The FIRST EVER ADHD-Friendly Conference

Hello, Brains! So, since almost the beginning of this channel, I've been going to conventions about ADHD, talks about ADHD, meet-ups with other people with ADHD. This is my world, right? ADHD. I've thought about and talked to other people with ADHD about how cool it would be to have, a big event where people with ADHD could come meet up, connect, find support, find connection, learn about their ADHD and have that event be incredibly ADHD-friendly. Last year at the international ADHD conference... which is great because you get to connect with all these people with ADHD, you get to learn about ADHD, but it's still a conference in a hotel. It's not the most ADHD-friendly thing in the world. I went to a dinner where somebody said we're doing that. We're making a conference that is ADHD-friendly. Would you like to come speak? And I was like, yeah! This is how it went. [ Intro Music ] I was really curious to see how this would go.

This was going to be the first conference of this type. Ever. Like there is no other conference that was trying to do what this conference did. I also wanted to support because it's such an ambitious thing and not just ADHD-friendly, they wanted to make this conference neurodivergent-friendly. Which I can tell you is no small feat. Trying to make a conference work for both my brain and my AuDHD partner's brain? Not an easy thing to do. Because the kind of environments that I thrive in, that I feel comfortable in, where I feel like my needs are supported, are very different from the types of environments where he feels like his needs are taken into account.

What I expected or what I hoped to find was a conference that was accessible to people with different neuro types. I'm really big on accessibility right now. I have a video about making life doable, which I ended up turning into a keynote that I gave it this event, that I was very proud of. I took my production team with me so that we could film this event and see what are they doing? What did they do right?

Where did it go wrong? And more importantly, what I recommend that you go? So I get there and the first thing I notice is how easy it is to find registration. I walk in and it's in a warehouse. It's one big room but as soon as you walk in the door, there is registration. The number of conventions where I've almost melted down because I cannot find where registration is because it's off site or it's on the 18th floor, like it's, you know, really weird, tucked away place. It's happened so many times where I'm like at a convention, I'm already running late, which, by the way, I was "He texted me. " "He's like, 'Morning! ' "'See you here at 8:30' at 8:26. " "And I was like, 'Leaving the hotel, now. I'll be there in a few minutes. '" "Communication, guys. Communication. " "If you're gonna be late, just tell people. " And the second thing I noticed was

there were lots of tables with lots of really cool stuff, like swag. At other events there's like merch you can buy. But here it was like you're at the event and you get this stuff just for being there, there's your, your badge and then you get a lanyard. And by the way, not just one lanyard, but two lanyards I'll get to that in a bit. Here's a little bag. There were books, notebooks. Here's a water bottle if you need water. There was a stuffy, "Is this like the mascot? " "I love it. " "That'll be great later! " "If they choose it. " [ Jessica has written 'Pipsqueak' on a strip of paper as part of a naming 'contest'. ] And the stickers were not like generic stickers. like,... "Oh, we heard you're neurodivergent Is this what a neurodivergent would like? " Yes. I'm listening. No, I can't make eye contact. Normal is a setting for washing machines. I came, I saw, I forgot what I was doing. It was clear that they were created by somebody who was neurodivergent and by the way, I did get to talk to this artist that conversation probably changed my life. Having people guide you through this experience and make sure that your needs are met even as you're walking in the door was just such a hugely different experience than I've ever had at a convention before. Any other convention I've ever been to has been like, oh, you have needs. We'll sell you solutions This was like, anticipating your needs. even in the bathroom like there were baskets of, whatever you might have needed, including, like, hair ties, like, just really thoughtful details, this is something I've never seen anybody think of. But my God, at a neurodivergent conference, the ability to grab a hair tie because you probably lost yours and pull your hair up off of your neck where it is bothering you. Because sensory sensitivities this might be the most ADHD friendly, neurodivergent friendly. This conference did do it next year. Guys, if you're watching this every year, this is amazing. And these are good. These are good ones that don't like pull on your hair. I'm taking this one for think the only thing they sold at the event was food. everything else was just provided for, There were volunteers was fun already. Like as soon as you walked in, the energy of the space was, incredibly welcoming. there were different ways to sit. There were chairs, there were benches. There were also like these multicolored like hammock chair type things that you could curl up in. but there were also, tables that you could sit around and do crafts It was also really loud.

as I made my way past the registration desk, noticed that there was a marching band. This was a party. At which point I was like, I'm really glad there's a quiet room. wish that it was closer to the entrance I had to go past the marching band to get to the quiet room. Full disclosure. It was an attempt at a quiet room in the corner of a warehouse. So that was already going to be a challenge to make a quiet space. But also, people with ADHD were in this quiet room, which meant it was no longer quiet. [ Environmental Chatter ] thankfully, like, I'm not somebody who needs quiet. And they did have earplugs on site as well, It was overwhelming, but in a way that felt manageable to me because I had choice.

