The @neurodiverse.voices.podcast I recorded with Andreia Costa just over a week ago will air in the autumn 🍁 more details to come.
 
I loved speaking with Andreia about the NdC Neurodivergent Wellbeing Approach Course I designed & facilitate, the journey & impact of late #autism diagnosis, menopause & much more!
 
Grateful to have had the opportunity to contribute to this super podcast 🤝
 
#educateevolveembody #bodymind #diversity #depathogise #rehumanise 

The hardest boundaries I've had to learn & set are with myself.

The ongoing internal #bodymind negotiation of not allowing my mind (it's pushy programming, rationalism & logical analysis but also its visionary, philosophical, connection-making brilliance) to dominate & override my highly sensitive, deeply feeling, vulnerable body (& it's instinctive & intuitive knowing).

Who oversees the negotiation? Wise self; essence; spirit; soul ..

#knowthyself #mindbodyspirit

​Part of setting boundaries for me has been getting clear on my values & practising energy discernment, learning what drains & what rejuvenates my bodymind & spirit.

In knowing these I can decide what I am and am not available for.

Examples 👇

Yes ✅ harmonising connections; creativity; hope-filled solution visioning; embodied ways of knowing, expressing & exploring ideas; conscious communities/individuals & interactions; depth; the language of the body & nervous system including feeling, sensation & emotion; meeting spiritual needs; holism; reciprocity, relationality & interdependence; aliveness & open heartedness

No ❌ combativeness; high-arousal, critical & conflict-driven interactions; exclusively analytical, logical & mind-dominant ideation & exploration; positioning mind ways of knowing as supreme; communities/individuals who lack awareness & a willingness to reflect & evolve; superficiality; the language of pathology; fundamentalist scientism; separation; individualism & extractivism; deadness & disembodied rationality

I also ask myself two questions in order to discern my response to a request, or a boundary regarding an action, person, community.

They are 👇

Is it aligned with & manageable for my ''I feel therefore I am' bodymind diversity?

Will it enable me to continue to fully 'feel' my life & to support others, who want to, to do the same?

#ifeelthereforeiam #bodyminddiversity

 

​'Regardless of neurotype, there is a disconnect between mind and body throughout society - we are collectively mind dominant, thought-based and body-phobic'

This SPLIT is a (the?) PROBLEM.

Super proud to have co-authored Chapter 23, Beyond Mind: The Embodied Double Empathy Problem, in this amazing Dr Damian Milton Reader, published by Pavilion Press, with Jill Corbyn, who is the Director of @ndconnectionuk where I am delighted to work as a Development Lead.

This was a really fantastic event - and I’m so grateful for the York St John University academics leading this challenge and disruption in academia.

Witches have occupied the academic imagination across disciplines and have in recent years become a rebellious feminist trope. From medieval trials to modern feminist reclamations, from folklore to popular media, witches embody resistance, transformation, and power. Whilst there is lively debate about the meaning and extent of the European and American witch trials and a burgeoning cultural milieu in which the trope of the witch is explored, there is also a growing interest in the practice of witchcraft as an individualised spirituality. 
​
This free interdisciplinary conference explored the figure of the witch in all its historical, literary, sociocultural, political, and spiritual dimensions.

Session 1: Gender & Resistance: The Struggle & Subversion of The Witch.

I was the first speaker in this session of the conference - challenging and disrupting - delivering a presentation entitled, Gender, Power, and Witchcraft: Women's ‘Spelling’ Lived Experience Storytelling.

My presentation …

Explored the motivations behind the four Girl God Books anthologies, which offer diverse perspectives on trauma, initiation, neurodiversity, and pain, reclaiming the feminine through storytelling and creative expression

Highlighted the power of ‘spelling’ - storytelling in reclaiming feminine wisdom, challenging patriarchal structures, and fostering spiritual healing

Centred embodied lived experiences - the writing, poetry, and art from a global network of women – to examine the intersection of witchcraft, Goddess spirituality, gender and power

"The pain stops me in my tracks.

What I have observed is that the onset of pain happens when I am too much ‘in my head’, serving others without reciprocation and/or neglecting my pleasure.

So, from that viewpoint, the pain is an ally, showing me that I am imbalanced, fractured from embodiment.

Our collective spiritual and physical immune system is reacting and saying NO.

Pain is a political and revolutionary statement from the body. A clear message that society, paradigms, culture and systems need to change."

Let's not get distracted or bypass this.
​
I ended my Gender, Power, and Witchcraft: Women's ‘Spelling’ Lived Experience Storytelling presentation at the superb Interdisciplinary Witch Conference @yorkstjohn with my words from the @girlgodbooks Pain Perspectives: Finding Meaning in the Fire anthology I co-edited (& one of four anthologies I spoke about) 

"Understanding neurodiversity as a form of body mind diversity, challenges traditional, narrow ideas of ‘normal’ and invites us to recognise the legitimacy of diverse ways of thinking, sensing, communicating, and existing.

Diversity and cohesion as partners: It’s easy to assume that celebrating differences might pull communities apart and that cohesion might reduce diversity. Cohesion arises not from uniformity, but from embracing differences within a shared framework of values, mutual care, reciprocity, responsibility, and a collective vision and purpose greater than the ‘I’.

Moving forward together: As we continue past the celebrations of Neurodiversity Pride Day and Pride Week, let us continue to hold two truths at once: we are wonderfully unique and individual body minds and we are interdependent.

Pride and cohesion are not in competition, they are essential companions."

Extract from my Neurodiverse Connection blog Celebrating and honouring body mind diversity.

Link below.

