Differently Wired Thriving is a live, interactive virtual summit hosted by STAR that brings together leading researchers, clinicians, advocates, and neurodivergent professionals to explore how connection, understanding, and thoughtful design can transform the way we support differently wired minds.

This summit centers the belief that thriving does not come from fixing individuals—but from rethinking relationships, environments, and systems. Through dynamic dialogue, applied learning, and intentionally paced conversations, participants will explore how sensory experience, co-regulation, and belonging shape learning, wellbeing, and participation across systems of care.

Rather than a traditional lecture-based conference, Differently Wired Thriving is designed as a relational learning experience. Science and lived experience are placed in conversation, allowing participants to slow down, reflect, and engage with complexity in meaningful ways. Co-regulated openings, facilitated dialogues, and application presentations support deep learning without overload, modeling the very approaches being discussed.

Across three days, the summit moves from understanding to exploring relationships and belonging, and finally to examining the broader ecological and cultural systems that influence whether people merely cope—or truly thrive. Participants leave not only with practical strategies but with renewed clarity, confidence, and alignment in their professional work.

This event is for professionals who want more than continuing education hours—it is for those seeking better questions, more ethical approaches, and a deeper connection in how they support neurodivergent individuals and communities. 

• Reconnect with purpose and meaning
  Differently Wired Thriving supports professionals who feel misaligned with traditional models and are seeking approaches that honor humanity, complexity, and dignity—without burnout or compromise.
   
• Learn through dialogue, not directives
  Instead of lectures alone, the summit centers conversation between researchers, clinicians, and neurodivergent voices, offering richer understanding and real-world relevance.
   
• Gain practical, ethical strategies you can apply immediately
  Application Labs translate reflection into action, helping participants adapt insights to their own settings without requiring unrealistic system overhauls.
   
• Experience neuroaffirming learning in action
  From co-regulated openings to intentional pacing, the summit models sensory-aware, relational practices—not just teaching them.
   
• Stay connected and revisit learning over time
  Participants receive access to an online community for continued connection and dialogue, plus on-demand session recordings to revisit insights, deepen understanding, and support ongoing integration into practice.

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OUR 3-DAY PROGRAM

DAY 1 | JUNE 10 | 8:00AM - 1:30PM MT | Understanding Ourselves – Our Bodies

Day 1 is where your next-level neuroinclusion journey begins. We start by turning inwards, to the body. Together we will examine what regulation really means across neurotypes and how sensory experience shapes identity, energy, and self-expression. This is hands-on professional reflection: what do we really mean when we talk about regulation? How is it different to self-discipline/self-control? Unpacking energy rhythms, confronting how systems like work culture, gender expectations, and bias affect the body’s capacity to thrive. 

Across our series of panels, application labs, and short presentations, we will discuss the complexity of sensory diversity and well-being across contexts. How can sensory diverse people stay true to themselves while navigating a world that wasn’t built with them in mind? How do things like work, misogyny, and white supremacy impact self-regulation? 

Expect to leave this day with practical frameworks for adapting sensory and regulatory strategies across contexts and with a renewed understanding of your professional and personal self. This is where doing the work starts, centering integration as the foundation of ethical neuroaffirming practice.  
 

8:00am–8:30am | Welcome | Virginia Spielmann, Kieran Rose 

8:30am-9:00am | Short Presentation | Damon Kirsebom

9:05am–10:00am  Dialogue 1: What Does Regulation Mean for Different Bodies | Bryden Carlson-Giving, Naureen Hunani

10:05am–10:20am | Break 

10:20am-11:05am | Application Lab 1

11:10am-11:40am | Short Presentation | Shayda Kafai

11:45am-12:45pm | Dialogue 2: Authenticity, Energy, and Masking | Lulu Larcenciel, Shayda Kafai, Roslyn Law
Exploration of authenticity, energy management, and identity. 

12:45pm-1:30pm | Application Lab 2

1:30pm | Close | Dr. Virginia Spielmann

 

DAY 2 | JUNE 11 | 8:00AM-1:30PM MT | Understanding Each Other 

On Day 2, we will be exploring relationship, co-regulation, and belonging. If Day 1 helps you understand self, Day 2 is about what happens between us. Connection is regulation.  

Throughout the day’s live dialogues, presentations, and guided application labs, we will explore how relationships, teams, families, and communities can support or sabotage safety and learning. This event will move us beyond theory to practice, how to build spaces and places where people experience true belonging, not surface-level inclusion (which can sometimes cause as much harm as overt exclusion). 

You will learn to notice co-regulation in action, repair it when it falters, and design interactions that honor difference without exhaustion. The return on investment here is enormous: clarity, confidence, and relational tools that immediately elevate your professional and personal effectiveness.  

