Join Leaders in Neurodiversity Employment Research

The Neurodiversity at Work Research Conference brings together leading scholars, neurodivergent leaders, and leading neurodiversity employers and providers concerned with advancing neurodiversity employment research. Their work may relate to the preparation, recruitment, persistence, advancement, and management of neurodivergent individuals in the workplace.

Our goal remains to build a community of people concerned with advancing research related to the preparation and employment of autistic individuals and to convey these concerns to others in the community. The conference aims to:

1. Provide a collaborative space for scholars to share their work and receive constructive feedback in order to advance neurodiversity employment research.
2. Further develop a research agenda to advance evidence-based practices to equitably include neurodivergent people in the workplace.

Conference Format

The Neurodiversity at Work Research Conference will be held in person at the University of Maryland campus in College Park, Maryland USA, from June 21-23, 2027. Pre-conference workshops and events will be held on Jun 21, 2027. The main conference will begin in the evening on June 21 and continue through June 23.

Conference Theme - TBD

The conference will showcase cutting-edge research that examines how individuals, organizations, and ecosystems navigate disruption by embracing innovation, fostering inclusive practices, and leveraging entrepreneurial and strategic thinking. Through keynote addresses, interactive panels, and collaborative sessions, participants will explore how resilience and adaptability can be strengthened while continuing to expand meaningful opportunities for neurodivergent talent—even in contested or constrained environments.

Beyond the conference theme, we encourage researchers to engage with the following interrelated themes:

1. Representation and inclusion: How diverse voices—including neurodivergent individuals—can shape resilient solutions and inform program design, evaluation, and leadership in times of disruption.
2. Intersectionality and Differential impact: How overlapping identities (e.g., gender, race, socioeconomic status, disability) influence experiences of disruption, access to opportunity, and pathways to resilience.
3. From Action to Insight: How empirical research and lived experience can be translated into scalable, evidence-based practices that withstand political, economic, and organizational volatility.

Conference Co-Chairs

Hala Annabi

University of Washington

Andrew Begel

Carnegie Mellon University

Kathy Dow-Burger

University of Maryland Autism Research Consortium

Sponsors - TBD