Draven is a Trauma-Informed Sexuality Educator with Dynamic Education and Counseling and a Ph.D. in Human Sexuality student with the California Institute of Integral Studies. From a playful and authentic base, Draven weaves research and stories to teach individuals how to process one's trauma with themselves while being supported by a therapist. While teaching, they knit stories in to include intersectional identities and how oppressive systems affect individuals and communities. As a Trauma-Informed Sexuality Educator, Draven coaches neurodivergent individuals/couples/polycules, provides trauma processing groups, and conducts a variety of workshops on healthy sexuality. Draven also volunteers at The Consent Academy as a Consent Educator and at Sex Positive Olympia as Co-President.

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BDSM is a space in which community and connection are vital to create safe spaces to be creative and imaginative. For many, BDSM is a leisure activity based in consensual playful interactions. As a subsect of BDSM, age-play is about negotiated play between consenting adults, where an adult ‘plays’ as a child and the other adult ‘plays’ as their caregiver. The pathology of BDSM has decreased over the years due to mainstream media, whereas age-play has continued to be viewed as pedophilic. In this workshop, we will delve and explore the interactions of consent, what it means to play, play theory, and how the weaving of play theory with age-play will discern the differences between age-play and pathology.

How does neurodivergence affect consent mistakes, incidents, and violations? How does it affect boundaries, grappling with hurt and harm (and discerning between the two), and accountability at the personal, interpersonal, and community levels?

In this participatory workshop, we will dive into these questions with case studies and real-life examples. We’ll look through a trauma- and disability justice-informed lens, and talk about common patterns, subjective interpretations, ascriptions, and communication--based on neurotypes, socialization, and lived experience. There will be opportunities for community members to share their experiences.