 All right, good morning, everybody. Thanks so much for coming to our Community Health Education Fair. I am Mel Hauser. You see their pronouns. And I am executive director at AllBrain's Belong, Vermont. We're a new non-profit organization in town dedicated to supporting the well-being and inclusion of people with all types of brains. And when we really think about community, we think about bringing people together based on shared values and a shared vision of what's possible. And it's been a really stressful couple of years. And as we reimagine our systems of health, education, employment, connection, we thought that physically building those bridges by bringing community partners here all in one place and bringing the shared expertise of health experts and community members with lived experience to reimagine what's possible. And so with that, we're going to kick off our first presentation talking about where are we in COVID? Where are we in the pandemic? And what are some best practices for staying safe in school? And so to start, I'm going to introduce Ann Sosen, who is a policy fellow from Dartmouth's Nelson A. Rockefeller Center on Public Policy and Social Sciences, who is a public health practitioner, researcher, and educator with two decades of experience on the local and national and international front and currently focusing on research in COVID and rural health equity in New England. So thank you so much for joining us, Ann. Thanks so much. It's the sun. Thanks so much, everyone, for inviting me to join you here today. Thank you, Dr. Hauser, for organizing this event. I'd like to just talk briefly about where we are right now, what our goals should be, and some practical things about how we might go about achieving them as we look forward. To get us started, I think one of the challenges we're facing right now is that we're talking about the pandemic in different tenses. For some of us, the pandemic is really something we're talking about in past tense. During the pandemic is something we hear a lot right now. It's past. We've achieved our goal of flattening the curve more or less. We all have access to vaccines and treatments and other tools. And so we see the pandemic in the rear view mirror. For others, at the same time, we're experiencing other disruptions in real time, even though the threat of hospitalization has receded for a lot of us. We're continuing to feel the pandemic's impacts on our lives and disruptions to our schools, our workplaces, and other areas of activity. For others, thank you. For others of us, should I wait? Yeah, hang on one second. OK. And then for others of us, the feeling of some sense of normalcy is in the future. And it's a future we can't imagine. We still have members of our community who are immunocompromised or otherwise at high risk, who can't benefit fully from the tools that we have. And many of the members of our community who fall into these groups are increasingly left behind as many pursue this post-pandemic normal. And I want to really pull focus on those of us in our communities who continue to experience the pandemic on really uneven footing in a really different way. As we look forward, we have a choice about what our goals are. We've made a lot of progress in reducing the impact of the pandemic on hospitalizations and death. But we still need to think about, how do we address these other impacts? Is there a way to stop it? OK. So what are the other impacts and what can we do about it? First of all, in 2020, we thought hospitalization and death was the only impact of concern. We now know that even young and previously healthy B-pupil can go on to experience long COVID or lingering symptoms. We know that here in Vermont, about 5% of adults currently report experiencing symptoms consistent with long COVID. Recent estimates show that 2 to 4 million Americans are currently disabled. And the economic costs on an annual basis are estimated somewhere between $170 to $230 billion. These estimates are just in this week from the Brookings Institute. In addition, we're continuing to see significant and sustained disruption in our schools, camps, and childcare centers. Some of you might have had someone who came home recently from a camp that closed in Northern Vermont. I've talked with many childcare providers who are still struggling to stay open and to counter recent challenges. And our schools are opening amid still high transmission. One is suggest today that we need to expand our goals to encompass these other impacts. Prevention of long COVID, prevention of these other disruptions should be part of our strategy. In addition, we need to devote more resources protecting those who are at more risk in our communities. Some members have suffered disproportionately and are at disproportionate risk, and we should be devoting disproportionate resources to those groups in our schools, our workplaces, and other settings. So what are the things that we should be doing at high level? First, we need to continue to advocate for equitable policy protections for the groups that are most at risk. And we need to ensure the protections that are in place and established are actually implemented or fulfilled in our communities. And I'm really happy to be followed by Cammy from Legal Aid, who's gonna talk in a lot of specificity about that. Second, even in absence of good policy protections, we have a role in our communities to support those who are around us. We, as the state, have come together. We really embraced what I often call a village versus virus ethos in confronting a pandemic. And now more than ever, we need to summon that and ensuring that we're not leaving everyone behind. There are lots of things that we can do to make the activities that we do more inclusive and more accessible for everyone. Third, I wanna talk about the importance of really changing the narrative around how we think about these things. We need to do a lot more to bring visibility to the groups that are most impacted and to ensure that the narratives that we're employing and the way that we talk about this moment of the pandemic really center attention and resources on those who are most impacted. I'm gonna stop there. I