(Tracy Brannstrom, 10/13/2026) What if health care, workplaces, and other systems were designed with the people who use them in mind? That question is at the heart of Montpelier physician Mel Houser’s new book “A Failure of Imagination: How the Healthcare System Fails Neurodivergent People and What We’re Doing Instead” (Beaver Pond Press, 2026). The book examines the barriers neurodivergent people face and what can happen when they help design something different.
The book documents the first four years of Houser’s nonprofit medical and community organization in Montpelier, All Brains Belong VT, which combines medical care with socially supportive programs. Houser said she wrote it after community members asked her to document the organization’s work so others could adapt its approach.
The Bridge talked with Houser about the book, available through her organization’s website or online beginning Nov. 6, including as an audiobook. Below is an excerpt from that interview.
