Three hundred community members attended Belonging Matters, a ground-breaking community-wide neurodiversity conference on Monday, a joint initiative hosted by Norwood, the United Synagogue and Gesher School. A packed conference programme brought together Jewish community professionals, educators, faith leaders and families at Finchley United Synagogue to build understanding, confidence and commitment to neuroinclusion across all aspects of communal life. The conference was kindly supported by The Seneca Trust, with media partner The Jewish Chronicle.
Panellists from across the Jewish spectrum and from other communities were enlisted on a range of topics to curate a thoughtful cross-section of experiences from across the Jewish community and beyond.
At a pivotal moment for the Jewish community, as it seeks to move from awareness to action by embedding neurodiversity inclusion across all institutions, Norwood trustee and Gesher co-founder Sarah Sultman set the tone for the day by telling delegates: “Belonging cannot be built in silos – it requires real commitment and collaboration.”
The event was designed to promote systemic change on inclusion in the Jewish community, in line with Norwood’s Building an Inclusive Community 2025–2028 strategy and the United Synagogue’s inclusion and engagement commitments. By ensuring neurodivergent people and their families shaped the conversations organisers hoped to ensure those with lived experienced were integral to building manageable steps towards becoming a more disability-inclusive community, especially around neurodivergence.
“Belonging Matters is not something we just say, it’s something we live by. Today, we are building a world where children aren’t seen as a problem to be managed, but as people to be seen and understood…belonging means being who you are and knowing you are seen and truly belong,” added Sarah Sultman.
Delivering the event’s keynote conversation was The Times/The Sunday Times SEND agony aunt, journalist and bestselling author of How to Raise a Happy Autistic Child and How to Raise a Happy ADHD Child Jessie Hewitson, who began her address by declaring herself “a massive fan of labels”. “People think labelling is limiting (but) what they have to realise is a child will find a label for themselves and it will be so much more harmful…I am of the opinion that labels save lives”.
Addressing claims that the UK has seen increasing overdiagnosis of conditions such as autism and ADHD, she said: “I don’t think ADHD and autism are as rare as we once thought, so why do people think there’s an overdiagnosis”.
However, she contended, there are many positives to being autistic: “Autistic people are better at pattern recognition and more honest.” “Neurotypical people have an ease with lying that neurodivergent people don’t,” she added to laughter from the audience. “The combination of autistic logic plus ADHD hyperfocus is magic. If we were to go back to the control room of the first moon landing, I’m convinced they were all neurodivergent!”
Addressing participants in the day’s final session, a panel discussion titled “Belonging Matters: What Happens Next”, Executive Director of Israeli disability charity Beit Issie Shapiro, Ahmir Lerner, said: “People can lie about their attitudes very easily, but they can’t lie about their behaviours. So we want to focus on changing behaviours, which are really easy to measure.”
Pam Goldsmith, Interim Joint Chief Executive of Wohl Legacy added: “What we need and what this group has done is to raise their knowledge today. We need you to go out and change the conversation at the Friday night dinner table from ‘is your child a doctor or an accountant’ to ‘is your child happy, are they in work or education’, helping to change the way we think about the world.”
Leora Wilson, Co-Chair of the Department for Work and Pension’s Apprenticeship Ambassador Network for London, spoke of her own experience integrating into the workplace as an autistic person, as she advised participants: “If you are working or are with someone who is neurodivergent, spend time with them, train them, get to know them, and give them time to process things. You will see the return on your investment.”
“Disability and neurodivergence is not about doing chesed (kindness),” added parent and disability advocate Deborah Gundle. “There is a void in our community, because neurodivergence is not our priority. We need to make inclusivity a mindset, not an afterthought.”
“When families start to come together and be part of the community, that shows impact,” she concluded.
Closing the conference, United Synagogue Chief Executive Jo Grose and Norwood Chief Executive Naomi Dickson spoke of the importance of partnership working and collaboration to allow us to celebrate existing Jewish community innovation and develop a common language for inclusion that would translate ideas into action. “The conference was a true partnership between Norwood and the United Synagogue, recognising that we can go further and faster when we work together,” said Jo Grose. “We were thrilled to have delivered a day of real quality and to have truly filled the room. Neuroinclusion concerns the United Synagogue because we are our people: our members, our young people, our volunteers and our staff. We listened, and we understood that we could do better. The breadth of our work means we’re well placed to deliver change at scale: yes, we are shuls, and over the past two years we have run training and raised awareness across our 56 communities. But we are also summer camps, Chesed hubs, a Beth Din, a burial society, cheders, nurseries, and so much more. That gives us the ability to share learning across multiple settings and achieve real reach. Together, we are taking steps towards building a community where everyone truly belongs.”
“Change starts the moment each of us leaves this room. That’s the power we’ve created today,” added Naomi Dickson.