Stimpunks was forged in the quest for survival and inclusion. We are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit built by and for neurodivergent and disabled people. Stimpunks was founded in December of 2021. We are a community affair. We’re Autistic, ADHD, OCD, PTSD, Tourettes, schizophrenic, bipolar, apraxic, dyslexic, dyspraxic, dyscalculic, non-speaking, and more. We’ve collectively experienced rare diseases, organ transplants, various cancers, many surgeries and therapies, and lots of ableism and SpEd. We’ve experienced #MedicalAbleism, #MedicalMisogyny, #MedicalRacism, #MedicalTrauma, and #MedicalGaslighting. We understand chronic pain, chronic illness, and the #NEISvoid “No End In Sight Void”. We know what it’s like to be disabled and different in our systems. We know what it is like to live with barriers and what it means to not fit in and have to forge our own community. Disabled and neurodivergent people are always edge cases, and edge cases are stress cases. We can help you design for the edges, because we live at the edges. We are the canaries. We are “the fish that must fight the current to swim upstream.“
All we did was refuse to believe that we were the problem.
Rolling Warrior: The Incredible, Sometimes Awkward, True Story of a Rebel Girl on Wheels Who Helped Spark a Revolution
Table of Contents
- What We Do
- Why We Do It: Our “Moment of Obligation”
- Administrivia
- Directors and Board Members
- Ryan Boren ( he / they ), Co-Founder, Co-Creative Director, Board Chair
- Chelsea Adams ( she/her ), Executive Director
- Norah Hobbs, ( she/her ), Program Director
- Helen Edgar ( she/her ), Co-Creative Director
- Betsy Selvam ( she/her ), Board Vice Chair
- Becky Hicks ( she/her ), Board Member
- Kristina Brooke Daniele ( she/her ), Board Secretary
- Volunteers
- What makes us different, makes all the difference in the world.
- Walk your walk, and roll your roll.
- ✊ We’re a Feisty Group of Neurodivergent and Disabled People
What We Do
We provide mutual aid, creator grants, human-centered learning, and living wages for neurodivergent and disabled people. We publish open learning pathways, a glossary, and a field guide anyone can use. We do research and offer services to help schools, clinicians, and organizations do better by us. Everything we build is by and for our community — not handed down to it.
Why We Do It: Our “Moment of Obligation”
A moment of obligation is the instant when you can no longer look away — when your own experience of a broken system makes it impossible to leave the next person to face it alone. For Stimpunks, that moment came through lived necessity: rolling our own education because public systems failed us, building our own care infrastructure because existing institutions weren’t built for us, and finding, as the Combahee River Collective put it, that the only people who care enough about us to work consistently for our liberation are us. Obligation isn’t guilt. It isn’t charity. It’s the recognition that we know what’s needed, we know it from the inside, and that knowledge carries weight.
Stimpunks was created to forge the way for educational inclusion and to give our community the means to thrive. We as a disabled and neurodivergent run organization had to roll our own education, because even the “all means all” of public education failed to include us and those we serve. We had to create our own care systems, because “we realized that the only people who care enough about us to work consistently for our liberation are us.” “Responsibility for the survival of entire communities lies with us.”
In other words…
One Idea Per Line
- Stimpunks was created to advocate for educational inclusion and empower our community.
- As a disabled and neurodivergent organization, we had to create our own education because public and private education did not include us.
- We had to establish our own care systems because we recognized that the only ones who consistently work for our liberation are ourselves.
- We believe that responsibility for the survival of entire communities lies with us.
One Paragraph Summary
Stimpunks is a disabled and neurodivergent-run organization that was created to address the lack of educational inclusion and support for their community. They have developed their own educational programs and care systems to ensure that the needs of disabled and neurodivergent individuals are met. Inspired by the Combahee River Collective, Stimpunks emphasizes the importance of self-care and self-determination, recognizing that the responsibility for the well-being and liberation of their community lies with the community itself. Their goal is to empower their community to thrive and advocate for their rights and inclusion in society.
