Syndication 
Author and entrepreneur Chris Guillebeau, founder of NeuroDiversion 2025, takes the stage at the inaugural event in Austin, Texas.
Chris Guillebeau is a speaker, podcaster, entrepreneur, and the best-selling author of eight books. His first, published in 2010, The Art of Non-Conformity, encouraged readers to reject the idea that they had to follow conventional paths to make a living and to lead a remarkable life. The next year, Guillebeau embedded that ethos into the World Domination Summit (WDS), an annual event which he hosted in Portland, Oregon, for 10 years.
From an initial gathering of 500 people, WDS soon grew to attract an audience in the thousands, and featured a mix of talks by notable experts alongside exuberantly playful shared experiences, such as a speaker who descended from the ceiling, joining Bollywood-themed dancers. In 2012, the same year Guillebeau’s second book, The $100 Startup: Reinvent the Way You Make a Living, was published, he gave every attendee $100 and asked them to use it to do something meaningful or generous.
When WDS came to a natural conclusion in 2022, Guillebeau was sad, he said in an email exchange with Convene. Meanwhile, he was learning about his own experiences with neurodivergence, especially ADHD, and writing about his discoveries in a newsletter he publishes on Substack, “A Year of Mental Health.” He’d also noticed, he told Convene, that “there was almost no ‘gold standard’ of annual gathering spaces for the neurodivergent community.” In March, when Guillebeau launched a new three-day event, NeuroDiversion 2025, “it felt like a natural evolution,” he wrote, “to combine the event experience with creating a space specifically designed for neurodivergent individuals to connect.”
The event defined the intended audience broadly on its website: Anyone with ADHD, autism, or other neurodivergent conditions or who identifies with neurodivergence, along with teachers and clinicians, and parents and partners of neurodivergent individuals. Billed as a “carefully crafted experience for people who think, plan, and process differently,” the three-day event was held at Fair Park in East Austin, a series of Quonset huts that have been repurposed into a popular event venue. Like WDS, the event combined talks and keynotes by experts, with elements of surprise and delight and a focus on community interaction.
Here’s more from our email conversation:
What were your goals for this inaugural event?
The team and I wanted to create something different and magical — a space where neurodivergent people could feel understood and celebrated rather than having to mask or apologize for who they are. The inaugural event was somewhat of a pilot project with around 300 attendees, and we’re planning to grow it significantly for next year.
Could you talk a bit about how you integrated both high-sensory experiences with low-sensory ones. Did you need more space?
We used silent disco headphones for concurrent breakout sessions — and it was a big win! I was nervous about trying this (there wasn’t really a backup plan), but it worked remarkably well. Attendees could tune into specific sessions while being in a shared space and adjust the volume to their comfort level.
We also introduced different zones throughout the venue — a quiet zone for those needing sensory breaks, a crafting station for people who process information better while keeping their hands busy, and other specialized areas. The variety allowed people to self-regulate throughout the day.
What elements did participants introduce themselves that weren’t part of the event?
Lots of things. Some attendees spontaneously created “connection cards” — simple handwritten cards with their interests, social-media handles, and when they’d welcome conversation. This emerged organically on day one and spread throughout the event.
We also saw impromptu sensory tool exchanges, where attendees would share fidgets, noise-canceling ear plugs, and other tools. Several attendees set up informal mentoring connections, pairing those newly diagnosed with those who had more experience navigating neurodivergence. The level of participant-led innovation reminded me of how creative this community is at problem-solving and creating supportive environments.
Participants are led through an exercise in unmasking their real selves.
What were some of the takeaways for you? Was there anything that surprised you?
Well, mostly I was glad that it worked! I’m always a nervous wreck leading up to an event, as many of your readers can probably relate to. I was also very happy that a lot of attendees talked about “finding their best friends” at the event. That meant a lot to me, because the whole vision was about bringing together people and creating connections among people who don’t always feel understood.
I was especially touched by the emotional impact that some attendees conveyed in the days following the event. We expected people would be happy to connect, but the profound relief many expressed at simply being in a room where they didn’t have to explain or apologize for their neurodivergence was powerful. Many attendees told us it was the first time they’d ever felt truly “normal.”
Would you recommend anything from NeuroDiversion 2025 that event organizers could put into practice at conferences aimed at a more general audience?
If event organizers could implement just one thing, I’d suggest clear communication about what to expect. Provide detailed information about session formats, crowd sizes, noise levels, and physical space in advance. This benefits everyone but is especially valuable for neurodivergent attendees who may need to plan ahead for sensory management. (Roughly 15-20 percent of the general population is estimated to be neurodivergent in some way.) Quiet zones or spaces can go a long way as well.
I saw iguanas and hedgehogs on Instagram. Can you tell me about that?
We had an on-site petting zoo! This was actually one of our most popular features — a chance for sensory engagement that a lot of folks found calming and centering. The hedgehogs were particularly symbolic, as they’re known as an unofficial mascot for neurodivergence in online communities.
We also included a “stuffie” hedgehog as part of our welcome swag. Our attendees liked it so much they voted to name them “Quillie” after a real hedgehog that made a special appearance at our closing party. That was fun.
Q-and-A during ‘a silent disco’ session at NeuroDiversion 2025
Normalizing Neurodivergence
Australian sociologist Judy Singer coined the term “neurodiversity” 30 years ago to introduce the idea that, rather than dysfunction, neurodivergent conditions — including autism, ADHD, and multiple others — represent the myriad ways that human minds are naturally wired.
Nearly one in five Americans identified as being neurodivergent in a survey conducted by the online data and technology company, YouGov. Of that group, a significantly larger proportion of respondents — 30 percent — were under the age of 30, compared to 17 percent of those aged 45-64, and 6 percent of those over the age of 65.
Despite the growth in the number of younger people who identify as neurodivergent, another survey, focused on individuals in the U.K. between the ages of 18-25 and conducted by the financial services firm BDO, found that large proportions of young people struggle with feelings of discrimination and inclusion.
Forty percent of respondents to the BDO survey said that they believe that being neurodivergent could be a barrier to gaining employment or receiving a promotion in the workplace. And three out of four of those who identified as neurodivergent said they have experienced “feeling out of place, different, or inadequate” compared to colleagues and peers in the workplace or higher education settings.
Barbara Palmer is Convene’s deputy editor.
On the Web
Find more about NeuroDiversion 2025 at NeuroDiversion.org. Resources for event planners created by The Neu Project, an experience design agency and community dedicated to designing neuroinclusive spaces and events, can be found at TheNeuProject.com/resources.
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