Beacon College's "A World of Difference: Embracing Neurodiversity" The Podcast

On this episode, in you’ll meet two young men living in vastly differently parts of the work but enjoying similar benefits as a result of taking up a musical instrument. Next, our “Ask the Experts” panel will explore the challenges and benefits music instruments hold for children who learn differently. Later, we’ll introduce you to our latest “Difference Maker,” a producer, educator and entrepreneur with an awesome surname who channeled ADHD into a Grammy-winning jazz career.

This episode of "A World of Difference," explores the basics of Individualized Education Programs through our new HealthDay News segment, “In the Know.”

Our “Ask the Experts” panelists will give tips for acing the IEP process.

 And you'll meet our latest “Difference Maker,” Meredith O'Connor, a YouTube sensation and singer with learning differences who has tuned into her life of being bullied and turned up a blossoming career as a singer and anti-bullying advocate.

Perhaps you remember the classic song, “The Greatest Love of All” and its defining lyric:

The greatest love of all | is easy to achieve | Learning to love yourself | It is the greatest love of all

Yet, for children who learn differently, achieving this outcome isn’t always so easy.

Classmates, and even adults, can stigmatize children as being weird, odd, or dumb. This discrimination undercuts their self-esteem.

Not surprisingly, kids who learn differently often remain tight-lipped about their learning differences, afraid of being ridiculed, bullied, or seen as stupid. While not every child who learns differently experiences these feelings, many find themselves in a tug-of-war over feeling good about themselves — even if they pretend not to care.

On this episode, you’ll meet an Australian mom who’s using her artistic talent to paint a more inclusive landscape for people who learn differently.

Next, our “Ask the Experts” panel will share how parents can help their kids learn to love themselves.

Later, you’ll meet our latest “Difference Maker,” a journalist and historian with several learning differences whose book “The Only Plane in the Sky” is widely considered the seminal account of 9/11.

This episode of "A World of Difference" explores best practices for parents considering college for students with learning differences both through the eyes of a Texas family facing the critical decisions involved and through wise counsel from our expert panel. You'll also meet our latest “Difference Maker,” Mackenzie Thorpe, a British artist whose heartwarming paintings and sculptures make the world a much nicer place.

On this episode of “A World of Difference” “The People’s Shark,” Daymond John, CEO of FUBU and star of ABC’s “Shark Tank,”  discusses being a uber-successful entrepreneur and living with dyslexia.

From running a business in his basement to starring on a hit reality television show, Daymond John has embodied the word “entrepreneur” and is now inspiring others to pursue their goals and empowering them to make positive changes in their lives.   Diagnosed with dyslexia himself, John has been open in sharing his entrepreneurial journey, through his many successes as well as failures, and what he has learned about getting the best out of business and life.

In each episode, “A World of Difference” examines neurodiversity issues related to learning disabilities experienced from birth to adult years, using compelling storytelling, conversations with experts, viewer Q&As, and interviews with successful individuals with learning differences of their own.

This episode of “A World of Difference” is devoted to providing care for the caregivers, the parents, and guardians of children with learning differences.

On an extended segment of “Ask the Experts,” our panel will discuss symptoms of caregiver burnout, strategies for coping, and ways to not only survive but thrive in the joys of raising your different thinkers.

And later, you’ll meet this episode’s Difference Maker, Victor Villasenor, a Pulitzer Prize-nominated author who didn’t learn how to read until the age of 20 because of dyslexia.

On this episode of “A World of Difference,” we’ll visit an innovative small private school in Leesburg, Florida that integrates art and movement into the three R’s and has proven to be just what the doctor ordered for its students with ADHD.   

Next, we’ll do a deeper dive into the alphabet soup of ADHD and explore ways that parents can better support their children with the help of our esteemed panel of experts in our “Ask the Experts” segment with Miami psychiatrist Dr. Arthur Bregman, Dr. Gilbert Franco, and  Rashonda R. Musawwir, APRN, CPNP, PMHS.  

Finally, we’ll introduce you to this month’s “Difference Maker,” Peter Shankman, an entrepreneur whose ADHD has powered the launch of several companies and the publication of a host of books.

From the moment Noah crammed animals two by two into a floating Old Testament menagerie, mankind has shared a close bond with animals.  According to the American Veterinary Medical Association, the human-animal bond is a mutually beneficial and dynamic relationship between people and animals that is influenced by behaviors considered essential to the health and well-being of both.   The bond includes but is not limited to the emotional, psychological, and physical interactions of people, animals, and the environment.   

More specifically, the field of human-animal interactions (HAI) and, in particular, animal-assisted interventions (AAI), has greatly evolved over the past half-century, and become a more recognized, legitimate form of complementary therapy.   

On this episode of “A World of Difference,” we’ll saddle up and travel to a small Florida horse ranch to get a glimpse of animal-assisted intervention in action.   Next, we’ll explore the ins and outs of animal-assisted intervention in our “Ask the Experts” segment.  Finally, we’ll introduce you to this month’s “Difference Maker,” Dr. Temple Grandin, a world-renowned scientist, author, and speaker, who has spent a lifetime making the world a more humane place for both livestock and the neurodiverse.

Jack Canfield, the co-author of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series, once observed that “self-esteem is made up primarily of two things: feeling lovable and feeling capable.” Low self-esteem doesn’t play favorites. But it can betray a fondness for children with learning disabilities. And because school-based learning programs are created for the masses — meaning neurotypical children — a child who learns differently may fall victim to believing he or she isn’t as smart as their classmates. And this belief comes with baggage: shame, doubt, and feeling different. When children with learning disabilities fall into that trapped thinking they may link their performance and ability to their self-worth, as they no longer feel worthy of respect or love from others. That can result in them dodging homework, withdrawing from social activities, or acting out. Bewildered parents wonder: How can I boost my son’s self-esteem? How can I teach my daughter to cope? How can I celebrate my child’s strengths? On this episode of “A World of Difference,” we’ll meet a pair of Charlotte, NC brothers at The Fletcher School, who learn differently whose parents have been all in with helping bolster their sons’ sense of self and supporting their journeys toward abundant lives. Next, we dive deeper into the sources and methods of bolstering self-esteem with an esteemed panel of experts in our “Ask the Experts” segment. Finally, we’ll introduce you to this month’s “Difference Maker,” Stanley Cup champion Brent Sopel, who now is scoring even more points off the ice chasing his goal of helping dyslexics like him find their footing.

As high school seniors await acceptance letters from their dream and "safety" schools, they dream of ditching the constraints of high school for the freedom that college life brings.