Today we’d like to introduce you to Jason Grygla
Hi Jason , we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
NeuroDev started as TechieForLife about 9 years ago as a vocational post-secondary school with mentoring supports for learning independence and self-reliance in all aspects of life. We serve specifically neurodivergent young adults who need next steps. We are a school and mentoring program, not a treatment center. We help manage anxiety and depression by meeting needs; getting a job, getting wins, and having a place to belong is critical. Over time, we realised we needed to shift from vocational training only to a more development/experience/life skills focus, so we rebranded this year to NeuroDev, a nod to neurodiversity and development. We are still a vocational technology school with certificates to earn, and we focus on all the soft skills that our students struggle with.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
We failed miserably for the first 3 years. No one understood what we did, who we were and why we existed. It took a few years of struggling to get our message out. We knew we had a solution for real problems near to people’s hearts and it was too foreign of an idea at first to just help people develop. Once we had a few student enrollments who gave us a chance, we started to make waves and catch people’s attention. No one had heard of a neurodevelopmental approach for neurodevelopmental differences and disabilities. ABA for example has been the only available intervention for autism and it is used for children and is an approach focused on behavioral compliance instead of development. We have three options for supports for older ADHD and Autism and none of them hit the mark- 1.Psychopharmacology, or medications that support symptoms of neurodiversity like anxiety or depression. 2.We as therapists have sold mental health counseling or insight talk therapies as the cure for all of life’s issues, and it is horribly ineffective as an intervention for neurodivergents. 3.Lastly, there is the educational setting where IEPs and accommodations are supposed to be enough for neurodivergent students, who are square pegs in a round holed world/school system. None of these directly address development and we have solved that problem.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Licensed therapist, entrepreneur, small business owner, CEO. Known for innovative approaches to meeting the needs of neurodivergent young adults and their families. Passionate about attachment and mentoring. Foster and adoptive parent of three neurodivergents.
How do you define success?
For me, it’s creating, connecting, collaborating, mentoring, and helping others develop through relationships of influence.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Neurodevmentoring.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/neurodev.mentoring/
- Other: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/autism-neurodiversity/id1535752377
