Community of Enquiry: learning together about neurodiversity

19 September 2024

The Developing Evidence Enriched Practice (DEEP) approach includes many methods to help people use evidence to discuss, share and learn. One of these methods is called Community of Enquiry (CoE).

In this blog we explore an event where this method was used successfully.

Spotlight on our event

We recently held a CoE with Torfaen local authority. The theme of enquiry was neurodiversity.

This brought together a group of neurodivergent people, practitioners, and researchers to explore and share knowledge. We discussed what’s important when supporting a strengths-based approach to working with neurodivergent people.

This was a helpful step towards co-producing neurodevelopmental services and it helped all those involved work towards a common understanding and vision.

Using the DEEP approach created a space to explore ideas and allow for a wider range of voices to be heard.

How does the approach work?

A CoE starts with a stimulus (we shared two digital stories) and then attendees come up with questions that explore something of interest in the stimulus. A question is democratically selected by the attending ‘community’ and then there's an ‘enquiry’ where people share views, knowledge, and experiences relevant to the selected question.

Group of people talking in a workshop setting

‘Is it possible to normalise acceptance of diverse behaviours without the need to disclose neurodivergence?’

- Question selected by the Torfaen community.

What we learnt

Community members felt disclosure needed to be a personal decision because neurodivergent people can experience many challenges, not least a lack of understanding. As a group we highlighted some areas of concern, such as the need to make more support available for neurodivergent parents.

However, participants also agreed that more inclusive practices and attitudes are emerging, with a youth orchestra that holds ‘relaxed’ performances discussed as an excellent example of this.

We also learnt that we need to share and celebrate the strengths of neurodivergent people, and how they contribute to society.

“Attending the community of enquiry event was a hugely positive experience. We engaged with highly knowledgeable people we hadn’t been able to reach before. This will help to inform our local neurodevelopmental plans immensely. The process certainly challenged some of my previously held assumptions and deepened my understanding of neurodivergence, paving the way for a genuinely strengths-based approach in Torfaen."

- Jim Wright, Torfaen local authority.

The CoE approach allowed for diverse perspectives and experiences to be shared and participants felt valued and included. We all realised and appreciated the complexity of the enquiry and left the day with more understanding and knowledge.

Find out more

More information about the DEEP approach is available on the DEEP website.

Visit our events page for information about the DEEP bitesize learning sessions on Community of Enquiry and all other DEEP events.

Written by

Nick Andrews

Research and practice development officer

Nick is a registered social worker and is based at Swansea University, where he co-ordinates the DEEP programme. The focus of this work is a co-production approach to using diverse types of evidence in learning and development, including story and dialogue methods. Having spent many years in practice and planning in social care services, he's able to make connections between research, policy and practice and has developed an extensive network across Wales and the UK. He's passionate about supporting a shift from process-driven to relationship-centred practice.