2026 Neurodiversity Justice Workshops
Presented by Bridgette Hamstead and Fish in a Tree: Center for Neurodiversity Education, Advocacy, and Activism
I will be offering the following 2 hour workshops through Fish in a Tree in 2026:
February 24: Neurodiversity Justice 101: Rethinking Inclusion, Power, and Access
This workshop introduces the framework of neurodiversity justice as a way to understand why so many autistic and ADHD adults have struggled in systems that were never built for their minds. It helps participants see neurodivergence as something profoundly shaped by environment, culture, and power rather than personal deficit. Individuals attend because they want clarity, validation, and language for their lived experience. Teams attend because they want a deeper foundation for inclusion work. By the end, participants understand why genuine equity requires redesign rather than adjustment.
Intended audience: Neurodivergent adults, late-identified autistic and ADHD people, clinicians, educators, graduate students, nonprofit staff, and anyone entering this work for the first time.
March 31: Building Neurodiversity-Affirming Institutions: Policy, Practice, and Culture
This workshop offers a structural exploration of what it takes to transform an institution into a place where neurodivergent people can actually thrive. It looks at workflow design, communication norms, organizational culture, leadership practice, sensory environment, and policy through a justice-centered lens. Individuals gain a deep understanding of how institutions have shaped their personal burnout patterns. Institutions gain clarity on how to move beyond accommodations and into redesign. The session provides a framework for meaningful, sustainable change.
Intended audience: Neurodivergent adults seeking systemic understanding, institutional leaders, HR teams, DEI practitioners, disability services, clinical directors, educators, and anyone responsible for shaping organizational culture.
May 26: Beyond Awareness: Building Neurodivergent Belonging Through Culture and Governance
This workshop explores the cultural conditions that allow neurodivergent people to experience genuine belonging. It looks at communication patterns, conflict norms, leadership structures, decision-making processes, and relational expectations. Individuals learn why they have often felt misunderstood or misattuned within institutions and relationships. Teams learn what it means to shift power, change culture, and create spaces where neurodivergent people no longer have to mask in order to be accepted.
Intended audience: Neurodivergent adults, community leaders, nonprofit boards, governance teams, executive leadership, educators, and institutions ready to move from messaging to cultural transformation.
June 30: Neurodiversity Inclusion and Accessibility in Conference Design
This workshop offers a deep exploration of how conferences either support or overwhelm neurodivergent participants. It examines registration flow, room layout, lighting, sound, pacing, scheduling, crowd physics, and communication design. Individuals gain clarity on why conferences have historically been so difficult. Teams learn how to build events that are not just survivable but genuinely accessible and welcoming to divergent nervous systems. The workshop moves conference design far beyond the quiet room and into a fully reimagined model rooted in sensory stability, clarity, and care.
Intended audience: Academic conference organizers, nonprofit staff, corporate learning teams, museum educators, symposium planners, arts organizations, and neurodivergent individuals who attend or speak at conferences.
July 28: Moving From Awareness to Activism: Neurodiversity Justice as a Framework for Change
This workshop is an invitation to move beyond awareness and into collective action. It examines the limits of awareness-based models and offers a clear pathway into advocacy, movement participation, and structural change. Individuals find language for their personal shift from identification to activism. Institutions learn why awareness does not produce equity and how to evaluate their practices through a justice-centered lens. By the end, participants have a clearer sense of their role in the larger movement for neurodivergence liberation.
Intended audience: Neurodivergent adults seeking a place in the movement, emerging advocates, graduate students, nonprofit and community workers, educators, clinicians, and institutions ready for deeper engagement.
August 25: Serving Neurodivergent Adults: A Justice-Centered Framework for Nonprofits/Leaders
This workshop is designed specifically for nonprofits that support autistic and ADHD adults. It looks at intake processes, case management structures, communication norms, sensory design, power dynamics, and service delivery models. Individuals who use services attend to understand their own experiences more clearly. Nonprofits attend to learn how to build programs that create dignity, autonomy, and belonging rather than compliance and control. The workshop offers a humane, justice-aligned approach to adult services that centers the leadership and agency of neurodivergent people.
Intended audience: Nonprofit staff and leadership, case managers, social workers, funders, community advocates, government agencies, and autistic and ADHD adults who engage with services.
Tickets are $75 a person ($35 tickets available upon request). Pass for all events $$350 ($210 passes available upon request).
To purchase tickets or for more information, please email me directly at bridgette@fishinatreeglobal.org. Include the email addresses for ticket recipients in your email please. I will post more on this in the coming weeks/months.
Each workshop is offered at 2pm CST on the listed day. Workshops will be delivered via Zoom.