Foundations for Divergent Minds

09/28/2026

Mark your calendars folks!

This week, on October 1, the first episode of our next season of the podcast is coming!

You will notice there's a name change because we joined the Autistic Culture Podcast Network, an Autistic mutual aid podcast network, providing support to Autistic people with something to tell. "The Dialogues (and Other Stories from the Genesis of the Neurodiversity Movement)" doesn't change format. If you are already subscribed to "Herding Cats" on your feed, you will get the new drop on Thursday.

We apologize that we can't do a listening party to celebrate as we have discussed before as we will be on the road. But we'd love to hear what you think.

We want to take a moment to thank the team at ACPN for supporting us to continue to tell these stories.

08/03/2026

Hello everyone -

We are getting our website updated this week. Please expect disruptions to our website. However, you can still access our courses through our learning portal at education.divergentminds.org while we move our website. We apologize for the inconvenience.

06/23/2026

Our founder, Oswin Latimer, has often told in courses or training workshops to "Plan like no one is going to be there, because eventually, no one will be there." It is a premise born out of the realities of disability access in our home state of Texas.

This past week we saw special education move to HHS and the DOJ coming out against the integration mandate. While many in the disability community are concerned about institutionalization, we come from communities that never had access to any of these supports. We recognize that most neurodivergent people are going back to a world where they do not either.

We have been preparing for this eventuality. We have built a number of courses that allow neurodivergent people, therapy providers, behavior analysts, educators, and caregivers to give a base line of knowledge to identify practical supports for themselves, their clients, students, and family members. This is only the first step.

We are currently pursuing capacity funds so we can do the next steps. We want to start providing toolkits, curriculum, and program guides for communities to use. We believe during this transition the best we can do is provide free materials that ensure some continuity for neurodivergent people.

While it pains us that we don't have more available yet, you can take one of our free courses: https://education.divergentminds.org/ and would appreciate donations so we can keep this free. If you feel called to do something for your local community, please reach out to us. We are happy to help you problem solve with what is available so you can begin building solutions.

06/19/2026

Hello folks!

We just got off a call with Autistic Culture Podcast earlier today. We've been in talks with them to join their new podcast network so the meeting finalized all the details. We will start recording soon and will be changing our name from "Herding Cats" to "The Dialogues" (and Other Stories from the Genesis of the Neurodiversity Movement). So look for that later in the year.

But they're doing a launch party on Monday for the entire podcast network. Oswin Latimer, Autistic Consultant will be in attendance so we hope you can join them.

Autistic Culture Speaks for Itself
And on June 22, It Gets Its Own Network.

Join us at the Launch of The Autistic Culture Podcast Network on June 22 at 4PM (UK time)
Register for free here - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/autistic-culture-podcast-network-launch-tickets-1992113607426?aff=Facebook

04/03/2026

As you can see by the picture below, we have been planning physical infrastructure. We are far enough along in the process to show people what we're doing. But I (Oswin) want to talk about something personal that has come up for me.

I often am introduced with my positionality statement. I think people think it is to show I'm "the most marginalized." I've never read it that way. Each of these identities shape how I come to this work, including my Choctaw identity. A number of years ago, I found that some of my early writing had been analyzed for a paper on BIPOC Autistic (and maybe autism) parents. It found I didn't really talk about my culture in my writing.

This is not surprising. My culture is extremely personal to me. I had proximity to the revitalization of the Choctaw Nation through my cousins. I was a child and never really understood the discussions that were happening in my home and that of my cousins and aunts. As an adult, I've slowly understood more and more. Not only through deep learning but through embodiment. I recognize what they did more fully now that I am building our community's independent research hub.

This center will be a home for neurodivergent researchers and clinicians. It is a place where we as a community can steer the direction of research and practice standards. We will continue to focus on the same three areas - Education, Health, and Safety and will continue to be based here in Texas where we can have the most impact on every day lives.

I hope I'm making my cousins proud in the great beyond. I hope this is seen as continuing the project of using our cultural knowledge to protect the thriving of our community.

Image description: A slide from a presentation shows on the left a picture with a yellow background, white circle and black lines around and down with a hand touching the bottom lines. It is meant to look like turning on a light bulb. To the right it is a red quarter circle. Below that is the picture of a sensory room. To the left is a purple quarter circle. The text states:

Our Vision
1. Therapy incubator for neurodiversity-affirming practitioners
2. Research labs - naturalistic research labs for research partners
3. Community Center - sensory rooms, gaming lounge, and lending library for members

With the FDM logo in the top right corner.

04/03/2026

8 years ago this month, we started offering our very first courses for parents and professionals. These were small groups of 5-10 people attending webinars where we taught the Divergent Minds framework. In the years since, we have further developed the framework and partnered with wonderful therapists and behavior analysts to tailor those courses for specific professional groups.

