Always Invited, an autistic advocacy organisation, received a community grant from the Victorian Government’s Disability Self Help grants program to run a Dungeons & Dragons beginners game aimed at young neurodivergent people.
They selected my daughter’s disability agency Thrive Disability Activity Support to run the sessions.
Yes, I am a Nepo Dad, lol. My daughter got me the job to run this series of games.
I love running games for kids, especially those who are often told to quiet down, shut up, or that their ideas are too crazy to hold space in a group.
For these games, I embrace the chaos, adjust my storytelling, be inclusive, ignore certain rules if I have to, and never ever say no.
I’d hazard a guess this is the first time the D&D adventure #WildSheepChase has featured rocket ships, orbital jumps, elder gods summoned from before time existed, identical PC animal companions that complete said ritual, and Shinebright the Elven Wizard (an NPC meant to be at the centre of the adventure) not being polymorphed into a sheep but instead being polymorphed into a Speak with Animals scroll (held in the sheep’s mouth), then ripped in half, creating a nice version and a rude version of the character.
Let’s not talk about the wandering (blind) brick walls in a forest who just wanted to be reunited (proving that kids love romance as much as anyone).
Phew.
Yes, it was every bit as crazy as it sounds.
But that’s the point.
The adventure became something the kids could shape themselves, rather than something they simply had to follow.
Every kid came up to me afterwards and thanked me for listening to them, being patient with them, and incorporating their ideas into the game.
That’s why I love running D&D for neurodivergent kids.
Making space for the chaos is what makes the game work, yes, but each of those kids felt connected to each other and wanted to work together as a party of adventurers again. Being heard helps.
