1. Who we are 

1.1 These terms and conditions, together with the Membership Application Form (the “Application Form”) (together being the “Terms“) form the basis of the contract through which the Institute of Neurodiversity (“ION“, “we“, “us” or “our”) will deliver our membership services (the “Services” or “Membership”) to you (“you”) as a member of ION (“Member“). Any definition of ION in these Terms may, at ION’s discretion (and upon notice to you) also refer to all of ION’s designated subsidiaries, affiliates, partners, licensees, franchisees and/or any other connected entities as may be notified to you from time to time.

1.2 ION is incorporated in Switzerland as an Association called Institute Of Neurodiversity – ION. Our registered office is in Geneva, Switzerland. You can contact our Company Secretariat on info@IONeurodiversity.org.

1.3 Please read these Terms carefully before applying to become a Member of ION. In consideration of us accepting your application to become a Member and enabling you to access the Services, you agree to be bound by these Terms. Your attention is particularly drawn to the limitations and exclusions of liability set out in clause 13.

2. Membership and your contract with us

2.1 When you click to submit your Application Form online, you are making an offer to subscribe to the Services in accordance with these Terms. You can subscribe as a paying individual member or a Corporate member (SME or Large).

2.2 Our acceptance of your offer to be a paying member or corporate member will take place once:

(a) payment of the Membership Fee has been received by us for the Services in full.

(b) we confirm in writing (usually by e-mail to the e-mail address specified in your Application Form) our acceptance of your application to be a paying Member (the “Commencement Date”), at which point a contract will come into existence on these Terms between you and ION (whether or not you have specifically signed these Terms). Please note that acknowledgement by us that your Application Form has been received and is being processed should not be treated as confirmation that the contract between you and ION has yet formed.

2.3 Our acceptance of your offer to be a member will take place online when you sign up as a member online.

2.4 Any quotation that we give to you does not constitute an offer and is valid only for 14 days from the date on which it is made.

2.5 We reserve the right to refuse any Membership Application at our complete discretion. If we refuse your Membership Application, we will inform you of our decision to do so as soon as reasonably practicable.

2.6 Subject to any early cancellation or termination rights in accordance with these Terms, your Membership will start on the Commencement Date and will last for the length of time designated in the Application Form (the “Subscription Period”).

2.7 Membership of ION is on an individual and organisational basis. We may, at our complete discretion, offer discounts to members when more than one individual is joining from the same organisation. However, you may not transfer your Membership to or share your access to any Services with or, save for the sole purpose of administering your Membership, share your ION login details with, any other individual (regardless of whether that individual may be based in the same organisation as you or is a family member).

2.8 All updates and membership information will be sent via email. Communications will be sent to you at the email address specified in your Application Form. We accept no responsibility or liability if you do not update the details specified in your Application Form with your current email address.

2.9 These Terms, set out your obligations to other Members. We may update the Terms at any time. Where feasible, we will consult with our Members prior to making any changes to the Terms. In any case, we will notify Members of any such changes via e-mail in accordance with clause 2.9.

3 Membership benefits 

3.1 Membership packages (including applicable benefits (“Membership Benefits”) vary according to the category of Membership held. Subject always to these Terms, the details of our current Membership packages applicable from time to time, including all applicable Membership Benefits are set out on our website: www.IONeurodiversity.org.

3.2 Use of any Membership Benefits are strictly limited to named members only.

3.3 We may change and/or withdraw all Membership Benefits that apply to your Membership at any time. We will provide you with 30 days’ notice in advance of any changes to the Membership Benefits which we consider will materially disadvantage you, or materially impact on the category of Membership held by you.

3.4 Specific terms and conditions may apply to individual Membership Benefits. Where that is the case, you will be asked to accept those terms and conditions prior to subscribing for that Membership Benefit.

