Neuro Pride Ireland will return from August 1 to 8, 2024, for its fourth annual online festival. A series of events, all available to stream for free via Zoom, will “celebrate Neurodivergent passions, culture and people” for the duration of the festival, allowing community members the time and space to discuss their identities and interests with their peers and allies.
Founded in 2021, Neuro Pride Ireland is the country’s only national cross-neurodivergent Disabled Persons Organisation. It is particularly dedicated to serving members of the Irish community who have two or more neurodivergent identities – for example, the organisation reports that 80% of people with Autism, similarly have ADHD.
The week-long online festival will kick off on Thursday, August 1 with a panel discussion titled ‘It’s Mad Isn’t It? Stigmatisation faced by Mad Identities’. The event will see Neuro Pride co-founder Gillian Kearns MC-ing a live panel of members of the cross-neurodivergent community as they discuss the stigma they face based on their identities.
Neuro Pride will then open up its Mad Chats chat room at 9pm, allowing members of the community to discuss the panel and their shared experiences with stigmatisation in a facilitated space.
On August 2 at 6pm, the online festival will continue with its Soapbox Sessions event. Think of it as an open mic night where members of the cross-neurodivergent community can express themselves and their experiences however they see fit, be it through speech-making, storytelling, or song. The theme of the event will be ‘Passion for a Neuroaffirming Future’.
This theme will carry through into Friday night’s ‘Building a Neuroaffirmative Future’ panel discussion, where participants will ponder hard-hitting questions facing their community, including: “How can we achieve a neuroaffirmative future?”
Saturday, August 3, bring a ‘Chats, Craft, Colour’ event to participants at 4pm, with a watch party and discussion to follow at 8pm. Participants are invited to watch a screening of a previously recorded interview between Neuro Pride contributor MAQQI and Dr Jessica Eccles, as they discuss the link between Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS) and neurodivergent people. MAQQI will join the stream following the screening to discuss the interview and answer viewer questions.
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Kick off your Sunday bright and early by joining Neuro Pride’s ‘Chair Yoga’ event at 10am. The event will offer participants time and space to focus on meditation, mindfulness, and breathing techniques, in a safe and supportive environment.
The relaxing day will continue as Neuro Pride hosts its ‘Self Care Chats’ event at 7pm, where cross-neurodivergent folks are invited to share tips and tricks of what works for them when it comes to self-care.
Monday’s line-up of events for Neuro Pride Ireland includes a ‘Show & Tell’ event at 6pm, followed by a ‘Neurokinky’ panel discussion in the evening. The panel, which will discuss the benefits and barriers facing neurodivergent people engaging in kink communities, will be strictly 18+, featuring panellists such as kink event organisers, sexuality educators, and kink writers.
A ‘Poetry Share’ event will be the main feature on Tuesday, August 6, followed by a ‘Parents Meet’ on Wednesday. This event, hosted for the parents, guardians, and caregivers who identify as neurodivergent, will give them the opportunity to share their experiences, regardless of whether or not their children are also neurodivergent.
The Neuro Pride 2024 online festival will wrap up on Thursday, August 8, which also marks Neuro Pride Day. The final event of the festival will be ‘Lightning Talks’, a space for members of the cross-neurodivergent community to discuss their special interests and passions in five to seven-minute increments. In past years, some topics have included fanfiction culture, moths, photography, and sign language, amongst others.
Neuro Pride Ireland co-founder Cír, speaking ahead of the online festival, remarked: “We believe all Neurodivergent people deserve to be proud. ‘Pride’ doesn’t mean you must be LGBTQ+ to participate, though we recognise the significant crossover of LGBTQ+ and Neurodivergent identities. We wanted to create a space where Neurodivergent people could be proud of their cultures and selves regardless of their identities.”
Tickets for all Neuro Pride Ireland 2024 events are available now on Eventbrite.
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