Five Paragraph Summary
Stimpunks is an organization that was created with the aim of promoting educational inclusion and providing support for the disabled and neurodivergent community. The founders of Stimpunks, who are themselves disabled and neurodivergent, recognized the lack of inclusivity in public and private education systems and decided to take matters into their own hands.
One of the ways Stimpunks addresses this issue is by offering their own educational programs. They have developed courses that cater to the specific needs and learning styles of disabled and neurodivergent individuals. By creating their own education, Stimpunks ensures that the content is accessible and relevant to their community.
In addition to education, Stimpunks also focuses on creating care systems that meet the needs of their community. They understand that the responsibility for the well-being and liberation of the disabled and neurodivergent community lies with the community itself. They have taken inspiration from the Combahee River Collective, a Black feminist organization, which emphasized the importance of self-care and self-determination.
Stimpunks recognizes that traditional systems often fail to adequately support marginalized communities, and they have taken it upon themselves to fill this gap. By creating their own education and care systems, they are empowering their community to thrive and take control of their own destinies.
Stimpunks’ approach is not limited to education and care alone. They also advocate for the rights and inclusion of disabled and neurodivergent individuals in society at large. Through their work, Stimpunks aims to challenge the existing systems and create a more inclusive and equitable world for all.
Accordions labelled “In other words…” explain things in different ways, including plain language and one idea per line.
I wanna see a feisty group of disabled people around the world…if you don’t respect yourself and if you don’t demand what you believe in for yourself, you’re not gonna get it.
Judith Heumann
The world doesn’t want us around and wants us dead. We live with that reality, so there’s always gonna be, uh, ‘Am I gonna survive? Am I gonna push back? Am I gonna fight to be here?’ that’s always true. So, if you wanna call that anger, I call it kind of drive. You know, you have to be willing to thrive or you’re not going to make it.
Corbett O’Toole
Administrivia
Before we introduce ourselves, here are a few administrative about pages.
- Brand Identity: Logos, Symbols, and Visual Storytelling
- License: Everything Is a Remix
- QR
- Supporters
- Equity Statement
- Accessibility Statement
- Testimonials
- Frequently Requested Information
- Emeritus
- We…
- The Tenets of Stimpunks
- A Brief History of Stimpunks
- Accountability & Transparency
- For Funders
Okay, about us…
Directors and Board Members
Ryan Boren (he/they), Co-Founder, Co-Creative Director, Board Chair
Ryan is a former WordPress lead developer who retired from tech in 2021 after 15 years at Automattic, the distributed company he helped start. He finished his time at Automattic working on the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion team and helping create and run the Neurodiversity Employee Resource Group. Building a community, a company, a platform, and an ERG was an intense ride full of mistakes and learning that Ryan distills into Stimpunks.
Chelsea Adams (she/her), Executive Director
As the Executive Director of Stimpunks Foundation, Chelsea is deeply committed to advancing disability and neurodiversity justice through advocacy, empowerment, and community-building. With over 4 years of experience in the non-profit sector, Chelsea is passionate about creating an inclusive world where all individuals—regardless of ability—have access to the resources, opportunities, and support they deserve.
Chelsea’s journey began in middle school when she volunteered for a special needs basketball team. Her experience with being AuDHD while in the US Army also opened her eyes to the broken systems we live in. She saw the need for inclusion and accessibility at a young age, and her passion for disability justice grew from there. This sparked her dedication to dismantling systemic barriers and creating positive change for individuals with disabilities and neurodivergent communities. Throughout her career, she has worked closely with individuals, families, and stakeholders to foster understanding and build meaningful partnerships aimed at promoting social equity and respect for all people.
At Stimpunks Foundation, We provide mutual aid, creator grants, learning opportunities, human-centered research, and living wages for our community., and under Chelseas leadership, we strive to ensure that the voices of people with disabilities and neurodivergent individuals are heard, valued, and respected. We believe in the power of collaboration and the importance of centering the lived experiences of those most affected by injustice, ensuring that our work is driven by inclusivity, compassion, and integrity.
Norah Hobbs, (she/her), Program Director
Norah has always had a heart tuned to the quiet voices of the world—the overlooked and underserved. She has made it her mission to reach into chaos and pull out kindness and compassion.
