ideas for neurodivergent CW community

[Catholic Worker]

From: Kerry Perdy <erin...@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, Apr 13, 2026 at 3:06 PM

Hello CW community,

I am a disability self-advocate currently living in Columbus, Ohio. For quite a while I’ve been interested in the CW community. I’d love to get a similar thing off the ground for neurodivergent (Level 1 Autism) adults, particularly those of whom are interested in outdoor skills.

I myself have some emergency response skills (WFR, SAR and wildland fire training) and am interested in camping and backpacking. I attended a summer camp for neurodivergent teens in Appalachian NC for seven years (and currently fires, hurricanes…they can’t catch a break lately in said area) which mainly got me interested in this sort of stuff.

I would love to have ideas about beginning a Catholic Worker-esq community for neurodivergent adults who are interested in learning wilderness skills, emergency response skills, and also writing for self-advocacy, as well as disability advocacy in general. Where do I start? As said, the place that got me started on all this is located in Western North Carolina (about an hour’s drive from Asheville), and I’d definitely look at some places to start out there, since that’s the area that I’m familiar with. However, I’d like to also take into consideration areas such as Wyoming, Oregon, etc.

Feel free to throw some ideas at me. We’ve got to start somewhere!

Best, Kerry (she/her pronouns)

"Just think what we could accomplish if people weren't so close-minded."-Eric Cartman

There was a period in history when autistic men ran the world. Shouldn't the fact that it was known as "The Enlightenment" "The Golden Era" and "The Age of Discovery" tell us something?

My blog: https://indigogael.blogspot.com/