Neurodiversity Week Speaker 2026

On March 20, Active Minds and Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) hosted a Neurodiversity Week speaker: Kaelynn Partlow.

Partlow is best known for her appearance in the Netflix series Love on the Spectrum and is the author of Life on the Bridge: Linking My World to Yours as an Autistic Therapist.

Partlow began her presentation with a story about how she went undiagnosed with autism until 2007. How her mother knew something was different and asked doctors about autism, but she “slipped through the cracks.”

She explained how her awareness of her differences from her peers growing up made her feel like she was stupid: “Why can’t I just like what they like and do what they do? Why would the other kids go bird watching? Why am I so stupid?”

When Partlow was later diagnosed with autism, dyslexia, dyscalculia, dyspraxia, and dysgraphia, these diagnoses helped her replace the word ‘stupid’ with these diagnoses and helped her feel a little better about her differences from her peers.

At 13, Partlow joined Project Hope’s private school. Project Hope built a personalized internship for her: “They built an internship just for me, helping the teachers with the younger students while I work on my own goals.” After graduating, she became certified as a registered behavior technician and has been on staff with Project Hope since 2018, working with clients from ages 3 to 20.

In 2022, Partlow was given the opportunity to participate in Netflix’s series Love on the Spectrum, which follows autistic cast members as they explore the dating world. This led to the “explosion of my social media,” Partlow explained. With this new responsibility on her shoulders, she used the platform and became “dedicated to dispensing the most authentic autism and behavior analytic information any single individual can hope to portray.”

After her presentation, there was a Q&A session held in the Performing Arts Center (PAC) lobby, which was followed by a book signing.

During the Q&A, moderator Dr. Brooke Zall-Crawford asked some pre-scripted questions before moving to audience questions.

Dr. Zall-Crawford asked, “In what situations does autism show up more as a difference, and when does it show up more as a disability?” Partlow explained that she believes autism is always a disability and how there is very little separation between it being a difference and a disability.

When asked about when doing less actually helps an autistic individual, Partlow explained that self-care is where parents of autistic children tend to step in too much. “Even if the child isn’t able to do those things independently, requiring some active participation is really, really important. And so if you’re providing more care than is necessary, we sometimes rob people of the ability to have those opportunities to gain skills.”

When opened to audience questions, many students shared their experiences with being on the spectrum and asked advice on things such as coping or dealing with stress.

At the end of the night, Partlow engaged in a quick book signing and photo opportunity with guests.