What does neurodivergent spirituality mean? In this episode of The Mycelial Mind: NeuroKin Conversations, hosts David Gray-Hammond and Adele Murray explore neurodivergent spirituality, isolation and belonging in Autistic community.
David and Adele begin by separating neurodivergent spirituality from religion, recognising the faith-based trauma many in our community carry. They talk about spirituality as purpose, meaning, values and ethics; the ripple effects of our actions beyond our own lifetimes; Cloud Atlas; and where quantum physics, Buddhism and neurodivergent ways of questioning the world meet.
The conversation then turns to isolation. Autistic people aren’t unsociable; we socialise differently, and the double empathy problem explains much of the distance we feel. Drawing on the concept of urhomelessness, David and Adele explore what it means to feel unsafe and unacknowledged, even among our own people, and why neurodivergent communities must include everyone, especially those whose experiences challenge us.
Also in this episode: what’s on at NeuroHub Community, our new projects, and the launch of The Wider Existence, a Substack exploring neuroqueering, ethodiversity and posthumanism, starting with symphrenia: a community-created, non-pathologising term for AuDHD people with psychotic experiences.
Upcoming Neurohub Events
Neurodivergent-Friendly Halloween Hangout; online; Saturday 31 October, 6pm (UK); donation-based; spooky movie trivia quiz, Halloween infodump and a raffle for a free NeuroHub product: https://events.humanitix.com/neurodivergent-friendly-halloween-hangout
A Christmas That Fits for Autistic People; online webinar with workbook; Friday 27 November, 6pm (UK); donation-based: https://events.humanitix.com/christmas-for-autistic-people
Autistic-Friendly End of Year Party; in person at St Mary Magdalene Church Hall, Coldean, Brighton; Saturday 19 December, 4pm; early bird tickets £7.50; only 60 places: https://events.humanitix.com/autistic-friendly-christmas-party
The Horizons Project
With Helen Edgar and Autistic Realms: interactive Re-Storying Autism and Autistic Identity courses (with a bundle option); Phoenix, our neurodivergent-affirming AI companion and website widget; and the beta NeuroHub client platform for practitioners, built around the Six-Point Framework.
https://horizons.neurohubcommunity.org
Links From The Episode
- Join NeuroHub Connect: https://connect.neurohubcommunity.org/p/join
- The Wider Existence: https://thewiderexistence.co.uk
- Autistic Identity With NeuroHub (episode with Dilpreet Buxi): https://bit.ly/autistic-identity-neurohub
- PhiliaHealth wearable and app (affiliate link; NeuroHub receives a small commission if you buy through it): https://shop.philiasense.com/?ref=neurohub
- Supporting Autistic People by David Gray-Hammond; Kindle pre-order now, paperback end of November: https://mybook.to/sup-autistic
- Autistic Realms: https://autisticrealms.com
- NeuroHub Community Website: https://neurohubcommunity.org
- Reconceptualizing Schizophrenia: The Phenomenology of Urhomelessness, ed. Sarah Kamens: https://www.routledge.com/Reconceptualizing-Schizophrenia-The-Phenomenology-of-Urhomelessness/Kamens/p/book/9781032473666
Chapters
00:00 Welcome
02:16 What’s on at NeuroHub: Halloween Hangout
04:19 A Christmas That Fits
07:11 Autistic-friendly end-of-year party
10:23 The Horizon Project and new courses
12:36 Phoenix, the neurodivergent-affirming AI companion
15:23 The Wider Existence and symphrenia
18:39 Neurodivergent spirituality
33:17 Isolation, belonging and community
39:06 Closing and signposts
#Autism #Neurodivergent #AuDHD #NeurodivergentSpirituality #AutisticCommunity
