After discovering that there was a lack of neurospicy parenting community group or space actively operating in the Northwest region/Rodney district, we decided to do our thing. Here at Social Nexus, we are all about creating space and opportunities for the things we, as two solo māmā with 7 kids between us (collectively we are a neurospicy colourful rainbow of representation) need and can't find. An opportunity to share time and space with others who are at different places in their journeys navigating parenting and living with neurodiversity can be hugely enriching for all of us.
For many of us navigating this journey it's complex, confusing and honestly, exhausting at a soul level! There are things out there, resources, tools, allowances that can be advocated for, but even for those of us many years deep diving into this, it's honestly overwhelming, it can be quite hard to find things and the usefulness of the available supports in a practical sense are at best, variable.
We have not only a kete of resources we rate highly for a variety of things and know of ways to access many more, but we also have the space and have now created this quarterly community chat check in space for those who would like to come join us in a really low key, low expectation setting, please do.
We just generally come together and chat, talking about struggles and sharing experience and insight of things worth considering from peers in similar situations. Sometimes it can just be a chance to vent about how hard this stuff can be. This is a very low key expectation catch up, we have coffee, tea, and refreshments sorted (please note, we are an alcohol free venue and none of our events include alcohol) which we intended on holding every 3 months. If you are attending, bringing a gold coin koha and some light snacks along (preferably non perishable so we can add them to the Social Nexus pantry if not required) would be appreciated.
Children are welcome and we have space to have them entertained in a separate space if required but have not arranged supervision. If you are a two parent household, both parents coming so one can supervise their children while the other talks might be a good idea. Obviously no pressure and some of us don’t have that option, us included.
Our next meet has to be postponed due to family reasons, we will come together before Term One, 2025 on Sunday 26th Jan from 330pm-5pm. More details can be found on our Facebook page here.