Stimpunks is a friends, family, and community affair. We’re Autistic, ADHD, OCD, PTSD, Tourette’s, bipolar, dyslexic, dyspraxic, dyscalculic, and more. We’ve collectively experienced rare diseases, organ transplants, various cancers, many surgeries and therapies, and lots of ableismA system that places value on people's bodies and minds based on societally constructed ideas of normality, intelligence, excellence, desirability, and productivity. These constructed ideas are deeply rooted in anti-Blackness,... More 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 disabledThe label "disabled" means so much to me. It means I have community. It means I have rights. It means I can be proud. It means I can affirm myself... More 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. DisabledThe label "disabled" means so much to me. It means I have community. It means I have rights. It means I can be proud. It means I can affirm myself... More and neurodivergentNeurodivergent, sometimes abbreviated as ND, means having a mind that functions in ways which diverge significantly from the dominant societal standards of “normal.”Neurodivergent is quite a broad term. Neurodivergence (the state of being... More 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.“
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
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 Boren (he/they)
- Inna Boren (she/her)
- Ronan Boren (he/him)
- Chase Boren (he/him)
- Chelsea Adams (she/her)
- Becky Hicks (she/her)
- Kristina Brooke Daniele (she/her)
- Jasmine Slater (she/her)
- Cayden Ward (he/him)
- Adriel Jeremiah Wool (he/him)
- Daniel Zayas (he/him)
- Brandi Cerna (she/her)
- Us
- What makes us different, makes all the difference in the world.
- A Feisty Group of Disabled People
- Find Your People
- We Rebuild What You Destroy
Ryan Boren (he/they)

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.
Ryan is a Chronic Neurodivergent Depressed Queer Punk who found community amidst online genderpunks, neuropunks, and cripplepunks conversant in the social model of disability. That community and connection gave rise to the name of our endeavor, Stimpunks. “Everything that was normally supposed to be hidden was brought to the front.”
Inna Boren (she/her)

Inna went from big tech project manager to family case worker. Her skills managing software and hardware teams are now used to manage teams of doctors, care workers, and educators. She’s our motive force as we “fight the current to swim upstream.”
Ronan Boren (he/him)

Ronan loves music, particularly The Beatles. He writes the lyrics for Josephmooon, a distributed musical collaboration.
Chase Boren (he/him)

Chase is a fantasy, history, and social studies buff who is probably reading right now.
Chelsea Adams (she/her)

Chelsea served as a combat medic in the United States Army for 6 years. After leaving the army in 2014 she went back to school with the goal of getting her nursing degree. During this time she worked on the oncology floor of St. Davids South Austin. She decided to go in a different direction career wise and currently is pursuing non profit work. Her goal is to continue her passion of helping people.
Becky Hicks (she/her)

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.
Coco’s Setlist
Kristina Brooke Daniele (she/her)

Kristina Brooke Daniele is a neurodivergentNeurodivergent, sometimes abbreviated as ND, means having a mind that functions in ways which diverge significantly from the dominant societal standards of “normal.”Neurodivergent is quite a broad term. Neurodivergence (the state of being... More homeschooling mom and educator. She has worked as an educator for over 15 years. Kristina is passionate about increasing the literacy skills of those students who are seen as failures by the education system. She believes all can learn given the opportunity to do so in an supportive and safe environment. She has dedicated her career to helping those who have been ignored find a safe space to flourish.
Kristina loves to write, 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.
Jasmine Slater (she/her)

I’m a 35 year old mother of 2 boys. I was a server for 16 years before the pandemic. I have always been very passionate about helping others & I know that is my purpose here in this life. I’m a creative that has bipolar disorder & Neuropathy. I enjoy writing, painting & making others smile. While attending ISU years ago I had a blog on international events that detailed human rights atrocities.
Cayden Ward (he/him)
Cayden is an 11 year old student. He is very kindhearted and passionate about the well-being of others. He loves to make other people feel equal & not alone. He goes above & beyond by making care packages for others with Caring With Cayden. His desire to put forth philanthropist efforts in the community will hopefully inspire others to do the same.
Adriel Jeremiah Wool (he/him)

The Art of Adriel Jeremiah Wool
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.
Daniel Zayas (he/him)

Daniel Zayas is an FAU alumni with a degree in Economics, who’s interests include permaculture and mycology. He has worked with the American Cancer Society and Live Like Bella non-profit organizations, along with experience in residential and agricultural construction. His experience demonstrates his qualities of being a hard worker with a big heart.
Brandi Cerna (she/her)

