Students at Niverville High School recently embraced the world of neurodivergence by celebrating unique human quirks.

Student Cooper Lavin is behind the planning of Neurodiversity Spirit Week for the second year in a row. Lavin is a 16-year-old Grade 11 student who identifies as autistic, one classification of neurodivergence. The goal is to create awareness and education through participation.

On Monday, students were encouraged to wear tie-dye or vibrant colour schemes. Wednesday produced crazy hair or hats.

“For a lot of neurodivergent people, their thoughts are all over the place,” Lavin says. “The thoughts are inconsistent, loud, and out there, like vibrant colours.”

Landmarks across Manitoba are being illuminated in red and blue this month to shed light on fibromuscular dysplasia (FMD), a cardiovascular condition that experts say is far more common than its “rare” label suggests.

On May 1, the Island Park causeway and City Hall in Portage la Prairie were lit up to mark Fibromuscular Dysplasia Awareness Month. The initiative is part of a growing movement led by Julie Vogelsang, a Winnipeg-based volunteer for the Fibromuscular Dysplasia Society of America.

Vogelsang, who was diagnosed with the condition in 2022 through MRI testing, has co-ordinated the illumination of 16 landmarks across the province, including the Esplanade Riel Bridge and ‘Winnipeg’ sign in Winnipeg later this month, along with the York Lobby at the Convention Centre. Joe the Steamer train in Austin was also lit up. Other prominent landmarks have been illuminated across the country thanks to Vogelsang’s efforts.

“Researchers used to call it a rare disorder, and now they’re saying they don’t think it’s rare, but rarely diagnosed,” Vogelsang said. “The lack of awareness and education is not just within those who have it, but also in the medical community.”

Inuit associations and the Government of Nunavut should get more money from the mining industry, according to economist Erin Weir.

Weir, a senior associate at SILO Strategy and former NDP MP from Saskatchewan, presented his research on royalty payments during the Nunavut Mining Symposium on April 20.

“Both Inuit organizations and the Government of Nunavut are receiving only a tiny percentage of the value of minerals being extracted from the territory,” Weir said.

AGNICO EAGLE