As this World Autism Acceptance Day comes to a close, we are pleased to announce we have completed the development of our course for Texas educators. It is now available to take for free on our website. We want to thank Rebecca Engle for developing the materials, Alex Kronstein for editing the videos, and the generous support from The Jalonick Family Memorial Fund of The Dallas Foundation.

This course is different from our previous courses. It includes 15 case studies - 6 teaching the 6 foundations of the Divergent Minds framework with 5~ minute video explanations, 6 more combining those foundations, and 3 as a final assessment. Each of the lessons includes example goals, accommodations, and classroom modification recommendations for the case studies. We hope this design allows people to learn how to provide classroom support without the time bottleneck of traditional courses.

This course provides classroom case studies applying the Foundations for Divergent Minds Framework. It offers 12 real-world scenarios with Neurodiversity-affirming interpretations, TEKS alignment, IEP goals, and accommodations across the six core areas. By the end of this course, you'll understand h...

01/30/2026

Foundations for Divergent Minds is a Neurodiversity based organization changing how neurodivergent people are supported in their local communities. We make every effort to understand the current state of the Neurodiversity movement to ensure we are making choices to help neurodivergent people. We not only observe this within the Neurodiversity movement but also within larger society.

We have seen many concerning developments that we believe Neurodiversity advocates, activists, and allies need to know. In this webinar, we will spend 45 minutes discussing the trends we are seeing, what we are doing as an organization, and how we see supporting the community. The last 45 minutes we will open the webinar up for questions, both for specific issues we discuss and for any specific recommendations you need for your local organizing activities.

The first 45 minutes will be recorded and shared with anyone who registers regardless if they can attend in person. We will not record the last 45 minutes to ensure people feel safe sharing their local community needs.

Image Description: At the top is purple text that says "State of the Neurodiversity Movement" then "February 6, 2026" and "2:00 pm ET/1:00 pm CT/11:00 am PT". Under the text is a light blue blob with a black clipart of a person looking at a laptop with another person waving. On the back of the person's chair is the FDM logo with a brain broken up into 12 rainbow colored squares.

01/13/2026

FDM Services at Risk - Update Inside

What happened?
On December 23, we found out that the fundraising and webmaster service company we were using filed for bankruptcy on December 19 with several thousand dollars of donation.

Where are we now?
To date, we have raised 20% of our $5000 goal, and one recurring donor has restarted monthly donations.

On December 23, we found out the fundraising and webmaster service company we were using filed for bankruptcy on December 19 with several thousand dollars of donations.

01/02/2026

We need your help.

2025 was an amazing year of growth for FDM as you can see by these images. This is all due to your donations and your support. Whether you gave monthly donations, recommended us to colleagues, told other parents about us, or wrote about us in academic journals or resource lists, we have seen the impact this last year more than any before. Unfortunately, circumstances out of our control have put us in a bind that requires a rapid response.

On December 19, 2025, our fundraising platform filed for bankruptcy following a cease and desist order from the state of California. FDM is a party to the bankruptcy due to several thousand dollars of unprocessed donations from August to December. We had been communicating with the company several times a month throughout the year due to their slow processing.

This is not just how we process payments though. They were an all in one service offering webmaster and hosting services. We have moved donations off their platform and updated the website to a new service. But now we need to raise funds to replace what has been lost and prevent our website from going dark.

If you can help, visit https://divergentminds.org/donate.html

Carousel description: 7 images in rainbow order with a curved dashed line running across each image. Text on each image says: "We need your help" "But first... Let's see what $5,000 in donations accomplished in 2025" "Your donations provided a digital platform for companies, conferences, and community partners to engage FDM for presentations in 2025. 6 presentations" "Your donations allowed therapists, parents, and neurodivergent people to find the help they required. 16 consultations" "3 University partnerships. Your donations enabled university teams to partner with FDM on community-based research studies." "Your donations gave free access to Neurodiversity-aligned continuing education. 102 course sign ups" "Help us Bridge the Gap" with a red "Donate" button.

12/26/2025

Urgent Need: Fundraising Platform Files Bankruptcy - https://mailchi.mp/9434c7d37065/urgent-need-fundraising-platform-files-bankruptcy

The fundraising platform that Foundations for Divergent Minds has used for the past two years filed for bankruptcy on December 19, 2025. We are greatly impacted by this development and need urgent funds to ensure our “digital lights stay on.”

The fundraising platform that Foundations for Divergent Minds has used for the past two years filed for bankruptcy on December 19, 2025. We are greatly impacted by this development and need urgent funds to ensure our “digital lights stay on.”