2024 In Review: Supporting Neurodiversity | EDB 334

In the second part of our review of 2024, we hear from some of the people making a difference for the neurodiversity community.
AISHA MCDONALD – full interview pt 1 / pt 2 | learn more about their work here
CHERYL CHECKERS AND DR CHRISTOPHER KAY – full interview | learn more about their work here : Cheryl / Dr Kye
NICOLE STORRS – full interview | learn more about their work here
TAINAH GEORGES – full interview | learn more about their work here
ANTHONY PACILLIO – full interview | learn more about their work here
DR JENNIE TROCCHIO – full interview | learn more about their work here
COURTNEY, LAURA, AND GRACIE FROM CANINE ASSISTED THERAPY – full interview | learn more about their work here
AUDIO PODCAST VERSION:FULL TRANSCRIPTION
Note: the following transcription was automatically generated. Some imperfections may exist.
DR HACKIE REITMAN (HR):
Hi, I’m Dr Hackie Reitman. Welcome to Exploring Different Brains. We are finishing our year in review by revisiting some of the dedicated people and organizations making a difference for the neurodivergent community. Let’s start with
THE UNITED WAY’S AISHA MCDONALD
AM:
For certain groups of people, certain life events become so normalized that the situations that they go through, they may not even acknowledge and realize that this is a traumatic event, because for them, it’s just their day to day lives right growing up in certain environments and certain communities that have a higher impact of trauma, but it’s your just your normal daily living looks differently when I think of certain communities that are impacted by trauma more severely, without even the full fledged recognition of it, I think of communities that have been marginalized in society, communities that have been historically oppressed, and even for me, one significant community that is impacted by trauma is the neurodivergent community, because trauma impacts the brain differently, And when you have people that are living with different brains already, what neurotypical people might recognize as a traumatic incident might not translate immediately to that for them, and we may not recognize that an incident is traumatic for them because we don’t understand the functioning of their brain, because it doesn’t work like ours do.
CHERYL CHECKERS AND DR CHRISTOPHER KYE
HR:
What do you wish all your fellow mental health providers understood about autism?
CC:
I, there’s so many things and that’s very difficult to answer. I, you know? I, I do. We both, Dr Kye and I both see a lot of people that have been through a lot of therapists and a lot of doctors, and I wish that everybody had a little more up to date information psycho education on autism and how that you know, mental health conditions expressed differently, how medications may work differently, how you can’t, you know, expect to use something with someone neurodivergent and get the same result as someone neurotypical. I mean, sometimes you can, but oftentimes not. So I think it was is first to do no harm. Like to have that information so we’re not making matters worse. I think that
CY
sometimes there can be a little bit of focus on what the limitations are in a given individual, and then there like Cheryl’s Iron Head. And obviously this is something Cheryl and I do all the time, and this is what Cheryl would have said, is the one Bravo. But it becomes really, really important to understand how critical it is to convey that the neural circuitry and autism conveys vulnerability, it also conveys strengths, and that identification and recognition of those strengths and taking advantage of those strengths during peak cortical plasticity Windows during adolescence, and learning how to take advantage of granular data retention And pattern generation and the like, and figuring out what kind of data you’re best at playing with that changes outcome. That changes long term outcome, and it gives opportunity.
NICOLE STORRS FROM 9MUSES ARTS CENTER
HR:
Tell our audience, why is it so important for those of us with mental health challenges, to have peer support?
NS:
It can be incredibly daunting, and especially feeling like nobody understands being able to talk about whatever issue it is that is currently weighing on your mind, because I’m sure, as people know that have experienced it, they can kind of stack up and therapy, maybe only once a week or once a month, if at all. And maybe it’s just finding it hard to talk to your friends and family anymore because. If maybe they not in a mean way, but maybe they just don’t know how to help Exactly. And a peer understands things like that and has also made all the phone calls and talked to all the people and said all the things. Said, all set, all the wrong things, and then learn what the right things are and how to get their needs met.
TAINAH GEORGES OF FUSION ACADEMY
HR:
What could traditional schools learn from fusion academy
TG:
that every student is different. Every student learns differently, and that, you know, traditional, generalized education is not for everyone. That’s not how everyone learns. You know what I mean. I think studies have shown that, especially now, especially after the pandemic, there’s a wide range of difference in learning styles, you know, with every student, but you know traditional school, you know 25 kids in the classroom. You know you’re going at the teacher space, where a school like fusion, you don’t go at the teacher space. The teacher goes at your pace. You know what I mean. And that’s where we found the success, and that’s why our students, we have students that are struggling in the traditional settings with Cs and Ds, and they come to us and they’re getting A’s, and the parents are like, are you guys cheating in the classroom? Like, what is happening? And we’re like, No, we’re just able to teach the student in a way that they learn.
ANTHONY PACILIO OF CAI
AP:
Companies talk about ROI all the time, and that’s great, right? Your return on investment. And listen, we understand that the talents and the productivity and the loyalty and, you know, coming to work on time, all those good things that they’re great for companies. But I think there’s a bigger piece to this as well, right? Great profit bottom line, well, what’s the return on investment of that person who hasn’t had the chance to go to work because they couldn’t get in the door because of whatever XYZ we’re showing that the return on investment is the human piece, right? Maybe that person gets their first apartment, or they’re going to get their driver’s license, or, you know, they found newfound confidence responsibility. That’s the bigger piece to all of this. It’ll all work itself out for the company and the culture. We hope to change cultures. But I think the bigger piece is we need to concentrate on the people coming in, making sure that they feel supported, and we’re going to teach the client and organization how to do it.
DR JENNY TROCCHIO OF POSITIVE DEVELOPMENT
JT:
We all have so many strengths, and when we focus on those and we build those up, we can then broaden them out to cover any topic, anything. But if you’re working from a more deficit focus, where we just focus on the areas you’re not good at, and just practice those over and over again, you know, after a lot of drills and a lot of repetition, you might make progress that way, but it won’t be nearly as fast or effective as if we work from strength. And I just think about myself, and, you know, I’m a terrible speller, and if I spent, you know, if it was just like, Oh, we got to get your spelling better, let’s drill out those spelling words, then it might get better, but I would be miserable versus like, hey, let’s write something. I love writing. I love being creative. And if I write something without worrying about the spelling, you know, there are no limits to what could happen. So I think we can make a lot more progress, a lot faster, and include a lot more joy when we work from strengths instead of deficits.
COURTNEY, LAURA AND GRACIE FROM CANINE ASSISTED THERAPY
HR:
Why are animals such a great tool for therapy?
CT:
Because they do not judge like humans. Judge humans can have a preconceived idea before they even talk to you. And a dog just loves everybody. Doesn’t matter any anything about them. They just love them so they do not judge.
CC:
You know, Gracie doesn’t care what somebody looks like. She doesn’t care how well they speak if they speak to her at all, if they speak clearly, all she cares about communicating is that somebody’s touching her, interacting with her and being positive. And that positivity can occur in any kind of situation, no matter how somebody interacts. I think we’re capable of feeling that positivity