Neurodiversity SPARK

Spark HQ was filled with laughter today, and we loved hearing every bit of it. 💛😊

We had the pleasure of welcoming Cancer Fund for Children, who booked our venue for a youth engagement event with nine young people and three adults.

It was lovely to see the space being used to bring young people together to connect, take part and enjoy themselves. 🌟🙌

Moments like this remind us that a good venue is about much more than tables, chairs and technology. It is about creating a warm and welcoming space where people can feel comfortable and included. 💬💚

A massive thank you to everyone at Cancer Fund for Children for the amazing work you do to support children, young people and families impacted by cancer. 👏💛

We hope you all felt at home at Spark HQ, and we would love to welcome you back again soon. 😊

If you know a charity, community group or organisation looking for a welcoming space in Belfast, please let them know about Spark HQ.

📍 We are based on University Street in Belfast’s Botanic area.

🔗 https://www.neurodiversityspark.com/venue-hire-belfast/

Please feel free to share. 💫

🚨 WE NEED YOUR HELP TO REACH 150 RESPONSES 🚨

We need more people to share their experiences of attending, or deciding not to attend, community and pop-up events.

Neurodiversity SPARK is carrying out ethically approved research for Diverse Minds Events, with The Institute of Child Education and Psychology - ICEP Europe as research partner.

The research explores the barriers neurodivergent people and families face around things like:

🔊 Noise and sensory overload
🗺️ Missing information about venues
🌿 Access to quiet spaces
🚪 Flexible entry and exit
👥 Crowds, queues and navigation
💬 Confidence asking organisers for support
Our goal is to reach 150 completed responses by:
📅 Friday 25 September 2026
⏰ 5pm

Why 150?
Reaching 150 responses will give the research team a stronger evidence base for identifying patterns and developing practical recommendations for event organisers.

The findings will help inform a plain-English accessibility checklist and practical guide for community and pop-up events.

✅ Takes approximately 10 minutes
✅ Completely anonymous
✅ Participation is voluntary
✅ Open to adults aged 18 and over
✅ Parents and carers can respond about their family’s experiences

👉 READ MORE:

https://www.neurodiversityspark.com/neurodiversity-accessibility-survey/

👉 COMPLETE THE SURVEY:

https://forms.cloud.microsoft/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=Z1-4jOrqaEG9fMBmcTIxWn-lEf2Xar1NsDVfezBe2TpURVBVTjJBWDkxTUlFMTM5TzBaVUlDUFVIVC4u&route=shorturl

Even if you cannot complete it yourself, please share this post. We need your help to reach 150 and make future events more inclusive for neurodivergent people and families.

Good intentions are not the same as consistent practice.

Spark Assess is now live with two free readiness assessments:

Workplace Readiness for HR, managers and senior leaders
Education Readiness for colleges, universities and learner-support teams

Each assessment is short. Each produces a personalised report. Neither is a pass or fail.

The purpose is to show where foundations may already be stronger, where friction or variation may be developing, and what could be the most useful first action.

Start here: https://assessments.neurodiversityspark.com/

One method. Many pathways. Real impact.

How ready is your workplace to recruit, support and retain neurodivergent people?

We are getting ready to launch something we have been working hard on at Neurodiversity Spark.✨

Our new Neuroinclusive Workplace Readiness Assessment is a free 3-minute assessment designed to help teams identify where support is working and where workplace friction may be building.🔎

It includes 15 practical questions covering:

🔹 Recruitment and candidate accessibility
🔹 Workplace adjustments
🔹 Manager confidence
🔹 Leadership readiness

You will receive an instant score, a personalised report and practical next steps.

One person completing it provides an individual snapshot.

Several people completing it across different teams or departments can help reveal wider organisational patterns.

No long forms. No vague awareness questions. Just practical insight that can support clearer conversations and better decisions.

Launching soon.

Keep an eye on our page. We cannot wait to share it with you.

🚨 We Still Need Your Voice! 🚨
Have you completed our Neurodiversity Access & Inclusion Survey yet?

We're seeking the views of neurodivergent individuals, parents, carers and families about their experiences of attending community events, festivals, workshops and public gatherings.

✅ Takes around 10 minutes
✅ Completely anonymous
✅ Helps shape a practical accessibility guide for event organisers

Your experiences could help make future events more welcoming, accessible and inclusive for everyone.
Please take part and share with your networks.

🔗 https://www.neurodiversityspark.com/neurodiversity-accessibility-survey/

Every response matters. Thank you for helping create positive change.

Help Shape More Accessible Community Events - Neurodiversity Spark Take part in our 10-minute anonymous survey exploring barriers to community events. Help shape more accessible, inclusive spaces.

Back at QuB today - and this one mattered.
We returned to deliver the workshop element of our ASC PhD Supervision project with Queen's University Belfast EEECS.

This work is built on a simple but important insight:
👉 This is not about ability - it is about friction.

ASC PhD researchers consistently show:
🧠 deep focus
🎯 technical precision
📈 strong research potential

But when:
expectations are unclear
feedback is hard to interpret
meetings are difficult to process
systems become overwhelming
👉 progress slows - often unnecessarily.

Today, Gary Gates and Oindrilla Ghosh, both PhD Researchers and colleagues at Ulster University, worked directly with supervisors at QuB to apply practical tools to real supervision scenarios.

The focus wasn’t awareness.

It was:
✅ reducing misalignment in communication
✅ managing cognitive load earlier
✅ making feedback clearer
✅ structuring ambiguity without removing independence

This is not about lowering standards.
👉 Same standard. Clearer pathway.

Next, we’ll integrate:
🔎 supervisor focus group insight
📊 survey data from ASC PhD researchers and supervisors
🧩 observations from today’s session

➡️ into a final EEECS recommendations report.

At Neurodiversity SPARK, this is the work we’re building:

Insight → practice → better outcomes

Because:
👉 Structure makes independence possible.

Looking for somewhere to actually get work done?

Not another coffee shop.

Not your kitchen table.

Not a noisy coworking space packed with people.

We’ve opened Spark Works on University Street, Belfast.

A small workspace with just 12 desks, natural light, Wi-Fi, tea and coffee, and a calm environment for people who need a consistent place to focus.

Perfect for:

✅ Freelancers
✅ Remote workers
✅ Students and researchers
✅ Small business owners
✅ People building something of their own

Perm desks £175 per month plus VAT
Part-time desks (2 days a week) £85 a month plus VAT

We’re keeping it intentionally small because we want people to know who’s working beside them.

If you’ve been struggling to stay productive working from home, this might be exactly what you need.

Message DESK for details or take a look here:

🔗 https://www.neurodiversityspark.com/coworking-belfast/