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Lived experience, Autistic Pride Day Symposium 2023
Chris Varney traced ICAN Network to a teacher who pushed him to try
In short
In a recorded message to the first Autistic Pride Day Symposium, Chris Varney told how a year seven coordinator’s belief in him became Australia’s largest autistic led organisation, by his account.
Read it instead, 5 minutesThe transcript
The story
Chris Varney’s account of how ICAN Network began starts with a teacher. In a pre recorded message played at the opening session of the first Autistic Pride Day Symposium, in Melbourne on 18 June 2023, he said the organisation grew out of a promise he made after the death of his year seven coordinator, the teacher who had taken an interest in what interested him.
Before it played, a panellist who said they had worked in neurodiversity since about 2014 described an earlier connection. The panellist and Varney had been in the same year level at primary school and had not discovered it until both had studied law and turned up to the same practical legal training class some 14 years later. Varney mentioned a new charity working on peer mentoring for children on the spectrum. The panellist said they were on the spectrum, were a lawyer and liked doing governance, and offered to help.
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Sources the story draws on
- Q&A with Chris Varney, Founder and Chief Enabling Officer of I CAN Network (opens in a new tab), Future Generation
- Funding announced to expand I CAN programs (opens in a new tab), Country News (McPherson Media Group)
- Case study, I CAN School Mentoring Program (opens in a new tab), State Government of Victoria (vic.gov.au)
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