What if neurodivergent people aren't failing the systems around them—what if those systems are failing them?
Patrick Casale sits down with Autistic and ADHD (AuDHD) physician Dr. Mel Houser, founder of All Brains Belong, to explore why navigating healthcare, employment, chronic illness, and burnout can be so exhausting for neurodivergent people—and what it could look like to build something better.
From advocating for yourself in medical appointments to understanding the connections between neurodivergence and complex health conditions, Patrick and Dr. Houser discuss why so many people spend years believing they're the problem. They also explore universal design, workplace accommodations, community, internalized ableism, and why entrepreneurs need to be careful not to recreate the exact working conditions they left behind.
Dr. Houser also shares the ideas behind their upcoming book, The Failure of Imagination: How the Healthcare System Fails Neurodivergent People — And What We're Doing Instead.
3 Key Takeaways:
- You are not a problem waiting to be solved. Difficulties navigating healthcare, work, and everyday life aren't automatically evidence of a personal or moral failing; inaccessible systems can create and amplify those struggles.
- Leaving a broken workplace doesn't help if you recreate it in your business. Entrepreneurship gives neurodivergent people an opportunity to redesign work around their actual access needs, capacity, communication style, and energy.
- Better systems are possible. Universal design, clearer healthcare communication, flexible pathways to participation, and neurodivergent community can move us beyond simply identifying what's broken toward creating environments where more brains can belong.
More about Dr. Houser:
Dr. Mel Houser is a family physician and Founder and Executive Director of All Brains Belong VT, a nonprofit organization in Montpelier, VT, with a mission to support the health and belonging of people with all types of brains. All Brains Belong has pioneered an innovative model that integrates medical care with social connection, employment support, and community education. Dr. Houser 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.
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Thanks to The Receptionist for iPad for sponsoring this episode.
The Receptionist for iPad is a HIPAA-ready digital check-in system that eliminates the need to walk back and forth from your office to the waiting room to see if your next appointment has arrived. Clients or patients can check in for their appointments, and you'll be immediately notified by text, email, or your preferred channel. Break free from interruptions and make the most of your time, because it is valuable. Start a free 14-day trial of the Receptionist for iPad by going to thereceptionist.com/privatepractice. Make sure to start your trial with that link to get your first month free if you decide to sign up.
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Mentioned in this episode:
The Receptionist for iPad
The Receptionist for iPad is a HIPAA-ready digital check-in system that eliminates the need to walk back and forth from your office to the waiting room to see if your next appointment has arrived. Clients or patients can check in for their appointments, and you'll be immediately notified by text, email, or your preferred channel. Break free from interruptions and make the most of your time, because it is valuable. Start a free 14-day trial of the Receptionist for iPad by going to https://thereceptionist.com/privatepractice. Make sure to start your trial with that link to get your first month free if you decide to sign up.
