• 15.06.2026 Submission through Conference Tool (no anonymization necessary)
• 01.07.2026 Feedback on first submission (Reviews by workshop organizers)
• 15.07.2026 Submission of revised contribution

Throughout life, people experience various transitions such as changing jobs, moving to a new place, or entering new social environments. These situations often involve uncertainty, new expectations, and changing roles.

For neurodivergent individuals, these transitions can be particularly challenging, as they often require adapting to environments that are not designed with their needs in mind. Neurodiversity describes the natural variation in cognitive processing, including conditions such as autism, ADHD, or dyslexia.

While research in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) has increasingly focused on supporting neurodivergent people in stable contexts such as education or work, less attention has been given to critical transition phases. However, these moments often represent situations of increased vulnerability and potential exclusion.

This workshop therefore focuses on life transitions as key moments for inclusion and exclusion processes. It aims to better understand these situations and to explore how socio-technical systems can be designed to support neurodivergent individuals more effectively.

Within the workshop, we will address the following questions:

• Which transition processes (educational, occupational, social) across the lifespan are particularly disruptive for neurodivergent individuals but overlooked in HCI research?
• From an HCI perspective, what common characteristics do these transitions share, and how can they be structured to inform inclusive design?
• What best practices from existing research, including AI-based approaches, can inform design implications for a holistic concept of technologically mediated life transitions?

The workshop is planned as a half-day, in-person event (4 hours) held in English. It is designed to be as inclusive as possible, taking into account participants’ individual accessibility and participation needs.

The workshop will begin with a short introductory talk, followed by interactive sessions in which participants explore and map different transition processes. Selected position papers will then be presented in short talks (7 minutes each, followed by 5 minutes for discussion).

In a second interactive session, participants will connect their insights in a collaborative format and discuss key questions, such as:

• Which transition processes have been widely studied, and where do research gaps remain?
• What similarities exist across different transitions, and what design implications can be derived?
• How can these insights inform future socio-technical approaches to better support neurodivergent individuals?

The workshop aims to contribute to a better understanding of life transitions and to develop ideas for more inclusive socio-technical systems.

• Problem Statements: Where (and why) are structural aspects of transition processes overlooked in research or practice?
• Research/ Lived Experience: Which examples exist of successful or failed technical solutions to support
transition processes, and what factors contributed to their outcome ?
• Design Implications: What insights can inform the design of socio-technical systems that better support neurodivergent individuals during key life transitions?

The workshop is aimed at researchers, practitioners, designers, especially those who work on neurodiversity within HCI, as well as self-evidently those with lived experiences themselves. The goal is to consider life transitions as momentum of socio-technical disruption and define prototypical characteristics to inform technological design. For active participation in the workshop, participants are invited to submit a position paper of up to three pages (plus references) on the topic:"Neurodiversity within Socio-Technical Life Transitions". For matters of inclusion and to also specifically attract practitioners participation, submissions may also take alternative forms, including images, websites, videos but are not required for attending the workshop. At least one author of each accepted submission must attend the workshop and register for at least one day of the conference. Please indicate upon submission whether you would like your contribution (ACM format) to be published and presented in the official workshop proceedings.

All submissions should center transition phases in neurodivergent lives, including but not limited to: school to work, changing jobs, retirement, marriage, end of relationships, becoming parents.

As a group of workshop organizers with neurotypical and neurodivergent perspectives, we bringing together lived experience with practical and academic expertise related to neurodivergent life realities.

Jana-Sophie Effert is a research fellow and doctoral candidate at the Department of Work, Inclusion, and Technology at TU Dortmund University. With a background in psychology and a focus on human factors, she is currently working primarily on the human-centered design of inclusive work systems.

Daniela Rauen is a research fellow at Ferdinand-Steinbeis-Institut Heilbronn. She is doing research in HCI, focusing on inclusive interaction, neurodiversity and ethics. With a background in diaconial studies and social work, her research integrates those perspectives with technological innovation to design systems that serve often overlooked people. 

Julia Hermann is a research fellow at the Institute of Positive Computing at Ruhr West University of Applied Sciences. With a background in human-centered design and social perspectives on technology, her research focuses currently on course-based co-creation formats for inclusive and accessible IT design in computing.

Dr. Bedour Alshaigy is a Lecturer in the Department of Information Technology at Uppsala University in Sweden. Her research background includes educational technology, HCI and computer science. She currently studies accessibility and inclusion in computer science education (CSEd), with a particular focus on neurodiversity. 

Samuel Breisacher holds an M.A. in Social Management and serves as a board member at the Christliches Jugenddorfwerk Deutschlands e. V. (CJD). He held multiple leadership roles within the CJD, including managing director positions in inclusion-focused organizations targeting digitalization, vocational rehabilitation, and labor market policy. 

Valerie Tan is a research assistant and doctoral candidate at the Inclusive Human-Robot Interaction research unit at TU Dortmund University. She has a background in media informatics and her research focuses on assistive technologies for adults with ADHD. 

Prof. Dr. Frauke Mörike heads the Department of Work, Inclusion, and Technology at TU Dortmund University. As an ethnologist and business IT specialist with many years of practical experience in multinational companies, her research interests focus on computer-supported cooperative work (CSCW) in relation to new forms of work and modes of collaboration, as well as the design of inclusive socio-technical work systems.