On episode 234, Emily Kircher-Morris talks with Austina De Bonte about auditory processing differences. They discuss how these differences can often be mistaken for attention issues or social difficulties, and what it all means for everyday life. Dr. De Bonte shares some methodologies used for testing, accommodations that are available, and ground-breaking auditory therapies that have been found to help those dealing with auditory processing challenges.

Takeaways

• Auditory processing differences can have a significant impact on how individuals experience the world and react to various situations.

• Processing differences can often mimic other traits, such as attention issues or difficulties with social relationships.

• Individuals with auditory processing differences may try to hide or compensate for their difficulties, which can be exhausting and impact their well-being.

• The Abled Kids Foundation specializes in auditory processing disorder and offers unique approaches to assessment and support.

• An ear filter device can improve word recognition by altering the timing between the ears.

• Low gain hearing aids and auditory therapies may provide some benefit, but their effectiveness is uncertain.

• Misophonia, a sensitivity to certain sounds, does not have many effective strategies for treatment.

• Accommodations such as preferential seating and FM systems in classrooms can help individuals with auditory processing differences.

If you are a clinician and you are looking for accredited continuing education specific to neurodivergent clients, you should check out the Therapist Hub. You can join as a founding member and get 15% off the lifetime of your membership with the coupon code HubFM15.

If you weren’t able to attend the free course, Foundations of Neurodiversity-Affirming Therapy, you can still take the course as a self-study here.

This episode is brought to you by the Gifted Learning Lab, which offers resources and coaching for parents who want to feel more confident raising their intense or sensitive gifted and twice-exceptional kids and teens.

Dr. Austina De Bonte is a consultant at Smart is Not Easy, specializing in helping families get to the root cause(s) of their kids’ twice exceptional challenges. She also works with school district teams to improve equitable identification and service models. She is President of the WA Coalition for Gifted Education, Past President of NW Gifted Child Association, and an advisor to The G Word documentary. Dr. De Bonte’s impressive credentials and experience also include being a certified SENG Model Parent Group facilitator, making the list of People to Watch by Variations 2e (2020), and being a recipient of the NAGC Carolyn Callahan Doctoral Student Award (2023), the WAETAG Advocacy Award (2019), and three PTA Outstanding Advocate awards. Augustina has a Masters degree from MIT (1998), and an Ed.D. from Bridges Graduate School (2024), where her dissertation was titled “Beyond Universal Screening: Practices and Attitudes that Support Equity in an Accelerated Elementary Program.”

BACKGROUND READING

Austina De Bonte’s website

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On episode 233, Emily Kircher-Morris is joined by Patrick Casale, a mental health clinician specializing in addictions. The conversation covers a lot of ground, including neurodiversity-affirming practices, and the intersectionality of addiction and neurodivergence. They discuss the importance of creating a neurodivergent affirming environment throughout the therapeutic process, from intake to therapy sessions. They talk about the need for a more nuanced understanding of addiction in the neurodivergent community and the importance of community and connection in recovery. They address concerns about stimulant medication and its relationship to substance abuse, as well as the impact of video games and electronics on addiction.

TAKEAWAYS

• Creating a neurodivergent affirming environment is crucial in the therapeutic process, from intake to therapy sessions.

• A more nuanced understanding of addiction is needed in the neurodivergent community, considering the impact of neurodivergent traits on coping mechanisms.

• Community and connection are essential in recovery from addiction.

• Concerns about stimulant medication and its relationship to substance abuse should be addressed with a focus on individual experiences and needs.

• The impact of video games and electronics on addiction should be evaluated based on how they affect daily functioning and well-being.

• Neurodivergent burnout requires sensory soothing and accommodations in the workplace or school settings.

• Support and normalization are important for individuals struggling with addiction.

Get signed up for the live, free continuing education training, Foundations of Neurodiversity-Affirming Therapy, happening on Friday, July 12th. If you can’t be there live, you can still access the video and get the credit.

Learn more about 2e students by taking our course, Strategies for Supporting Twice-Exceptional Students. It’s great for CE credits for educators, and the course will be enlightening to anyone curious about helping 2e students thrive in the classroom.

