Pinja Larme lives in Anchorage, Alaska, where she works at a local elementary school. She currently holds the record as the Oppiko Neurodiversity Coach Training participant living the farthest from Finland. The straight-line distance between Jyväskylä and Anchorage is approximately 6,300 kilometres (3,900 miles)!
Before enrolling, Pinja had spent quite some time comparing different coaching and neurodiversity-related training programmes. After a friend recommended Oppiko’s Neurodiversity Coach Training, she carefully explored the course content and online format on Oppiko’s website. To her delight, she realized that participating would be entirely possible—even from the other side of the world.
According to Pinja, even the live online sessions, which took place early in the morning Alaska time, fit surprisingly well into her schedule.
“Although there is an 11-hour time difference between Finland and Alaska, participating was easy and the technology worked flawlessly throughout the course. The rest of the studies were also very easy to fit around my schedule because the lectures and assignments were available in the online learning environment 24/7. I could study whenever it suited me best.”
For Pinja, the greatest strengths of the training were the comprehensive, high-quality medical lectures and the professional yet approachable trainers.
“Even though the training was completely online and I was participating from thousands of kilometres away, I always felt that the trainers and the rest of the Oppiko team were easily accessible. Whenever I needed help, they were there.”
She also highlights the wide variety of guest speakers, experts, and speakers with lived experience as one of the programme’s greatest assets.
“The speakers brought so many different perspectives, including deeply personal ones. Together they created an incredibly rich learning experience and broadened my understanding of how differently the very same diagnosis can affect people’s lives.”
Looking back, Pinja says the training became far more meaningful than she could ever have imagined.
“The programme gives you the foundations for developing your own way of thinking—and for some truly life-changing insights.”
Summing up her experience, Pinja says:
“This training has been invaluable to me. I recommend it wholeheartedly—to just about everyone!”