Our ND Story — The Creation of NeuroPlaces
For millions of neurodivergent people, many public spaces and workplaces are not just uncomfortable — they are inaccessible.
We ask a simple but powerful question: what if spaces and places were tweaked or designed in a way that works for more brain types. Not just the 'neurotypical' brain. Would this not open so many doors for individuals and businesses, both socially and economically? We believe it most certainly would.
The Founder's
The birth of NeuroPlaces comes from a combination of professional and personal experiences creating one lightbulb moment. We are husband and wife, Eliza & Nathan - with three children six-years and under (one of which is confirmed autistic and suspected ADHD). We live a crazy, full-on life!
We both have experience in events, particularly Nathan who has worked in the events industry for over 15 years, directing and launching new shows. Eliza has a Masters Degree in Early Years Development, and has a keen interest in understanding children with additional needs.
Having an appreciation of exhibitions and conferences which are mission led has been crucial to the emergence of NeuroPlaces. We believe events like this can lead to real change. Experiencing first hand public places with a child on the autism spectrum allowed us to discover a colossal inclusion gap — found in the majority of public spaces and workplaces. When the idea of NeuroPlaces arose, we simply could not sit back, we took action straight away.
We are driven by a deep passion, and always have our daughter's wellbeing in the forefront of our minds.
The Lightbulb Moment
We visited Mac's Farm in Sussex, during a family festival. Like with any public event, there is always a level of anxiety, particularly when considering our autistic daughter's needs and whether or not they will be accounted for. They never really are, but this is just something that we have become accustomed to; we simply manage as best we can.
The festival was bustling, loud, and it was a hot day. Orla can become overstimulated, which leads to disregulation and possible meltdowns. We found a lovely wooded part of the farm with swings, hammocks, climbing ropes etc. One particular hammock really struck a cord with Orla, she almost looked mesmerised.
After coaxing her out of the hammock, we re-entered the busy part of the
festival and managed to watch a dog show (she was content throughout).
30 minutes went by and our daughter then asked to return to the same
hammock. Although at the time we felt this to be an inconvenience, we took
her back and she jumped back in eagerly, swung for 10 minutes and then
headed off again.
This happened a few times, we thought she was enjoying the repetition of
returning to the same place or maybe it was just something she found fun...
It didn't occur to us until we were driving home that our daughter was in
fact self-regulating — calming her nervous system.
To us as a family, this was a significant moment. It felt like a huge step
forward in terms of learning about Orla's needs and coping mechanisms.
Simply having access to the hammock meant that we could stay at the
festival as a family. Without the hammock, we would have had to leave
early and miss out on so many fulfilling experiences. We know many other
neurodivergent people and families often need a hammock in times like this!
A Mission
This experience led us to question how many wonderful aspects of life neurodivergent people are missing out on simply because they can't access basic provisions within the environment. NeuroPlaces seeks to change this. A movement on a mission to improve public spaces and workplaces for neurodivergent people, which in turn benefits everyone.
The building of NeuroPlaces seems so right and at exactly the right time. Where a fragmented market is in need of a meeting place. Within this meeting place, collaboration and real time interactions will take place in order to create the changes that our public realms and workplaces so desperately need. By the time our 6 year old daughter reaches young adulthood and begins to venture out independently, we want her needs to be accounted for.
Send us your ND story
If you'd like to share your story on our website we would love to hear from you. You can send Eliza an email or if you're not into writing, arrange a call and we can come up with something for your piece. Either way, we'll make it work!
