hi! neurodiversity affirming events and groups


Curious Cryptid Learning

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Dear Reader,

We have a new wave of people joining us from the free How To Be a Neurodiversity Affirming Play Therapist training that released last Sunday, so welcome new folks! Glad to have you here!

I hadn't even had a chance to send out a proper email about it yet - but please hop in there if the topic interests you. The content is applicable to anyone working with neurodivergent youth, really. I'm joined by Play Therapists SarahRose Hogan, Fiona Hill, Jessica Kitchens, Fatima Natascha Lawrence, and Dr. Robert Jason Grant in it! (Free and you can earn up to 3.5 APT & NBCC credit hours.)

Personally, I've been continuing to have a lot of medical appointments and managing this whole chronic illness stuff! Work is rewarding, as always, and I'm so grateful to have such an understanding community when there are lapses in communication.

I want to make sure I catch you up on everything that's coming up on my calendar, in case there are things you'd like to join me at, as well as places to build community! I know it's tough out there for many of us right now.

Keep reading for free and paid learning opportunities & resources!

Free Resources

๐Ÿ“น If you work with youth and are needing some ideas for sensory adaptations, Dr. Grant has a free training currently: Creating a Sensory Affirming Office and Playroom.

๐ŸŽค Aces Up Your Sleeve is a podcast centering autistic, ADHD, and asexuality-spectrum lived experience (among other identities!) Sabrina and I host it and answer listener questions - sometimes with great guests. (Check out the "tags" to skim topics we cover to see what's useful for you or your clients.) We recently covered How to Help Autistic & ADHD Kids with Executive Functioning Skills with Bobbi-Jo Molokken.

๐Ÿ… 30 Resources for Autistic + ADHD Teens & Guardians - a handout Sabrina, Jamie Roberts, and I created for the first GEMS Neurodiversity Summit! (The entire event was all about working with Autistic + ADHD Teens from a neurodiversity affirming lens.)

Upcoming Events: Virtual & Live

July Schedule

๐Ÿณ๏ธโ€โšง๏ธ Gender Diversity in Play Therapy (hosted by Georgia APT)

Friday 7/17 at 10:30am Pacific (1:30pm Eastern) - $10/15/20

Jessamy Whitsitt, LMFT, RPT, and I will be talking all about supporting trans, non-binary, and clients who are exploring gender in the Play Therapy process. We'll cover professional ethics, laws local to Georgia, and best practices for supporting youth and their guardians! If you're in a state with pretty strict laws, join us at this one! 50-60 mins of content and 15-25 minutes of Q&A.

๐Ÿณ๏ธโ€โšง๏ธ Gender Diversity in Play Therapy (hosted by Washington APT)

Friday 7/17 at 12pm Pacific (3pm Eastern) - $13/15/20

Same as above, but in reference to Washington state laws. If you're in a state with fairly supportive laws, come join us!

August Schedule

๐Ÿณ๏ธโ€๐ŸŒˆ Body Doubling (for LGBTQIA+ & ND Affirming Play Therapists)

Monday 8/3 at 10am Pacific (1pm Eastern) - free!

An informal gathering to work on whatever projects we've all been putting off or need some extra support on. Usually a small group, a mix of chatting and silence - a pretty nice time! (Zoom info in the FB group.)

๐Ÿƒ Zoom Hangout (for Aces Up Your Sleeve)

Sunday 8/9 at 2pm Pacific (5pm Eastern) - $35

A 1 hour hang out for Royal Flush Patrons of the Aces Up Your Sleeve Patreon! Some small group time to hang out with me and Sabrina and chat about the podcast, our overlapping interests with you, or whatever else comes up! (More info on Royal Flush tier over on Patreon.)

September Schedule

๐Ÿ’ก The Fundamentals of Fatphobia & Healthism for Therapists

Saturday 9/12 at 10am Pacific (1pm Eastern) - free!

Sabrina Longley, LCSW, and I are going to be talking all about fatness, especially in regards to the impact fatphobia and healthism has on neurodivergent clients. This is a 90 minute hybrid event! We'll be recording an episode of Aces Up Your Sleeve for the first 30-45 minutes and answering listener questions- so you'll get real examples of how we talk to clients and others about this stuff- and then opening the floor to attendees to chat about causes, impacts, etc.

๐Ÿณ๏ธโ€๐ŸŒˆ Body Doubling (for LGBTQIA+ & ND Affirming Play Therapists)

Wednesday 9/16 at 10am Pacific (1pm Eastern) - free!

An informal gathering to work on whatever projects we've all been putting off or need some extra support on. Usually a small group, a mix of chatting and silence - a pretty nice time! (Zoom info in the FB group.)

October Schedule

๐Ÿ’Ž GEMS Neurodiversity Summit: FAT! (hosted by NeuroPebble)

Monday 10/26 at 10am Pacific (1pm Eastern) - Early bird sale! $67/147

We're planning and arranging a very cool 2nd summit for GEMS! This one is all about fat liberation. Presenter contracts are in the works, so I can't announce anything yet, aside from the fact that Sabrina Longley will be featured! We've got big plans for our VIP ticket-holders, too. (General admission is 10am - 2:40pm, VIP admission is 10am - 3:50pm Pacific.)

