Professional Development Symposium Goals

1. Deepen Understanding: Enhance participants’ knowledge of neurodivergence and the intersectional barriers impacting equity in education and employment. Discuss how movements such as Afrofuturism, Indigenous Futures, and Chicana/Latinx futurism can advance culturally-responsive approaches that embed traditional cultural knowledge and culture with futuristic ideas, spaces, and places.

2. Promote Inclusion: Equip attendees with evidence-based strategies and tools to create inclusive environments that support neurodivergent individuals’ self-determination, success, and intersectional understanding.

3. Build Partnerships: Foster collaboration among educators, service providers, and community organizations to align efforts in addressing systemic inequities.

4. Develop Action Plans: Support participants in designing tailored culturally-responsive equity and self-determination action plans to implement within their schools, organizations, or communities.

5. Drive Systems Change: Inspire attendees to advocate for and implement policy and practice reforms to improve outcomes for neurodivergent learners and career seekers.