Neurodiversity Podcast

It’s a challenge for gifted and talented people of color to fight the headwind of implicit biases when it comes to being identified for gifted services. Dr. Joy Lawson Davis is working to help educators recognize signs of giftedness through the lens of cultural differences, and to fight inherent biases that prevent some students from achieving their maximum potential. Dr. Davis is our guest on episode 21 of Mind Matters. About the guest - Dr. Joy Lawson Davis is a career educator with over 30 years of experience as a practitioner, scholar, author, and consultant. A graduate of the College of William & Mary, Dr. Davis holds both Master’s and Doctorate degrees in Gifted Education. She has conducted workshops, been a long-term program consultant, and served as a keynote speaker and distinguished guest lecturer in the United States, South Africa and the Caribbean. She has published numerous articles, technical reports, and book chapters. Her award-winning book, Bright,Talented & Black: a Guide for Families of African American Gifted Learners is the first of its kind to specifically address the advocacy needs of Black families raising gifted students. She’s also co-author of the first "Equity-Based, Culturally Responsive Bill of Rights for Gifted Students of Color.” She is currently the Special Populations columnist for the NAGC publication: Teaching for High Potential, and serves on the Gifted Child Today advisory board. Dr. Davis served a two-year term as chair of the NAGC’s Diversity & Equity Committee and is an at-large member of the NAGC Board of Directors. Host Emily Kircher-Morris has dual Masters degrees in Counseling and Education, and specializes in the area of giftedness throughout the lifespan. She founded the non-profit organization The Gifted Support Network, is the owner of Unlimited Potential Counseling & Education Center, and is the mother of three gifted children.

IQ is the primary measure of giftedness, but sometimes the IQ test fails to reveal the whole story. Recommended guidelines from the National Association for Gifted Children are evolving, and a new position paper has been released on using the FSIQ score to identify gifted/talented kids. We talk with Dr. Linda Kreger Silverman about her position on the subject, as well as better ways to identify 2e kids, on episode 20 of Mind Matters. About the guest - Linda Kreger Silverman, PhD, is a licensed psychologist who founded and directs the Institute for the Study of Advanced Development and its subsidiaries, Gifted Development Center (GDC) and Visual-Spatial Resource in Denver, Colorado. Her PhD is in Educational Psychology and special education from the University of Southern California. For nine years, she served on the faculty of the University of Denver in counseling psychology and gifted education. She has been studying the psychology and education of the gifted since 1961 and has written over 300 articles, chapters and books, including Counseling the Gifted and Talented, Upside-Down Brilliance: The Visual-Spatial Learner, and Advanced Development: A Collection of Works on Gifted Adults. Her latest book, Giftedness 101 (New York: Springer, 2013), went into third printing within 6 months of its release. Host Emily Kircher-Morris has dual Masters degrees in Counseling and Education, and specializes in the area of giftedness throughout the lifespan. She founded the non-profit organization The Gifted Support Network, is the owner of Unlimited Potential Counseling & Education Center, and is the mother of three gifted children.

Signs of trauma can easily be dismissed as symptoms of something else entirely. On episode 19, Emily welcomes author and trauma expert Heather Forbes to talk about how to identify the signs of trauma, and ultimately how to control and minimize its effects. About the guest - Heather T. Forbes, LCSW, is the owner of the Beyond Consequences Institute in Boulder, Colorado. Heather has worked in the field of trauma and healing since 1999. She is an internationally published author on the topics of raising children with difficult and severe behaviors, the impact of trauma on the developing child, adoptive motherhood, and self-development. Host Emily Kircher-Morris has dual Masters degrees in Counseling and Education, and specializes in the area of giftedness throughout the lifespan. She founded the non-profit organization The Gifted Support Network, is the owner of Unlimited Potential Counseling & Education Center, and is the mother of three gifted children.

Emily Kircher-Morris talks with family relationship expert Jennifer Kolari, author of “Connected Parenting: Set Loving Limits and Build Strong Bonds with Your Child for Life,” about ways to use the body’s natural chemicals and hormones in the formation of stronger ties with your kids or students. Giftedness often adds a layer of complexity to it, and we’ll talk about it on episode 18. About the guest - Jennifer Kolari, MSW RSW, is a child and family therapist, and one of the nation’s leading parenting experts. She’s the founder of the program Connected Parenting, and author of Connected Parenting: Set Loving Limits and Build Strong Bonds with Your Child for Life. Host Emily Kircher-Morris has dual Masters degrees in Counseling and Education, and specializes in the area of giftedness throughout the lifespan. She founded the non-profit organization The Gifted Support Network, is the owner of Unlimited Potential Counseling & Education Center, and is the mother of three gifted children.

When a parent suspects their child may be twice exceptional - that is, gifted and an additional diagnosis - what should they do next? Increasingly, the answer is something called a Differential Diagnosis. It’s the process of sorting through two or more different disorders which share symptoms that can mask each other. Our guest on episode 17 is Dr. Catherine Hasler, an expert in the area of Differential Diagnosis. About the guest - Dr. Catherine Hasler is a licensed psychologist who specializes in Differential Diagnosis and treatment of learning, behavioral, and emotional problems of children, adolescents and adults. She has an MA, PhD in Clinical Child Psychology from the University of Missouri-Columbia, A BA in Psychology from Northwestern University, and did her Predoctoral Internship at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine. Host Emily Kircher-Morris has dual Masters degrees in Counseling and Education, and specializes in the area of giftedness throughout the lifespan. She founded the non-profit organization The Gifted Support Network, is the owner of Unlimited Potential Counseling & Education Center, and is the mother of three gifted children.

