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It's April, which means we are celebrating Autism Acceptance Month by amplifying Autistic voices and perspectives. Recently, I had the chance to sit down and talk with Jes, one of our Steering Committee members, to learn more about her experience with the group. One of the things I love most about the Chicago Neurodivergent Social Club (CNSC) is that the people who help shape the community are often the same people you’ll see regularly showing up to events, support groups, an

Editor's note: The Chicago Neurodiverse Social Club is a program of CAYR Connections, organized by neurodivergent adults, for neurodivergent adults. More details at www.cayrconnections.org/cnsc If you’ve been to a few Chicago Neurodiverse Social Club (CNSC) events, there’s a good chance you’ve seen me around. My name is Ricki, and I’ve been involved with CAYR Connections for about a year now as both a volunteer and a member of the CNSC community. Over that time, I’ve had the

(and Why Authentic ND Representation Matters) Looking back at my 2025 reading list, I noticed something subtle but significant: many of the books I loved most featured neurodivergent characters. Even better, most were written by neurodivergent authors drawing directly from their own lived experiences. Some characters explicitly identified as neurodivergent: autistic, dyslexic, OCD, etc. Others showed who they were without labeling it. Some authors challenged stereotypes si

Today is National Coming Out Day, so Ricki and I wanted to talk about what it means to live in the intersection of neurodivergence and queerness, how our labels helped us make sense of ourselves, and how advocacy and community have become life-saving parts of that journey. This blog is our reflection on that conversation.