Meet Joel Kottman

Neurodivergent Advocate
Helping Schools and Communities Build Belonging

Joel Kottman knows what it feels like to move through a world built around unspoken rules.

As a neurodivergent person, Joel has spent much of his life learning how to decode social expectations, communication norms, sensory challenges, and environments that often misunderstand difference.

Those experiences did not just shape his education. They shaped his purpose.

Today, Joel uses storytelling, reflection, and lived experience to help families, educators, organizations, and fellow odd ducks better understand neurodiversity with more empathy, clarity, and care.

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Joel's Story

Joel Kottman has spent much of his life learning to decode what other people seem to absorb automatically.

Diagnosed at a young age with Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD-NOS) and Nonverbal Learning Disorder (NVLD), Joel learned early that communication was not only about words. Body language, tone shifts, facial expressions, personal space, and implied social rules often had to be consciously studied instead of intuitively understood.

That reality led to awkward moments, misunderstandings, and occasional conflict. It also shaped Joel’s ability to notice what others take for granted.

School, college, and community life all came with expectations that were not always explained out loud. While others seemed to know the hidden rulebook, Joel had to learn those rules through experience, reflection, support, and more than a few hard lessons.

Over time, those experiences became part of his purpose.

Joel earned his Bachelor of Science in Communication Studies from Southern Illinois University. But his most meaningful insight comes from lived experience: knowing what it feels like to be misunderstood, to search for belonging, and to find people who choose patience over assumption.

Today, Joel uses storytelling, humor, and honest reflection to help families, educators, organizations, and fellow odd ducks better understand neurodiversity from the inside out.

“If you’ve met one neurodiverse person,
you’ve met one neurodiverse person.”

Joel shares his experience navigating college as a neurodivergent student and what he wishes more people understood.

What Joel Brings to the Conversation

Through storytelling, humor, grounded reflection, and a deep passion for advocacy, Joel helps audiences:

Better understand his neurodiverse experience from the inside out
Recognize where communication and assumptions can break down
See how unwritten rules affect school, work, family, and community life
Rethink myths about neurodivergent people
Approach belonging with more patience, clarity, and care

Joel brings his lived experience into conversation—creating space for insight, reflection, and meaningful change. His work focuses on breaking down barriers, challenging stereotypes, and encouraging conversations that help people connect across differences.

Whether speaking with families, educators, students, organizations, congregations, or community groups, Joel helps bridge the gap between lived experience and everyday understanding.

His message is simple: when we stop making assumptions, we create more space for every odd duck to thrive.

“You were truly the star of the show… everyone walked away with new knowledge and appreciation for teaching neurodivergent students.”

Tracey Y Hurd

University of North Georgia

“You widened our understanding of neurodiversity and reinforced the values we should hold around all kinds of differences.”

Stell Simonton

First Existentialist Congregation

“Joel’s experience offers real insight into how learning differences impact daily life—and how we can better support students.”

Scott Donovan

OPTIONS Transitions to Independence

How Joel Supports Schools & Communities

Joel’s work centers on helping people better understand neurodivergent experiences—not through checklists or one-size-fits-all training, but through thoughtful conversation grounded in lived experience.

Early in his advocacy work, Joel explored traditional “neurodiversity training” formats. Over time, he found that brief, generic sessions often fell short—because neurodivergent experiences are deeply individual, contextual, and shaped by environment. What educators and institutions needed wasn’t more information, but clearer language, deeper perspective, and space to reflect on how systems actually land.

Today, Joel supports schools, colleges, universities, and organizations by:

Creating Shared Language
Helping educators, staff, and leaders articulate what often goes unnamed—especially around unspoken expectations, social norms, and access.
Facilitating Meaningful Conversation
Offering talks and workshops that invite curiosity rather than defensiveness, and understanding rather than overwhelm.
Supporting Culture Shift, Not Just Awareness
Moving beyond surface-level inclusion to examine how policies, practices, and everyday interactions shape belonging.
Centering Lived Experience Without Trauma-Dumping
Joel’s sessions are thoughtful, engaging, and energizing—grounded in honesty without being heavy or overwhelming.

Rather than positioning himself as the expert with answers, Joel helps communities ask better questions—and stay with them long enough to matter.

How Joel Shows Up

Lived Experience, Thoughtfully Shared
Joel draws from his own experiences navigating school, communication, and expectations, offering a perspective that helps others better understand what is often hard to see from the outside.
Warm, Conversational Style
Joel is an extrovert who enjoys language, storytelling, and connection. His approach is open, reflective, and grounded, making complex experiences easier to understand.
Clarity Around What's Often Unspoken
Joel has a unique ability to notice and explain the unwritten rules that shape communication and belonging, helping others recognize what they may have previously overlooked.

Let's Start the Conversation

If you’re supporting neurodiverse students, families, or communities, Joel brings a lived-experience perspective that helps people listen more carefully, ask better questions, and create more room for belonging.