Self-regulation is often discussed in the context of emotions. Emily Kircher-Morris talks with Dr. Richard Cash, author of Self-Regulation in the Classroom, about educational self-regulation. When should we expect students to show signs of maturity that indicate they are ready to learn self-regulation? How can we teach them? Catch the discussion, along with Q&A from listeners, and much more, on episode 16 of Mind Matters. About the guest - Dr. Richard M. Cash received a bachelor of arts degree in theater from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. He then attended the University of Minnesota-Minneapolis, where he received a post-baccalaureate degree in Elementary Education. Dr. Cash later obtained a Masters in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota. He returned to St. Thomas and received a doctoral degree in Educational Leadership. Dr. Cash has served as the Administrator of Gifted Programs in Rochester, Minnesota, and the Director of Gifted Programs for the Bloomington, MN Public Schools. He now provides workshops, presentations, and staff-development sessions throughout the United States, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. He’s the author of Self-Regulation in the Classroom: Helping Students Learn How to Learn, from Free Spirit Publishing. Host Emily Kircher-Morris has dual Masters degrees in Counseling and Education, and specializes in the area of giftedness throughout the lifespan. She founded the non-profit organization The Gifted Support Network, is the owner of Unlimited Potential Counseling & Education Center, and is the mother of three gifted children.

When gifted and twice-exceptional kids struggle, it’s often because people around them don’t recognize their perspective is different from the norm, and that we can try to meet them where they are. Debbie Reber, founder of TiltParenting.com and host of the podcast of the same name, discusses how we can help kids who are ‘differently wired.’ About the guest - Debbie Reber is a parenting activist, New York Times bestselling author, podcast host, and speaker who, before creating Tilt Parenting, spent more than fifteen years writing inspiring books for women and teens and speaking about issues like media literacy, self-esteem, and confidence. Since 2002, she’s written ten books, including Differently Wired: Raising an Exceptional Child in a Conventional World, which was published by Workman Publishing in June 2018. Host Emily Kircher-Morris has dual Masters degrees in Counseling and Education, and specializes in the area of giftedness throughout the lifespan. She founded the non-profit organization The Gifted Support Network, is the owner of Unlimited Potential Counseling & Education Center, and is the mother of three gifted children.

Some gifted people discover they have a second diagnosis which puts them into a different category - twice-exceptional, or 2e. On episode 14 of Mind Matters, Emily Kircher-Morris talks with Christen Leah, a college student who learned she was not only gifted, but was also diagnosed with Asperger’s, now part of a family of conditions known as ASD, Autism Spectrum Disorder. About the guest - Christen Leah is a twice-exceptional college student. At the age of eighteen she sought out an Asperger's diagnosis after identifying similarities between herself and other females on the spectrum through online videos. She is currently pursuing a degree in Psychology, but also maintains an interest in visual arts and music. Some of her hobbies include community theatre, playing the violin, and binge-watching animated shows and movies. She aims to be an advocate for girls with ASD to hopefully overcome the stigma and under-diagnosis presently facing girls and women with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Host Emily Kircher-Morris has dual Masters degrees in Counseling and Education, and specializes in the area of giftedness throughout the lifespan. She founded the non-profit organization The Gifted Support Network, is the owner of Unlimited Potential Counseling & Education Center, and is the mother of three gifted children.

Mindfulness is the awareness of the moment, the ability to observe and accept your feelings, stresses and sources of anxiety from a different perspective, and deal with them calmly. On episode 13 of Mind Matters, Emily Kircher-Morris talks with Michelle Benedict, from the organization Be Mindful, about how we can help gifted kids learn and utilize the skill of mindfulness. About the guest - Michelle Benedict has a Master’s in Education and certification in Gifted Education. She recently joined the Be Mindful organization based in Denver as a Program Director. Be Mindful is a non-profit organization which provides training and education for both students and educators in utilizing mindfulness as a tool to improve educational outcomes. Host Emily Kircher-Morris has dual Masters degrees in Counseling and Education, and specializes in the area of giftedness throughout the lifespan. She founded the non-profit organization The Gifted Support Network, is the owner of Unlimited Potential Counseling & Education Center, and is the mother of three gifted children.

Emotional intensity varies from person to person, but among gifted people, it’s often markedly higher, and more of a challenge to understand and control. Critically-acclaimed author and former school psychologist Christine Fonseca joins us with her insight into emotional intensity among gifted people, on episode 12 of Mind Matters. About the guest - Christine Fonseca works to help children and adults explore the authenticity of their own voices. She’s the author of several books in the area of giftedness and emotional intensity, including Emotional Intensity in Gifted Students. Christine provides professional development to help educators understand the social and emotional needs of the gifted. She has worked as a school psychologist in the elementary, middle, and high school levels, and currently works as a consultant to school districts on the behavioral and social-emotional needs of students. Host Emily Kircher-Morris has dual Masters degrees in Counseling and Education, and specializes in the area of giftedness throughout the lifespan. She founded the non-profit organization The Gifted Support Network, is the owner of Unlimited Potential Counseling & Education Center, and is the mother of three gifted children.