November Schedule

โ„๏ธ FAT! Holidays Group Case Consultation

Monday 11/9 at 10am Pacific (1pm Eastern) - $100

Come discuss client needs with Sabrina Longley, LCSW, and me! The holidays will roll up on us quickly, so we're hosting this early in November to help prepare folks for working with clients around diet culture, family boundaries, and more. Sign up now to know you'll be covered this winter! (If you purchase a GEMS ND Summit: FAT! VIP ticket for Oct, you'll be getting free admission to this!)

๐Ÿ’ซ Aspec, Autism & Kink: Supporting Therapy Clients (at DSI)

Friday 11/13 at 3:15pm Pacific (6:15pm Eastern) - pay what you can

I'm presenting with Heidi Neilson, LMFTA, at an all-day virtual conference called Do Something Identity(ies), where all of the presenters have both lived and clinical experience! We'll be talking about working with clients who are autistic, kinky, and on the asexuality spectrum. You'll leave with a handout of resources and a way to create a plan for continued learning! (Our session is 1 hour within the full day.)

๐Ÿ’ž Supporting Autistic & ADHD Therapists and Interns (hosted by NeuroPebble)

Thursday 11/19 at 10am Pacific (1pm Eastern) - $150/105

Led by a panel of three experienced supervisors and a newly licensed therapist- each with lived experience as autistic or AuDHD supervisees themselves- this session will explore practical skills and theoretical frameworks that enhance the supervisory process. Questions encouraged!

December Schedule

โ›„๏ธ Neurodivergent Youth: Winter Group Case Consultation

Monday 12/7 at 10am Pacific (1pm Eastern) - $67

Spend an hour with Sabrina Longley, LCSW, and me! We are prepared to talk about how to support youth during winter break and the holidays (especially around fatness, neurodivergence, and family dynamics), but we're also open to any more general case consultation questions you've got about working with neurodivergent youth! A mix of lived experience in the room, such as: white, queer, trans, autistic, ADHD, fat, disabled, and Black, autistic, ADHD, BPD, a-spec, cis, disabled.

๐Ÿ”ฅ Kink, Trust and Pixie Dust: Playful Healing for the Inner Child

Monday 12/7 at 11:30am Pacific (2:30pm Eastern) - $57

Interested in a beginner's course about how kink can support healing for the inner child? Mark your calendars for two hours on Dec 7th! We're still figuring out which continuing ed credits we want to offer, so we're not selling tickets quite yet, but more details will come soon! (If you want the self-paced 1.5 hr version with both NBCC and AASECT continuing education credits, we've got that ready here!)

๐Ÿค Collaborative Project Brainstormโ€‹

Monday 12/7 at 2pm Pacific (3pm Eastern) - $27

Sabrina and I are going to be talking about building collaborative business projects and relationships for neurodivergent entrepreneurs! Your attendance to this 1 hour webinar will also get you 2 PDFs: one blueprint for partnered projects, one workbook about values and collabs in general. You'll be squared away to start collaborating on projects for the new year! (Great for folks wanting to branch out from their therapy practice.)

Want to see all of the courses and freebies?

Looking for other Curious Cryptids?

If you are looking for community, there are two that I'm on the admin team for over on Facebook and we'd love to have you!

๐Ÿ’Ž GEMS Neurodiversity Community: Led by myself, Sabrina Longley, and Jamie Roberts. Growth, Empowerment, Meaning and Support are key values in this space and we're just beginning to figure out how we all want to use the space- come help shape it! The next GEMS Neurodiversity Summit (FAT!) is coming up in late October so you'll see updates in there, too.

๐Ÿณ๏ธโ€๐ŸŒˆ LGBTQIA+ & ND Affirming Play Therapists: Led by myself and Heather Fairlee Denbrough. This one is also super new and is for like-minded creative therapists to hang out, share resources, and build community. We have different themes for different days of the week (like Community Care Sundays, where we all offer free resources or our time, or Tip Tuesdays where we share useful therapy or practice-related tips), as well as approx. monthly body doubling meetings. ๐Ÿ’–

These two groups are also great...

๐ŸŒŸ Embracing the Muchness- ADHD Education Group: My colleague and friend Bobbi-Jo Molokken runs this peer support and education space. Not everyone in there is a therapist, but there sure are lots of us!

โญ๏ธ AutPlayยฎ Therapy Group: This one is not just for AutPlay providers, it's for any Play Therapist working with autistic youth! Autism and ADHD are big topics in there, but other forms of neurodivergence get discussed too. Dr. Robert Jason Grant and Fiona Hill (from the free training) are admins.

Thanks for sticking around through this email packed full of resources; I hope you've found a few things to get excited about! I'll be sure to share again when I compile some more neat offerings for you.

Chat with you next time,

Dr. Kade Sharp

1201 Jadwin Ave. Ste. 104, Richland, WA 99352
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Interested in receiving Mothmail to hear about upcoming events, training opportunities, therapy tools, discounts, and more? You're at the right place! Curated by Dr. Kade Sharp, you can expect anywhere from 1-4 emails a month with a lot of valuable info inside!

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