Brandi Cerna served as a public-school educator for 9 years and is currently enrolled in a full-time nursing program. She will graduate in April 2023 with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing. Brandi desires to provide quality care and help people feel valued.
Us
The First Rule of Punk: Be Yourself
The First Rule of Punk
We are a NeurodiVenture and a Teal organization running on the advice process, psychological safety, self-determination theory, the prosocial framework, mutual trust, collaborative niche construction, and open source. We do it in a trauma and neurodiversity informed way using polyvagal theory and the neuroscience of community.

NeurodiVenture : an inclusive non-hierarchical organisation operated by neurodivergentNeurodivergent, sometimes abbreviated as ND, means having a mind that functions in ways which diverge significantly from the dominant societal standards of “normal.”Neurodivergent is quite a broad term. Neurodivergence (the state of being... More people that provides a safe and nurturing environment for divergent thinking, creativity, exploration, and collaborative niche constructionPositive Niche Construction--practice of differentiating instruction for the neurodiverse brainNeurodiversity in the Classroom Positive niche construction is a strengths-based approach to educating students with disabilities. Reimagining Inclusion with Positive Niche Construction... More.
NeurodiVerse : human scale cultures created by neurodiversityNeurodiversity is the diversity of human minds, the infinite variation in neurocognitive functioning within our species.NEURODIVERSITY: SOME BASIC TERMS & DEFINITIONS Neurodiversity is a biological fact. It’s not a perspective, an approach, a... More within the human species
NeurodiVentures | Autistic Collaboration
Psychological safety is increasingly recognised as central to mental health & wellbeing. The polyvagal theory offers a ‘Science of Safety’ which can help inform clinical practice to promote wellbeing, resilience & post-traumatic growth, whilst mitigating trauma. To date, there is no standardised measure of psychological safety comprising psychological, physiological & social components. The current study aims to develop this.
Developing a standardised measure of psychological safety.
The Polyvagal Theory discovered by Dr. Stephen Porges is a working model of the autonomic nervous system which connects safety and social connection with health, well being, and recovery.
The Vagus Nerve & Chronic Illness — Trauma Geek
Whenever there is fear, you will get wrong figures.
We must preserve the power of intrinsic motivation, dignity, cooperation, curiosity, joy in learning, that people are born with.
W. Edwards Deming
We aspire to do the “truly essential work”.
What Lorde and other black feminists such as bell hooks, Alice Walker and Toni Morrison realized was that the more dehumanized groups a person belongs to, the more their experience forces them to understand about the way society is structured: what and who it takes for granted, the truths about itself it chooses to ignore, who is doing the truly essential work.
Letters To My Weird Sisters: On Autism and Feminism

Stimpunks combines “stimming” + “punks” to evoke open and proud stimming, resistance to neurotypicalization, and the DIY culture of punk, disabledThe label "disabled" means so much to me. It means I have community. It means I have rights. It means I can be proud. It means I can affirm myself... More, and neurodivergent communities. Instead of hiding our stims, we bring them to the front.
Everything that was normally supposed to be hidden was brought to the front.
PUNK SUBCULTURE – WIKIPEDIA
I'm dancing on my own (dancing on my own) I make the moves up as I go (moves up as I go) And that's what they don't know, mmm-mmm That's what they don't know, mmm-mmm But I keep cruising Can't stop, won't stop grooving It's like I got this music In my mind Saying, "It's gonna be alright." Baby, I'm just gonna shake, shake, shake, shake, shake I shake it off, I shake it off --Shake It Off
What makes us different, makes all the difference in the world.

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 neurodivergentNeurodivergent, sometimes abbreviated as ND, means having a mind that functions in ways which diverge significantly from the dominant societal standards of “normal.”Neurodivergent is quite a broad term. Neurodivergence (the state of being... More spiky profile.

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 neurodivergentNeurodivergent, sometimes abbreviated as ND, means having a mind that functions in ways which diverge significantly from the dominant societal standards of “normal.”Neurodivergent is quite a broad term. Neurodivergence (the state of being... More profiles.


