Ten-year-old's vision for neurodiversity awareness results in new inclusion project 'Dexter's Dream' following ADHD diagnosis

When Jax Shaw, from Farlington, asked her son, Dexter Allis, what he wanted to be when he grows up, his answer “blew her away”.

The youngster, who was diagnosed with ADHD a few years ago, told his mum he wanted to improve resources at schools to increase the visibility of neurodiversity after feeling like “no one understands” him.

His answers comes after he started noticing his school has limited books representing children with ADHD, which, Jax says, makes it harder for Dexter to feel accepted by his peers.

She said: “It’s incredibly difficult for him and one of the hardest things about having a disability is that it is seen as a problem but it should be celebrated. We have always taken that approach with Dexter, we’ve been open with him and we’ve always said to him that it’s a super power and we can see that he wants to believe us but there’s something inside of him that struggles to find his identity.

“He said ‘when I grow up I want to work for a charity that goes into schools to talk to kids about ADHD because no one understands.”

The admirable answer prompted Jax to launch ‘Dexter’s Dream’ - a new project which will create child-led initiatives to increase the visibility of neurodiversity in schools across the UK.

“This is a massive area where we can help neurodiverse children really feel accepted”, Jax explained.

As part of the scheme the mother-and-son-duo set up a fundraiser just over a week ago in a bid to fund more books, resources, celebration events and inclusive spaces in schools.

The GoFundMe, which has a target of £1,800, has already raised £1,015 with 18 people making donations and multiple offering their services to help with the new website.

Jax added: “We are hoping to grow the project. The utlimate goal would be to make it a national project to get books for schools across the UK because I’m pretty sure there are very little resources about neurodiversity.

“Dexter has had such a buzz, he is so happy and has been telling all of his friends about it - I think it is going to give him a massive boost.

“We would love to open up an application portal where schools can apply for books and we want to be able to offer a range of resources on our website.”

The 44-year-old said the new project and website is set to evolve and expand as interest increases with more ideas in the pipeline.

She added: “This is something that all children should know about.”

For more information about Dexter’s Dream, click here.