Exploring Neurodivergence, Disability, and Gender-Based Violence: Toward More Affirming and Accessible Practices

By Western Centre for Research & Education on Violence Against Women & Children

This LN/KH Webinar explores the intersections of neurodivergence, disability, and gender-based violence through critical disability studies, story-making, and neurodiversity-affirming approaches. Presented by Dr. Patty Douglas, Associate Professor of Disability Studies at Queen’s University and a former special education teacher, this session draws on creative and participatory approaches that centre historically excluded perspectives, inviting participants to consider how dominant narratives about disability, care, communication, and harm shape responses to violence within education, health, and community systems.

Rather than positioning neurodivergence as a deficit or risk, the discussion will open space to re-imagine safety, accountability, and support in ways that affirm difference and attend to systemic and structural barriers. Participants will be encouraged to reflect on how trauma- and violence-informed, disability justice, and decolonizing approaches can inform more accessible and inclusive GBV-related practices.

Learning Objectives

By attending this Webinar, participants will be better able to:

• Recognize how neurodivergent communication, sensory, and regulation differences may shape experiences and disclosures of GBV.
• Identify systemic and structural barriers that neurodivergent and disabled survivors may encounter.
  Reflect on dominant narratives about disability, care, and harm within GBV systems.
• Consider creative, affirming, and accessibility-oriented approaches that support safety and inclusion.