🫀🧠✊ About Us: A Feisty Group of Disabled People

Stimpunks was forged in the quest for survival and inclusion. We are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit built by and for neurodivergent and disabled people. Stimpunks was founded in December of 2021. We are a community affair. We’re Autistic, ADHD, OCD, PTSD, Tourettes, schizophrenic, bipolar, apraxic, dyslexic, dyspraxic, dyscalculic, non-speaking, and more. We’ve collectively experienced rare diseases, organ transplants, various cancers, many surgeries and therapies, and lots of ableism and SpEd. We’ve experienced #MedicalAbleism, #MedicalMisogyny, #MedicalRacism, #MedicalTrauma, and #MedicalGaslighting. We understand chronic pain, chronic illness, and the #NEISvoid “No End In Sight Void”. We know what it’s like to be disabled and different in our systems. We know what it is like to live with barriers and what it means to not fit in and have to forge our own community. Disabled and neurodivergent people are always edge cases, and edge cases are stress cases. We can help you design for the edges, because we live at the edges. We are the canaries. We are “the fish that must fight the current to swim upstream.“

A disembodied arm with blue skin and a self-care tattoo flashes the sign of the horns — Rock N’ Roller by Kyle Duce

All we did was refuse to believe that we were the problem.
Rolling Warrior: The Incredible, Sometimes Awkward, True Story of a Rebel Girl on Wheels Who Helped Spark a Revolution

What We Do
Why We Do It: Our “Moment of Obligation”
Administrivia
Directors and Board Members
Volunteers
- Adriel Jeremiah Wool ( he/him ), Artist, Writer
What makes us different, makes all the difference in the world.
Walk your walk, and roll your roll.
✊ We’re a Feisty Group of Neurodivergent and Disabled People

What We Do

We provide mutual aid, creator grants, human-centered learning, and living wages for neurodivergent and disabled people. We publish open learning pathways, a glossary, and a field guide anyone can use. We do research and offer services to help schools, clinicians, and organizations do better by us. Everything we build is by and for our community — not handed down to it.

Why We Do It: Our “Moment of Obligation”

A moment of obligation is the instant when you can no longer look away — when your own experience of a broken system makes it impossible to leave the next person to face it alone. For Stimpunks, that moment came through lived necessity: rolling our own education because public systems failed us, building our own care infrastructure because existing institutions weren’t built for us, and finding, as the Combahee River Collective put it, that the only people who care enough about us to work consistently for our liberation are us. Obligation isn’t guilt. It isn’t charity. It’s the recognition that we know what’s needed, we know it from the inside, and that knowledge carries weight.

Stimpunks was created to forge the way for educational inclusion and to give our community the means to thrive. We as a disabled and neurodivergent run organization had to roll our own education, because even the “all means all” of public education failed to include us and those we serve. We had to create our own care systems, because “we realized that the only people who care enough about us to work consistently for our liberation are us.” “Responsibility for the survival of entire communities lies with us.”

In other words…

One Idea Per Line

Stimpunks was created to advocate for educational inclusion and empower our community.
As a disabled and neurodivergent organization, we had to create our own education because public and private education did not include us.
We had to establish our own care systems because we recognized that the only ones who consistently work for our liberation are ourselves.
We believe that responsibility for the survival of entire communities lies with us.

One Paragraph Summary

Stimpunks is a disabled and neurodivergent-run organization that was created to address the lack of educational inclusion and support for their community. They have developed their own educational programs and care systems to ensure that the needs of disabled and neurodivergent individuals are met. Inspired by the Combahee River Collective, Stimpunks emphasizes the importance of self-care and self-determination, recognizing that the responsibility for the well-being and liberation of their community lies with the community itself. Their goal is to empower their community to thrive and advocate for their rights and inclusion in society.

Five Paragraph Summary

Stimpunks is an organization that was created with the aim of promoting educational inclusion and providing support for the disabled and neurodivergent community. The founders of Stimpunks, who are themselves disabled and neurodivergent, recognized the lack of inclusivity in public and private education systems and decided to take matters into their own hands.

One of the ways Stimpunks addresses this issue is by offering their own educational programs. They have developed courses that cater to the specific needs and learning styles of disabled and neurodivergent individuals. By creating their own education, Stimpunks ensures that the content is accessible and relevant to their community.

 In addition to education, Stimpunks also focuses on creating care systems that meet the needs of their community. They understand that the responsibility for the well-being and liberation of the disabled and neurodivergent community lies with the community itself. They have taken inspiration from the Combahee River Collective, a Black feminist organization, which emphasized the importance of self-care and self-determination.

 Stimpunks recognizes that traditional systems often fail to adequately support marginalized communities, and they have taken it upon themselves to fill this gap. By creating their own education and care systems, they are empowering their community to thrive and take control of their own destinies.

