At Spicy Zebra we are passionate about everything that can lead a person living their best life, we adopt a “glass half full” approach rather than focusing on the negatives and trying to make people fit into boxes. We believe that all people should be given opportunities to thrive and enjoy their lives. We believe in sharing experiences and knowledge about neurodivergent experiences and processing styles enables others to understand and respect the differences which enables all to thrive. At Spicy Zebra we believe that it is important to continue learning, therefore we are passionate about finding new opportunities to develop our learning and updating any support or training we offer regularly to reflect the latest experiences of ND people and research.
With over 20 years experience of working within Health and Social Care, Supported Employment and Play, we believe that we have a depth of knowledge that enables us to share our experiences effectively.
. Through supporting organisations and individuals, we aim to improve the quality-of-life outcomes and save lives by reducing the unnecessary deaths as highlighted in the LeDeR reports. We aim to spread the word that being neurodivergent is ok, and in many cases neurospicy people are valuable to society and businesses. At Spicy Zebra we have a dream of neuroinclusive communities and businesses making the world better for all.
Why Spicy Zebra
Spicy Zebra is named to reflect our interest and experiences in all areas of neurodiversity. Some people use the word ‘neurospicy’ to describe that a person is neurodivergent. This word was devised by neurodivergent people, as a way of expressing their identity, without some of the associations to the deficit model
The Zebra refers to the commonly used phrase within medicine “When you hear hoofbeats behind you, you don’t expect to see a Zebra” this phrase is often attributed to Theodore Woodward (professor at the University of Marlyland School of medicine). Referring to when a person is misdiagnosed being given an incorrect diagnosis because the clinician has assumed the obvious rather than assessing the whole and identifying the rarer diagnosis which fits better. When the professional needs to consider a more complex diagnosis. The Zebra is used to represent Ehler-Danlos (EDS) or Hypermobility Syndrome (HMS) which is often a co-occurring disability with a neurodivergent diagnosis such as autism, ADHD or OCD. The Zebra has been used within the neurodivergent community to show belonging for example:
“There is comfort in knowing that your a normal zebra, not a strange horse.” (@ADHDworks, 2022).
Spicy Zebra aims to help develop herd acceptance for those who experience EDS / HMS and neuroinclusivity. Spicy Zebra aims neurospicy Zebra’s to be heard, understood and find somewhere they belong. Our vision is for the world to become neuroinclusive, reflecting the differences of people across society.