Brain Club®: The Podcast - S1E13 - Neurodivergent Healthcare Experiences

Brain Club®: The Podcast - S1E13 - Neurodivergent Healthcare Experiences

What happens when healthcare doesn’t just fail you — it actively harms you? In this episode of Brain Club®: The Podcast, neurodivergent community members share what their healthcare was like before finding All Brains Belong. From being disbelieved to being pathologized, these stories reflect patterns that are all too common — and often invisible to the people creating them. This is a conversation about surviving systems that were never built with you in mind, and what becomes possible when care finally starts to reflect your needs. This conversation was originally recorded as part of All Brains Belong’s Brain Club® — a weekly community education program focused on demonstrating neuroinclusive culture in action. Panelists:   Sarah Knutson, Matthew LeFluer, Amy Noyes, Linda Riddle, and Zeph  Brain Club is not medical advice or a support group — it’s an invitation to think differently about health, connection, and how we build systems that include everyone. Join us live most Tuesdays at 6:00 PM ET and explore 4 years of past videos at allbrainsbelong.org/brain-club [https://allbrainsbelong.org/brain-club] Transcript below: https://allbrainsbelong.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Brain-Club®_-The-Podcast-Neurodivergent-Healthcare-Experiences-TRANSCRIPT.pdf [https://allbrainsbelong.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Brain-Club%C2%AE_-The-Podcast-Neurodivergent-Healthcare-Experiences-TRANSCRIPT.pdf]

Brain Club®: The Podcast - S1E12 - Masking in Healthcare

What does the healthcare system demand from neurodivergent clinicians — and what does that cost everyone? In this episode of Brain Club®: The Podcast, neurodivergent clinicians talk openly about masking in healthcare — not from the patient side, but from inside the system itself. We talk about the pressure to perform professionalism, the internalized ableism that leads clinicians to ignore their own needs and limits, and the fear of disclosing disability or struggle in environments that punish it. Clinicians are also patients. These aren't separate groups. And the system that harms patients is the same one extracting that cost from the people working within it. This conversation was originally recorded as part of All Brains Belong's Brain Club® — a weekly community education program focused on demonstrating neuroinclusive culture in action. Panelists:  Sierra Miller, DNP APRN Irene Krechetoff, DO "Heater" Thompson, DC Brain Club is not medical advice or a support group — it's an invitation to think differently about health, connection, and how we build systems that include everyone. Join us live most Tuesdays at 6:00 PM ET and explore 4 years of past videos at https://allbrainsbelong.org/brain-club [https://allbrainsbelong.org/brain-club] Transcript here: https://allbrainsbelong.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Brain-Club®_-The-Podcast-S1E12-Masking-in-Healthcare-TRANSCRIPT.pdf [https://allbrainsbelong.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Brain-Club%C2%AE_-The-Podcast-S1E12-Masking-in-Healthcare-TRANSCRIPT.pdf]

Brain Club®: The Podcast - S1E11 - Masking in Relationships

What happens when the people closest to you have never seen the parts of you you've spent a lifetime hiding? In this episode of Brain Club®: The Podcast, we explore masking in the context of relationships — romantic, familial, social. Masking is automatic and involuntary, a survival strategy built up over years of environments that signaled it wasn't safe to show up as yourself. It looks different for everyone, and it isn't accessible to everyone — some people have never been able to mask, and some lose that ability in burnout. We talk about what all of that means inside our closest relationships, where the gap between who we are and who we've learned to perform can feel the most painful. This conversation was originally recorded as part of All Brains Belong's Brain Club® — a weekly community education program focused on demonstrating neuroinclusive culture in action. Panelists:  Elizabeth Carney Aniel Kailani Beck Natale Janelle Starr Brain Club is not medical advice or a support group — it's an invitation to think differently about health, connection, and how we build systems that include everyone. Join us live most Tuesdays at 6:00 PM ET and explore 4 years of past videos at allbrainsbelong.org/brain-club Transcript here: https://allbrainsbelong.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Brain-Club®_-The-Podcast-S1E11-Masking-in-Relationships-TRANSCRIPT.pdf [https://allbrainsbelong.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Brain-Club%C2%AE_-The-Podcast-S1E11-Masking-in-Relationships-TRANSCRIPT.pdf]

Brain Club®: The Podcast - S1E10 - "The Best Way to Support My Health is to Believe Me"- Part 2

What does it feel like to be believed — and why does it matter so much? This is Part 2 of our conversation with Dr. Laura Lewis, Sarah Knutson and Zeph  about their research on the healthcare experiences of autistic adults with multiple chronic conditions. In this episode, we reflect on the harm described in Part 1 and explore the impact of being believed — not just emotionally, but physiologically. We talk about what shifts in the relationship between patient and provider when clinicians stop trying to control the interaction and start truly listening. If you haven’t listened to Part 1 yet, we encourage you to start there. Content warning: This episode includes discussion of healthcare trauma, ableism, fatphobia, and discrimination. Please take care while listening. This conversation was originally recorded as part of All Brains Belong’s Brain Club® — a weekly community education program focused on demonstrating neuroinclusive culture in action. Guests: Dr. Laura Lewis, University of Vermont and her research community partners, Sarah Knutson and Zeph  Brain Club is not medical advice or a support group — it’s an invitation to think differently about health, connection, and how we build systems that include everyone. Join us live most Tuesdays at 6:00 PM ET and explore 4 years of past videos at allbrainsbelong.org/brain-club [https://allbrainsbelong.org/brain-club] Transcript here: https://allbrainsbelong.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Brain-Club®_-The-Podcast-S1E10-The-Best-Way-to-Support-My-Health-is-to-Believe-Me-Part-2-TRANSCRIPT.pdf [https://allbrainsbelong.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Brain-Club%C2%AE_-The-Podcast-S1E10-The-Best-Way-to-Support-My-Health-is-to-Believe-Me-Part-2-TRANSCRIPT.pdf]

Brain Club®: The Podcast - S1E9 - "The Best Way to Support my Health is to Believe Me" - Part 1

What do autistic adults with multiple chronic conditions want healthcare providers to know — and what happens when no one listens? In this episode, Dr. Mel Houser talks with Dr. Laura Lewis  from the University of Vermont, a researcher studying the experiences of Autisitc adults, along with members of her research team, Sarah Knutson and Zeph Lodestone, about findings from a study of autistic adults with complex medical needs. Part 1 focuses on what participants shared about their healthcare experiences: being disbelieved, having their communication misunderstood, and the impact of those encounters on their physical and emotional health. Content warning: This episode includes discussion of healthcare trauma, ableism, fatphobia, and discrimination. Please take care while listening. This conversation was originally recorded as part of All Brains Belong’s Brain Club® — a weekly community education program focused on demonstrating neuroinclusive culture in action. Guests: Dr. Laura Lewis - University of Vermont and community research partners, Sarah Knutson and Zeph Lodestone Brain Club is not medical advice or a support group — it’s an invitation to think differently about health, connection, and how we build systems that include everyone. Join us live most Tuesdays at 6:00 PM ET and explore 4 years of past videos at allbrainsbelong.org/brain-club [https://allbrainsbelong.org/brain-club] Transcript here: https://allbrainsbelong.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Brain-Club®_-The-Podcast-S1E9-The-Best-Way-to-Support-My-Health-is-to-Believe-Me-Part-1-TRANSCRIPT.pdf