I could easily step outside I could change out my lanyard. Green is Chatty Cathy. you can approach me. I might approach you. Yellow means what? let me approach you. it doesn't mean, like, nobody talk to me. It just means, like, don't talk to me unless I initiate. part of the time, I really love people coming up to me. I love hearing from the community. I love getting to connect in person with other people with ADHD. So most of the time that's the lanyard I had on, but I kept the other one tucked in my pocket. kind of feels like the extroverted part of me writes checks with the introverted part of me can't cash. The extroverted part of me is like, yes, talk to me. All the things like, let's have a party. And the introverted part of me is like, what did you sign us up for? the fact that I could switch out my lanyard and be like, nah, never mind. Without having to explain, without having to tell anybody. It was just amazing. There was flexibility. You could listen to a talk

without the headphones on. Or you could put the silent disco type headphones on so that you could more clearly focus on the talk you were listening to, which is great if you have, sensory processing issues. it also felt like they kind of anticipated FOMO, And so there were fewer events happening at the same time. And they were all kind of happening in the same area. So it wasn't like, if you went to this talk, now you have to like go all the way across, to the other side of the hotel for a different talk, I think part of that is it just being a smaller convention. So we'll see how that goes in the future.

but there were also activities that really dug into the pain of it. There was one activity that was really cool, where people took masks and wrote on the inside of the mask what parts of them they don't let people see. on the outside it was what parts do they show the world? Like what parts do I show the world? And what parts of me do I mask? on the outside of the person who was mask is in the alone, A lot of them in mask. This is my It's interesting seeing, like, what women mask versus what men like. I can't tell which ones of these are, I'm. Wow. Do you feel comfortable saying what they were asking for? Some people are ready to each one represented a human. even though this is like party in the celebration of how our minds work, it also acknowledged the realities of what it's like to live with that in this world. It was a really great balance, I thought, between, fun and, like levity and deaths So I interviewed a lot of people

who were at the event in a quieter space, which was our car, and I asked them the same questions. did I go, And then what was their experience like? what brought you to the conference? the founder, Chris Guilbault, created called World Domination Summit, it was the single best conference that I've ever been to in my life the guy just knows how to create magical experiences for people. I really believe in what this is. I think this needs to exist in the world. like, I want to be a part of this and I want to see it grow. when Chris Gilbert reached out to me, and he said, I'm trying to do something like World Domination Summit, I was like, all right, I'm in. And then when he mentioned that it had to do with neurodivergent, I was like, oh, I'm definitely in. Chris asked me if I would speak at this conference, I thought, you know, I really want to support, younger people in creating a place, neurodivergent folks that feels different and there's a more of a sort of casual feel to it, like they really want you to kind of share who you are. Gary, where, introduced me to the neurodiversity community. I told them I was like, I'm looking for a little bit of illustration work. they were like, can you come up with a few, sticker concepts? came up with the words first got those approved, and then I came up with visuals to go with them next. we were able to produce these really beautiful stickers. And in the cover for the book. one of the things I keep coming back to, being with my people and being with my good friends community is just that. It's community. And I think that is, one of the most beneficial pieces of coming to a conference like this or any conference on ADHD or neurodivergent, we all know and talk about how incredibly important and healing and supported just critical it is to be with people who get it and who get us who we can be 100% ourselves with, And I feel like they've done a really good job of trying to keep that focus of community. so I flew all the way from Australia because there's not like a big ADHD community in Australia. And it was a lonely ride. And I was like, I'm going to come here. I'm going to see if I connect with people. And I just found exactly the people that I wanted to connect with. It's awesome. Quick quick. Three words about this conference. Inspiring. Creative together. Oh, I was talking to this one gal that I just met for the first time. And she was telling me how she met you and how your story was the opposite of her story. That's Molly, and she destroyed me. after talking to her, I went and I started sobbing Molly was one of, like, dozen stories of people just talking about how, they feel so seen and so heard and that just, like. Yeah, you need so much. talked to a lot of conferences, I've been but sent to a lot of conferences. And this it is a conference, but like it genuinely feels like when I show up, I'm like, oh no, I'm just getting to see my friends give the talks that they give at other conferences, a lot of times I go to those conferences for specifically how much useful information will I be able to, like, glean out of this And I'm like, I'm going to prioritize deepening existing friendships and like making like a couple new friendships over professional networking, Like I wore a hoodie to give a talk. And the reason why I hadn't done my makeup was because I was so distracted talking to cool people I feel like this is the least judgy group of people I've ever been around. That like outside time. Like the time that people are spending socializing outside feels like just as important as what you're learning at the talks on the inside. It's a first year event, so there's a lot of things ironed out. But you can also look at it as it has so much potential. this is like a seed. It's not like a sprout. it's less formal in terms of speaking you know, I come to Chad, I'm a professional psychologist. There are a lot of other professional, psychologists and social workers and therapists and physicians and psychiatrists. And then there are, you know, of course, the people who are attending, and this is a little bit more blended. And felt that I was able to take some personal risks in my keynote that I don't normally do. it's good for me to be outside of my comfort zone and practice adapting. ultimately, what makes the difference is your authenticity. And that's what I brought. So what did you expect coming in? Nothing. I actually set an intention to have zero expectations Like, I really hate networking, like it's a thing. But I really love connecting with people. And I think when the two cross paths too intensely, it's kind of weird and it's kind of awkward and everyone's like, oh, do you have an agenda or have an agenda and stuff like that? So I was like, so I have an agenda. Like, I don't even know, like I'm sure, but like at this point I'm so lost in it. I don't even know what I'm doing here anymore. so I was like, I'm not going to set any expectations. I, like not going to try and get anything from this. And I'm going to see what happens when that happens. And as a result, I got way more than I would have expected if I tried to This is the first conference I've been to where the focus is solely or primarily the neurodivergent human. the vibe is very cool. It's very welcoming. I've gone to some of the sessions. I wish I'd made it to more of the sessions, but part of why I didn't make it to sessions was because I was having amazing conversations with people. And I learn so much from those, and I get so inspired by fed by those yes, I would love to make it to every single session because all of them sound interesting, but it's also okay that I'm missing them because I'm missing them for something really awesome too, I am a creative person and I've always seen myself as creative. And because of it, it's like, if something doesn't work for me, I'll come up with a solution that works for my unique brain, right? Yeah, the challenge with that is that, didn't have some of the technical language that helped me to understand what I was actually experiencing. And sometimes I feel like, what's wrong with me? Like something's wrong with me. And I feel like coming to this conference was like, all these people are just like me. What I am experiencing is normal and that is beautiful. to one have better language to describe what I was experiencing, but then to be able to brainstorm with other people tactics that makes sense, you know?

