A Grand Dream Has Come to Life!
When we opened SPL 3 years ago, it was a shot in the dark. Owner Lindsay (me!) saw the lack of inclusive community for families of neurodivergent and disabled children, the loneliness and overwhelm of parents, and the absence of clearly available neuro-affirming resources. As a speech therapist and parent to a neurodivergent child, I saw this all firsthand for many years. I had no idea how this business idea would work, but I was desperate to make it happen. As I built this, I wondered; would families find it important as they navigated the first years of their child’s life? Would they find it welcoming & inclusive?
The Numbers!
Well, in these 3 years, I’m blown away by what has happened! From 2022 till now, across 2 locations, we’ve served…
- 2000 First Time Visits
- 488 Open Play Member Families
- 637 Regional Center Families
- 42 Therapist Collective Members
- 400 Birthday Parties
- 40 Staff Members; 8 of which left us to attend undergraduate or graduate school for special education careers
The feedback we continue to get from families is that Spirited Play Labs has become an important staple in their family’s lives. Many of you we’ve known for the last 3 years, and some we are just getting to know. Families generally stay with SPL as members for over 2 years! This tell us that the relationships that are being built between you and staff, you and parents, and you and your child are really important and meaningful!
Who Are All Of You?
Families choose to get memberships for a variety of reasons, including…
- To access shared, neurodiversity-affirming resources (i.e. therapists, caregivers, books, videos)
- To get therapeutic recreational services (aka Play Coaching) for child-led, joyful social support
- To feel less alone upon their child’s initial diagnosis or their entry into the medical/educational systems
- To foster their children’s awareness of inclusion, especially disability inclusion
- To create a community to help others and get help when you need it
- To rest and play in a safe place outside of home
Our SPL Member families come from all walks of life. We have families whose children are neurodivergent, disabled, neurotypical, spirited, or neuro-spicy. We recognize many intersectional identities within each family unit, including race, class, gender, age, and more. Children range from 12 months to 8.5 years old, and they live across the spectrum of disability. Some children attend general education public school, while others homeschool in the forest. SPL is a home to so, so many diverse families because of the importance of what we do.
Community Care is the Way Forward!
We didn’t know if this model would work. Since it didn’t exist in the Bay Area, we wondered…could the community come together to create a shared space to support disabled and neurodivergent people?! Could they maintain a community space that exemplified safety, understanding, compassion, and curiosity? Could members practice rupture and repair, and could members uphold our community agreements? The resounding answer is Y-E-S.
Creating and maintaining community is NOT easy. A place like Spirited Play Labs takes effort, not only from staff, but from parents and children. To show up each day, each week, sometimes requires a lot of you all. We know that it takes effort to practice flexibility, compassion, and understanding when in community with people you don’t know yet. We want to thank you so very deeply for joining us on this journey.
Looking To The Future
We hope that there is a ripple effect outside of the walls of SPL, so that families of neurodivergent / disabled / spirited children can be welcomed and supported in more spaces than ours. We see the breakdown of large-scale systems that families rely on, and we fear for the community of disabled people who rely on them. We don’t think we can solve all the relevant problems of the world, but we hope we can at least provide a welcoming space while you navigate what to do next.
In 2025, we will be expanding our programming to include new, much-needed offerings, and adding additional locations across the Bay Area. We will also be focusing on building up our staff, who are often neurodivergent or disabled themselves, who want to serve the community without the complexity or barriers that higher education may come with. Our Play Coaching model has become a huge success, and we currently have 7 staff members who’ve trained in this model to serve you. We feel strongly that Play Coaching is a wonderful way for young people to provide care and support to neurodivergent children without having to become ABA therapists or going to graduate school (though we do support our staff that choose to go to grad school).
This is all thanks to YOU, the community who has shown up and made this experiment a total success. Please continue to show up for yourself and your community and let yourself be seen. We want to celebrate your wins, give you a shoulder to cry on, and provide connections to others as long as we are needed.
With Love,
Lindsay and the SPL staff