wanna pass the mic to Cammy and to others. And I'm happy to answer questions or talk in greater specificity about schools or anything else later during what I think will be a Q and A. Thank you. And what I'm gonna do is, before I introduce Cammy Naylor, our next speaker, I just really thank you for shedding that paradigm, right? Of like how we're thinking about this because we are respecting and honoring like the ongoing permaciveness of the pandemic. And when we think about the people in our community who are at highest risk of complications from COVID and who are currently experiencing the health impact, like at our small nonprofit organization, 70% of our patients have long COVID or long COVID-like conditions. That's almost 200 people in our local community. This is real. And when I think about what's productive from a solution-seeking standpoint, at AllBrain's Belong, we really focus on the assets of our community, bright spotting, what's going well. And did you know that there are schools, for example, where there have been little to no COVID outbreaks this whole time? That's fascinating. We should be looking at that, learning from that, because it is actually possible to do by following what science tells us works. And when, do I have the folks from the early childhood group here yet? Bear with us. Thanks, we got a lot going on for those in Zoom or watching on recording. And by the way, this event is hybrid here on the State House lawn and by Zoom right now. All right, cool. Well, then I think beginning with a discussion of the lens, because what I hear sometimes is that we're not thinking about what's possible. So just informally even, Kathleen, as an early childhood educator, I'm wondering if you could talk a little bit about how you've approached the COVID prevention and risk mitigation in your school. Thanks, Mal. We, I have a small licensed home daycare in Northfield. And I personally have an autoimmune disease and my coworker and I both take COVID really seriously. And since the pandemic we've implemented a really strict protocol pretty much a zero tolerance for any child who is sick. And as a result, we only have had one positive case in our center throughout the whole pandemic. We did have a couple of children who picked up COVID from their school-aged siblings and got sick like over the weekend. But due to our policy and procedures, they weren't allowed to come and therefore it never spread. In the very beginning, when it was all very tentative, we closed down for five days over Thanksgiving when a child was sick at home. But our practices have been temperature taking every morning and daily rapid tests when we had a friend that was sick or just preventively. And we were exclusively outdoor program. The only time we come inside is when there's a thunderstorm and we can't sleep outside. We used ARPA funds that were given to us to build a huge outdoor lean to and that's where we sleep and we play outdoors. We always have been an outdoor nature program and we really attribute all of those disinfecting policies that face masks when we have to be indoors and being outside the majority time. Thank you. And I think this is just one example of just the lens. Your goal, and it may sound super radical, but your goal is to not have COVID in your school. And I wonder, I'm just gonna throw this out to the audience. What if folks think about that lens at this point in the pandemic as we continue to learn how to adapt to still do what needs doing in our communities, in our work, in our play, but in COVID safe ways? What do we think about the lens of actually not getting COVID and having more COVID? Yeah, do you wanna say anything, David? Compassion, Mike Frinty? It's Kathleen, if you can pass the microphone. Yeah, with our family, we've gone way out of our way to protect ourselves. We gather all our stuff from the grocery store through outside delivery. We don't go to outside events. And so we've been able to avoid it pretty much for the entire pandemic. The one exception was one of our child's who decided they wanted to go to event outdoors, but other than that, we've been able to avoid it. We've traveled across the country because we moved out here. And in our house, we set up air filtration systems. So one side of the house blows to the other out through the windows and stuff. So we've done a pretty good job on that. All right. Thank you. You're welcome. And let's pass the mic to Cammy. Yeah, so Cammy, so this is Cammy Naylor, who is a staff attorney with the Disability Law Project at Vermont Legal Aid. Thank you so much for joining us. Thank you for having me. Well, thank you for inviting us today. As Dr. Hauser said, my name's Cammy Naylor. I'm a staff attorney with the Disability Law Project at Vermont Legal Aid. It was based in Montpelier and recently transitioned to our Burlington office, but I still serve Washington County. Dr. Hauser asked me to answer two questions today. The first, what should families know about students with disabilities' right to access a free and appropriate public education or FAPE? And the second, what are some general examples of accommodations for medically at-risk students and what do families need to know about asking for accommodations? Before I start, the information, recommendations and insights I'm about to provide are for educational and informational purposes only and is not legal advice. If you need legal advice or support, please contact us. For students with disabilities receiving services either under a 504 plan or IEP, the right to FAPE is not changed by COVID, nor has it changed at any time during the pandemic. It's important to remember that an essential piece of a free and appropriate public education is that that education is provided in the least restrictive environment or LRE. A student's LRE is the educational environment where that student can access their supports, services and accommodations and have the maximum interaction possible with same-aged, non-disabled peers. As districts phase out virtual learning programs and return to brick and mortar schools, we expect it will be harder for families who prefer virtual placements because LRE is an essential piece of the