We want our participants to look forward to our groups. Our process is to experiment, to tap the social experiences and expertise of our neurodiverse team of teenage and young adult volunteers and staff, to build on successful ideas and make them available to more people, and to keep trying new things.
Our Social Meetups bring neurodiverse groups together to socialize, with support from our neurodiverse team. Our main goal is to make the meetups fun and comfortable, and to help folks connect with each other by finding the activities that they enjoy, or are willing to try. We offer meetups for teens and adults - here are some of our regular offerings. Check our registration page for current offerings!
Middle Grade Social Meetup: a weekly get together just for 5th to 9th graders with choice of small group activities and low-key, supported opportunities for social connection.
High School Social Meetup: a weekly get together just for high schoolers with choice of small group activities and low-key, supported opportunities for social connection.
Discorders: weekly meetup on Discord for teens facilitated by staff.
Minecraft Club: on-going facilitated play on our Minecraft server. Teens coordinate play via Discord.
Dungeons and Dragons Meetups, beginning and advanced: led by our own dungeon masters. Teens engage in imaginative campaigns and get to know each other at the same time.
Not-So-Typical Happy Hour: a weekly virtual drop-in social hour for conversation, games, trivia, etc.
Adult In-Person Social Meetups: various monthly in-person meetups at different locations. Group helps choose where we go!
Note — in May of 2024 we are launching a new Adult Community Hub, and twice-monthly, in-person Happy Hours… stay tuned!
These support groups are facilitated by our neurodivergent staff. They center participants’ experiences, thoughts, and questions. Note: these are non-clinical support groups. We run these groups when we have enough interested participants. For our current offerings, see our registration page.
Q Club: A twice-monthly teen group to discuss gender, sexuality, identity, and allyship.
Adult Neurodiversity Support Group: A hybrid twice-monthly meetup for neurodivergent adults who want to connect with each other, share their experiences, thoughts, and feelings, and support each other.
Women & Non-binary Persons’ Support Circle: A virtual twice-monthly meetup just for neurodivergent women and non-binary people who want to connect with each other, share their experiences, thoughts, and feelings, and support each other.
Parent Groups: for parents and caregivers of DC Peers participants to share thoughts, questions, and resources.
Autistic, otherwise neurodivergent, and neurotypical high school students working together to help us increase neurodiversity awareness, brainstorm ways that autistic and neurotypical teens can understand each other better, and helping us create materials to share their work.
Session topics include:
The neurobiology of social interaction
Social norms and manners —how and why did they evolve?
Nonverbal communication
Masking and code-switching
Awkward moments
Rejection
Dealing with ignorance and misinterpretations
Self-awareness and self-advocacy
These workshops only run in the fall and spring sessions for an intensive 8 week experience. All participants earn community service hours — but students must apply to participate. Donations are welcome to help cover costs and support our mission.
These 8-week workshops offer information and strategies for engaging with the neurotypical social world in a way that feels comfortable. We begin with participants’ own goals, and build our lesson plans around them. A typical list of topics covered in an 8-week session might be:
Finding people with similar interests
Social anxiety vs. social awareness
“Reading the Room”
Risk and Rejection
Being Approachable
Types of Friends
Beginning, Sustaining, & Ending Conversations
What to Talk About
Our workshops use ideas, strategies and tips from a variety of sources and from autistic and neurodivergent authors and self-advocates. We are also continually checking with our autistic staff and teen and adult advisors about the value, appeal, and usefulness of we do.
