For individuals living with a neurodevelopmental conditions - like Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), or intellectual disabilities - access to services and supports in the community is important.
Whether it's help with navigating the health care system, education or career counselling, mental health guidance, or other specialized support, many people benefit from community services. For immigrants or newcomers, however, those services can feel much less approachable.
With funding from an Azrieli Accelerator Catalyst Grant, UCalgary's Dr. Roz Zulla PhD, leads a transdisciplinary taking a closer look at the experiences of Black immigrant and refugee families with a neurodivergent youth or young adult in the family.
Merging research, community practice and lived experience, her team includes collaborators from UCalgary, University of Alberta, and local settlement and ethnocultural agencies:
- Bright Light Multicultural Center
- MultilinguAbilities
- Multicultural Health Brokers Co-Operative
- Newcomer Centre
- Catholic Social Services
- Action for Healthy Communities
Together they are examining the experiences, needs, strengths and future hopes of families.
"One thing we're trying to figure out is how do we map services? How do we understand our delivery landscape so that families better understand where the services are now?" says Zulla. "We want to help create those spaces with flexible and adaptable policies for services that are multilingual, disability sensitive, culturally sensitive and mindful of ableism and racism."
Fuelling neurodevelopmental research across the lifespan at UCalgary
Neurodevelopmental conditions affect the development of the brain and nervous system and can lead to learning and behavioural differences. People who have these conditions often identify as neurodivergent, meaning they process information differently than someone who is neurotypical.
The Azrieli Accelerator at UCalgary advances research and community engagement that explores neurodevelopment from various angles and seeks to make a positive impact in the lives of people living with neurodevelopmental conditions.
"Whether researchers are exploring the mechanisms of brain development, interventions, technology development or population health, we want to activate research across the landscape," says Dr. Susan Graham, PhD, Scientific Director of the Azrieli Accelerator. "Understanding the needs and experiences of people who have neurodevelopmental conditions, or are caring for people with them, is critical to understanding how best to support communities. That's why the work that Dr. Zulla and her team is doing is so important."
Among Zulla's team of community partners and co-researchers are:
- Kemoh Mansaray from Bright Light Multicultural Center
- Lucero Vargas, a speech pathologist, clinical lead and the creator of MultilinguAbilities
- Abdullah Ahmed of the Newcomer Centre
Through their direct work with families, they offer key insights into current systems and services.
"Mainstream professionals don't understand some of the challenges that ethnocultural communities are facing," says Mansaray. "Programs and activities are designed and offered without those communities in mind, or without letting them be a part in shaping them," he adds.
Vargas agrees. Having immigrated to Canada from Columbia nearly three decades ago and herself a mother of three children, two of whom are neurodivergent, she understands well the complexities that immigrant and refugee families can face.
"Many of the programs available are developed for the mainstream, they aren't adapted for immigrant families. Not only are there language barriers, but they don't understand the dynamics of the family," she says.
"That's why the Azrieli Accelerator Catalyst grant is so important to show the needs of the families, what the agencies are doing and how we can change some policies in the future."
For Ahmed, this research comes at a time when it is needed most. "When a newcomer arrives here, there's often very little known about their medical history including what type of assessments have already been done. This research will help find the blind spots and get a full picture of the conditions that children and families go through. This will help us advocate for them and make sure that they are connected to the right resources."
Barriers faced by Black immigrant and refugee families
Some of the unique obstacles that newcomers face when navigating services can include discrimination and cultural misunderstanding. As Mansaray explains, "Black people are already marginalized or discriminated against in many services and having a disability poses extra challenges. Young people have skills and talents, but without guidance or access there's no pathway for them."
Add to that, the cultural and religious diversity that spans the 50-plus countries in Africa, plus Caribbean and Latin American countries. "All of these cultures understand things uniquely based on cultural practice and have different systems and terminologies; not just when it comes to disability but how all health is perceived. You can't have one approach to treat all Black immigrants and refugees," says Mansaray.
Zulla recognizes the importance for researchers like her to take a step back and take a critical look at how services are delivered. "I often operate in a Western worldview, I've been schooled in that way," she explains. "When you have such a diverse group of Black communities with different ways of knowing, it's important to look at how we can best work together."