district's FAPE obligation. Remember, the obligation is free and appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment. So families who do prefer virtual settings should be thinking about asking for reasonable accommodations for virtual learning or thinking about how the school environment can be set up to support their child's health and to mitigate COVID risk. To the question of accommodations, families can make broad accommodations requests. For example, individual masking support, masking supports within school, maintaining social distancing, increased attention to handwashing and hygiene practices, virtual learning, confirmation of vaccination status for adults working closely with their child and any accommodation or COVID-19 precaution to minimize your child's exposure. When you are across an accommodation, there must be a nexus between the accommodation requested in the disability. That is, a direct link between the child's disability and how the accommodation will address their needs. Let's take masking as an example. Research clearly shows risk of serious complications from COVID-19 for people with Down syndrome. Masking reduces exposure to COVID-19. Therefore, there is a direct link between masking and mitigating risk for a person with Down syndrome. Now take asthma. The risk profile for someone with asthma who's vaccinated is now harder to show. Therefore, making a case for masking is harder. The more medical evidence and research around COVID-19, the more medical evidence and research around COVID-19 emerges, what is reasonable will change. The success of an accommodation typically hinges on strong individualized medical evidence that illustrates that nexus. Remember, the connection between the disability and the accommodation requested. Families thinking about asking for accommodations, prevention or mitigation efforts to COVID-19 exposure should work with their child's doctor to come up with clear and specific medical evidence to support the needed accommodation. Sorry, Mel, more work for you. A school or other public entity can deny a requested accommodation that clearly addresses the disability-related need for two reasons. First, undue burden. The accommodation requested is too costly. Or second, the accommodation is a fundamental alteration. It changes the essential nature of, in these cases, the school. With the COVID-19-related funding schools received, it's unlikely providing masks is an undue burden. To overcome the fundamental alteration argument, requests for accommodation should be as specific as possible. Think about breaking the school day down into parts. Does the need for masking change? Sorry. From the bus, recess, lunch, in the classroom, school-wide, who needs to mask for the accommodation to be effective? One class, all classes? Whenever someone's in the hallway? What is a reasonable timeframe to reassess the accommodation? One-for-month school recently informed families there would be masking in their school. Masks are required full-time for only one class. Those passing in the halls must mask. Those in offices must mask unless they're in their individual workspace. Masks are required when classrooms are mixed. Masks are not required outside or on the bus. And masking provisions will be reviewed in early 2023. Some districts have interpreted recent agency of education and Department of Health guidance as telling schools they cannot have maxing policies or practices. This is not true. That said, case law and guidance around COVID-19 is still emerging. We are seeing decisions about early COVID failures, and it may be sometime before clear guidance emerges about the ongoing accommodations and mitigation effort, especially as Ann pointed to. There is a social move to encourage people to shift their thinking from COVID-19 as a pandemic to an endemic virus. Thank you, Kami. This is really helpful. If you'll be all right, as you were talking, I found myself wondering about what we see in our practice. In our practice, where we provide family medicine, primary care for infants through older adults with all types of brains, but we care for a population that is mostly neurodivergent. So when I think about autistic, ADHD, dyslexic people, people with intellectual disabilities, these are all groups that disproportionately experience more complications from COVID, including long COVID. And when we think about inclusion, like everybody wants inclusion, it's just that not everyone means the same thing when we say it. So inclusion means that you belong. And I think that safety is a prerequisite for inclusion. And so for my patients that are in indoor, unmasked spaces during an airborne virus's persistence, they are not safe. So I wonder, when we think about the least restrictive environment with your peers, in my mind, not as a legal person, but in my mind, it is, in fact, not safe to be in an indoor unmasked space during an airborne virus. What say you about what families might consider in these options? I mean, I think it's a complicated question, right? Law is imperfect. It's an imperfect tool. And it's an incomplete tool, but it is one tool. And so I think that those are conversations to have with your child's school team. That's an argument to be made with the school team. The determination for least restrictive environment is an individual determination. And so what is least restrictive environment for one student? May not be least restrictive environment for another. And it's about how that argument is presented, excuse me. And are there other ways to enable children to have access to their same age non-disabled peers in a way that doesn't expose them to risk? Some examples I can think of that are a little bit more high-tech is there's some good case law for students who are very medically complex to be able to access bots with tablets. And so for students who are otherwise considered homebound, the school provides a mechanical robot that has a tablet attached, and that is how the student accesses their least restrictive environment. So it's not a one-size-fits-all question or consideration. And really is so dependent on the quality of the medical evidence and how that's presented to the team. Thank