations by how well they perform within systems never designed with their minds, rhythms, or languages in mind. A Deaf child ma

"You're smart. You just need to work harder." If you've heard this—or said it to someone—you know it feels good and bad at the same time. For millions of people with learning disabilities, ADHD, and Autism, this phrase doesn't help. It's a lie that stays with them for years. It says their problems are their fault. That if they just tried harder, everything would be okay. But learning disabilities, ADHD, and Autism don't work that way. Why This Label Is So Damaging When you te

Week 4 The Layer of Belonging: The Space Where We Breathe The next layer we reach is the social one, the profoundly human need to belong . To be Deaf, to be autistic, to live with ADHD, often means standing at the edge of conversations that move in unfamiliar rhythms. It can mean being the only one signing in a sea of spoken words, the only one pausing to process while others rush ahead, the only one whose timing and energy seem out of sync with everyone else’s. That diffe

Week 3 The Layer of Communication: Expression and Understanding Peel back another layer, and we arrive at the heart of interaction: how we communicate. At the surface, many people assume that “communication” simply means speaking and listening that it begins with sound and ends with words. But that is only one narrow slice of the vast landscape of human expression. Real communication is richer, broader, and infinitely more nuanced. It lives not just in the voice or the ea

Week 2 The First Layer: Access Once the thin skin of visibility is set aside, the first true layer we reach is access . For many people outside the Deaf community, this is where the conversation begins and often, where it ends. Access is what they see on the surface: captions glowing across the bottom of a screen, an interpreter standing beside a speaker, hearing aids or cochlear implants presented as “solutions,” or technology marketed as a bridge to the hearing world. Th

Greetings to everyone, Happy Friendsgiving from the entire OUL team! We want to extend our warmest wishes to you and yours during this festive season. It's hard to believe how quickly time has flown by—we're already approaching the end of another remarkable year. We hope you enjoy a delicious meal surrounded by your beloved family and friends during this special time of gratitude, reflection, and togetherness. From all of us! THE OUL TEAM!