A movement of neurodivergent individuals in Peru is advocating for change in the country. Coordinated through picnics in public parks, the Peruvian Neurodivergent Coalition (CNP) is challenging prevailing attitudes toward bipolar disorder, ADHD, and autism. Attendees at the picnics choose coloured tapes to identify their “social battery”. Green indicates a desire to participate in activities while red suggests that others should not approach them. The coalition was established in March 2023 by five neurodivergent women who wanted to make real-world change. At its fifth gathering, around 30 young neurodiverse people came together to share experiences free from stigma and abuse.
Neurodiversity is a concept first coined in 1997 that acknowledges that conditions such as autism and ADHD are but part of the myriad ways in which human brains are wired. In Peru, the coalition is working to tackle the taboo surrounding diagnoses such as bipolar disorder. When one of the coalition’s co-founders, Carolina Díaz Pimentel, publicly posted her bipolar disorder diagnosis in 2017, few talked about their diagnoses in public, but today the coalition is influencing government policy. Two congressmen have asked for members’ feedback on legislation to protect the rights of autistic people.
However, such a movement still has some way to go in Peru amid confusion over how to define and categorise different conditions. For example, the National Registry of Citizens with Disabilities lists 15,000 people on the autism spectrum, while international statistics suggest that there are over 200,000 individuals with autism in the country. The coalition is therefore educating people and helping to clarify such data.
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