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Bridgette Hamstead @fishinatreenola.bsky.social · Sep 5

Yeah. Same. I'm reading the Bluesky privacy policy and it says it shares your data and posts with law enforcement...soo...not too sure about that...

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Bridgette Hamstead @fishinatreenola.bsky.social · Sep 5

What are you doing. I'm sitting here with a piece of cake I've been trying to eat for three hours between meetings and phone calls. The meeting I'm supposed to be in now was a no-show, rude. So...what's up?

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Bridgette Hamstead @fishinatreenola.bsky.social · Sep 5

*snort laugh

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Bridgette Hamstead @fishinatreenola.bsky.social · Sep 5

Hiiiiiiiii!!!!!!

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Bridgette Hamstead @fishinatreenola.bsky.social · Sep 5

Great! Yes! Did you see my repost of a related article, and my thoughts and article, and a link to this article, in the comments? :). www.linkedin.com/posts/bridge...

There are a lot of other reasons not to use the term "neurospicy", even if it doesn't personally offend you. That being said, I support everyone in self-identifying with whatever languag...

There are a lot of other reasons not to use the term "neurospicy", even if it doesn't personally offend you. That being said, I support everyone in self-identifying with whatever language they choose....

www.linkedin.com

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Bridgette Hamstead @fishinatreenola.bsky.social · Sep 4

If you want to support this work at Fish in a Tree, please visit our donation page at www.fishinatreenola.org

Fish in a Tree NOLA

www.fishinatreenola.org

Bridgette Hamstead @fishinatreenola.bsky.social · Sep 4

Neurodiversity justice doesn’t happen through awareness months, hashtag campaigns, or one-time training sessions. It happens through the long, often invisible work of movement-building:

Bridgette Hamstead @fishinatreenola.bsky.social · Sep 4

We need our stories to fuel more than inspiration. We need them to change the conditions that made them necessary in the first place.

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Bridgette Hamstead @fishinatreenola.bsky.social · Sep 4

We need action. We need legislation, funding, organizing, and policy shaped by those who live at the intersection of neurodivergence and racial injustice, poverty, queerness, disability, housing instability, criminalization, and state control.

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Bridgette Hamstead @fishinatreenola.bsky.social · Sep 4

What comes next is not about getting more visibility in corporate trainings or academic journals. What comes next is coalition. It’s shared infrastructure, shared strategy, and a shared refusal to let this movement be diluted into a branding exercise.

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Bridgette Hamstead @fishinatreenola.bsky.social · Sep 4

Neurodiversity justice cannot be an individual endeavor. It has to be collective. It has to be structural. And it has to be grounded in the real, lived experiences of neurodivergent people, especially those pushed furthest to the margins.

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Bridgette Hamstead @fishinatreenola.bsky.social · Sep 4

We cannot afford to stop at awareness. We have to move. And we have to move together, across disciplines, across movements, and across every barrier that’s kept us isolated from one another’s work. Neurodiversity justice cannot be an individual endeavor.

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Bridgette Hamstead @fishinatreenola.bsky.social · Sep 4

And it doesn’t redistribute resources, power, or decision-making to the people who have been most harmed.

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Bridgette Hamstead @fishinatreenola.bsky.social · Sep 4

Recognition alone does not change material conditions. It doesn’t get people housed, fed, protected, or free. It doesn’t dismantle institutional violence, or end systems that criminalize, infantilize, and disappear neurodivergent people.

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Bridgette Hamstead @fishinatreenola.bsky.social · Sep 4

In schools, workplaces, and public discourse, neurodiversity is no longer an unfamiliar word. The idea that brains exist in natural variation is becoming part of the mainstream conversation in some places across the US. But awareness is not justice.

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Bridgette Hamstead @fishinatreenola.bsky.social · Sep 4

This is the most meaningful work of my life, and I am so proud of what’s taking shape. To every autistic, ADHD, AuDHD, and otherwise neurodivergent person who has felt erased, misrepresented, unsupported, or underestimated, this is for you.

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Bridgette Hamstead @fishinatreenola.bsky.social · Sep 4

4. Ongoing public writing and thought leadership
5. And a US coalition-led movement strategy focused on housing security, financial security, employment, education, aging, institutionalization, and much more

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Bridgette Hamstead @fishinatreenola.bsky.social · Sep 4

1. A university-level Neurodiversity Studies curriculum and academic credentialing pathway
2. A board certified professional Neurodiversity Consultant certification program
3. Professional Mentorship for neurodivergent professionals doing advocacy, systems change, and visibility work

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Bridgette Hamstead @fishinatreenola.bsky.social · Sep 4

You’ll soon see new offerings and initiatives from Fish in a Tree and it's coalition partners including:

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Bridgette Hamstead @fishinatreenola.bsky.social · Sep 4

These conversations and work have already begun and are on-going, and we are setting the stage for collective action, shared visibility, and sustainable change in this country, and beyond.

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Bridgette Hamstead @fishinatreenola.bsky.social · Sep 4

We are proud to be leading the development of a U.S. based Neurodiversity Coalition, grounded in partnership, collaboration, and mutual support with some of the most powerful neurodivergent-led organizations and advocates in the country.

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Bridgette Hamstead @fishinatreenola.bsky.social · Sep 4

This new identity reflects the work I’ve been doing and will continue to do: writing, speaking, consulting, teaching, and building community with all neurodivergent people, especially including the multiply marginalized among us.

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Bridgette Hamstead @fishinatreenola.bsky.social · Sep 4

We are rebranding as a neurodivergent-led education, advocacy, and activism center advancing neurodiversity justice across the lifespan, across systems, and across the globe.

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Bridgette Hamstead @fishinatreenola.bsky.social · Sep 4

As some of you already know, Fish in a Tree is growing into its next chapter. What began as a neurodiversity community center rooted in love, lived experience, and local and virtual support is becoming something broader, bolder, and more deeply aligned with the work I’ve been called to do.

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Bridgette Hamstead @fishinatreenola.bsky.social · Sep 4

Paula! What up, my pink haired friend?! Look at us! Connected and shit!