Brain Club®: The Podcast

How does All Brains Belong actually make decisions, gather feedback, shift power, and support staff and patients to thrive?
This is Part 2 of our behind-the-scenes interview with Dr. Mel Houser, led by community moderators Amy Noyes, Elizabeth Carney, and Mkazas. If you haven't listened to Part 1 yet, start there — where we cover the real story of how ABB got started. Here, we go deeper into the systems and structures behind the organization.
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: Amy Noyes, Elizabeth Carney, Mkazas
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/2026/05/Brain-Club®_-The-Podcast-S1E17-ABB-Behind-the-Scenes-Part-2-TRANSCRIPT.pdf
P.S. On sale now! A Failure of Imagination: How the healthcare system fails neurodivergent people -- and what we're doing instead. A new book by Dr. Mel Houser. 100% of book proceeds support All Brains Belong's neuroinclusive healthcare, community, and education programs. Get your copy today at https://allbrainsbelong.org/book

What's the real story behind All Brains Belong — and what does it actually look like to build a neuroinclusive organization from the ground up?
In this episode of Brain Club®: The Podcast, we pass the mic to three of our community moderators — Amy Noyes, Elizabeth Carney, and Mkazas — who turn the tables and interview Dr. Mel Houser for a behind-the-scenes look at ABB's origin story. This is the conversation that usually happens off-mic.
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:
Amy Noyes, Elizabeth Carney, Mkazas
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/2026/05/Brain-Club®_-The-Podcast-S1E16-ABB-Behind-the-Scenes-Part-1-TRANSCRIPT.pdf
 
P.S. Did you know that All Brains Belong has a new book? On sale Sept 8, 2026: learn more at https://allbrainsbelong.org/book

What happens when you discover your neurodivergence through parenting?
In this episode of Brain Club®: The Podcast, neurodivergent parents share how their children’s diagnoses helped them recognize parts of themselves that had always been there — and what it’s like to navigate family life with conflicting access needs. We talk about school, healthcare, and community systems that weren’t built for their families — and how unlearning old expectations is a key part of finding what works.
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:Kat B, Nadine Budbill, Charlie Hohn, Travis Skadberg
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/2026/02/Brain-Club®_-The-Podcast-Experiences-of-Neurodivergent-Parents-TRANSCRIPT.pdf

What if the disconnect between patients and providers isn’t personal — it’s structural?
In this episode of Brain Club®: The Podcast, three primary care clinicians reflect on the mismatch between what neurodivergent patients need and what the healthcare system is set up to provide. We talk about burnout, shame, time pressure, and how both patients and providers are often navigating conflicting access needs in a system that actively thwarts them. This is a conversation about practicing medicine in a way that honors difference — and why curiosity is essential to connection.
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:Mel Houser MD, Sierra Miller DNP APRN, Gabe Worzella DO
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 below: https://allbrainsbelong.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Brain-Club®_-The-Podcast-Bridging-Double-Empathy-Problem-in-Healthcare-TRANSCRIPT.pdfLinks:Everything is Connected to Everything: Improving the Healthcare of Autistic & ADHD Adults
Clinician Resources

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
Transcript below:
https://allbrainsbelong.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Brain-Club®_-The-Podcast-Neurodivergent-Healthcare-Experiences-TRANSCRIPT.pdf

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 APRNIrene 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
Transcript here: https://allbrainsbelong.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Brain-Club®_-The-Podcast-S1E12-Masking-in-Healthcare-TRANSCRIPT.pdf

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 CarneyAniel KailaniBeck NataleJanelle 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

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
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

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
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

What would you do with a new understanding of yourself — one that changed the way your entire life made sense?
In this episode, autistic adults from the All Brains Belong community share reflections on being diagnosed for the first time in adulthood, from their 20s to their 60s. They talk about what it was like to live without knowing, how they made sense of the discovery, and what changed once they had language for their experience. This is a conversation about unmasking, grief, relief, and beginning again — and about how discovering you’re autistic can also mean discovering what you’ve always needed.
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:Kele BourdeauMatthew LeFluer1Sarah KnutsonZephAmy Noyes
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 below:https://allbrainsbelong.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Brain-Club®_-The-Podcast-S1E10-What-Autistic-People-Want-You-to-Know-TRANSCRIPT.pdf