Stimpunks’ approach is not limited to education and care alone. They also advocate for the rights and inclusion of disabled and neurodivergent individuals in society at large. Through their work, Stimpunks aims to challenge the existing systems and create a more inclusive and equitable world for all.

Accordions labelled “In other words…” explain things in different ways, including plain language and one idea per line.

Clip of Judith Heumann speaking the text in the quote.

I wanna see a feisty group of disabled people around the world…if you don’t respect yourself and if you don’t demand what you believe in for yourself, you’re not gonna get it.
Judith Heumann

The world doesn’t want us around and wants us dead. We live with that reality, so there’s always gonna be, uh, ‘Am I gonna survive? Am I gonna push back? Am I gonna fight to be here?’ that’s always true. So, if you wanna call that anger, I call it kind of drive. You know, you have to be willing to thrive or you’re not going to make it.
Corbett O’Toole

White man with long hair and long beard.

Administrivia

Before we introduce ourselves, here are a few administrative about pages.

Okay, about us…

Directors and Board Members

Ryan Boren (he/they), Co-Founder, Co-Creative Director, Board Chair

Ryan is a former WordPress lead developer who retired from tech in 2021 after 15 years at Automattic, the distributed company he helped start. He finished his time at Automattic working on the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion team and helping create and run the Neurodiversity Employee Resource Group. Building a community, a company, a platform, and an ERG was an intense ride full of mistakes and learning that Ryan distills into Stimpunks.

A middle-aged, bearded white wearing colorful clothing and headphones sits on a couch. He is dressed for sensory regulation. — Artist: Heike Blakley

Chronic Neurodivergent Depressed Queer Punk: Punk Rock, the Social Model of Disability, and the Dream of the Accepting Community

Chelsea Adams (she/her), Executive Director

a photo of a Caucasian woman standing in front of a red pagoda building, while wearing a button up striped shirt and a trucker hat and lots of surrounding greenery in bloom

As the Executive Director of Stimpunks Foundation, Chelsea is deeply committed to advancing disability and neurodiversity justice through advocacy, empowerment, and community-building. With over 4 years of experience in the non-profit sector, Chelsea is passionate about creating an inclusive world where all individuals—regardless of ability—have access to the resources, opportunities, and support they deserve.

Chelsea’s journey began in middle school when she volunteered for a special needs basketball team. Her experience with being AuDHD while in the US Army also opened her eyes to the broken systems we live in. She saw the need for inclusion and accessibility at a young age, and her passion for disability justice grew from there. This sparked her dedication to dismantling systemic barriers and creating positive change for individuals with disabilities and neurodivergent communities. Throughout her career, she has worked closely with individuals, families, and stakeholders to foster understanding and build meaningful partnerships aimed at promoting social equity and respect for all people.

At Stimpunks Foundation, We provide mutual aid, creator grants, learning opportunities, human-centered research, and living wages for our community., and under Chelseas leadership, we strive to ensure that the voices of people with disabilities and neurodivergent individuals are heard, valued, and respected. We believe in the power of collaboration and the importance of centering the lived experiences of those most affected by injustice, ensuring that our work is driven by inclusivity, compassion, and integrity.

laid back happy tunes

Norah Hobbs, (she/her), Program Director

a selfie of a Caucasian woman with bright blue eyes and shoulder-length ashy blonde and brown hair sitting in her car smiling wearing a dark green fleece pullover

Norah has always had a heart tuned to the quiet voices of the world—the overlooked and underserved. She has made it her mission to reach into chaos and pull out kindness and compassion.

She has a background in direct patient care and a Bachelor’s Degree in Occupational Safety & Health, and she brings both her professional experience and her lived perspective as an AuDHD parent of two neurodivergent children into creating spaces that are truly inclusive and accessible.

She understands that safety isn’t only physical—it’s emotional and cultural as well—and she works to help others genuinely thrive. In her spare time, she advocates for and rescues the underdogs, helping both people and animals find stability, dignity, and a new beginning.

Helen Edgar (she/her), Co-Creative Director

Helen is late diagnosed autistic and a parent to two neurodivergent children.

Helen studied History of Art and English Lit before gaining her teaching qualification in the UK.

She has 20 years of experience supporting those with profound and multiple learning disabilities as an early years / primary teacher.

Helen set up Autistic Realms in 2022 and now specialises in autism, education and mental health advocacy.

She is a published writer and creates resources for young people and their families, and for the people supporting them.

Current focus: Monotropism, Autistic Burnout and Neuroqueer Theory.

Passions: Sensory dens, woodland/moss/water, images and thoughts with circle and spiral patterns. Soundscape music and Aurora.