you. Well, shifting gears, as we think about safety and health, we are joined by three community mental health therapists to talk about the big picture of family and youth mental health. I'm going to introduce our panelists. Cammy, can you pass the mic to Sherry in the floral dress? Thank you. You can sit wherever you want. Yeah, thanks. Amazing. And Matt's being interviewed, and Carla is here. I don't see Carla. Sherry, you're going to go first because you're who I see. So Sherry Cole is a child and family therapist at Rooster and Neural in St. Johnsbury with a specialized focus in trauma-informed care. And prior to her career in mental health, Sherry was a special educator serving as an inclusion specialist in public schools. Thank you so much, Sherry, for being here. Thank you for inviting me. I'm usually over at St. Johnsbury in the Northeast Kingdom, kind of new, all new faces. But we've been very busy lately. I think any of you that are in mental health know that you are probably getting swamped right now and getting four to six referrals a day. I work with very young children. My youngest family is 20 months right now. My focus is on helping families stay regulated, including the children. My actual specialty is attachment, and I've been really intrigued by collaborating with Mal on the special attachment needs or issues of the neurodiverse community. So I'm kind of learning how to put my previous skills with my current interest in skills. And I think that, you know, I don't know who's all sitting here in the audience, but, you know, one of the big focuses right now with all of the extra stressors of being stuck at home, not being able to go out, not being able to socialization, maybe a struggle anyway, and then to add the limitations of trying to keep your family safe. In terms of physical health, I think, you know, there's a huge amount about how to take care of the caretakers so that they can stay regulated and care for their children. And I think that's, you know, been the main focus is really focusing on caretakers and the care of caretakers. And I think that's probably one of the kind of biggest current issues. So a lot of other people talk, and then maybe I'll think of something else. Thank you, Sherry. Our next speaker, Matt Mulligan from Barrie is a clinical case manager in the Emergency Services Division of Washington County Mental Health, providing community-based mental health care, and also the author of Tomatoes and Peppers, a metaphorical tale that he hopes is a bridge between any struggling child and the world around them. Thank you, Matt. Hello, everyone. I'm here to talk today about, well, it's really what all brains belong is all about. It's about community. It's about connection. It's about understanding that being different is absolutely 100% okay. And, you know, I want to talk a bit about my own experience with the organization because I am, you know, I have a master's degree. I was diagnosed with a learning disability at age 40. And, you know, but I always, people say like, oh, it should have been diagnosed earlier. And I said, I grew up in the 70s. Let it gas was still legal. And lawn darts, you know, if a bad thing happened with a lawn dart, the kid should have moved quicker. It was a whole different world. And I am just so pleased for myself that I've been able to learn more about myself in relation to my experience. And when I was 40, I was diagnosed with a learning disability. And I got the accommodations I needed, mainly more time to do my work. And I completed a master's degree. So accommodations work. And that, you know, has led me to the work that I do now, helping people move from where they are to where they want to be. And understanding the importance of access and equity within systems to allow people to achieve the goals that they want to for themselves. And All Brains Belong taught me a new term for myself at 51 and a half, access needs. I'd never heard the term access needs in my entire life. And I've attended different groups through All Brains Belong. And I've heard common stories of sensory issues. And if a motorcycle drives by right now, you're going to see me like cringe and turn into a puddle because the noise is overwhelming. But to hear that story, you know, different noises, but same experience, I learned I've hated to do dishes my entire life. And I did them with earplugs in the other day. And it changed everything. I actually did them. So, you know, diversity, inclusion, access, equity, all of these terms, you know, push against norms and they push against established patterns that have been around for decades. But this is an opportunity through this organization to provide that that should be the norm. And there should be space for all of us. So that's my thought on things. Sure. Great, and we all have access needs. Access needs, when I use that term, I think about anything that we need to meaningfully participate in our world. And whether that be things in the physical environment, technology, communication, and like just even the vibe of an interaction can be a barrier to participation. And when we think about equity, like who gets to show up when those barriers are in place, people don't get to show up. Or don't get to show up fully. So that is just another layer when we think about the inclusion piece. If you don't get to show up, you're not going to be included. Our next speaker, Karla, do you want to come here? Do you want me to pass the microphone to you? Hi. We're going to have our community conversation piece now. So thanks. Yeah, you can start right here. So Karla Hancock is a clinical social worker based here in Montpelier with particular expertise in healthy child and family development, trauma and methods for bringing healing for those who have been under supported and wounded in their lives. And when we think about who gets to show up, who gets to even have a shot at feeling like they belong, one of the things we've been talking about locally is that our youth are experiencing high rates of bullying in schools. And we have a group of folks today who have been doing a lot of thinking about this and some community problem solving. But I wonder Karla, do