It is with great sadness that the Salvesen Mindroom Research Centre are mourning the passing of our champion and benefactor, Alastair Salvesen. I first met Alastair in March 2019, just days after having been appointed to the role of Director of the Salvesen Mindroom Research Centre. I was flustered when meeting this towering man, whose height was equalled by his big personality and booming laugh. I asked what I should call him: “Oh, Alastair, I should think!” he laughed. It was a characteristically kind and welcoming start and one which immediately put me at my ease. Alastair’s generous philanthropy allowed the Salvesen Mindroom Research Centre to be created in early 2015. The Centre has brought together a collective of researchers invested in making a positive difference in the lives of neurodivergent people, to pioneer creative and impactful research. We work in close collaboration with the Salvesen Mindroom Centre, a charity providing direct help and support to neurodivergent people and their families, across education, healthcare, employment and in the community. Together our work is shaping UK and Scottish government policy, classroom practice across the UK, and show-casing a new neurodiversity-informed model of research-practice partnership. It was Alastair’s energy that created this link – one for which we are forever indebted to him. Alastair was a visionary when it came to setting a research agenda. He talked often about “the 80%” – the large proportion of children and young people with additional needs who fly under the radar, whose profile is not considered “severe” or “complex” enough to warrant our attention. Children in classrooms quietly struggling with dyslexia, dyspraxia, ADHD or developmental language disorder. Autistic girls being overlooked because of their gender and atypical presentation. Neurodivergent students and employees with clever minds and valuable skills, being shut out of success by a system that fails to cater to their idiosyncrasies. Alastair was a powerful advocate for a more inclusive world, and in many ways he lived that principle too. At the inaugural Salvesen Lecture – a public lecture series in his name, aiming to share research and practice insights – we asked the audience to use “flapplause”. The audience must wave their hands to show their appreciation, thus avoiding the storm of noise which can be so distressing for many neurodivergent people. Alastair immediately, with wit and charm, bought into this novel behaviour and was the first to remind the audience of this expectation at all our subsequent lectures. Not long ago, in March 2023, I had the great privilege to co-host with Sophie Dow (Founder of the Salvesen Mindroom Centre charity) a conference in Edinburgh, It Takes All Kinds of Minds. Alastair attended the entire event, listening and learning with us all. A common refrain from everyone I spoke to after the conference, was that they had met Alastair and found him charming. I have no idea how he managed, apparently, to talk to all 1000 delegates himself! But clearly he made a big impression on people, valuing their contributions, taking an interest and no doubt making them laugh with a quip and his boyish smile and wink. It has been an enormous privilege to know Alastair these last few years. He has been unfailingly kind, dedicated to the two Centres that bear his name, and energetically supportive of their potential. He will be sorely missed. His legacy lives on in the many joint projects that are shaping how neurodivergent people are supported and included in our society. By Sue Fletcher-Watson, Director of the Salvesen Mindroom Research Centre LinksTribute from the University of Edinburgh: https://www.ed.ac.uk/news/2024/tribute-alastair-salvesen Tribute from Salvesen Mindroom Centre: https://www.mindroom.org/dr-alastair-salvesen-cbe-ca-mba-hon-dsc/Alastair Salvesen condolence page: https://www.legacy.com/uk/obituaries/scotsman-uk/name/alastair-salvesen-obituary?id=57022318Salvesen Mindroom Research Centre launch video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_iqI22uYwwThe annual Salvesen Lectures: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLK6HldeHN7EpNPtMY1UTzIzA-RflfTw2bSalvesen Mindroom Centre: https://www.mindroom.org/It Takes All Kinds of Minds conference legacy pages: https://salvesen-research.ed.ac.uk/resources/2023-itakom-international-neurodiversity-conference This article was published on 2024-12-19