Patrick Casale is an AuDHD Licensed Clinical Mental Health and Addictions Therapist in Asheville, NC.. He is the owner of All Things Private Practice and Resilient Mind Counseling. Patrick works as a business coach and strategist, and is also a group practice owner, motivational speaker, international retreat planner, the host of All Things Private Practice Podcast, and co-host of Divergent Conversations Podcast.

His work has helped and inspired thousands of mental health professionals to take risks, start and grow their businesses, and invest in themselves. Patrick has been featured on Private Practice Startup, Abundance Practice Building, Therapy Reimagined, Not Your Typical Psychotherapist, Selling The Couch, and Modern Therapists. He is a passionate advocate for reducing shame and stigma of mental health, as well as impostor syndrome. Patrick helps mental health entrepreneurs break the mold, work through their fears and insecurities, and to embrace their authenticity. He loves good coffee, craft beer, playing soccer, and traveling the world. His official motto has become “doubt yourself do it anyway”.

BACKGROUND READING

Patrick’s website

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Many brilliant young people experience the dichotomy of disability layered on top of their intelligence. It’s called twice-exceptionality, or 2e for short. What are the common misconceptions about twice-exceptional individuals? How do traditional models fall short when identifying the learning disabilities of our brightest kids? And why is early recognition so pivotal? Emily talks with Dr. Danika Maddocks, a psychologist, parent coach, and founder of the Gifted Learning Lab, about the intricacies of twice-exceptionality, in childhood and beyond. This is an encore presentation of the conversation, originally published in October 2023.

Get signed up for the live, free continuing education training, Foundations of Neurodiversity-Affirming Therapy, on Friday, July 12th.

Learn more about 2e students by taking our course, Strategies for Supporting Twice-Exceptional Students. It’s great for CE credits for educators, and the course will be enlightening to anyone curious about helping 2e students thrive in the classroom.

Here’s a link to the free course about power struggles from Danika Maddocks.

Dr. Danika Maddocks is a psychologist, parent coach, and owner of The Gifted Learning Lab. She has supported gifted and twice-exceptional kids and their families for over 15 years as a teacher, therapist, school consultant, assessment provider, and coach. She has also published award-winning research on giftedness and twice-exceptionality. Much of her work is informed by her personal experiences growing up gifted and her experience raising a young gifted kid.

BACKGROUND READING

Free email mini course, Reduce Power Struggles with Your Gifted/2e Kid

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Today, Emily Kircher-Morris talks with Dr. Jeff Karp. Jeff is a professor at Harvard and MIT, a biotech entrepreneur, and an ADHD-er. They talk about Jeff's program, LIT, or Life Ignition Tools, which is a set of strategies to energize the brain, spark ideas, and ignite action. Emily and Jeff talk about metacognition and the transformative impact it can have on the lives of neurodivergent people. They also discuss the importance of intentional actions, the power of asking questions, the necessity of creating a supportive and dynamic learning environment, and the broader implications of neurodiversity in educational and professional settings. There’s practical advice for educators, parents, and individuals, to leverage their unique strengths and foster an inclusive and innovative society, and much more, on episode 231.

This episode is brought to you by NextStep Navigators, where you can take your ADHD coach to college with you. NextStep Navigators can support you from any campus. Visit NextStepNavigators.com

Get signed up for the live, free continuing education training, Foundations of Neurodiversity-Affirming Therapy, on Friday, July 12th.

Join the Neurodiversity Podcast Advocacy and Support Group on Facebook.

Dr. Jeff Karp is an acclaimed mentor and biomedical engineering professor at Harvard Medical School and MIT, a Distinguished Chair at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors.

Growing up in rural Canada, he was written off by his school because of his learning differences. He evolved, and developed his own process for embracing life, embodied by ‘Life Ignition Tools’ - tools he developed through years of iteration and tinkering, to make his unique patterns of thought and behavior work for him. These LIT tools have been tested in his lab, and by his many mentees. He has dedicated his research to bioinspired medical problem-solving, and his lab’s technologies have led to the formation of thirteen companies.