you have any thoughts about the bullying scene for youth today? Is this on? Is this microphone on? Yeah, I think it's on. Okay, cool. This is not my area of expertise bullying per se. What comes to mind for me as you asked me that question is creating environments where safety is primary. Not hearing? I'm going to talk a little louder. Now I see a thumbs up. Again, the first thing that comes to mind for me is creating safe environments. And that means safe for everyone, not just the middle of the bell curve. There needs to be safety for everyone. And that means really coming and learning about neurodivergence, learning about learning differences, learning about identity spectrums. All of that feels so important in my mind to create safety for children and create safety for families who are trying so hard to raise their children in this challenging, confusing, chaotic sometimes world that we're living in. So that's like job one, is safety, emotional safety. And then for me in my mind is trauma informed schools. Because bullying doesn't happen. It isn't perpetrated by unwounded people. So us understanding that and seeing when there is, if there are problems that way in a school setting or community setting, trying to find who needs support, who needs safety and providing that while also, again, making sure that everyone is feeling safe. And I also think about inter, I want to call it neurobiological safety, that we create ways of supporting any children or adults who are struggling with conflict to learn how to repair ruptures and not so that there's an apology or there's an amends made, but that every party involved shares what their needs are in a moment. And that gets heard and efforts are made to try to support that person to get their needs met until everyone's nervous system gets to feel calm and safe and then they can feel connected. So I think that the use of and the teaching of for one is nonviolent communication is a wonderful way of working on that. But also, again, understanding that our nervous systems need to feel safe. We need to have a heavier balance of cues of safety than cues of danger for our nervous systems for people to be able to feel settled, safe, connected and ready to learn. And when we're focusing on that, then the learning takes care of itself in large part and the social environment becomes a safe place for everyone. So that's my quick and simple answer to that little simple question, Mel. So when I think about that regulation or the nervous system feeling calm and settled, safety is something you don't get to decide whether you feel safe or not. It just is. Your limbic system automatically responds to the environment and the people in it. And so safety is that first step. If someone does not feel safe in the environment for any reason, whether it be the way they're being treated, there's the sensory processing things from the environment, the way that material is being presented to their brains and overloading them, all of those things come first. So if a brain doesn't feel safe, the brain cannot pay attention, the brain cannot learn, the brain cannot make decisions. So safety comes first. And I connect that to COVID. I connect that to the message implicitly or explicitly that there's like a right way to be in the world. That message does not contribute to safety. And I wonder, we have our folks, our families here today who've been thinking about this bullying concept and the problems that are unaddressed here. And I wonder if anybody would like to share some of the thoughts or the visions for like what you wish this looked like in the community. Anyone? Hi, everyone. My name is Adrienne Gill. And I'm a parent of a now ninth grader and seventh grader at Montpelier Public Schools. And last year my family experienced bullying firsthand. And it was very traumatic. And we brought it to the public. My daughter was brave enough to share her story. And I was privileged to hear from many families experiencing the same trauma. And nobody wants to talk about it. No one wants to get up in front of your community and say, wow, I just experienced the worst trauma of my life. And I feel terrible. Like no one wants to talk about that. And so the more I learned from families that were experiencing the same trauma in our schools, I was like, we've got to fix this. Like this is not okay. No one should ever feel this way in our schools and not feel safe and even experience, you know, self-harm. And so I brought it up to our school board. And they said this is our experience in our public schools. And this is stories of others who were brave enough to come and speak. And from there, we as a community need to come up with solutions to provide that safe, I don't even know what it's called, that's a safe place in our schools. And the vision needs to be created through our community to make that change. And so we're here today. And we're here to help people over there just trying to get some suggestions on what can we do? What is the vision? What are some changes we can make in our schools now without huge policy changes that take years of embedded bureaucratic red tape, which our children don't deserve that. And so what can we do? And I don't have the solutions and we want to hear from people. We want to hear from students. And through a traumatic experience, what can we do to make change so they feel happy, they feel safe going to school that should be a right that everybody has. And so that's why we're here today. Thank you, Adrienne. You know, it's interesting when we launched all brains belong because we asked community members, what do you wish your community looked like? And including we have a junior advisory board of kids who tell us their vision for a connected, safe community. And I asked a nine-year-old, what do you think we should? Sorry, I have the kind of brain that gets like super distracted by dog sparking. Anyway, we asked a nine-year-old, what do you think we should do to help kids feel like they belong? And without any hesitation, what he said was, you let us do what we love. What? He's like, yeah, if I'm doing what I love and that kid's doing what they love, we feel like we belong. Whoa. The wisdom of