She has a background in direct patient care and a Bachelor’s Degree in Occupational Safety & Health, and she brings both her professional experience and her lived perspective as an AuDHD parent of two neurodivergent children into creating spaces that are truly inclusive and accessible.
She understands that safety isn’t only physical—it’s emotional and cultural as well—and she works to help others genuinely thrive. In her spare time, she advocates for and rescues the underdogs, helping both people and animals find stability, dignity, and a new beginning.
Helen Edgar (she/her), Co-Creative Director
Helen is late diagnosed autistic and a parent to two neurodivergent children.
Helen studied History of Art and English Lit before gaining her teaching qualification in the UK.
She has 20 years of experience supporting those with profound and multiple learning disabilities as an early years / primary teacher.
Helen set up Autistic Realms in 2022 and now specialises in autism, education and mental health advocacy.
She is a published writer and creates resources for young people and their families, and for the people supporting them.
Current focus: Monotropism, Autistic Burnout and Neuroqueer Theory.
Passions: Sensory dens, woodland/moss/water, images and thoughts with circle and spiral patterns. Soundscape music and Aurora.
Collector of theory, research, words and faery-related things
Betsy Selvam (she/her), Board Vice Chair
Betsy Selvam is an artist from Vellore, south India. Currently, she is a PhD candidate interested in autistic life writing. Betsy has had a lifelong passion for art and literature. Her creative work may be found in Mulberry Literary, Anti-Heroin Chic and Samjoko, among other places. As a neurodivergent artist, Betsy hopes to use her art and writing for positive change.
Becky Hicks (she/her), Board Member
Becky Hicks is an Art Director at HM Advertising. She has almost 30 years experience in advertising, designing for print, web and styling and directing photo shoots. In her free time she runs the Algiers Point Free lil Pantry and entertains her pet pig, Coco Chanel.
Coco’s Setlist
Kristina Brooke Daniele (she/her), Board Secretary
Kristina Brooke Daniele is a Black, queer, neurodivergent homeschooling mom, educator, wife, and author of two books, (Civil Rights Then and Now and i wandered, lost: poems). Kristina has worked as an educator in some capacity for over 15 years- first as a classroom teacher, then as a homeschooling teacher, and currently, as an education consultant. She is passionate about collaborative projects centering on creating and maintaining safe-spaces for those who have for too long been pushed aside. During her time at Automattic, Kristina spearheaded the creation of the Employee Resource Group, Cocoamattic for Black employees at the company.
Kristina enjoys reading speculative fiction, write tales of romance, build homes and design apartments in The Sims 4, peacefully commune with ancient lands in Age of Empires, dabble in various arts and crafts, and spend time with her family.
Volunteers
Adriel Jeremiah Wool (he/him), Artist, Writer
Adriel Jeremiah is an computer programmer with a deep background in origami and folding.
This artwork is an extension of a world view involving folding; often involving higher dimensional spaces.
Many of these designs contain the mathematical magic of the transcendental numbers of nature, and all of them are the extension of the provisions of space itself; to be both physically folded, and conceptually folded, circularily (sic) and across many levels of expression.
Donate
One in seven persons in the world has a disability. Yet, grants for persons with disabilities constitute just 2% of all human rights funding.
Human Rights Funders Network – Reversing the trend: The time is now to fund disability rights
Why donate to us? The nonprofit professionals who consult us tell us we’re unique. They tell us we’re tearing down walls in philanthropy…
1. Your money goes directly to people, not bureaucracy
Stimpunks practices mutual aid, not charity theater. Donations are moved quickly and with low barriers to neurodivergent and disabled people who need relief now—for rent, food, care, survival. This prevents crises before they become emergencies, which is both more humane and more effective than downstream interventions.
Impact: Immediate stabilization, reduced stress, fewer crisis escalations.
2. Stimpunks fixes conditions, not people
Most systems are built around compliance: behave correctly, mask well, suffer quietly, and maybe you’ll get help. Stimpunks rejects that model entirely. It invests in access, psychological safety, and autonomy, which research and lived experience both show lead to better long-term outcomes.
