How to Make Health Care Neurodiversity-Affirming, with Dr. Mel Houser
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What barriers do neurodivergent patients face in traditional healthcare settings?
The primary purpose of Uniquely Human, the podcast is to educate and inform. The views expressed during all episodes are solely those of the individuals involved and do not constitute educational or medical advice. Listeners should consult with professionals familiar with each individual or family for specific guidance.
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Hi, I'm Dr. Barry Prezant, clinical scholar, researcher, and consultant on autism and neurodiversity, and a Brooklyn boy raised in the big city. And I'm Dave.
I'm none of those things, and I grew up on a farm in Illinois. But being on the spectrum myself, I have plenty of personal insight to lend.
And this is Uniquely Human, the podcast, a show that illuminates and celebrates autism and neurodiversity.
Today on Uniquely Human, the podcast, we are so excited to welcome back one of our favorite guests, Dr. Mel Hauser. Mel, welcome back.
Thank you so much for having me. It's great to be here. And
it blows my mind a little bit that I actually have the date written down. Last time we had you on the podcast was four years ago, August 5th, 2022.
What? We've been doing this podcast for longer than four years.
Time flies.
When you're having fun. When you're having
fun, it does. I just, wow. Well, welcome back. Mel, I would have guessed maybe 18 months, not... 48.
yeah well we have so much to get caught up on with everything you've been doing mel including your new forthcoming book but for those people who unfortunately have not had the opportunity to know of you know of your work or listen to our previous podcast with you uh just a little bit of background Dr. Mel Hauser, of course, is an MD and is an autistic, PDA, ADHD, dyslexic, dyspraxic, dyscalculic, board-certified family physician. You should put that into letters, into acronyms after that. My goodness.
That would be too long. It would exceed working memory. That's right.
Except for the doctor part, she didn't know any of these things about herself until she was age 37. Dr. Mel is the founder and executive director of All Brains Belong, a healthcare 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, quote, there is no one right way to be a person. And you're quoting, at the time, it was your five-year-old child who said that.
That's right. My sweet little love.
Yes. 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 to get their needs met and to thrive. She is the author of the forthcoming book, which we're going to take a dive into. And the title of the book is A Failure of Imagination. Great title. How the healthcare system fails neurodivergent people and what we are doing instead. So... Let's go back four years. We mentioned it was four years ago. What have you learned since then? And what has changed or deepened your thinking? I mean, you were challenging the healthcare establishment back then already.
And what has surprised you most about what you've learned? And if you could encapsulate where you've come from and where you are now, that would be great.
Yeah. I mean, when we think about, so we started All Brains Belong five years ago, and it was really this radical undertaking of partnering with patients and partnering with the community to really just think about what do we want healthcare to look like? What could healthcare look like? and thinking about how health care is more than medical care so yes we have a medical practice but it's also about supporting people in making friends and finding and keeping jobs and accessing their education and you know training the surrounding community to be not only appreciate but really intentionally design environments where you know everybody can show up authentically and get their needs met
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What barriers do neurodivergent patients face in traditional healthcare settings?
0:00–6:17
2
How does All Brains Belong use universal design to create neurodiversity‑affirming care?
6:17–13:38
3
Why are neuroimmune clusters (e.g., POTS, mast‑cell activation) often missed in standard medical training?
13:38–18:23
4
What practical tools (toolkits, letters, menus) can clinicians use to support neurodivergent patients?
18:23–24:20
5
How can healthcare environments be adjusted in real‑time (lighting, waiting‑room options, appointment formats)?
24:20–30:21
6
What are the three concrete changes needed to make the American healthcare system neurodiversity‑affirming?
30:21–37:56
7
How does elevating lived expertise (“you are the expert in your body”) reshape clinician‑patient power dynamics?
37:56–43:52
8
What resources (books, webinars, community programs) are available for patients and providers to continue learning?
43:52–48:22
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