Participate - Actions & Ideas
These are my plans for the future. I hope they will trigger responses from you. We are trying to develop a community of like-minded people. Please jump in and tell me what you think, what else we could be doing, other people and organizations that we could work with or simply share a connection.
Where did the idea get started? Grappling Autism started with a conversation I had with my dad about how well my twin Charlie and other neurodiverse kids were doing while practicing Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ).
At first, we thought maybe it was because The Compound, the club where we practice, is super special - which it is for many, many reasons, by the way. My dad had been googling and found that there were others out there that were seeing great results.
We have friends that work in special needs. When we spoke to them it turned out that none of them had considered BJJ as a good activity for neurodiverse kids.
We decided it would be interesting and worthwhile to look into this. To bring people together to share their experiences, advice and friendship.
The plan is to get a conference together in early 2022, hopefully in February. Please feel free to contribute to this. We are working on a virtual/in-person combination, which we hope will allow the most people to take part.
Imagineer (noun): a person who is skilled in implementing creative ideas into practical form.
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I want to gather a group to develop this project.
While working together involves good communication, I don't want this to be a talking shop. Small, doable ideas are better than talking a project into the weeds.
I hope to find an energy - and it comes driven by a bunch of people - to help expand what this thing can be.
Please do contact me. These are early days and there is plenty of room to mold and guide. Nothing is set in stone.
I want to gather information surrounding the subject of neurodiversity and martial arts. Research information, groups, individuals are all on my list for inclusion.
If you have anything you would like added to this site or know of anything that is broadly relevant, please let me know.