4. Payment of the Membership Fee

4.1 The fees for the Services consist of a subscription fee (the “Membership Fee”).  Membership Fees can be paid for by way of recurring payments via online sign up, direct debits or bank transfers.

4.2 The Membership Fees and any payment terms which are displayed on ION’s website will always prevail in relation to orders for Services that are placed on-line.

4.3 The Membership Fees and any payment terms that are displayed on ION’s website will prevail in relation to orders for Services that are placed verbally.

4.4 We may update the Membership Fees and payment terms set out on our website and our Application Form at any time. As set out in clause 2.3, any quotation by an ION representative will only be valid for 14 days from the date on which it is made.

4.5 The Membership Fee you pay is fixed during the term of a Subscription Period; If we discover an error in the price of your Membership, we will inform you as soon as is reasonably possible.

4.6 Before your Membership can be accepted, we must receive payment for the Membership Fee in full (credit/debit card or bank transfer)

4.7 All prices are expressed exclusive of any Tax payable unless otherwise stated.   

5. Card payments

5.1 If you are not using your own credit/debit card to pay for any Membership subscription, you must obtain the permission of the credit/debit card holder before entering the payment details.

5.2 When you offer to subscribe to ION either on-line, by post or verbally, you are confirming that you have obtained the express prior permission of the credit/debit card holder.

6. Direct debit payments

6.1 Payment by Direct Debit is the simplest and the most convenient way to pay your Membership Fee. You can pay the Membership Fee by way of annual instalments by Direct Debit.

6.2 If you arrange for your Membership Fee to be paid for by way of annual Direct Debit instalments, payment will be automatic through your bank or building society. For new applications, payment(s) will be collected as per your Direct Debit mandate and instructions to us.

6.3 You agree that your Membership is for the Subscription Period, even if you are paying your Membership Fee by way of Direct Debit instalments.

6.4 If you change your bank / current account provider, as part of the transfer you will need to ask your new bank to switch your existing Direct Debit instruction over to your new account to ensure payments are not missed.

6.5 If an error has been made in the payment of your Direct Debit by us or your bank/building society, you are entitled to a full and immediate refund of the amount paid from your bank or building society.

7. Cancellation and refunds

7.1 You may cancel your Membership at any time within your subscription periods.

7.2 We do not refund any paid membership fee when cancelling membership during a subscription period.

8. Renewal of your Membership

8.1 Prior to the end of your Subscription Period, we will send you reminders that your Membership is due for renewal.

8.2 If you are paying your Membership Fee by Direct Debit and you would like to cease to be a Member at the end of your Subscription Period, then you should notify us that you no longer wish to be a Member and cancel your Direct Debit payments. If you do not notify us that you no longer wish to be a Member, or if you do not notify your bank/building society that you wish to cancel the Direct Debit payments at the end of the Subscription Period, and you continue to pay ION in accordance with these Terms, you agree that the ION may treat this payment as a payment to renew your Membership for a further Subscription Period.

8.3 Your Membership Fee is paid in full at the start of the Subscription Period (one year). It will be automatically renewed annually.

8.4 Your entitlement to renew your Membership is subject always to payment of the applicable fees and your continued compliance with these Terms, including (without limitation) the Rules and Regulations.

9. Member conduct 

9.1 As a Member you must conduct yourself, both publicly and privately, in an appropriate manner and not do anything, or permit anything to be done, that may cause any harm or loss to ION’s brand, goodwill, reputation or standing.

9.2 You must not do or permit anything to be done to any other ION Member, member of ION staff, ION consultant or contractor and/or any third-party company or individual who is engaged by or on behalf of ION or is closely connected to ION that may in ION’s opinion be inappropriate, distressing, disrespectful, obscene, embarrassing or otherwise offensive.

