As neurodivergent+ and/or disabled people of color, we often feel like the system is designed to make us lose. We dream about what has been taken from us, what we haven’t been able to do, and what we might never be able to achieve due to ableism. Our relationship to grief is one that we simply cannot ignore.

Grief is the multifaceted and natural response to loss. It is not solely sadness, but a profound experience encompassing emotional, physical, cognitive, and spiritual dimensions. It is the internal process of adjusting to a world changed by absence, manifesting uniquely in every individual through a personal landscape of pain, memory, and meaning-making.

Western models of grief often follow a linear, verbal, pathologizing, and internalised path. For many neurodivergent and disabled people, this feels alienating and invalidating. Indigenous cultures worldwide offer alternative frameworks that are inherently sensory, communal, and action-oriented—aligning with our diverse neurological and physical needs.

Indigenous communities often practise communal holding of sorrow without pressure to perform. There is space to be in your grief, witnessed by others without an expectation to speak or "heal" on a schedule. This aligns with the neurodivergent+ need for low-demand environments and authentic acceptance, a core value for many in disabled communities.

Connection to land and nature is a profound teacher. The natural world models cycles of loss and regeneration, offering a non-judgmental space to process and practices that are adaptable to various accessibility needs.

Central to many Indigenous practices is ritualising grief through tangible action. Instead of solely talking about loss, grief is externalised. Here’s a list of acts or practices that may provide a concrete, sensory focus that can regulate a nervous system overwhelmed by an abstract and often overwhelming emotion such as grief:

• Creating art of any type with comrades

• Lighting a candle with a safe person

• Listening to or playing with drums and dancing

• Humming rhythmically while stimming with your whole body

• Planting veggies in an urban garden

• Sitting next to a tree in your local park, or…

Simply observing the weather from your window and letting yourself feel whatever comes up!

We hope that by learning from these principles—externalising through ritual, embracing communal support without demand, and seeking solace in nature—we can build a more accessible, sensory-rich toolkit for grief that honours our body-mind-spirit.

To commemorate the International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples, we’ve held a brilliant workshop that made us feel grounded and held in community:

🌳 Decolonizing and Re-Indigenizing Our Mind-Body-Spirit Connection through the Baobab Tree, by @ngoma_mulema_se

A knowledge-share integrating ancestral understandings of the Baobab tree to nurture mind-body-spirit connections through Disability Justice values and Indigenous lenses that allow us to witness our mental states in liberating, heart-centered ways.

NEW PEER SUPPORT AND BODY-DOUBLING SCHEDULE

Since launching, we’ve hosted nearly thirty member-only events, including Monthly Orientations, Share Sessions (peer support), and Focus Sessions (body doubling). It’s been a pleasure getting to know many of you through these events, and we look forward to seeing you at the next one!

To make sure none of our members miss out, we are updating our event schedule. Here are the highlights:

Different Times ⏰ We will now be offering Share and Focus sessions at various times throughout the month. This helps accommodate the time zones and schedules of our members.

Black + Brown People Only 🤎 In line with our commitment to centering Black and Brown people, we’ll host a Share Session exclusively for these communities monthly.

Melanated Group Chat 🤎💬 A brand new group chat for our Black + Brown members of our community. DM @NEUROMANCERS on the community chat and ask for the link to join!

CARE PRACTICE COLLECTIVE

We are a group of neurodivergent+ people with lived experience of mental distress or difficulty, who align with NEUROMANCERS’ values.

A Care Workshop is a space where neurodivergent+ peers come together to support a single person -or system for our plural family!

When you apply, we’ll ask you to share some information about what you’d like help with. We’ll get in touch if we can offer you a Care Workshop.

You will lead your Care session. We will provide practical support to help you identify areas in your life where you can make beneficial changes. You can invite a support person or friend, but please note that the session will focus on your care needs, not theirs.

We could…

• Brainstorm solutions and co-think through problems

• Research and gather resources

• Help with life and disability admin

• Hold space for your emotions and feelings

• Watch a film or YouTube video together

• Share in our despair and exhaustion about the world and its problems

• Sit quietly together and do nothing

It’s truly your space!

Applications are open from the 1st to the 8th of each month.

To apply, you need to be 18+, neurodivergent+, and have access to the internet.

So what are you waiting for? You DESERVE care and community!

Email [email protected] if you want to join the collective and practise your care-building skills.