I am excited to announce that I am now writing some guest blogs for The PDA Space. I recently created this graphic about Penguin Pebbling and shared it with Nicola who is organising The World's Largest FREE PDA Summit 2023 19-21st May.
We thought this Bank Holiday Weekend would be a lovely opportunity to share the love in our neurodivergent community. The PDA Space has a Penguin Pebble for everyone who is interested in joining The FREE PDA Space Summit 2023. This is a little pebble to show appreciation for being a part of this amazing community, whether you are autistic or neurodivergent yourself, supporting a family member, or are a professional supporting an autistic /PDA person. The PDA Space is offering a FREE on-line weekend pass to everyone and also a FREE E-BOOK, 'Neurodiversity Affirming Glossary of Key Vocabulary' to everyone that registers (this will be emailed to you just before The PDA Space Summit).
What is Penguin Pebbling?
Penguins pass pebbles to other penguins to show they care. Penguin Pebbling is a little exchange between two people to show that they care and want to build a meaningful connection. For autistic people, giving little gifts spontaneously can be a meaningful way of communicating that you are thinking about someone and that you care. We are not talking about spending money, rather it is about building connections through the friendship you have developed between you both. This could look like finding a pretty pebble, twig, or flower, perhaps taking a photo on a walk you enjoyed together and sharing it with someone to say, ‘This reminded me of you today, I hope you like it.’ Navigating the complex world of communication and socialisation may feel too much at times and Penguin Pebbling is a small act to show you care, just because it is a nice thing to do! Friendship in the online community
The online community is growing and support networks such as The PDA Space offer people the opportunity to build connections and share experiences. Genuine long-lasting, meaningful friendships often develop that may provide a deeper relationship than some of the relationships you have in your off-line life. Sometimes those connections cross over and become a part of both of your worlds and develop more connections across various support networks and friendship groups. One way of showing you care and Penguin Pebbling online can be tagging people as you come across something you think someone will find valuable. If you are scrolling on social media and see something specific to them and their situation and personal interests, it is nice to tag them or share the post.
This could develop into a deeper social experience and end up evolving into a conversation or even a group discussion, something that perhaps outside of the online community some autistic people would find hard to engage with. Another way of Penguin Pebbling online is through sharing gifs, memes, and social media posts across groups and networks you are in and sharing via your family and friends WhatsApp groups.
‘Penguin Pebble’ for you!
As The PDA Summit draws closer and the final countdown begins to The world’s largest free PDA Summit weekend. The PDA Space is offering everyone a penguin pebble, I have also written a free eBook “Neurodiversity Affirming Glossary of Key Vocabulary” which will be emailed to everyone who signs up for The PDA Space Summit 2023, this will also be available as a FREE E-Book via Amazon Kindle Store for the duration of The PDA Space Summit (usual price £5).
A Penguin Pebble for Your Friends and Family
If you’d like to pass on your own penguin pebble to a family member, friend, your children’s school, or any other professional or colleague you know of that would benefit from this please share the link below to The PDA SUMMIT. This will enable more people to benefit from this amazing event and develop a greater understanding of Autism, PDA and inclusion. Please remember to tag @thepdaspace we are now on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. CLICK HERE to claim your FREE Weekend PASS to The PDA Space Summit.
Your FREE PDF E-Book ‘Neurodiversity Affirming Glossary of Key Vocabulary’ by Autistic Realms will be e-mailed to everyone who signs up nearer the time.
With thanks to Stimpunks for their amazing article 'The Five Neurodivergent Love Languages' for highlighting the wonderful concept of Penguin Pebbling.