9.3 Your use of any online Membership Benefits or Services is conditional on your undertaking to not (a) knowingly introduce any viruses to the ION website or ION’s mobile applications, including, without limitation other ION managed websites and mobile applications as may be produced (together referred to as the “Website”) or any aspect of our Services; (b) attack (or instigate or directly or indirectly facilitate an attack of) the Website or any aspect of the Services; or (c) use the Website or Services for any purpose or in connection with any purpose which is or could reasonably be perceived to be inappropriate, unlawful, abusive, libellous, obscene or threatening.

10. Advertising, websites and use of ION trademarks/Intellectual Property

10.1 As a Member, subject always to your compliance with these Terms, you may state on your website, social media and publicity/marketing materials that you are a Member of ION at the appropriate level, but you must not use the ION logo, or any other ION branding (including, without limitation, the ION, logo, colour palette and any other distinct and/or identifying marks) or in any way imply that you are employed or engaged or endorsed by ION unless this is the case or hold yourself out as having a different level of Membership to that you actually hold at the time of publishing such materials (and continue to hold for as long as the materials are published), without our prior written consent. If you obtain our permission, you must exercise it in a way that is fair, reasonable, and lawful and does not damage our reputation or take advantage of it, or suggest any form of association, approval, or endorsement on our part where none exists. We reserve the right to withdraw any permission given in this clause at any time.

10.2 You must not claim to represent publicly the views of ION or to claim its support, without the consent of ION’s Board of Directors (“Board”) (or of an officer or employee of the Institute nominated by the Board for such purpose).

10.3 The copyright and all other intellectual property rights of all information, content and material on the Website belongs to ION and its licensors and save insofar as our press releases may be used in press articles, it may not be reproduced in any way without our prior written consent. Information and material on the Website may be used for personal use only and not for commercial use. You are responsible for taking any security measures necessary when using the Website (for example, by keeping your login details secure). You agree to abide by all copyright notices and restrictions imposed by ION from time to time. Links to third party websites are provided for the convenience of our members only and ION is not responsible in any way for and has no liability in respect of the content or operation of such websites or the associated organisations.

10.4 We make no representations that any information on the Website is accurate, up to date or complete. You should independently verify any information before relying on it. Any communications made by any member or non-member of ION on the Website or in any other form of media or forum (including any verbal, written and non-verbal communications) is the view of that individual alone and not of ION.

11. Liability

11.1 We provide the Services for your own use, not for any commercial, business or re-sale purposes, and you agree that we have no liability to you for any loss of profit, loss of business, business interruption or loss of business opportunity.

11.2 If we fail to comply with these Terms, we are responsible for loss or damage you suffer that is a foreseeable result of our breach of these Terms or our negligence (that means that it is an obvious consequence of our breach, or that it was contemplated by you and us at the time you became a Member), but we are not responsible for:

(a) any loss or damage that is not foreseeable.

(b) any loss or damage arising from your use of Membership Benefits which are provided by an external provider / third party other than ION (provided that the loss or damage is not a result of a breach of these Terms by us).

(c) you are misusing the Website or any other part of the Services in any way (including you undertaking any inappropriate, unlawful, or immoral activity and/or any activity which could harm ION and/or bring ION’s reputation or that of its members, officers, or employees, into disrepute); or

(d) us or other ION members, acting on materials or communications which purport to have been made by or on behalf of you, but which have been created or sent by (i) a third party purporting to act in your name, or (ii) a person who has lawful access to the Services but who exceeds their authority, regardless of whether such losses arise in contract, tort, negligence, breach of statutory duty or otherwise.

11.3 Nothing in these terms and conditions shall exclude or limit any person’s liability where it would be unlawful to do so. This includes for death or personal injury caused by a person’s negligence, or any person’s liability for fraud.

11.4 Except as specified in these Terms, all express or implied conditions, terms, representations or warranties (whether implied by statute or otherwise) are hereby excluded to the maximum extent permitted by law.

11.5 These Terms do not and shall not affect your statutory rights as a consumer.

12. Data Protection

12.1 By entering into these Terms you acknowledge that we will collect and process your personal data as necessary for our performance of these Terms on the basis set out in our Privacy Policy in force from time to time and available on our website. 