Dr. Karp is also head of innovation at Geoversity, Nature’s University, a rainforest biocultural leadership training conservancy located in one of the top biodiversity hotspots in the world. He was selected as the Outstanding Faculty Undergraduate Mentor among all faculty at MIT, and the top graduate student mentor of Harvard-MIT students. Dr. Karp lives in Brookline, Massachusetts, with his wife, children, and two Cavalier King Charles spaniels.

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Dr. Karp’s website

This is part two of our conversation with Dr. Jack Naglieri, an emeritus professor at George Mason University and senior research scientist at the Devereux Center for Resilient Children. Dr. Naglieri is best known for developing the Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test and the Cognitive Assessment System (CAS).

Emily and Jack talk about the history and evolution of intelligence testing, exploring how traditional methods like the Stanford-Binet and WISC have influenced our understanding of intelligence for over a century. Dr. Naglieri shares his critical perspective on the limitations and biases of these tests, particularly their reliance on verbal content and the implications for equitable assessment.

They also talk more about the PASS theory (Planning, Attention, Simultaneous, and Successive processing), which forms the foundation of the CAS, and how this theory, based on brain function, can provide a more accurate and inclusive measure of cognitive abilities. The CAS was designed to evaluate these processes, and offers insights into students' strengths and weaknesses, which can help identify learning disabilities and giftedness.

This conversation challenges traditional views on intelligence testing and offers new perspectives on how to measure and understand cognitive abilities in a fair and scientifically grounded manner. Feel free to download a free copy of PASS Theory of Intelligence and the CAS2.

Our courses in the Neurodiversity University are 50% off right now, for a limited time. Click here, and use the promo code SUMMER24.

Dr. Jack A. Naglieri, Ph.D., is Emeritus Professor at George Mason University and Senior Research Scientist at the Devereux Center for Resilient Children. His main interest is the development of psychological and educational tests and the implications these approaches have for accurate and equitable assessment.

He has published about 25 books, 50 tests and rating scales, and approximately 300 research papers. Jack is the author of tests used for identification of gifted students, including the Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test. He partnered with Dina Brulles and Kim Lansdowne to coauthor the Naglieri Tests of General Ability Verbal, Quantitative and Nonverbal, and the book, Understanding and Using the Naglieri General Ability Tests: A Call to Equity in Gifted Education (Brulles, Lansdowne & Naglieri, 2022).

Dr. Naglieri has received many awards for his extensive research program that includes scholarly research, books, and psychological tests with an emphasis on uniting sound theory with equitable scientific practice.

BACKGROUND READING

PASS Theory of Intelligence and the CAS2

Jack’s website

The Naglieri General Ability Tests

As part of our two-part series, we are speaking with Dr. Jack Naglieri, an emeritus professor at George Mason University and senior research scientist at the Devereux Center for Resilient Children. Dr. Naglieri is renowned for his work in intelligence testing and the development of the Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test.

In this episode, part one of the interview, he and Emily talk about his insights on the evolution and misconceptions surrounding intelligence assessment. They delve into the history of intelligence testing, highlighting the limitations and biases inherent in traditional methods. He describes the experiences that led him to question the validity of verbal-based intelligence tests, and ultimately inspired his development of nonverbal assessment tools. Dr. Naglieri describes how and why his tests aim to measure thinking rather than knowing, and how it provides a more equitable approach to assessing intelligence.

They discuss the PASS theory of intelligence, and how it forms the foundation of the Cognitive Assessment System (CAS), a tool designed to measure these processes and offer a nuanced profile of an individual's cognitive strengths and weaknesses.

They cover much more as well, it’s an enlightening conversation about how we measure intelligence. Look for part two of the chat in episode 230. Feel free to download a free copy of PASS Theory of Intelligence and the CAS2.

Our courses in the Neurodiversity University are 50% off right now, for a limited time. Click here, and use the promo code SUMMER24.

