Sunday evening, I was tired but happy…
…because over the weekend, I participated in the NPC, the Neurodivergent Publishing Conference!
This conference, which is in its second year, was great. And here’s why.
First of all, it was organized by and for people who are ND. That is, neurodivergent. That’s right, everyone involved with this conference has an independent mind, and has something to say about the experience of neurodiversity. Whether that person has ASD, ADHD, and/or a myriad of other conditions that make living and working with these disorders difficult. Or, to phrase it in another way, and embrace these conditions in terms of embracing our differences and understanding how our brains function, we can live and work WITH our neurodivergent brains.
Pretty much all of the speakers talked about that, within their respective context. All of the speakers talked about working with, and not against, our nature. so many people talked about embracing our idiosyncratic nature to make our working and personal lives so much easier, healthier, and more meaningful.
One of the speakers, whose name is Kate Allyson, had a presentation called, “Creating A Writing Routine That Works For Your Brain.”
Another speaker, who just happens to be the event’s main organizer, spoke about “Connecting With Clients as Your Authentic Self.” This speaker, Ellis (E.) Prybylski, is an author, editor, and artist who began this community of like-minded creatives in January of 2021 intending to create a safe space for people to share their experiences with being neurodivergent in the publishing industry.
We also had some other fantastic guests, including author Malorie Cooper, who talked to us about Facebook advertising, and author Tammi Labreque, who of course talked about newsletters… I think a lot of the attendees, me included, loved that we were asking questions of these fabulous people!
I was on a panel discussion on Saturday with Sarah Grace Liu and a few other people, called Hyperempathy and Writing. This was such a wonderful panel and subject, which spurred me to do more research for myself and my personal experience with hyperempathy and what it means to me as a person with ADHD, a woman, writer, and editor.
And I hosted a panel on Sunday afternoon. My panel, “Mental Health, Downtime, and Hobbies: A Self-Care Panel,” went well, except for a technical challenge, but ah well. Moving on… 😝
My panel consisted of my lovely friends Leslie E. Heath, B.C. Brown, and Kay Parquet. We had a great time discussing this necessary subject.
One of my main points of discussion was that self-care is NOT selfish. Another was that the NPC, and its online spaces where our members interact, is a space that promotes anti-toxic productivity. That’s right. While there are spaces online where this is the norm instead of the opposite, the Neurodivergent Editors Lounge and the Writers Lounge are some of these spaces. Another is the Heart Breathings Writing Community.
In addition, these spaces do not tolerate bullying, harassment, or any kind of toxicity.
I also talked about the difference between filling the well and the ND version… because we as ND creatives experience burnout more easily. I talked about stimming, and the spaces that we need, including inside and outside spaces where we can have some downtime, and space to ourselves. Of course, everyone has different needs, physically and psychologically.
While I ended up having technical difficulties with my presentation, I did have a great time with my panelists and colleagues at the NPC. It was a pleasure representing the NPC as a speaker for the second year in a row.
And, yes, we are having a third conference, of course! Planning is already underway for next year…
…after a bit of self-care, that is!
On another subject, I do apologize for being away from this newsletter for so long… but I hope to get back to at least twice-monthly posts here. I’m planning on it!
Thank you so much for reading this. I hope you have a great day!
I'm so glad this conference means so much to you and that our work to cultivate a space where neurodivergence is celebrated and embraced is effective. Myself and the other admins are deeply passionate about our community and absolutely love being able to host this event. I wish I could have been on your panel as scheduled, but... duty called, and I had to answer. I am so glad it went smoothly and am looking forward to seeing the replay when (after self-care) I start editing videos.
I had tons of fun and hope there's the possibility of participating next year. It was really enjoyable speaking with you and the others.