13. Termination / suspension of Membership

13.1 Without affecting any other rights and remedies which we may have and without liability to you for any losses which may result, we may terminate your Membership of ION immediately, or suspend your entitlement to any of the Services, if:

(a) in our sole opinion, you materially or repeatedly breach any of these Terms.

(d) you fail to make any payment to ION on the date on which it falls due and payable in accordance with these Terms and/or the Application Form and/or within seven days of us reminding you that payment is due; or

(e) we are required by any applicable law or regulation and/or a reasonable request from the Board and/or any committee nominated by the Board to terminate your Membership with us.

13.2 If we terminate your Membership for any of the reasons set out in 13.1, unless otherwise authorised by or on behalf of the Board in writing:

(a) your right to use our Website and the Services shall cease with immediate effect, and we may take all steps as we consider necessary to implement this (including, without limitation, terminating your access to and use of any membership only areas of ION’s website and Services and invalidating any relevant access details).

(b) you shall not hold yourself out as being a member of ION.

13.3 Termination for whatever reason of these Terms shall not affect:

(a) any rights, liabilities or obligations which accrued before such termination (including without limitation the right to claim damages in respect of any breach of the Terms which existed at or before the date of termination).

13.4 If we need to terminate your Membership immediately, or suspend your access to any of the Services, for any of the reasons set out in clause 15.1, we will inform you of our decision to do so as soon as reasonably practicable.

14. Changes to these terms

14.1 We may update these Terms at any time to reflect changes in or to:

(a) relevant laws or regulatory requirements.

(b) security, technical or operational issues.

(c) the operation of our Websites and / or Services; or

(d) our business.

14.2 If we update these Terms, we will post a revised version of the Terms, and a summary of our changes, on our Website. We may also e-mail you with information on those changes.

15. Member Complaints and Feedback

15.1 If you have any complaints, please send them to us at the address given on the ‘Contact us’ section of our Website or send them to info@ioneurodiversity.org. We would like to hear from you so we can continue to improve our service.

16. General 

16.1 These Terms constitute the entire agreement between you and ION. Any advertising or descriptions of the Services (for example, on our website) are published for illustrative purposes only and shall not form part of the Terms.

16.2 You agree that we may transfer our rights under these Terms to any company, organisation, or person provided that your Membership will not be adversely affected as a result of such transfer. If we need to, we will contact you in advance of such transfer.

16.3 Any failure or delay by us to action a breach by you of these Terms shall not constitute a waiver of any rights and remedies we have in respect of such breach.

16.4 We shall not be responsible for any breach by ION or any third party, where such breach is caused by circumstances beyond our reasonable control. When we say, “circumstances beyond our reasonable control”, we mean any act or event beyond our reasonable control and which is not attributable to any act or failure to take preventative action by us (including, for example, a pandemic, a terrorist attack or threat of terrorist attack, a natural disaster, a failure of public or private telecommunications networks or impossibility or the use of any means of public or private transport). If a breach if caused by circumstances beyond our reasonable control, we will contact you as soon as reasonably possible to notify you of it, and our obligations under these Terms will be suspended for the duration of those circumstances.

16.5 These Terms govern the relationship between you and us. No other person or organisation shall have any rights to enforce any of the Terms.

16.6 Unless otherwise expressly stated in these Terms, all notices from you to us should be sent by email to ION’s administration info@ioneurodiversity.org. We may send any notice to you under these Terms by email to the email address that we hold on file for you.

16.7 We will do our best to resolve any disputes over these Terms.

16.8 You and we both agree that these Terms are subject to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Switzerland. However, if you are a resident of any country, you may also bring proceedings in that country.

16.9 In the event of a breach by these Terms of any of your statutory rights in force from time to time, it is agreed that your statutory rights will always prevail.