8:00am–8:30am | Welcome | Virginia Spielmann, Kieran Rose 

8:30am-9:00am | Short Presentation | Kristy Forbes

9:05am–10:00am | Dialogue 1: Co-Regulation and Belonging in Relationships and Systems | Lovette Jallow, Iris Varela

10:05am–10:20am | Break 

10:20am-11:05am | Application Lab 1

11:10am-11:40am | Short Presentation | Karen Gravett

11:45am-12:45pm | Dialogue 2: Validating Not Belonging | Nyck Walsh, Karen Gravett

12:45pm-1:30pm |  Application Lab 2

1:30pm | Close | Dr. Virginia Spielmann

 

DAY 3 | JUNE 12 | 8:00AM-1:30PM MT | The Ecological Context 

Day 3 continues to expand the conversation of the previous two days, looking out beyond the individual and beyond the small-scale community toward building a sensory-diverse world that respects the dignity and difference of neurodiverse people. Together, we analyze what a neuroinclusive world could look like in education, health care, workplaces, and culture; and how to face the realities of building this. Through panels, reflection, and application sessions, you will learn how to root advocacy in intersectional ethics and turn ideals into concrete, manageable and maintainable action. 

This is where we translate insight into action: transforming how we design programs, policies, and professional cultures. You’ll leave ready to be an advocate and architect of real systemic change, equipped, aligned, and inspired to lead the next phase of this movement. Participants will leave equipped to influence the cultures and institutions they touch; ready to build settings where neurodivergent people, colleagues, and clients don’t just survive but fully participate and flourish. 
 

8:00am–8:30am | Welcome | Virginia Spielmann, Kieran Rose 

8:30am–9:00am | Short Presentation | Vesper Moore

9:05am–10:00am |  Dialogue 1: Imagining Systems That Feel Like Home | Vesper Moore, Diamond Rashad

10:05am–10:20am | Break 

10:20am-11:05am | Application Lab 1

11:10am-11:40am | Short Presentation | Alicia Broderick

11:45am-12:45pm |  Dialogue 2: Accountability, Culture, and Sustainability | Morénike Giwa Onaiwu
Translating diversity work into lasting change ethically. 

12:45pm-1:30pm | Application Lab 2

1:30pm | Close | Dr. Virginia Spielmann

 

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Get to Know Our 2026 Speakers - CONFIRMED TO DATE

Virginia Spielmann PhD, OTR/L Executive Director USA Host	Kieran Rose Consultant, Writer, Advocate United Kingdom Co-Host	Kristy Forbes Educator and Consultant Australia
Shayda Kafai PhD  Associate Professor USA	Vesper Moore CPS Chief Operating Officer USA	Karen Gravett PhD Associate Professor of Higher Education, and Associate Head (Research) United Kingdom
Naureen Hunani  RD  Registered Dietitian Canada	Diamond Rashad OTD, OTR/L  Occupational Therapist USA	Bryden Carlson-Giving OTR/L  Occupational Therapist USA
Lovette Jallow Author, Lecturer, Inclusion Strategist Sweden	Nyck Walsh MA, LPC Somatic Psychotherapist and Counselor Educator USA	Iris Varela Clinical Lead- Neurodivergent Pathway for SWP and CAMHS Clinician United Kingdom
Morénike Giwa Onaiwu PhD Advocate/Public Speaker/Writer USA	Roslyn Law DClinPsy Consultant Clinical Psychologist United Kingdom	Lulu Larcenciel B.A., M.A. PHD Student and Researcher Canada
Alicia A. Broderick PhD Professor of Education USA

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Attendance Policy

Participants may join the conference at any time during the live broadcasts and/or view the recorded presentations for 60 days after the livestreamed event.

To receive the Certificate of Completion, participants must meet the following criteria:

• Purchase the AOTA/ASHA CEU Add-on
• Attend the live event or watch the recordings
• Complete and pass a brief quiz for each approved presentation by July 13, 2026
  • A passing score is 80% or higher
  • Quizzes must be completed in the order of the presentations
  • Quizzes may be retaken as needed

If you would like STAR Institute to report your credits to the ASHA CE Registry, please submit the ASHA CE Registry Reporting Form by July 13, 2026

Please note:

• All participants will receive a Certificate of Attendance
• Access to Presentation Recordings - Recordings will be available from June 12, 2026, through August 11, 2026. Live sessions are scheduled for June 10-12, 2026, with recordings uploaded incrementally after each session.

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Do you have a disability that would require special accommodations?

Please contact us at education@sensoryhealth.org and describe how we can help accommodate your needs.

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Cancellation Policy

Since this program is recorded and available for on-demand access, cancellations are generally not accepted. If you have any questions or concerns, please get in touch with education@sensoryhealth.org.

In the rare event that this program must be canceled due to unforeseen circumstances such as illness, fire, strikes, war, acts of God, or other disruptions beyond our control, STAR Institute will make every effort to reschedule. If rescheduling is not possible, all registration fees will be refunded.