NeurodivURGENT Chats: Conference Edition - Channon Essex, M.S.Ed.

It's been a little less than a month since NeurodivURGENT 2025, and we're still over the moon about the beauty of this interdisciplinary community. Recently, we had a chance to catch up with one of our amazing team leaders, Channon Essex. Here's what she had to say!

In considering the content shared at the conference, what paradigm shifts do you believe are most important to put into practice?

I think that the paradigm shift that needs to be prioritized is the development of school-wide cultures that focus on teaching to the kids in front of them rather than who the current education infrastructure tells them that they should have. The infrastructure tells them that the kids should be on grade level and instructs them to teach from that space even when that's not the case. These students often have deficiencies or gaps that are not their fault. Despite this, they are being held to that standard without the support necessary to successfully navigate it. There also isn’t enough professional development and training to assist teachers to meet student needs. That combined with structural and logistical issues, puts both teachers and students at a grave disadvantage.

Why do you believe interdisciplinary spaces like NeurodivURGENT are so important?

Spaces like NeurodivURGENT are important for two reasons: 1. These spaces create visibility, which directly ties to awareness. This is particularly valuable from an interdisciplinary angle as it affords us the opportunity to discuss what it looks like to explore connects between the arts, STEM, physical education, ELA, etc. The more educators collaborate across disciplines, the more we get a clear understanding of the spectrum of needs that exist and how to create a supportive, inclusive, and equitable environment for all. That doesn’t happen without spaces like this. 2. It creates an environment for educators to share their own experiences and to present as perhaps neurodivergent themselves. This freedom affords representation and awareness for educators themselves as well as a platform to design safe spaces for students. As teachers begin to more clearly see, understand, and accept themselves, they are more empowered to be cheerleaders and advocates for students and spread that awareness to colleagues and other adults who are doing the same things. More broadly, when schools embrace students and intentionally foster acceptance, inclusiveness, and awareness, the entire learning community has the space to thrive and understand that they are deserving of opportunities to pursue greatness both in school and beyond. This plants the seeds of confidence necessary to help them to jump into the world ready for success.

As the year-round collaboration continues, how would you most like to see people capitalize on this unique community of likeminded stakeholders?

I would most like to see members of this community broaden their toolboxes, deepen their understandings of various scopes of practice, identify supports, and dissect research-based data. Each of these things can feel very overwhelming when we try to do them on our own, but when we bring likeminded people together, it creates a space that is really, really powerful. I’m excited and really looking forward to what this can look like as the NeurodivURGENT Collaborative continues to evolve. It’s important to stay connected in spaces like these because we are seeing more and more people who present as neurodivergent but are not getting the support that they need. The more people who are a part of this network, the more we can begin to assemble the supports necessary to bridge these gaps. As more and more people from various professions join this conversation, the more perspectives we have to learn from and become mutually empowered. Those two things together - knowledge and empowerment - are what lead to real change. 

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About NeurodivURGENT Chats: Interdisciplinary Conversations That Can't Wait

"NeurodivURGENT Chats" is a written and audio-visual conversation series dedicated to raising issues that impact neurodivergent youth with a sense of urgency and conviction. The goal with each conversation is to remind each other that when we work together to strategize for the good of those we serve, there is no challenge that can't be overcome.