kids and teenagers is profound. And I wonder how we can collectively respect the voices of our youth about what they wish the world looked like because they have pretty good ideas. Yeah, here. I'm just really curious to pick your brain about how we have to change our public institutions, particularly our schools and what's needed to address the issues that you just talked about. Do you have some ideas you could throw out? It's a huge issue, I know, but maybe getting some, I mean, we have media here. It would be really great to hear some ideas. And I was fortunate to become a special educator at a time when inclusion was really the thing. And one of the things that I really enjoyed, which fits right with that, is that I went up to McGill to have some systems change training. And some of the techniques really involved problem-solving with the school community, including the children. How easy is that that kids that were struggling in some way to belong would often meet with classmates and everyone. And the ideas that the kids came up with, phenomenal. I was part of a systems change grant in New Hampshire for a year. And I remember one little boy that had pretty significant cognitive delays being included in his second grade classroom. And the kids on their own, this is when I really learned, the kids aren't the mean ones. We had a real philosophy inclusion. And this little boy, he's on the playground, the kids figured out that he wasn't really able to understand the rules to play kickball, but they knew he could kick and they knew he could run. So they on their own figured out to stand next to him, tell him when to kick, and have somebody run beside him to the bases. That didn't take any adults. They figured it out because they wanted to include him in their game. And I think, you know, this is not that hard. It's funny that we make it so hard. And the other part is I was an educational advocate for a long time in Massachusetts. I got to see a lot of programs. I went and observed programs to help parents figure out what my best meet their kids needs. And one of the things, you always have those teachers that you know can teach anyone. And I always want to send all the kids that I advocate for to that teacher, but that doesn't really work either. And, you know, a lot of it is being involved in their social lives, really getting to know them and doing team building so they get to know each other. For a while, everyone was getting trained in responsive classroom and responsive design. And all kinds of brains do pretty well in those programs. And also, you mentioned trauma informed. That's my big thing now because I'm working with a lot of kids with reactive attachment issues. And the schools for years have been so focused on behavior that we're not listening to what they need. And I think it's really, you know, our fight is to get them to listen. So I'll let somebody else get on their soapbox for a minute. Thank you. The thought, again, just they come. I'm listening. I don't know what this woman's name is, but I heard you say that you'd like some change that doesn't involve big policy change. And I'm definitely thinking along those lines. Like, what can a teacher do this week when school starts to make the children in that class and their colleagues, you know, what can a principal do to, without changing policy, make a difference and make a year start in a different way. And the first thought that just pops into my head is having everyone have a chance to introduce themselves and say what it is that helps them feel safe. Every child in that classroom and every adult, so the teachers and the children, getting to say, hey, this is what I like to be called. This is how I like to be referred to. This is how I can feel safe. Doesn't mean everybody has the ability to communicate that in words. Maybe they draw a picture. Maybe they acted out. Maybe, you know, somebody needs to sit in a beanbag chair. Someone wants to sit on a PT ball. Somebody needs breaks every so often to move their bodies. But if everybody in the room gets asked, how can we help you feel safe so you feel like you belong here, you can connect to everyone else here, and you can relax and enjoy learning? I think that that sends a message that I don't think it requires a policy change to put into place. I don't know what your thoughts are about that. I'm a parent, and so how do you influence the school district to make that change? And I think that's the hard part. I mean, our parents' group met with the new middle school principal on, I have no idea what it was, Tuesday. And there was a really good group of parents that showed up and caregivers to talk to the new principal, because I mean, we're at the middle school, and this is where we want to influence change. And she spoke really well. Like, she had those ideas. And her vision of the middle school for this year was in the first 100 days to build relationships with every single student, to know them personally by name and to make them feel connected. And that was very positive. And my daughter, who's in seventh grade, came home on Friday and said, this was the best day I've had at school because the principal welcomed me in the morning by my first name. And so I think you're right. I think those easy things that we don't need huge P policy changes for make a huge difference in our children's mental health and feeling of well-being because all they want to do is be a part of something and to belong. And so I am encouraged by those steps, and I'm hoping that it does filter into the classroom, but it also starts at the elementary school. And so how do we take those lessons learned just from the first two days of school and try to influence the elementary school and the high school where we're also at the principal's goal is to know everyone's first name. And so it has to be a community-wide effort. And, you know, on that point, how to motivate systems to provide change, I'll talk about what I understand in terms of really, I guess, the fanciest newest science in education, or it might not be that new, but and it's also present in psychology. The largest predictor of any of a positive outcome is the relationship between the