Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences

Creative Interactions banner image

Creative Interactions

You are here

  1. Home
  2. Creative Interactions
  3. Creativity, Creative Arts, and Neurodivergence Conference

Creativity, Creative Arts, and Neurodivergence Conference

Dates
Thursday, June 19, 2025 - 14:00 to Saturday, June 21, 2025 - 18:00
Location
Foundling Museum, London

Co-hosted by Creative Interactions and Contemporary Cultures of Writing at The Open University.

Online pre-session on Teams: Thursday, June 19 (2 - 6pm GMT)

Organising Committee: Rosemary Golding, Lania Knight, Sam Meekings, Marshall Moore, Christine Plastow, and Steffi Sinclair

Registration for the conference is now open – spaces are free but limited in person and booking is essential. Please book via TicketSource.

Recent research on neurodivergence and creativity posits that persons with neurodiverse traits have heightened access to creative thinking. Conversations among researchers suggest that having a divergent mind might lead to divergent thinking, or ‘thinking outside the box,’ which is a strength for anyone in a creative field. What do creative practitioners and teachers have to say on the connections between neurodivergence and creative arts? How do creative practitioners and teachers engage with neurodivergence, whether their own or that of their audience or students?

Keynote sessions will include a talk by author and academic Chelsey Flood about her work, including her upcoming book exploring the intersection of masked neurodiversity and addiction; and a workshop and performance by neurodivergent artists Xan Dye and Gerald Curtis, who will share concepts from their movement and visual art project Practicing in Parallel.

The conference runs over two weeks, with two online pre-sessionals (Tuesday 10 and Thursday 19 June) and two hybrid days in person at the Foundling Museum and online (Friday 20 and Saturday 21 June). Please select online or in-person booking for the hybrid days.

Participants are welcome to engage in any way that is accessible for you. In the room you will be invited to sit, stand, or move around as needed during sessions. Sensory and stim toys, crafting projects or other similar items are welcome. The venue is accessible by ramp outside and by lift inside, and has an induction loop available. Other accessibility information about the venue is available from their website.

This event is supported by OpenARC, The Open University Arts and Humanities Research Centre; Falmouth University; and Northwestern University in Qatar.

Programme

4:00PM-5:00PM

Online pre-sessional conversation and Q&A with Dorothy Ramsay and filmmaker Neil Emery. Before 19th June, attendees will have special access online to watch the film Show Up and Start, about Dorothy Ramsay, Cumbrian dyslexic artist, which won BEST INTERNATIONAL SHORT DOCUMENTARY at the 2025 Golden State Film Festival.

Chair: Lania Knight

2:00PM–2:15PM

Welcome and Opening Remarks by Lania Knight and Marshall Moore

2:15PM–3:15PM

Session 1: Global Voices

“Our Own Intimate Bodily Nature”: Learning How to be an Autistic Writer from Les Murray by Amanda Tink

Neurodivergence in Chinese Modern Performing Arts: A Case Study of the 2024 Wuzhen Theatre Festival by Hongliang Zhou

Chair: Christine Plastow

3:15PM-3:30PM

Break

3:30PM-4:30PM

Session 2: How Do We Enable Neurodiverse Creativity Through Learning Design? by Vicki Weavers, Catherine Hartell and Beth Sennett.

Chair: Stefanie Sinclair

4:30PM-5:00PM

Session 3: To Fly Out in the Heat of the Day: Live Dreaming by Lou Barnell

Chair: Sam Meekings

5:00PM-5:15PM

Break

5:15PM-5:45PM

Session 4: Embodied Bodyminds: Exploring Neurodiversity and Disability Through a Collaborative Musical Practice by Niamh Gallagher and Nina Dano

Chair: Rosemary Golding

5:45PM-6:00PM

Closing remarks by Lania Knight and Marshall Moore

1:00PM-1:15PM

Registration

1:15PM-1:30PM

Welcome and Opening Remarks by Lania Knight and Marshall Moore

1:30PM-2:45PM

Session 5: Discovering Neurodivergent Identities Through Creative and Community Practices by Nicola Shaughnessy, Annette Foster and Sonia Boué

Chair: Marshall Moore

2:45PM-3:00PM

Break

3:00PM-4:45PM

Session 6: Sound and Music

‘His anxieties wouldn’t let him come through the door’: Classroom Music Teachers’ Perceptions of the Creative Affinities and Musical Vulnerabilities of Autistic Pupils by Elizabeth MacGregor

Improvisation, Neurodivergence, and Creative Expression Beyond Formal Training by Louis Palfrey

Echo-generative Practice in the Arts by Trish Scott

Chair: Stefanie Sinclair

5:00pm

Closing

Optional evening meet up in a neurodiverse-friendly venue

9:30AM

Registration

9:45AM-10:30AM

Keynote by Chelsey Flood

10:30AM-11:30AM

Session 6: Creative Practice

The Installation Drawing as Attention Tunnel: Exploring an Inclusive form of Immersion by Juliette Losq

Time Travel, Flow and Wandering within Neurodivergent Creative Practice by Martina Cleary

Chair: Sam Meekings

11:30AM-11:45AM

Break

11:45AM-1:15PM

Session 7: Neurodivergent Aesthetics, Architecture and Gaming - Thinking Outside of the Black Box/White Cube: A(u/r)tistic Research-creation Between Performance and Architecture by Julie Dind and Rolf Gerstlauer

How Self-identifying and ‘Unmasking’ can Impact Neurodivergent+ Creativity in Terms of Claiming Self by Emma Robdale

NeuroD&D: Using Dungeons and Dragons as a Mode of Neurodivergent Personhood Exploration by Shelby Judge

Chair: Christine Plastow

1:15PM-2:30PM

Lunch

To be provided: A selection of meat/fish, vegetarian and vegan sandwiches, fruit and cakes. You are also welcome to bring or go out for your own lunch.

2:30PM-3:30PM

Movement and Drawing Workshop by Xan Dye and Gerald Curtis

3:30PM-3:45PM

Break

3:34PM-4:45PM

Practising in Parallel by Xan Dye and Gerald Curtis

5:00PM

Closing of conference