Join TAA and CHADD for a collaborative roundtable discussion on Tourette Syndrome and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) – the first in a three-part series on TS and co-occurring conditions! Jeremy Didier and Dr. Max Wiznitzer from CHADD and Emily Coonrod from the TAA Education Advisory Board will share their experiences supporting individuals with TS and ADHD. Sophie Didier, Jeremy’s daughter, alongside Alicia Santiago, TAA Rising Leader, will share their lived experiences with managing TS and ADHD as young adults.
Key Takeaways:
- Hear about the lived experiences of young adults with TS and ADHD
- Learn how to support individuals with TS and ADHD at school, at work, and in social environments
- Learn from a parent, clinicians, and an educator on their experiences supporting individuals with TS and ADHD
- Gain access to resources to help you better understand TS and ADHD
Alicia Santiago
TAA Rising Leader
Alicia Santiago is an 18-year-old Rising Leader for the Tourette Association of America (TAA), born and raised in the Bronx, NY. Currently, Alicia is a first-year Creative Media student at Champlain College in Burlington, Vermont. From the age of 7 years old, Alicia began to exhibit symptoms of Tourette’s, but was not diagnosed until she was 14 years old. Since her diagnosis at 14 years old, Alicia has been a fierce advocate for Tourette Syndrome and does everything she can to help bring awareness to the disorder, and joined the TAA in 2021, at the age of 16.
Emily Coonrod
TAA Education Advisory Board Member
Emily Coonrod has more than 15 years of Educational Leadership. Emily is currently serving her local education agency as a professional development consultant, conducting frequent in-services to educators across Iowa and training educators on presenting and facilitation best practices. She has volunteered with the TAA as an educational presenter, sharing TS learning to educators throughout the U.S.
Emily has two children, both with ADHD and one with TS and OCD. She enjoys helping her children learn about themselves and how to advocate for their educational needs.
Jeremy and Sophie Didier
Jeremy Didier, LMSW, LMAC, has over fifteen years of extensive experience working with children, parents, and adults with ADHD in both her personal life and as an ICF/JST/ADDCA-certified ADHD coach with ImpactParents. She currently provides assessment, diagnosis, and therapeutic services for adults with ADHD in her private practice at Jordan Psychological Center in Kansas City. She is also the group founder and co-coordinator of Kansas City’s award-winning CHADD chapter, ADHDKC, twice recognized as the organization’s chapter of the year. Prior to being elected president of CHADD’s board of directors, Didier served on the board in many capacities: as secretary, as co-chair of both the chapter advisory board and the governance committee, and as a volunteer leadership trainer and chapter mentor. She is a nationally recognized speaker and a frequent contributor to national media outlets such as the Washington Post and NBC Nightly News. A passionate advocate for justice-involved individuals with ADHD, she specializes in the underdiagnosis of girls and women with ADHD and the intersection of ADHD and addiction. Diagnosed with ADHD as an adult, she was honored to be selected for Chris Zeigler Dendy’s inaugural advocacy training program at “Camp Dendy”. Didier holds a master of social work from Fordham University and a bachelor of science in journalism from the University of Kansas. Her favorite job is being mom to five fabulous kids, four of whom also have ADHD among other neurodiversities. Sophie Didier is an award-winning artist, a nationally recognized public speaker, a college athlete (Women’s Lacrosse), and is currently majoring in Environmental Science at Clark University. Sophie is a frequent presenter on the critically important topic of the Under-Diagnosis of Girls and Women with ADHD, and recently appeared on the cover of the best-selling book “Launching Into Young Adulthood with ADHD….Ready or Not!” written by Chris Zeigler Dendy & Ruth Hughes. Sophie is a passionate advocate for Women in STEM, and she thanks her four brothers for allowing her to be the Didier Diva growing up. Sophie identifies as a young adult with ADHD, Tourette Syndrome and Bipolar Disorder. She is a champion for the rights of neurodiverse individuals around the world. |
Max Wiznitzer, MD
Co Chair of CHADD Professional Advisory Board
Dr. Wiznitzer is a graduate of Northwestern University School of Medicine. He trained in pediatrics and developmental disorders at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and in pediatric neurology at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. He then did a National Institutes of Health funded fellowship in disorders of higher cortical functioning in children at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York. Since 1986, he has been a pediatric neurologist at Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio. He is a professor of pediatrics and neurology at Case Western Reserve University. He has a longstanding interest in neurodevelopmental disabilities, especially attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and autism, and has been involved in local, state and national committees and initiatives, including autism treatment research, Ohio autism service guidelines, autism screening, and early identification of developmental disabilities. He is on the editorial board of Lancet Neurology and Journal of Child Neurology and lectures nationally and internationally about various neurodevelopmental disabilities.