teacher and the student and the relationship between the therapist and the person seeking help. It is by far beyond any other factor the predictor of success. So when you're talking to your administrators or you're talking to your schools, move to the science, move to the things that have been proven, speak to them in terms of that because they need ground to move on. They need ground to be able to walk on. And the literature is everywhere. And as somebody who has bullied throughout my school career, people bully other people because they don't know them. And that whole idea that's embedded in all of our brains on a genetic level, that difference can equal threat. And unlearning that notion on a conscious level, it's adult work. Kids can be guided through it. But that is where the change can occur because you don't hate somebody or make fun of somebody that you know and that's very reflective of the story where the kids went to help the other who wasn't quite fitting in. That impulse is there too. But it has to be taught. Yes, modeled. I think, can I just say something real fast? I'm sorry to jump in, but that just made me think that one of the best, every place that really looks inclusive in the scene, the inclusion was also evident in the way staff treated each other and that they were modeling an inclusive, accepting, wanting to make connection and understand if they're not doing it, they're not modeling it for students. Hi, I'm Jenny. I'm a parent in the Montpelier Rocks Berry School District. And your comment about people bullying because they don't really know each other makes me think of an idea that I think of often about having a class in the school where the students learn about their different way of learning. So almost like an all brain belongs class being required and children really learning how, you know, what's great about each of them and their unique brain and also perspective taking. So learning, you know, there's different perspectives and a different way to experience the same thing. So I just wanted to add that to what you were saying. Thank you for that. You know, I think that inclusion begins in toddlerhood and preschool, right? So in our practice, even, you know, three, four-year-olds, even typically developing, we talk about how we all have different brains that do things differently. Like, oh, isn't that interesting that your brain did it that way? My brain does it this way and that brain does it this way. And that really, that foundation, I think just that's all they'll ever know if you begin that way. And that really has to begin really early. And then looking at the messages about how that is reinforced explicitly or implicitly in schools and in our homes, right? Like, oh, we all, to learn, we have to sit down in the chair. Some brains sit down in the chair. Some brains actually attend and remember better when they're moving, right? Because we all have different brains. And just thinking about how that plays out in really subtle yet profound ways when kids get the message that how they fundamentally, like, innately are needs to change. Turns out that's not good for health. So when I think, oh, hold on, yeah, yeah. I have a picture in my mind that I often think of when we start talking about brains. And it's this like loop that goes and goes and goes. And it breaks the traditional belief and mold that there is a linear trajectory towards some outcome. And school gets stuck in feeling like we have to build to this final place. But we're all incredibly dynamic and we interact internally, environmentally, externally, connectively in very dynamic loops. And so also allowing in the school and in our own brains as the adults in the school... No, it's okay, I can get used to it. When I allow myself to have the loop where there are times when it's really hard and I'm not making sense and I'm processing things difficultly, that's fine. It's a part of the loop that then when I get to connection and I have safety and I can cue safety to myself and cue safety to my students, I'm there and I notice that flow and I know it's going to be a loop that we're not going to ever achieve some sort of perfection and outcome. Thank you for that. I think that normalizing access needs is part of that. So if I have an access need of quiet in order for my brain to work optimally and then something happens where my brain's not working optimally, I can recognize it's because my access needs weren't met, not because there's anything wrong with me. And when we help people shift that narrative, that is a game changer. When it's the environment that determines whether you're able to fully participate, whether you're able to feel safe and connected and learn and accomplish what you're trying to accomplish. Or it's a part of the full picture of the human existence of flow and loops and not having a static endpoint. So yes, my access needs create a really grumpy me, but that's also okay that I had a grumpy me for that time. Right. So sending the messages that we need to be happy all the time and quiet all the time and like hit the bullseye all the time. That's just not helpful. So when we think about safety and connection and who gets to show up and fully participate, circling back to the long COVID topic from earlier, I think is really important because when we think about how for all comers, one in five people who gets COVID is going to develop long COVID. And for people who learn, think and or communicate differently, that risk is even higher than that. So not only do we have a large percentage of our community who don't get to show up because of long COVID and or preventing getting long COVID. This is an important part of the community conversation. And so as we shift to our next topic, where we're going to hear a little bit about long COVID and what we need to know as the general public about long COVID. Let's keep that in mind of the topic, the comment earlier, if I know you, that impacts how I treat you. So that is the point about learning about long COVID even if you don't yet have long COVID. So I'm going to introduce Sierra Miller, a family nurse practitioner from Walburys Belong. Hi, everybody. I am Sierra. And as Mel said, I'm a nurse practitioner. I just wanted to share some statistics on long COVID. Thank you. Just to put it into perspective, as Mel said, it's estimated that about one in five people who gets acute COVID. So one in five people who gets acute COVID gets long COVID. In the U.S., that's estimated somewhere between 7 million and 23 million. Again, the numbers are really hard to tell right now because cases are underreported. Over 50% of people who have long COVID are either out of work or working less hours than they were previously. That is estimated at one million people out of work and a loss of $50 billion a year right now in salary. We also know that long COVID has a huge impact on mental health. 