What is autistic burnout? How is it different than plain old burnout?

We will discuss what the symptoms are, what the causes are, and some tips for recovery. I'll also share personal anecdotes of my long recovery with autistic burnout and how my two live in submissives have helped with that recovery process.

Class 2 Needs: Slideshow, Audience participation encouraged/required.

So what is it like to be autistic and Leather? girl Calyco will speak from her lived experience about kinky special interests, neurodivergent conflict resolution in M/s, and navigating social situations in the community. She will also share a few lifehacks that have enabled her (and the autistic Owner she serves) to thrive in this lifestyle. Bring your curiosity, anecdotes, and stim toys to this session!

Explore the unique challenges faced by individuals with ADHD in the realm of submission and obedience. This class aims to foster understanding, open communication, and the development of practical strategies to enhance the BDSM experience for everyone involved. Whether you identify as a submissive or slave with ADHD, a master or dominant navigating these dynamics, or a supporter seeking to understand, this class offers valuable insights and guidance. You will gain a deeper understanding of the intersection between ADHD and BDSM dynamics, equipped with practical tools to navigate obedience, enhance communication, and foster healthier, more fulfilling relationships within the community.

Our society has been gifted with the following mantras: be independent, be self-reliant, trust no one, learn to pull yourself up by your bootstraps. But what if you aren’t someone who can do things on your own? What if you don’t want to? And what if independence is actually a trauma response and a form of masking, used to deliberately push others away? Join Sir Luke and His victor as they traverse this riveting topic, covering what codependency actually looks like in all its form, how it is used in a relationship built structurally with power and authority imbalance, and why codependency isn’t the monster everyone makes it out to be (but something else is).

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.

The people who are on the left side of the various slashes in BDSM often find themselves faced with community and internal pressure to "perform" dominance and to be 'productive' in their dynamics and in their community work. This conversation seeks to look at where these expectations come from and come up with ways to subvert and decolonize harmful expectations of left siders that hit disabled and mentally ill folks especially hard.

HypnoStory(they/them) and panda(it/they) are so often asked if hypnosis is possible for those with ADHD, they decided to write this class! Both experienced hypnokinksters with ADHD, they will share how they navigate their play, things to keep in mind before/mid/after play, and give recommendations on how to work *with* your neurodivergence.

Trauma history? Check. Service Heart? Check. Huge struggle setting healthy boundaries in PE/AT relationships? Double check! Setting boundaries and saying no is one of the biggest challenges an S-type can face. Add to that trauma triggers that have us default to fawning, freezing or fighting, and you can have a perfect storm resulting in unhealthy PE/AT relationships. Learning to say no to a prospective play offer, saying no to the community demanding too much of your time, and the ever dreaded- saying no to your D-type can be an invaluable skill. This class focuses on establishing a foundational bill of rights, recognizing when we watch our lines in the sand get washed away and how to recover and finally how to say no as a complete sentence. Especially when there is a power imbalance in your relationship. I will offer up some tricks on how to use posture, protocol and Voice to get our will across in a polite manner (and also tips on when and how to not be so polite!)

For many neurodivergent folks, anticipatory service is a tantalizing aspect of authority transfer that remains frustratingly inaccessible. However, ND individuals on both sides of the slash can not only partake in anticipatory service, but use it as an accessibility tool and a form of self and interdependent care within the dynamic. In this class, Rooster and their slave, Tora, will cover how to incorporate this type of service into ND Dynamics to better overcome barriers, affirm our roles, and achieve alignment.

A panel of experienced kinksters will discuss the ins and outs of safewording, from both the bottom and the top perspectives, with focus on how so often so many of us do not safeword when we should, due to cPTSD / trauma response. This is a hypnokink community panel, but we think that the above is relevant to all kinksters of all interests and experience levels.

It's not uncommon for individuals who enjoy receiving service to question whether they deserve the service they're requesting.  How does being a service receiver with neurodivergence impact this struggle?  Backed by data, this class will challenge some of the negative internal beliefs that create struggle within neurodivergent service receivers and will shed some light on the notion of being "worthy" of receiving service.