had a chance to talk to the organizer of this event, and he didn't do it alone. He had a whole team. He had a lot of volunteers working with him. I really love what he said, which is that he wanted it to be a celebration of neurodivergent. And that really came through in public spaces. A lot of times, people with ADC feel at best tolerated worst, like we are not allowed to be there. And so we have to like, pretend we don't have ADHD and that we fit into neurotypical society and neurotypical norms. It kind of feels like you're having to shave pieces of yourself off just to be able to exist in this classroom, in this conference, in this, whatever. This felt like It was encouraging us to having each day it was allowed environment, which encouraged us to be loud. It felt like a celebration of neurodivergent. ADHD. and they wanted it to be magical. And it did. It felt magical, like there were a lot of really cool moments that happened there that I feel like wouldn't have happened in a different space. One of the people I ran into almost right away was Danny Donovan, one of my best friends. We've done videos together. she put it really well. at the international EDC conference, we would often like, break off from the main convention and have our, like, little side conversations or, like, holed up in a hotel room and have our little side party with other people that we already knew. This felt like one giant hotel room party. This felt like, oh, let's talk and talk about what we learned in this session and connect and just have fun and hang out without having to leave the convention floor, Everybody was invited to the hotel room because the whole conference was that, I am glad that I didn't share it yet though, because while

it was a really incredible, magical event for a lot of people with ADHD, there were some people there who had ADHD or who were just autistic, who it wasn't as accessible for. The lanyards help with the overwhelm of people coming up to you and trying to socialize. But that wasn't the only thing that was overwhelming about the conference. It was loud. There was lots going on, lots of movement. wasn't really a place to escape from that. even Chris, who put the conference on, admitted that, like they've got some work to do in terms of making it truly neurodivergent friendly instead of just ADHD friendly, we always want to improve and grow and we 100% know, you know, there are some things we can do different and better. so that is the intention to let's do more of what's working. And let's see what we can do to tweak, you know, to, to provide the best possible experience. this was a prototype. This was the first time that they've tried something like this. And so they're going to get feedback and they're going to build on it and improve. So next year, they're hoping will be even better and more accessible to more people who are neurodivergent, what I am confident in saying is that's Their goals for the future are amazing, So if you're able to support, do it. if you want to go and connect next year, I will definitely be there. the more people who sign up and support this, better a job they can do next year and in the years to come. I can't wait to see what this grows into. But also I wanted my daughter to get to see mom do what she do.

I agreed to do a keynote and I put together a full presentation with my writing buddy and my daughter got to watch the whole thing and it was so cool that was the first event that my daughter got to see mom speak at, because that's the world that I want for her. I want her to grow up in a world that is ADHD friendly. Deirdre Kelly, who helped us create the EDC friendly rubric, says the future already exists in pockets around the world if we just know where to look. we can go visit the future. And it felt like I got to take my daughter with me to visit the future. And the future is accessible, welcoming. And in the future, we're allowed to be there in T and ops.

That was really special. thank you more than ever to our brain advocates and all our Patreon brains, You are. Why not only I was able to attend the event, but my production team as well. and something super cool came out of it. We might have a podcast that happens in the back of cars, in Gary, where suggested calling it neurodivergent in cars, eating snacks or workshop it. I like that title. Let us know what you think about it anyway. Like subscribe, click all the things and I will see you next video. Bye, Brains!