The program brings together scholars who seek to take time away from their regular activities to explore new ways of thinking and build new connections with scholars outside of their field.
In her work with families with neurodiversity, Dr. Richardson has questioned the current use of labelling through diagnosis and hopes to use her year as a Wall Scholar to explore the history of two similar diagnoses, autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD). This will allow an exploration of how social norms influence diagnoses and to question whether the process of diagnoses causes harm and prevents the obtainment of health in an inequitable manner.