NeuroTangents

Hannah and Alicia discuss the Neurodiversity related issues that they've been thinking about lately, connections to season 1, and future topics for the NeuroTangents podcast.

Brenda and Megan join Alicia and Hannah to talk about teaching young children in ways that enable them to better understand themselves and each other through a neurodiversity affirming lens. Brenda and Megan discuss the work they completed for Molly Bumpas's spring course in 2024. This course will run again in March 2025 and registration is open. Visit Vthec.org and click "register" to sign up!

Casey Ehrlich, Ph. D., joins Hannah and Alicia to talk about PDA—how we define it, how we think about it, and how teachers and parents can find shared understanding and provide effective support to students with nervous system disabilities. Interested in learning more about inclusive education? Check out our upcoming courses and workshops, including this in-person PD by UDL expert Loui Lord Nelson, Ph.D., to be held on 5/8/25: https://www.vthec.org/event/inclusive-design-leveraging-udl-mtss-and-ai-in-curriculum-planning/

Kate Gibson, a licensed clinical psychologist specializing in the treatment of anxiety, trauma, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), body-focused repetitive behaviors (BFRBs), and behavioral problems, with a subspeciality in Selective Mutism, joins Hannah and Alicia today to talk about Social Anxiety and Selective Mutism (SM).

Teacher, researcher, speaker and story teller Dr. Shelley Moore of Five Moore Minutes joins Hannah and Alicia to talk about the fears that can keep educators from doing their best work to make learning as inclusive as it can be.

Assistant Professor of Education and Core Education Department Chair at Landmark College and Disability Studies scholar Katie Roquemore, Ph.D., joins Alicia and Hannah to discuss and define ableism. How do we understand the impact of normative expectations on students so that we can actively resist being complicit in systems that create harm? How do we dismantle capitalism? This week's episode will examine these and other important questions.

Loui Lord Nelson, Ph.D., an internationally recognized Universal Design for Learning (UDL) leader, best-selling author, podcaster, and the recipient of CAST’s inaugural Anne Meyer Design Award, joins Hannah and Alicia on today's episode. This conversation aims to offer inspiration and practical strategies for implementing UDL to instructional designers/educators working not only in classrooms, but in all spaces where people learn. For more about Loui and her work, visit theudlapproach.com.

Author, educator, queer futurist, and transpersonal somatic psychologist Dr. Nick Walker joins Hannah Markos and Alicia Beth for a rich and wide-ranging discussion that explores the creative process, neurodiversity, the philosophy surrounding language use as it relates to neurodiversity, society’s addiction to certainty and more.

In the inaugural episode of NeuroTangents, Hannah Markos (director of the Neurodiversity & Inclusion Graduate Program) and Alicia Beth (Director of Programs & Licensing) of the Vermont Higher Education Collaborative introduce themselves, share a bit about their personal and professional connections to neurodiversity, and give listeners an overview of the first season. Season 1 of NeuroTangents will feature guest speakers with a broad range of expertise and experience in a variety of neurodiversity-adjacent areas. The NeuroTangents podcast is a production of the Neurodiversity and Inclusion program of the Vermont Higher Education Collaborative. To learn more about courses, workshops, and other learning opportunities, please visit VTHEC.org.