What Different Can Do - Brains and Behaviors
For our last week of our What Different Can Do campaign, we talked to two experts who work and research in the field of neurodiversity, and who focus on helping to understand brains and behaviors. Dr. Tara Chandrasekhar is a clinical psychiatrist at Duke University, where she studies neurodiversity and provides support for Duke students with differences. Katie Schaefer is a BCBA and teacher at the Julie Billiart School, who helps kids understand and learn more positive behaviors. Let’s learn about how understanding brains and behaviors can make the world a bit more inclusive!
THE PEOPLE CREATING INCLUSION
For the last few weeks I’ve been connecting with some amazing people living in the world of neurodiversity as we’ve explored What Different Can Do. While the best way to understand differences is to learn from those who live with them, there are amazing people working behind the scenes to gain understanding and provide support for these individuals. As I learned this week, a lot of that support comes down to two things - brains and behaviors. Clinicians, researchers, and educators are continually learning about how neurodiverse brains work, and putting that research into practice to help neurodiverse people live better lives.
UNDERSTANDING AND SUPPORT
Dr. Tara is a clinical psychiatrist who works at Duke University. In addition to the clinical work that Dr. Tara does with her patients and families, she is also deeply involved in efforts to make Duke a more inclusive environment for neurodiverse people and students. She introduced me to, Sarah, who is a student at Duke who is on the autism spectrum. Dr. Tara’s clinical work is focused on gaining a better understanding of how neurodiverse brains work and to find the best ways to support people to have happy and fulfilled lives. She is also leading by example, by working within the Duke system to create supports for neurodiverse students. There are student and professor led support groups, resources for academic needs, and a top down approach to creating a work and learning environment that is better for everyone. As Dr. Tara said while we were talking, “Individuals on the spectrum are already in our colleges and workplaces… we just may not know it.” She wrapped it well, “It makes the workplace or the college a better place for everybody.”
“I’d love to see a world where differences are celebrated and accepted just a normal part of the fabric of our lives.”
BEHAVIORS ARE COMMUNICATION
I was also able to talk this week with Katie Schaefer, a BCBA (Board Certified Behavior Analyst) and teacher, who is also a former inclusion director for Camp Southern Ground. As we talked, I asked Katie to explain how a BCBA uses understanding behaviors to help support neurodiverse students. Katie explained how a BCBA evaluates behaviors to identify not just the typography (what a behaviors looks like) but to really understand the function, or the “why” behind a behavior. As Katie breaks down in her video, there are several different functions of behaviors, and understanding these functions really means that a BCBA gets more communication from the person they are working with. As Katie says, “All behaviors are communication.” So by observing and understanding behaviors, we are really getting a glimpse into the brain as well. BCBA’s like Katie create plans and strategies to help her students build better behaviors and prepare them for the future.
THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING SOCIAL
One big takeaway I have after talking to both Dr. Tara and Katie, is how much both of them focused on the importance of positive and healthy social experiences and environments. Katie talked about how many of the families she works with are much more concerned about social skills than academic ones. Dr. Tara talked to me about how creating a positive social circle for neurodiverse people is vital for making Duke a more inclusive university. Honestly I was surprised! A teacher and a professor both told me that sometimes the most important part of an education is how to make a friend or how to feel accepted. However, creating the opportunity for that requires a lot of work, and it requires amazing people like Dr. Tara and Katie to apply their passion and expertise to a complex and challenging issue. While progress is happening, Katie explained what we still have to do, “We need autism acceptance. We need autism accessibility. Understanding. Advocacy. And we can’t wait 20 or 30 years, now is the time.”