Sharon Xie

One of the unique challenges I faced as a young immigrant learning a new language and culture was playing the role of interpreter during parent-teacher conferences. I recall the distinct sense during one such meeting that we were communicating from different yet unspoken sets of cultural norms and expectations; my teacher was determinedly giving strengths-based feedback to build up my confidence, while my mother repeatedly asked her to emphasize the areas needing improvement, to motivate me to learn more. Needless to say, everyone left the meeting feeling quite perplexed as more and more became lost translation through 8-year-old me. Moments like that in my early years led me to consider how individuals, families, and educational systems can work collaboratively to bridge gaps between languages and cultures, norms and expectations. It ignited what has become a lifelong interest in psychology, language, culture, implicit biases, social norms, unspoken rules of engagement, etc. It has led me to reject the pathologizing of differences and to instead embrace neurodiversity from a social model of disability. The neurodiversity framework recognizes something I had always known through lived experience; there is an infinite spectrum of differences in the way people think, learn, feel, experience and interact with the world, and there is simply no one 'right' or 'correct' way to be. Today, I belong to a growing community of neurodivergent and neurodiversity-affirming practitioners, locally, nationally and internationally. I have the amazing honor of working with children, adolescents, young adults, their families and schools to build collaborative partnerships and create inclusive, neurodiversity-affirming spaces. I use an individually-tailored, trauma-informed and person-centered approach, and pull elements from various modalities as needed, including play therapy, narrative therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy, cognitive-behavioral therapy, and dialectical behavior therapy. A favorite part of the work I do is empowering clients to find their truths, their voice, and sense of belonging in their own journey of self-discovery.