EPISODE 166
How to Make Health Care Neurodiversity-Affirming:
A Discussion with Dr. Mel Houser
A Discussion with Dr. Mel Houser
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Show Notes
Dr. Mel Houser, MD, physician and founder of the All Brains Belong health care community, explains how current healthcare systems fail neurodivergent people. Dr. Mel explains how traditional healthcare settings create barriers that don’t accommodate neurodivergent needs, and how practices in All Brains Belong, guided by universal design principles, emphasize the importance of elevating lived expertise by telling patients “you are the expert in your body.” The discussion also covered how neurodivergent people often present with intertwined neuroimmune conditions that traditional 10-15 minute medical visits cannot properly address. Dr. Mel concluded by outlining three concrete changes needed in American healthcare systems.
Learn more about All Brains Belong
Featuring
Dr. Mel Houser, M.D
Dr. Mel Houser, M.D. is an Autistic/PDA/ADHD/dyslexic/dyspraxic/dyscalculic Board Certified Family Physician. Except for the doctor part, she didn’t know any of these things about herself until age 37. “Dr. Mel” is the Founder and Executive Director of All Brains Belong, a health care practice and educational practice in Vermont. Dr. Mel is passionate about helping patients of all ages learn about their brains and build connections to overcome society’s broken systems and discover the truth that “there is no one right way to be a person,” (to quote her child at age 5). In addition to providing medical care to neurodivergent patients through the lifespan, Dr. Mel also provides neurodiversity training to healthcare practices and workplaces around the country about how to create environments where people with all types of brains can get their needs met and thrive. She is the author of the forthcoming book, A Failure of Imagination: How the Healthcare System Fails Neurodivergent People–And What We’re Doing Instead
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…and Continue the Discussion
Do you have a book or podcast club? If so, you may use this discussion guide to facilitate a conversation about this episode.
1. What does Dr. Mel share that she has learned over the past five years since founding All Brains Belong that has changed or deepened her thinking and practices? What in particular resonates with you and your experiences with health care?
2. Dr. Mel argues that many healthcare problems aren’t really “autism problems” or “ADHD problems” but problems created by the way the healthcare system itself is designed. She provides examples of health care practices that may seem completely normal (i.e., business as usual) to most clinicians but is actually creating barriers for neurodivergent people. What kinds of barriers have you or someone you know experienced directly in accessing health care? How do those experiences make you feel, and do they discourage your interest in accessing healthcare?
3. Dr. Mel suggests three things that need to change about the American healthcare system to make it genuinely neurodiversity-affirming, and that not only would better support neurodivergent people, but all people. Do you agree, and are there any other changes you would make?
HOSTED BY
Barry Prizant, Ph.D., CCC-SLP
Dr. Barry Prizant is a speech-language pathologist with more than 50 years experience as a researcher and international consultant for autistic and neurodivergent individuals and their families. He is an Adjunct Professor of Communicative Disorders at the University of Rhode Island and Director, Childhood Communication Services (a private practice). Previously, he served as Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry in the Brown University School of Medicine, and held a tenured professor appointment at Emerson College. Publications include 5 books, most notably Uniquely Human: A Different Way of Seeing Autism (2015; 2022) and The SCERTS Model manuals, an educational approach implemented in more than a dozen countries. He has published 150 scholarly chapters and articles and serves on numerous professional advisory boards for journals and professional organizations. Barry has presented more than 1000 seminars and keynote addresses internationally, including two invited presentations at the United Nations for World Autism Awareness Day. His career contributions have been recognized with honors from Brown and Princeton Universities, the Autism Society of America and the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.
Visit Barry’s website here
Uniquely Human, the book (Updated and Expanded edition!)
Dave Finch
Dave Finch is the author of the New York Times bestselling memoir, The Journal of Best Practices: A Memoir of Marriage, Asperger Syndrome, and One Man’s Quest to Be a Better Husband. As a writer and creative consultant, his work has appeared on ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, NPR, SiriusXM, The New York Times, Rolling Stone, The Howard Stern Show, and the award-winning Netflix series, Atypical. Based in Denver, Dave’s company, Elevated Studio, produces this podcast and other recognized series.
Visit Dave’s website here
“I have read a million and one books on Autism. Uniquely Human is the best book I have ever read, hands down. Thank you Barry for this incredible gift!!!!”
– Navah Paskovitz, Mother of three boys with Autism, Co-Founder, the Ed Asner Family Center
“Compassion, learning and supportive strategies–the three essentials for working with folks with ASD–are an integral part of this must-read book.”
– Michelle Garcia Winner, Speech Language Pathologist and Founder of Social Thinking
“Thanks be to Barry for the first-ever must read written for parents, educators, and clinicians.”
– Michael John Carley, Founder, GRASP; Author of Asperger’s From the Inside-Out
“What makes the book compelling is how funny Mr. Finch is about himself. He’s great company.”
– Susannah Meadows, The New York Times
“In this hilarious memoir (which also gives some of the finest explications of Asperger’s out there), Finch approaches trying to be a better husband and father with the determination of Sherman marching on Atlanta.”
– Judith Newman, People (4/4 stars)
“Talk about being on a roll. This dude wrote a book, he has Asperger’s syndrome. He cured himself by listening to me on the radio!”
– Howard Stern