Dr. Jack A. Naglieri, Ph.D., is Emeritus Professor at George Mason University and Senior Research Scientist at the Devereux Center for Resilient Children. His main interest is the development of psychological and educational tests and the implications these approaches have for accurate and equitable assessment.

He has published about 25 books, 50 tests and rating scales, and approximately 300 research papers. Jack is the author of tests used for identification of gifted students, including the Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test. He partnered with Dina Brulles and Kim Lansdowne to coauthor the Naglieri Tests of General Ability Verbal, Quantitative and Nonverbal, and the book, Understanding and Using the Naglieri General Ability Tests: A Call to Equity in Gifted Education (Brulles, Lansdowne & Naglieri, 2022).

Dr. Naglieri has received many awards for his extensive research program that includes scholarly research, books, and psychological tests with an emphasis on uniting sound theory with equitable scientific practice.

BACKGROUND READING

PASS Theory of Intelligence and the CAS2

Jack’s website

The Naglieri General Ability Tests

On this episode, we talk about tech ideas that help neurodivergent people. Parker Klein and Joe Steilberg, the co-founders of the notes and organization app Twos, join Emily Kircher-Morris to discuss the benefits of writing things down and how technology can help people stay organized. They share their personal experiences with ADHD, and how their app is helping neurodivergent people take control of their lives. They also talk about the integration of incentives and gamification in their app to motivate users to stay organized. The conversation explores the social component of Twos, and the importance of clarity and peace of mind that comes from staying organized.

Takeaways

• Writing things down can improve organization and help with memory

• Technology can provide tools and features to make writing things down more efficient and enjoyable

• Incentives and gamification can motivate users to stay organized and form good habits

• Sharing thoughts and goals with others can provide a sense of community and support

• Listing out tasks and goals can bring clarity and peace of mind

Our courses in the Neurodiversity University are 50% off right now, for a limited time. Click here, and use the promo code SUMMER24.

Join the Neurodiversity Podcast Advocacy & Support Group, or follow our page on Facebook!

Parker Klein and Joe Steilberg are the co-founders of Twos - an app developed to help people stay organized with to-do lists, reminders, events and more. Parker used to work at Google and left his job to pursue Twos full-time. Joe is a natural-born salesman with ADHD. They are both on a mission to help people write things down and stay organized.

BACKGROUND READING

Get the Twos app

Twos on Twitter/X

Parker on Twitter/X

Joe on Twitter/X

Twos on YouTube

Twos on Instagram

Parker on Instagram

Joe on Instagram

You often hear people reference their own OCD, but there’s far more to it than just the desire to be orderly or neat. Today, Emily Kircher-Morris explores the topic of obsessive compulsive thinking patterns, their impact on individuals, and the importance of discussing mental health with children. Jessica Whipple, author of 'I Think I Think a Lot,' shares her personal experiences with OCD and the coping strategies she has developed. The conversation also highlights the significance of representation in children's literature and the role of books in teaching coping skills. If you’re curious about OCD, this episode will help.

Takeaways

• Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) is characterized by obsessive thinking and compulsive behaviors, which can manifest in various ways such as contamination fears, taboo thoughts, and perfectionism.

• Children's literature plays a crucial role in representing diverse experiences, teaching coping skills, and reducing stigma around mental health and neurodivergence.

• Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) can be an effective treatment for OCD, helping individuals manage their thoughts and behaviors.

• It is important to have open conversations with children about mental health, providing them with the tools to understand and cope with their emotions and experiences.

Sign up for the Educator Hub now, the window for registration closes Sunday night, June 2, at 11:59pm pacific time. We’d love for you to join us!

Jessica Whipple is an acclaimed published author who writes for adults and children. Her book, I Think I Think a Lot, was inspired by her own OCD and was published by Free Spirit Publishing, and illustrated by Josée Bisaillon. Her poetry for adults, which often includes themes of mental health and parenting, has been published both online and in print. Her poem Broken Strings was nominated for a 2023 Pushcart Prize. To read some of her work, click on her link (below) or find her children's picture books anywhere books are sold.

BACKGROUND READING

Jessica’s website

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