Image credit: Stimpunk Becky Hicks
Our Randimals capture our exposure anxiety, social anxiety, rejection sensitive dysphoria, emotional sunburn, very grand emotions, sense of justice, and other neurodivergentNeurodivergent, sometimes abbreviated as ND, means having a mind that functions in ways which diverge significantly from the dominant societal standards of “normal.”Neurodivergent is quite a broad term. Neurodivergence (the state of being... More traits.
Read about Randimals, spiky profiles, learning terroir, neurological pluralism and Weird Pride on our “Different” page.
You're my half brother and my fully-fledged friend! We're buddies forever from beginning to the end Nobody's a nobody and everybody is weird like you and me! Don't have to look beside me to know that you are there! If two things act as one are they still a pair? Nobody's a nobody and everybody is weird like you and me! I'm the sugar you're the lemons we're a weird lemonade But you're the brothers that I'd never trade Nobody's a nobody and everybody is weird like you and me! You're my right hand guy and the shoulder that I cry on My brain when I'm confused, an arm to lean a while on Nobody's a nobody and everybody is weird like you and me!
You can walk, run, swim, roll, hop, skip, or fly If we're going different ways, you're my kind of guy Difference doesn't matter, if nobody's the same There is no two clouds alike in the great big sky So don't be scared to come out your shell too There's always someone out there to love the real you Nobody's a nobody And everybody is weird like you and me You can walk, run, swim, roll, hop, skip, or fly If you're going different ways you're my kind of guy Difference doesn't matter, If nobody's the same A space for every star in the great big sky
Nobody’s a nobody and everybody is weird like you and me!
The Amazing World of Gumball – Nobody’s A Nobody
A Feisty Group of Disabled People
This isn’t just a story that disabledThe label "disabled" means so much to me. It means I have community. It means I have rights. It means I can be proud. It means I can affirm myself... More children will love; it’s a story about what is possible when we fight for ourselves and each other. It is a story about how tenacity, strength, the power of community, and the willingness to fight for what matters can start a revolution.
ROLLING WARRIOR: THE INCREDIBLE, SOMETIMES AWKWARD, TRUE STORY OF A REBEL GIRL ON WHEELS WHO HELPED SPARK A REVOLUTION

That girl thinks she's the queen of the neighborhood She's got the hottest trike in town That girl, she holds her head up so high I think I wanna be her best friend, yeah Rebel girl, rebel girl
There have always been, like, women in it, and queer people, and people of color.
That community is also something really cool about punk.
Eloise Wong of The Linda Lindas
We’ve all got to end oppression against all people.
Kathleen Hanna
We were really angry, and we decided to write a song about it.
The Linda Lindas Talk About “Racist, Sexist Boy”

I wanna see a feisty group of disabledThe label "disabled" means so much to me. It means I have community. It means I have rights. It means I can be proud. It means I can affirm myself... More 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
Find Your People
Generally punks can agree to the loose notion that “punk is an attitude/ individuality is the key.” It was a yearning to be different, to distance oneself from the mainstream mass of society. But punk was also a desire for community, a hunger for fellowship with like-minded souls…
Dissertation or Thesis | We accept you, one of us?: punk rock, community, and individualism in an uncertain era, 1974-1985

