About
Finding people who understand shouldn't take fifteen tabs.
Inclusive Connections helps neurodivergent people and families across Northwest Arkansas find local support, welcoming events, useful resources, and each other.
We kept seeing the same problem
Most people find support the hard way — a name in a group chat, a recommendation from someone who happened to know, fifteen browser tabs open at midnight, and no way to tell which of it is current.
It shouldn't come down to whether you know the right person to ask. So we started putting what we found in one place, and the people who had already worked some of it out were glad to share.
What we care about
Belonging first
Nobody should have to earn a place in the room.
Practical over polished
A useful local list beats an inspiring mission statement.
Free for the community
Cost shouldn't be the reason someone can't find help.
Say what's true
If we don't know, we say so. Paid relationships get labelled.
Sensory details up front
The things that make a room usable are published before you arrive.
Local, specifically
Northwest Arkansas — not a national list that happens to include us.
Then people kept showing up
Gatherings filled with people who had been doing the same digging. Volunteers offered to run the welcome table and the quiet space. Local providers asked to be listed, and neighbours asked how to help.
What started as sharing what we knew turned into something the community keeps building — the directory, the events, the guides, and the people behind all of it.
What neuroaffirming means here
It's less a philosophy than a set of practical choices about how a room works.
Communication is communication
Speech, AAC, typing, gestures, or writing it down — all of it counts, and nobody has to justify how they communicate.
Movement is welcome
Pacing, stimming, rocking, and needing to move are not disruptions. Nobody is going to ask you to sit still.
Breaks are normal
The quiet space is there to be used. You don't have to explain why you need it or ask permission.
Everything is optional
You can watch, join in, arrive late, or leave early. Taking part does not have to look one particular way.
Information comes first
You should know what a room will sound and feel like before you commit to being in it.
You're part of this
Neurodivergent people help shape what happens here — not just as the people it's for.
Our impact
More than 1,200 friends connected
Friends connected
- Neurodivergent people, families, volunteers, providers, and local partners who have found each other through Inclusive Connections.
- Powered by local volunteers
- Neighbours who set up the room, staff the welcome table, and keep the quiet space calm.
- Quarterly community gatherings
- Free to attend, with the sensory and accessibility details published before you decide.
- Northwest Arkansas
- Fayetteville, Springdale, Rogers, Bentonville, Lowell, and everywhere in between.
How we're organized
Inclusive Connections is an Arkansas LLC.
We're saying that plainly because trust matters more than sounding established. Until that changes, you won't see us describe ourselves as a nonprofit or a 501(c)(3), and you won't see us call support tax deductible.
Read our directory disclosure and sponsorship disclosure.