All Brains Belong VT. Neuroinclusive Healthcare & Community. Our model: Healthcare is more than medical care. Stick figure surrounded by blocks reading medical care, social connection, education, employment support.

All Brains Belong VT® is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) community health organization located in Montpelier, Vermont. Our mission is to make life better for people with all types of brains. We do this through neurodiversity-affirming medical care, social connection, employment support, and neurodiversity education.

We all have different brains. We think, learn, play, communicate, and experience the world differently. “One size fits all” does not work for all. Everything we do, we offer in multiple different ways. We believe this is an important part of helping people feel like they belong.

Our Model

All Brains Belong® is pioneering a new model for healthcare. We integrate medical care into social connection, employment support, and helping people arrive at a deep understanding of their access needs. We also educate employers, healthcare professionals, and anyone else seeking to learn a new way. After all, healthcare is more than medical care.

Our programs are informed by the community we serve. We are reimagining systems, and modeling systems change from the ground up.

join our quest to make life better for people with all types of brains

In 2024, All Brains Belong VT®:

served 351 patients whose needs were not served by the traditional healthcare system.
reached more than 21,000 people with “Everything is Connected to Everything: Improving the Healthcare of Autistic & ADHD Adults”
made friends for 226 isolated kids and teens through Kid Connections
served 522 people through weekly Brain Club sessions
trained more than 1300 people through neurodiversity trainings

Learn more about our impact

Our Story

All Brains Belong launched in November 2021. Vermont family physician Melissa Houser, M.D. was caring for sick patients in the hospital early in the COVID pandemic, while also homeschooling her neurodivergent preschooler. She fell in love with her child’s brain. She also learned, for the first time at age 37, that she was Autistic, ADHD, dyspraxic, dyslexic, and dyscalculic. Shortly thereafter, she learned that the life expectancy for an Autistic person was 36-54 years.

Dr. Houser had spent the past decade watching her patients’ physical and mental health suffer. Why? They lived in a world that did not work for their brains. Healthcare, business, schools, and most other things are designed for only certain brains. Neurodivergent people are all too often are told that they “should” be able to do things. They are told to hide or change their true selves. They are made to feel broken, ashamed, and alone. She decided to change that.

The All Brains Belong story is that of a community village coming together to reimagine what’s possible. We asked our community what they wish existed, and we created it. Check out this video from a member of our Community Advisory Board.

“ABB has given me a way to be myself in community with others, that I haven’t had in so long.”

Mom and preschooler smiling in nature. Mom is wearing a sunhat, child is wearing a blue shirt — Dr. Houser and her greatest teacher & inspiration

We would love for you to get connected in the way that works best for you.

read our 2024 impact report

All Brains Belong VT® is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organized under the state laws of Vermont with a mission to build healthier communities for people with all types of brains. All donations are tax-deductible (EIN 87-1709486)