Neuroqueer Learning Space & Social Media

“Neuroqueer Learning Spaces” hashtags were created by Ryan Boren of Stimpunks and Helen Edgar of Stimpunks and Autistic Realms in March of 2024 to support their project on Cavendish Space and neuroqueering learning spaces.

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Image of exploding heart Text: "Neuroqueer learning spaces are radically inclusive. Helen Edgar (autistic realms 2024)
Text: Glossary #NeuroqueerLearningSpaces sensory safety = understanding the sensing and perceptual world (especially for neurodivergent people) and being serious about our sensory needs in every setting. ***psychological safety = a condition in which you feel (I) included, (2) safe to learn, (3) safe to contribute, and (4) safe to challenge the status quo-all without fear of being embarrassed, marginalized, or punished in sone way. ***learner safety = safety to engage in the discovery process, ask questions, experinent, and even make mistakes. embodiment = staying present in our own bodies to sensations, emotions and the external environment without going into dysregulation without going into fight/flight/freeze/fawn. regulation = tending to and responding to the body's needs. These are working definitions. Community input appreciated! #NeuroqueerLearningSpaces Helen Bigar & Ryan Boren Yarch 2024 *caves = spaces for quiet reflection, introspection and self- directed learning. *campfires = spaces for learning with a storyteller - teacher. mentor, elder, expert. *watering holes = spaces for social learning with peers. intermittent collaboration = group work punctuated by breaks to think and work by ourselves. niche construction = directly modifying the environment in such a way that it enhances someone's chances for success. flow state = the experience of complete absorption in the present moment. **cognitive liberty = the idea that individuals have the right to absolute sovereignty over their own minds and their own cognitive processes. **somatic liberty = freedom of embodiment, freedom to indulge, adopt, and/or experiment with any styles or quirks of movement and embodiment, whether they come naturally to one or whether one chooses them. the freedom to give bodily expression to one's neurodivergence. neurological pluralism = the multiplicity of different bodyminds with diverse and conflicting needs coexisting peaceably and interdependently. *= Inspired by David Thornburg's 'primordial learning metaphors' from "Campfire to Holodeck" (2013) **= Inspired by Nick Walker's "Neuroqueer Heresies" (2021) ***= Inspired by Timothy R. Clark's "The 4 Stages of Psychological Safety" (2020)
Image of white rabbit, beam of glitter and rainbow heart. Text: At the heart of a neuroqueer learning space is the golden thread of an embodied education (see Kay & Dan Aldred (2023) : Embodied Bducation: Creating Safe Space for Learning, Facilitating and Sharing How can we transform and liberate the expectations of neuronormative education and create neuroqueer learning spaces? STIMPUNKS Education column reads: Teachers need information and knowledge to UN-LEARN their training, discover new possibilities and become neuroqueer facilitators of education Trust from settings to allow educational facilitators to have autonomy of their students learning journey and follow their lead Freedom to create neuroqueer learning spaces Family column reads: Educating families on different possibilities for learning - 1t does not have to be the neuronormative way Valuing community networks so they can foster empowerment and share stories and knowledge, validate experiences and create connections Providing resources for families to give back agency and autonomy so they are equipped to advocate Inside heart text reads: Child happy, curious, full of wonder & free to learn in an embodied way that suits their bodyminds
Image of frogs on lily pads and mushroom Text: #NeuroqueerLearningSpaces ...endless possibilities A rhizome has no single entry point, it's not hierarchical. In our rhizomatic learning spaces new energy is created hy sharing ideas. Neuroqueer learning spaces enable new connections to emerge, they create expansive learning opportunities for individuals and communities. We want to embrace the unknown at the point of connection and also explore the journey and potential between spaces. Our Cavendish learning spaces enable possibilities so children can move their minds and bodies seemlessly between: cave (self directed learning) campfire (learning from others) watering hole (social learning ) Use our lily pads as a platform to leap from and let our White Rabbit guide you as our project unfolds. Inspired by David Thornburg's (2014), 'primordial learning metaphors') Let's reflect on what "could be" Let's learn from others & find ways of exploring "perhaps" Let's share and explore what's beyond "yet" Discover the potential of rhizomatic #NeuroqueerLearningSpaces
Image of white rabbit against galaxy sky. Text: #NeuroqueerLearningSpaces "The contemporary classroom is a temple of neuronormativity. Every act in the fight for the ight to learn differently feels like neuroqueering*. We are suggesting fundamentally neuroqueer learning spaces that enable "freedom of embodiment" and "cognitive liberty" . This will allow whole bodyminds to live and learn authentically. ur Cavendish Space is an incubator and catalyst for neuroqueer becoming." (Ryan Boren, Stimpunks) From rabbit warren to the endless possibilities Follow our White Rabbit to discover more about #NeuroqueerLearningSpaces
Image of beach Text: Neuroqueer Learning Spaces A collaboration between Autistic Realms & Stimpunks STIMPUNKS to be open to the question you do not know is coming, to be responsive and agile and take risks - we need a secure home base. We need rhythm and routine - boundaries that allow us to experiment in safety. Inquiry classrooms can and should be calmly energetic, a safe space in which learners are relaxed AND alert and where predictability and routine help support the spontaneity and adventure. " Kath Murdoch, 2022 www.kathmurdoch.com.au/blog/category/classroom+communities
Image of sandy beach Text: Neuroqueer Learning Spaces A collaboration between Autistic Realms & Stimpunks STIMPUNKS 66 "The only sustainable way to store data long-term is within relationships- deep connections between generations of people in custodial relation to asentient landscape, all grounded in a vibrant oral tradition" Tyson Yunkaporta, Sand Talk (2020)
Image: sunset sky Text: Neuroqueer Learning Spaces A collaboration between Autistic Realms & Stimpunks "What if both the education of youth and adults and the training of educators included the explicit understanding that no neurocognitive style is more "correct" or "normal" than any other and that the work of mutual accommodation is both an essential part of a proper education and an essential preparation for being a participating citizen in a civilised society?" Nick Walker (202I) Neuroqueer heresies: Notes on the Neurodiversity Paradigm, Autistic Empowerment, and Postnormal Possibilities. Autonomous Press
Image: Dark green galaxy sky Text: What is Neuroqueering? Neuroqueer Learning Spaces A collaboration between Autistic Realas & Stinpunks Engaging in practices intended to undo and subvert one's own cultural conditioning and one's ingrained habits of neuronormative and heteronormative performance, with the aim of reclaiming one's capacity to give more full expression to one's uniquely weird potentials and inclinations. Nick Walker (202I) Neuroqueer heresies: Notes on the Neurodiversity Paradigm, Autistic Empowerment, and Postnormal Possibilities. Autonomous Press
Image: Pastel galaxy sky Text: Neuroqueer Learning Spaces A collaboration between Autistic Realms & Stimpunks 66. People aren't things. People are processes ... nested within all sorts of other processes. My pattern is running within another pattern, constantly changing me.... You're a work in progress at all times Tyson Yunkaporta in Anthropocene Transition Network's Between Stories Discovered from Gemmablomkamp Twitter/X Post Dec IOth 202I https://transitionaustralia.net/event/between-stories-transcultural-conversations-for-troubling-times/
Image: Pink glow heart on blue background Text: Neuroqueering Learning Spaces A collaboration between Autistic Realms & Stimpunks Follow our journey as we explore ways we can create radically inclusive, embodied neuroqueer learning spaces. Enabling cognitive and somatic liberty. Facilitating responsive learning opportunities and endless possibilities for children to be and become. Follow our journey into #NeuroqueerLearningSpaces www.stimpunks.org