Swishing Mindsets with Anuradha Varma

Ep 14: Pooja Sharma: Rooting for an 'Inclusive Duniya'


Listen Later

Pooja Sharma spent over 15 years in the corporate world before setting up The Sarvodya Collective, a non-profit working to weave inclusive communities around persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities, especially through their programme Inclusive Duniya. Here, she talks about how society at large can show up for the neurodivergent community, which accounts for 0.2 percent of the population, according to official estimates. Pooja, as part of India's first all-women team, also drove through 30 countries covering 30,000 km as part of the Mongol Rally to raise awareness around intellectual disabilities. Inclusive Duniya has introduced comics, freely available through their Instagram handle, to answer questions around neurodivergence. She encourages people to keep open minds and hearts and connect with people despite their differences. Listen in!

Follow and share to grow the conversation.

Click here for recommended books, movies and shows.

Chapters:
00:40 An introduction to Inclusive Duniya
03:13 On her brother’s intellectual disability; importance of awareness and allyship
05:50 Sharing her family story
10:04 Building a support system for caregivers
15:10 The numbers on neurodiversity; changing mindsets
18:00 Achieving UN’s SDGs through partnerships
20:50 Creating educational products for learners
22:23 Students as champions of neurodiversity
26:04 What is neurodiversity?
31:41 Inclusive Duniya comics and merchandise to create awareness
38:18 Participating in the Mongol Rally with all-women team
41:14 Witnessing inclusivity around the world – Croatia’s “best buddy” programme
47:12 Representing people on the spectrum
52:10 Late diagnosis of autism, ADHD, etc
55:10 Recommended reading and shows
56:50 building connections over differences

Follow Anuradha on LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram
Email: [email protected]

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed are personal. Listener discretion is advised.



Want to be a guest on Swishing Mindsets with Anuradha Varma? Send Anuradha Varma a message on PodMatch, here: https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/1750746513391971e921bbda5
...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Swishing Mindsets with Anuradha VarmaBy Anuradha Varma