Opening doors has become my calling.
Welcome to this house.All Hail Open Doors, Swamburger and Scarlet Monk of Mugs and Pockets
Find your people.
Until one day… you find a whole world of people who understand.
The internet has allowed autistic people- who might be shut in their homes, unable to speak aloud, or unable to travel independently- to mingle with each other, share experiences, and talk about our lives to people who feel the same way.
We were no longer alone.
7 Cool Aspects of Autistic Culture » NeuroClastic
This is a call to open arms
Lay down your guard, lay down your guardA call to arms is what you need
Call to Arms, The Attack
I’m calling on you to sing along with me
How can we cultivate spaces where everyone has that soaring sense of inclusion, where we can have difficult and meaningful conversations?
Because everyone deserves the shelter and embrace of cripSome people with disabilities call themselves “crips.” “Crip” used to be a mean word for disabled. It is short for “cripple.” But some disabled people call themselves “crips” on purpose.... More space, to find their people and set down roots in a place they can call home.
“The Beauty of Spaces Created for and by DisabledThe label "disabled" means so much to me. It means I have community. It means I have rights. It means I can be proud. It means I can affirm myself... More People” by s.e. smith in “Disability Visibility: First Person Stories from the 21st Century“
And I’m doing
The Curse, Solillaquists of Sound
Better, every day
Because of those who stay aware
That we’re as great as we make
And not all differences need to be so
Explained
Access intimacy is also the intimacy I feel with many other disabledThe label "disabled" means so much to me. It means I have community. It means I have rights. It means I can be proud. It means I can affirm myself... More and sick people who have an automatic understanding of access needs out of our shared similar lived experience of the many different ways ableismA system that places value on people's bodies and minds based on societally constructed ideas of normality, intelligence, excellence, desirability, and productivity. These constructed ideas are deeply rooted in anti-Blackness,... More manifests in our lives. Together, we share a kind of access intimacy that is ground-level, with no need for explanations. Instantly, we can hold the weight, emotion, logistics, isolation, trauma, fear, anxiety and pain of access. I don’t have to justify and we are able to start from a place of steel vulnerability.
Access Intimacy: The Missing Link | Leaving Evidence
I don’t give a damn ’bout my reputation
Bad Reputation, Joan Jett
Never been afraid of any deviation
And I don’t really care if you think I’m strange
I ain’t gonna change
…punk rockers belonged to an international cohort in the 1970s seeking new sources of belonging as trust in traditional sources of community waned. With its increased emphasis on self-actualization and self-definition, the 1970s – and punk rock – therefore marked a critical juncture in the history of the self in America. Punk rock began as simple efforts by individual, unconnected people to make music that fulfilled them, something they hoped might revitalize the music industry. Over time, these discrete and disparate people and labors grew into a subculture whose music, publications, art, and lifestyle became a powerful critique of not only the music business but also the family, institutional authority, suburbia, dominant gender mores, and mainstream consumerism. Aesthetically diverse, a punk sensibility valued individuality above all else and allowed participants to be alternately angry, cynical, ironic, or hedonistically joyful. Despite punk rockers’ best efforts, these attributes they wore on their sleeves – individualism, apathy, hedonism, and irony – could not mask their very strong desires for existential meaning, a yearning to belong to something worthwhile. Punks came together in an inherently unstable community celebrating individualism.
Joan Jett, guitarist for the Runaways, a proto-punk Los Angeles band, voiced the feeling of innumerable punk rockers by stating, “A defining moment for any teen misfit is finding others like yourself, even if the only thing you share is the feeling of not belonging anywhere else.” Alice Bag, also of Los Angeles, described punk as being “like the Island of Misfit Toys” because it contained “all these people that had been ostracized and … had been considered geeks and nerds in school.” But “you put us all together, and we felt accepted, and we felt like we were in an environment where we could thrive and be creative without being criticized.” In these two quotes lies the central tension of punk rock: it was built on individualism and an anti-hero ethos, yet expressed itself as a community. The motivation for punk was individualistic artistic expression, but the glue for the subculture was the experience of finding like-minded misfits.
Dissertation or Thesis | We accept you, one of us?: punk rock, community, and individualism in an uncertain era, 1974-1985
We Rebuild What You Destroy
BECAUSE we are interested in creating non-hierarchical ways of being AND making music, friends, and scenes based on communication + understanding, instead of competition + good/bad categorizations.
BECAUSE doing/reading/seeing/hearing cool things that validate and challenge us can help us gain the strength and sense of community that we need in order to figure out how bullshit like racism, able-bodieism, ageism, speciesism, classism, thinism, sexism, anti-semitism and heterosexism figures in our own lives.
RIOT GRRRL MANIFESTO
We can take turns taking the reins Lean on each other when we need some extra strength We’ll never cave or we’ll never waver And we’ll always become braver and braver We’ll dance like nobody’s there Wе’ll dance without any cares We’ll talk 'bout problеms we share We’ll talk 'bout things that ain’t fair We’ll sing 'bout things we don’t know We’ll sing to people and show What it means to be young and growing up --Growing Up by The Linda Lindas
- Ryan Boren (he/they)
- Inna Boren (she/her)
- Ronan Boren (he/him)
- Chase Boren (he/him)
- Chelsea Adams (she/her)
- Becky Hicks (she/her)
- Kristina Brooke Daniele (she/her)
- Jasmine Slater (she/her)
- Cayden Ward (he/him)
- Adriel Jeremiah Wool (he/him)
- Daniel Zayas (he/him)
- Brandi Cerna (she/her)
- Us
- What makes us different, makes all the difference in the world.
- A Feisty Group of Disabled People
- Find Your People
- We Rebuild What You Destroy