Neurodevelopmental conditions are approached and understood very differently across cultures. "Some families don't know the name of the disability they are living with. In some languages the word for autism doesn't even exist," says Vargas.
This can sometimes create obstacles when working with families that are living with cognitive or physical health issues. Ahmed explains, "in some cultures, there's a stigma or a taboo attached to disability. It's important we understand what a client is going through so we can support them in the best way."
Breaking away from that stigma can be complex. It's important for service providers to be adaptive to the needs of families based on their cultural values. "When we don't understand the system, we can't have the basic support, and this can become a wedge between Black people, immigrants and others. By exploring the system and by educating, we can make things easier for people who are reliant on the system," says Mansaray.
Advancing a strengths-based, culturally responsive approach
When examining our current systems, Zulla explains that it's important to shift the perspective to look at strengths rather than deficits.
"We need to recognize what people are capable of, how they have overcome challenges and use that as an asset," says Zulla. "When working with families, many service providers focus on the challenges they have faced. When you're inundated with that narrative, you don't necessarily have room for agency. Many of our families come with a lot of assets that unfortunately have been underutilized or completely ignored."
The organizations that Mansaray, Vargas and Ahmed represent work from a strengths-based, inclusive model that prioritizes family voices.
The hope is to see that model expand further throughout the community. By harnessing individual strengths, empowering families, and having flexible and adaptive policies that create space for cultural practices, the services that are offered throughout the community can have a much better impact on all families.
In the year ahead, Zulla and her team of partners will be hearing from Black immigrant and refugee families, as well as community workers to gather information about their experiences. These findings can help inform the way that services are delivered to provide better support in the future.
"If we leverage the strengths of people with disabilities along with their families and communities, we can create a much more successful experience for them when they seek support," says Zulla.
Congratulations to the 2025 Azrieli Accelerator Catalyst Grant recipients
Azrieli Accelerator Catalyst Grants fuel research to explore neurodevelopment and neurodevelopmental conditions across the lifespan. The latest recipient teams are unlocking important discoveries and supporting communities. Visit the website to learn more about these exciting research projects:
- Investigating the microbiota in prenatal alcohol exposure models: relevance for children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder
Principal Investigator: Tamara Bodnar, PhD, Azrieli Accelerator Assistant Professor in Transdisciplinary Neurodevelopment Research, Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science - Miss. Diagnosed: Social-emotional wellbeing and strengths of Canadian girls and women with ADHD
Principal Investigator: Emma Climie, PhD, Associate Professor, Specialization, School and Applied Child Psychology, Werklund School of Education - Frozen in fear: circuit mechanisms underlying cortical network activity during innate defensive response
Principal Investigator: Dr. Ning Cheng, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine - Targeted Probiotics in Dup15q: A novel approach to neurological stability
Principal Investigator: Jane Shearer, PhD, Professor, Faculty of Kinesiology - Evaluation of an acceptance and commitment training program for Autistic adults
Principal Investigator: Ami Tint, PhD, Azrieli Accelerator Assistant Professor in Neurodiversity & Intersectionality, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts - Understanding the needs and hopes of black immigrant and refugee families with youth or young adult with a neurodevelopmental disability
Principal Investigator: Roz Zulla, PhD, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Social Work, Cumming School of Medicine and Werklund School of Education
Dr. Roz Zulla is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Social Work at UCalgary's Edmonton Campus. She has a joint appointment in the Cumming School of Medicine and Werklund School of Education and is co-funded by the Institutes for Transdisciplinary Scholarship (ITS), a connection point on campus advancing transdisciplinary scholarship.
Susan Graham is Director of the Owerko Centre at the Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute (ACHRI) and Scientific Director of UCalgary's Azrieli Accelerator. She is a professor in the Department of Psychology in the Faculty of Arts and a member of the Owerko Centre, ACHRI, and the Hotchkiss Brain Institute at the Cumming School of Medicine.
The Azrieli Accelerator launched at UCalgary in 2022 thanks to a generous $25-million gift from the Azrieli Foundation. Levering expertise and partnerships across UCalgary and our community, the Azrieli Accelerator ignites research and initiatives to explore neurodevelopment and neurodiverse initiatives across the lifespan. Through this work, the Azrieli Accelerator seeks to make meaningful and positive changes in the lives of neurodivergent individuals and their families.
