Conversations & Collaborations

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From Labels to Landscapes: Cognitive Ecology and Autoethnography as Cultural Praxis was originally presented as part of CASY (Cultural Autism Studies at Yale), an autistic cultural studies initiative exploring autistic culture, meaning-making, and lived knowledge. In this talk, Sher Griffin shares the personal and theoretical journey that led to the development of the Cognitive Ecology Model (CEM), a relational and systems-based framework for understanding neurodivergence, trauma, burnout, and human experience beyond deficit-based approaches. Drawing from autoethnography, systems thinking, disability culture, and transformative social change, the presentation invites viewers to move beyond labels and toward a deeper understanding of human beings as living ecologies shaped by relationship, environment, history, and meaning.

Hosted by integral philosopher and cultural sensemaker Layman Pascall, this episode of The Integral Stage's Liminal Café series explores the intersections of neurodivergence, trauma, consciousness, and social transformation with writer, theorist, and Cognitive Ecology Model creator Sher Griffin. Together, they discuss recovery, autism, systems thinking, meaning-making, and the emerging possibilities of more relational and liberatory ways of understanding human development. Through curiosity, humor, and deep inquiry, the conversation invites viewers into a rich exploration of what it means to become fully human in a complex world.

Sher Griffin joins Deborah Lukovich to discuss inner transformation, relational healing, community, and the connection between personal coherence and collective change.

A conversation on twice- and thrice-exceptionality, neurodivergence, masking, and the transformative potential of minds that exist at the intersections.