Bridget Hampstead

What ended up being the real topic of the conference, underlying everything that everybody talked about, were communities. These communal ways of mutual aid and taking care of every member of the society and people coming together to help people.

in one area because they weren't able to do something in a different area and that was responsibility of a different group and it was all about community and celebrating identity and authenticity and being a part of a community. It really hit home for me and to see all these people from all over the world talking about the importance of community

in one area because they weren't able to do something in a different area and that was responsibility of a different group and it was all about community and celebrating identity and authenticity and being a part of a community. It really hit home for me and to see all these people from all over the world talking about the importance of community

in one area because they weren't able to do something in a different area and that was responsibility of a different group and it was all about community and celebrating identity and authenticity and being a part of a community. It really hit home for me and to see all these people from all over the world talking about the importance of community

And I was really hit hard by the fact that as a neurodivergent person who was raised by people who told me that was a shameful secret and never to share that with anyone, I realized that I had no community And that I suspected that there were other neurodivergent people out there who also didn't have a community. And that's where the idea for a virtual neurodivergent community center came from.

And I was really hit hard by the fact that as a neurodivergent person who was raised by people who told me that was a shameful secret and never to share that with anyone, I realized that I had no community And that I suspected that there were other neurodivergent people out there who also didn't have a community. And that's where the idea for a virtual neurodivergent community center came from.

And I was really hit hard by the fact that as a neurodivergent person who was raised by people who told me that was a shameful secret and never to share that with anyone, I realized that I had no community And that I suspected that there were other neurodivergent people out there who also didn't have a community. And that's where the idea for a virtual neurodivergent community center came from.

That was my takeaway from the conference was this idea of like, we have to do this. And I don't know who's out there and I don't know who this will resonate with, but it just became this thing that I had to do. So when I came back from the conference, we founded Fish in a Tree. And I left my position at the nonprofit to run Fish in a Tree. And it's really taken off.

That was my takeaway from the conference was this idea of like, we have to do this. And I don't know who's out there and I don't know who this will resonate with, but it just became this thing that I had to do. So when I came back from the conference, we founded Fish in a Tree. And I left my position at the nonprofit to run Fish in a Tree. And it's really taken off.

That was my takeaway from the conference was this idea of like, we have to do this. And I don't know who's out there and I don't know who this will resonate with, but it just became this thing that I had to do. So when I came back from the conference, we founded Fish in a Tree. And I left my position at the nonprofit to run Fish in a Tree. And it's really taken off.

We started with a physical center here in New Orleans. We kind of found that most people that were coming were actually deaf. More interested in virtual options. And so we pivoted and we let go of the space, the physical space. We pivoted to have all of our programming online and it increased our reach.

We started with a physical center here in New Orleans. We kind of found that most people that were coming were actually deaf. More interested in virtual options. And so we pivoted and we let go of the space, the physical space. We pivoted to have all of our programming online and it increased our reach.

We started with a physical center here in New Orleans. We kind of found that most people that were coming were actually deaf. More interested in virtual options. And so we pivoted and we let go of the space, the physical space. We pivoted to have all of our programming online and it increased our reach.

So now we have people from all over the country and in some cases, some international people who participate in all of our programs. programming that's grant funded. So it's at no cost to people. And it's been going really well. It's been growing and we now have the blog. So there is an advocacy piece to what we're doing. And then we also do consulting.

So now we have people from all over the country and in some cases, some international people who participate in all of our programs. programming that's grant funded. So it's at no cost to people. And it's been going really well. It's been growing and we now have the blog. So there is an advocacy piece to what we're doing. And then we also do consulting.

So now we have people from all over the country and in some cases, some international people who participate in all of our programs. programming that's grant funded. So it's at no cost to people. And it's been going really well. It's been growing and we now have the blog. So there is an advocacy piece to what we're doing. And then we also do consulting.

So we work with organizations that want to support neurodivergent people. We work with music venues and theaters and festivals and parades that want to accommodate neurodivergent people. And so we do a lot of consulting work, which is kind of the not the forward facing part of the organization, which is the community center piece. But we do a lot of that in the background.

So we work with organizations that want to support neurodivergent people. We work with music venues and theaters and festivals and parades that want to accommodate neurodivergent people. And so we do a lot of consulting work, which is kind of the not the forward facing part of the organization, which is the community center piece. But we do a lot of that in the background.

So we work with organizations that want to support neurodivergent people. We work with music venues and theaters and festivals and parades that want to accommodate neurodivergent people. And so we do a lot of consulting work, which is kind of the not the forward facing part of the organization, which is the community center piece. But we do a lot of that in the background.

Well, one of the particular sort of immediately apparent challenges was that the language and the ideas of the neurodiversity movement and the neurodiversity perspective have not quite trickled down all the way to the Deep South. We're here based in New Orleans, and not a lot of people use the language of neurodiversity to identify themselves.