Collector of theory, research, words and faery-related things

Betsy Selvam (she/her), Board Vice Chair

Betsy Selvam is an artist from Vellore, south India. Currently, she is a PhD candidate interested in autistic life writing. Betsy has had a lifelong passion for art and literature. Her creative work may be found in Mulberry Literary, Anti-Heroin Chic and Samjoko, among other places. As a neurodivergent artist, Betsy hopes to use her art and writing for positive change.

A brown-skinned woman with short black hair smiles behind fingers curled at her moment. She's wearing a short sleeve blue shirt and sitting at a table in a sunbeam.

Becky Hicks (she/her), Board Member

Becky Hicks is an Art Director at HM Advertising. She has almost 30 years experience in advertising, designing for print, web and styling and directing photo shoots. In her free time she runs the Algiers Point Free lil Pantry and entertains her pet pig, Coco Chanel.

Portrait of a dark haired pig wearing a purple hat with gold trim and yellow and green ribbins — Coco

A dark-haired pig a light-haired Shih Tau dog sleep side-by-side on a round pet bed. The pig is wrapped in a blanket with her snout sticking out. — Coco and Tyrone

Coco’s Setlist

Coco’s Setlist

Kristina Brooke Daniele (she/her), Board Secretary

a middle-aged Black woman with black and gray hair wearing a purple and gold top smiles at the camera

Kristina Brooke Daniele is a Black, queer, neurodivergent homeschooling mom, educator, wife, and author of two books, (Civil Rights Then and Now and i wandered, lost: poems). Kristina has worked as an educator in some capacity for over 15 years- first as a classroom teacher, then as a homeschooling teacher, and currently, as an education consultant. She is passionate about collaborative projects centering on creating and maintaining safe-spaces for those who have for too long been pushed aside. During her time at Automattic, Kristina spearheaded the creation of the Employee Resource Group, Cocoamattic for Black employees at the company.

Kristina enjoys reading speculative fiction, write tales of romance, build homes and design apartments in The Sims 4, peacefully commune with ancient lands in Age of Empires, dabble in various arts and crafts, and spend time with her family.

Volunteers

Adriel Jeremiah Wool (he/him), Artist, Writer

Adriel Jeremiah is an computer programmer with a deep background in origami and folding.

This artwork is an extension of a world view involving folding; often involving higher dimensional spaces.

Many of these designs contain the mathematical magic of the transcendental numbers of nature, and all of them are the extension of the provisions of space itself; to be both physically folded, and conceptually folded, circularily (sic) and across many levels of expression.

Donate

One in seven persons in the world has a disability. Yet, grants for persons with disabilities constitute just 2% of all human rights funding.
Human Rights Funders Network – Reversing the trend: The time is now to fund disability rights

Recurring donations are especially sustaining.

Double your impact. Many employers match donations through Benevity and similar platforms.

Accountability Is Care

We don’t do mystery charity. We work in public, publish our policies, and show where the money goes — because trust is part of access.

Donate if you can. Share if you can’t. Either way, thank you for building access with us.

What makes us different, makes all the difference in the world.

Randimals

Our friends at Randimals have a saying,

What makes us different, makes all the difference in the world.
Randimals

We agree.

Many years ago, a friend dubbed Ryan “Bearmouse”, intuiting a part of his neurodivergent spiky profile.

Bearmouse

There is consensus regarding some neurodevelopmental conditions being classed as neurominorities, with a ‘spiky profile’ of executive functions difficulties juxtaposed against neurocognitive strengths as a defining characteristic.
Neurominorities, Spiky Profiles, and the Biopsychosocial Model at Work

Inna decided on Bunnybadger and Chelsea decided on Pandillo. Their Randimals also hint at their neurodivergent profiles.

Image credit: Becky Hicks

Our Randimals capture our exposure anxiety, social anxiety, rejection sensitive dysphoria, emotional sunburn, very grand emotions, justice sensitivity, and other neurodivergent traits.

Read about Randimals, spiky profiles, learning terroir, neurological pluralism and Weird Pride on our “Different” page.

Get Different

Nobody’s a nobody and everybody is weird like you and me!
The Amazing World of Gumball – Nobody’s A Nobody

Walk your walk, and roll your roll.

Walk Your Walk

Different (Performed by Miley Cyrus & Joan Jett)

Have you ever taken flack from the bullies on attack
Cause you're different

They laugh and call you names
But that ain't no badge of shame
Just cause you're different

People gonna stare, you unsettle them and scare ’em
Cause we're different

Walking down the street
When you pass they
Take a peek
There's something different

Live your life outside the box
Blow off all the empty talk
They focus on the things you're not
Just walk your walk

And roll your roll

Ryan in his power wheelchair that he calls “The Stimroller”

✊ We’re a Feisty Group of Neurodivergent and Disabled People

Solidarity | Disabled And Here
This photo was taken by Chona Kasinger.

Learn more about who we are and what we do on our “We…” page.

We are.
We ain’t.
We do.
We prefer.
We rebuild.
We serve.
We’re here.

We…