Your donation supports:
- Communication access
- Sensory and space access
- Education and healthcare access
- Environments where people don’t have to erase themselves to survive
3. It’s led by the people most affected
Stimpunks is neurodivergent- and disabled-led. That means:
- No guessing what people need
- No extractive storytelling
- No top-down “solutions” that create harm
Lived experience isn’t a side note here—it’s the operating system.
Result: Higher relevance, higher trust, higher impact per dollar.
4. It prevents harm instead of managing fallout
Compliance-based therapies, inaccessible systems, and deficit narratives cost people their health, education, jobs, and lives. Stimpunks intervenes upstream by:
- Publishing open, neuroaffirming learning pathways
- Challenging harmful practices
- Giving families, educators, and professionals better tools
Prevention is cheaper, kinder, and more effective than repair.
5. Your donation creates compounding impact
Stimpunks doesn’t just help individuals—it builds shared infrastructure:
- Free learning resources used globally
- Language and frameworks that change how people think and act
- Community knowledge that outlives any single grant
One donation helps one person and strengthens the ecosystem that supports thousands more.
6. This is accountability without gatekeeping
Stimpunks operates with transparency, low overhead, and a clear ethical spine. There’s no pressure to sanitize stories or soften the truth to appease funders. Donations support honest work rooted in dignity, not optics.
7. Because people shouldn’t have to mask to deserve care
At the deepest level, donating to Stimpunks is a values decision.
It says:
- People are not broken
- Difference is not a defect
- Care should never be conditional on conformity
Authenticity is our purest freedom—and freedom requires resources.
Bottom line
If you want your money to:
- Reach people fast
- Reduce harm instead of rebranding it
- Support work led by those who live it
- Build something real, not polite
Donate to Stimpunks.org.
Your donations help us serve our loved people so we can keep on living through the onslaught.
Double your impact. Many employers match donations through Benevity and similar platforms.
Accountability Is Care
We don’t do mystery charity. We work in public, publish our policies, and show where the money goes — because trust is part of access.
- Accountability & Transparency Hub
- Where the Money Went (2025)
- Program/Admin/Fundraising Expense Policy
- Annual Reports
- Donor Privacy Policy
- Frequently Requested Information
Donate if you can. Share if you can’t. Either way, thank you for building access with us.
What makes us different, makes all the difference in the world.
Our friends at Randimals have a saying,
What makes us different, makes all the difference in the world.
Randimals
We agree.
Many years ago, a friend dubbed Ryan “Bearmouse”, intuiting a part of his neurodivergent spiky profile.
There is consensus regarding some neurodevelopmental conditions being classed as neurominorities, with a ‘spiky profile’ of executive functions difficulties juxtaposed against neurocognitive strengths as a defining characteristic.
Neurominorities, Spiky Profiles, and the Biopsychosocial Model at Work
Inna decided on Bunnybadger and Chelsea decided on Pandillo. Their Randimals also hint at their neurodivergent profiles.
Image credit: Becky Hicks
Our Randimals capture our exposure anxiety, social anxiety, rejection sensitive dysphoria, emotional sunburn, very grand emotions, justice sensitivity, and other neurodivergent traits.
Read about Randimals, spiky profiles, learning terroir, neurological pluralism and Weird Pride on our “Different” page.
Nobody’s a nobody and everybody is weird like you and me!
The Amazing World of Gumball – Nobody’s A Nobody
Walk your walk, and roll your roll.
Walk Your Walk
Have you ever taken flack from the bullies on attack Cause you're different They laugh and call you names But that ain't no badge of shame Just cause you're different People gonna stare, you unsettle them and scare ’em Cause we're different
Walking down the street When you pass they Take a peek There's something different Live your life outside the box Blow off all the empty talk They focus on the things you're not Just walk your walk
And roll your roll
✊ We’re a Feisty Group of Neurodivergent and Disabled People
This photo was taken by Chona Kasinger.
Learn more about who we are and what we do on our “We…” page.
- We are.
- We ain’t.
- We do.
- We prefer.
- We rebuild.
- We serve.
- We’re here.
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