#educateevolveembody #bodyminddiversity #embodiment #spirituality #depathologise #rehumanise #bodymind #neurodivergent #diversity #communitycohesion #neurodiversity #neurodiversitypride #pridemonth

"To say that the body is silenced and occupied is to describe how systems of power and control, override or erase a person's natural, intuitive, and embodied ways of being and knowing. Especially when those ways fall outside of what's considered ‘normal’ or ‘acceptable’ by dominant cultural standards.

Moving Toward Liberation-Based Support 

We need to ask: who defines ‘normality’, and which behaviours and bodies are acceptable? Who benefits from a system that rewards uniformity and values conformity?  

If support is to be truly person-centred, it must honour the full humanity of all people, including Neurodivergent people, and their movement, impulses, and embodied ways of being in the world. 

Liberatory alternatives to PBS focus on co-regulation, meeting embodied and sensory needs, trauma-informed care, and deep listening. They validate the diverse ways humans know and express, including embodied ways of knowing and expressing, affirming that everybody has a wise ‘knowing’ body and that the goal of support is not control, but connection, safety, and respect."

Extract from my Neurodiverse Connection blog 'How Positive Behaviour Support silences and occupies the body' which is part of our #AgainstPBSandABA campaign

"Furthermore, PBS embeds the fawn response, which is a trauma response in which individuals comply, appease, and people-please to avoid conflict or punishment. This behaviour can lead to a lifelong pattern of compliance and makes individuals more vulnerable to coercive control, with serious consequences for both mental and physical health. When an external stressor or threat to our nervous system overrides our natural fight-or-flight responses, we may feel compelled to appease authority and "perform" for those in power. This can trap us in a state of functional freeze—a survival mode in which we disconnect from our authentic selves. 

The long-term effects of these interventions go beyond personal distress; they serve a larger societal function. By producing individuals who comply without question, who do not challenge authority, and who prioritise external validation over internal autonomy, PBS ensures a workforce that neatly fits within capitalist structures. This is not about empowerment or self-actualisation—it’s about creating sanitised, obedient individuals who do the bidding of those in power."

Extract from my Neurodiverse Connection blog 'Positive Behaviour Support: discovery, reflection and radical rethinking' which is part of our #AgainstPBSandABA campaign

The Interdisciplinary Witch Conference: Culture, History and Society
York St John University @yorkstjohn Friday, 20 June

Super excited to be delivering a presentation, Gender, Power, and Witchcraft: Women's ‘Spelling’ Lived Experience Storytelling, discussing the four @girlgodbooks anthologies I co-edited, at this progressive & exciting event

Interested? Details & how to book a ticket below 👇

Witches have occupied the academic imagination across disciplines and have in recent years become a rebellious feminist trope. From medieval trials to modern feminist reclamations, from folklore to popular media, witches embody resistance, transformation, and power. Whilst there is lively debate about the meaning and extent of the European and American witch trials and a burgeoning cultural milieu in which the trope of the witch is explored, there is also a growing interest in the practice of witchcraft as an individualised spirituality. This free interdisciplinary conference will explore the figure of the witch in all its historical, literary, sociocultural, political, and spiritual dimensions

#educateevolveembody #embodiment #spirituality #depathologise #rehumanise #interdisciplinary #witch #storytelling #livedexperience

​Chapter 23: Beyond Mind: The Embodied Double Empathy Problem Jill Corbyn & Kay Louise Aldred

Honoured to have coauthored a chapter which will be featured in Dr Damian Milton's upcoming The Double Empathy Reader: Exploring Theory, Neurodivergent Lived Experience and Implications for Practice

The Double Empathy Reader brings together a substantial collection of work from leading researchers, theorists and practitioners, with first-hand accounts of neurodivergent people, to explore this growing area of study within the neurodiversity movement.

This comprehensive handbook explores Damian Milton’s ‘double empathy problem’: the breakdown in mutual understanding that can happen between any two people yet is more likely to occur when people of differing dispositions attempt to interact. It challenges the traditional view that in exchanges between autistic and non-autistic people, this breakdown was simply the result of autistic people being inherently deficient in empathy.

Thirteen years after the theory was first published, The Double Empathy Reader brings together an important volume of work to explore the research that has developed in that time as well as the many gaps in our understanding that still exist, with the aim to understand the potential of this theory to aid a reframing of autism itself and the radical change this could bring when considering best practice models for supporting autistic people in different settings.

This title is the first in a new ‘Readers in Neurodiversity’ series, which follows Milton et al’s The Neurodiversity Reader, first published in 2020. In keeping with this earlier collection, this new volume also explores how the concept of the ‘double empathy problem’ may be of use in wider theory and practice regarding neurodiversity.

Available for preorder now.

#educateevolveembody #embodiment #spirituality #depathologise #rehumanise #autism #doubleempathyproblem #neurodiversity

​The Wisdom of Cerridwen: Transforming in the Cosmic Brew

Delighted - as always - to be featured twice in this powerful latest Girl God Books  anthology, writing about rehumanising & depathologising our embodiment, spirituality & psychic abilities.

A truly fabulous collection of women's writing, art and poetry which is available to purchase now from the Girl God Books website or online stores.

"Her body, as is ours, is the vehicle for change" from my first of my submissions - Embodied Mentorship with the Goddess Cerridwen 

"Things are shifting. Pathologising our intuition, creativity, and internal ways of knowing - plus diminishing and undermining our internal spiritual authority - is no longer possible" - extract from my second submission - Retrieving the Black Rose: Dream Divination, Transformation, and Initiation with Cerridwen

#educateevolveembody #embodiment #spirituality #depathologise #rehumanise #intuition #creativity