From Oak & Hive to The Collective Autism Experience (CAE)
An evolution rooted in connection
When I started Oak & Hive Consulting in January of 2025, my goal was simple: help families feel less overwhelmed after an autism diagnosis.
Oak & Hive began as a consulting and navigation practice supporting families through Autism Family Navigation (AFN), helping them understand next steps, find aligned providers, and make sense of systems that often feel fragmented and confusing. It was personal work, shaped by my own experience as a parent and by the families who trusted me during some of their most vulnerable moments.
But as my work deepened, I began to notice something important:
Navigation alone wasn’t enough.
Families didn’t just need information they needed connection.
And providers didn’t just need referrals they needed community.
In February of 2025, I was introduced to Cheryl Zjajo by a provider I was working with. Our children attended the same ABA center, and Cheryl was already running a parent support group. At the time, I had been feeling a pull to start a support group of my own, but the timing never quite aligned.
Cheryl changed that. She encouraged me to start my own. So I did.
What started as curiosity quickly turned into alignment. We spent time talking, listening, and reflecting on what families were really missing, on the emotional weight parents were carrying, and on how isolating this journey can feel. Over time, we made the decision to merge our groups together and called it, CAE- The Collective Autism Experience.
And then we asked a question that changed everything:
What else could this be?
The idea that kept growing
Around the same time, through Autism Family Navigation, I was building relationships with providers across Atlanta — psychologists, therapists, educators, and specialists, etc. And I kept hearing the same themes over and over again:
I don’t know who to refer families to.
I work in a silo.
I want to collaborate, but I don’t know where to start.
I want to learn more, but I’m already stretched thin.
Families were overwhelmed by decisions.
Providers were overwhelmed by systems.
Everyone was doing meaningful work — but mostly alone.
When community showed us what was possible
In August of 2025, I hosted the first Provider MashUp at RISE Coffee & Tea with a simple goal: bring different disciplines into the same room and create space for real connection. The event filled within two hours.
We added another location. Then another. Our first MashUp at Cumberland Academy exceeded capacity. But what stood out most wasn’t the numbers it was the energy. Providers weren’t just networking; they were energized. They were learning from one another, exchanging ideas, and leaving with renewed momentum and a clearer sense of how powerful interdisciplinary connection could be.
As families gathered, providers gathered too. And it became clear that families and professionals were navigating a shared experience — shaped by fragmented systems, disconnected care, and far too much decision-making happening in isolation.
The evolution we didn’t expect
At first, we thought CAE might become a nonprofit.
Then we thought it would live alongside Oak & Hive as a separate entity.
Eventually, we brought CAE underneath Oak & Hive as its community arm.
Each version made sense until it didn’t.
With time, clarity emerged: CAE wasn’t an add-on. It wasn’t a branch. It was the container holding all of it.
Oak & Hive wasn’t being replaced it was becoming the roots.
Introducing The Collective Autism Experience, Inc.
Today, I’m excited to share that Oak & Hive Consulting is evolving into The Collective Autism Experience, Inc.
This is not a departure. It’s an expansion.
Collective Autism Experience, Inc. is the evolution of Oak & Hive Consulting built to support families and providers through a connected, multidisciplinary autism ecosystem.
The name Collective Autism Experience was chosen intentionally.
Collective reflects the spectrum itself broad, diverse, interconnected and the belief that no single person, discipline, or service holds the full picture. Meaningful support happens when we work together.
Experience honors the reality that autism is not a single moment or milestone, but a lived, ongoing experience — shaped by relationships, environments, systems, and care over time. Families and providers are navigating this experience together, whether they realize it or not.
CAE exists to make that experience more connected, supported, and sustainable.
What CAE is building
CAE is a one of a kind multidisciplinary autism ecosystem built for both families and providers.
At its core, CAE exists to:
Reduce overwhelm for families navigating autism support
Support providers in working more collaboratively and sustainably
Create clearer pathways between diagnosis, care, education, and community
And yes — if you’ve ever wished for an Angie’s List for autism providers, this is it.
We are launching a values-aligned online provider directory where:
Families can build thoughtful care teams, access trusted guidance, and receive navigation support
Providers can connect with aligned professionals, collaborate across disciplines, and refer families with confidence
What remains at the heart
Autism Family Navigation remains central to this work.
Parent-to-parent connection remains accessible.
Provider MashUps remain a cornerstone now with deeper structure and sustainability.
What’s changed is the container.
CAE allows us to hold families, providers, education, community, and innovation together instead of in silos.
Looking ahead
This is just the beginning.
CAE will continue to grow through community events, provider education, technology, and new pathways that support both families and professionals more holistically.
Thank you for being part of this journey whether you’ve been here since the Oak & Hive days or are just finding us now. I’m deeply grateful for the trust, the conversations, and the shared belief that we can do better together.
This work has taught me that nothing meaningful happens in isolation not for families, not for providers, and not for systems trying to change.
Connection circles back.
Sincerely,
Nikki