42% of people with long COVID have depression symptoms and 96% have symptoms consistent with PTSD. So this is really affecting everything, not just having a cough for a long time. This is affecting the entire body. This is affecting the brain. This is affecting our economy and our world. And speaking of the brain, recent research showing that even two years out premature dementia, long COVID is the fast track to dementia. And so this is significant. This is not the same as getting a cold or the flu. This for a large percentage of our population. One in five people at high risk of that. So I want to see, I think it's really powerful when we think about an equity lens of who gets to show up. That is, this is the missing piece of the conversation. And when Anne Sosen shared with us earlier about allocating resources and attention to those who are disproportionately impacted, that's the long COVID story. And so when people do not have the opportunity to fully participate in their lives without choosing between their health and participation in their lives, that's a problem. Anne, I don't know if you want to say anything about long COVID. As I said before, in our small startup nonprofit here in Montpelier, 70% of our practice has long COVID. And the rest of our practice, we talk about all of the ways in which it feels isolating and marginalizing to feel like you're the only ones who are thinking about not getting COVID. So as we come together as a community and we think about, like, so here we are adapting to what connection can look like. You know, here we are outside and the weather's cooperating. But, you know, we're outside. We have hybrid offerings on Zoom today in partnership with Orca Media. And we're doing it. We're having these conversations. We're reimagining what community and connection can look like. And so for our last part of our educational part of our event, I just wanted to open up this conversation around what does this look like to be integrating respect for the pervasiveness of the COVID virus with what science tells us about safety and this aspect of inclusion and equity. And so I'm wondering if folks want to talk about how you live, how you live integrating all of these parts. Anybody? Thank you. I'm sorry I missed the beginning, so you may have already discussed this, but I think one aspect of what community can look like is reclaiming the power of our own health, reclaiming the power of and the responsibility for the care of our body, mind, and spirit, both individually but also collaboratively. So I'm curious about what it would look like and how people are actually talking about how they're caring for themselves right now if they have long COVID or COVID or the effects of the pervasive vaccine. I want to hear how people are taking care of themselves and I think that's what community, reclaiming that responsibility from institutions and pharmacological pervasiveness. Thank you. And I do think that empowering people as an agent of self-actualization, of change of health and bringing people together as a community village, supporting one another. And I bet you have something to say about that. Is this working? Yeah. Okay. About 30 years ago this book fell off the shelf into my hands and it was about where there is no doctor and what was the replacement for the doctor? It was the community. If we have upstream healing by creating deep, affirming community spaces in our schools, on the state house lawn, we have this beautiful foundation for community healing. There's a poet, Wendell Berry, he said, the spirit of healing transcends the individual to involve the whole community and what all brains belong is doing which is a radical and gorgeous and utterly necessary model is reclaiming the commons, reclaiming the community, reclaiming the wisdom of every person who's spoken already today and I've learned something from each speaker and I'm really looking forward to hearing more from each person here because we can't all lean on Mel, we can't all lean on Sarah, we have incredible gratitude for what they're creating but as we keep communicating with each other we do well and all the volunteers and all brains belong are going to help lift this organization and change what healthcare looks like. Healthcare is the community being with one another. You know, we need to know we're not alone especially when we're hurting and one of the deep dynamic teachings I've heard this morning from the people doing trauma care, the people doing social, spiritual support is saying care, care for one another. Healthcare is care, healthcare is emotional care, healthcare is spiritual care so I'm eager to hear how this deep experiential process that all brains belong is curious to see how it's going to grow and all brains belong needs everybody to help it grow to change and radically repurpose what medicine is. Medicine is community. Thank you. Thank you, Suzanne. Thank you. I wonder when we get kind of stuck in systems or pathways that aren't really working zooming out and just reimagining what's possible and we've had these conversations. We have a weekly event called Brain Club on Tuesday evenings where we've been reimagining different things. Reimagining healthcare, reimagining education, reimagining employment, reimagining, we talked about like unlearning the brain rules, the things, the assumptions that we grow up with or like we pick up from our culture but they're not laws of physics. They're not really world rules and I think that today we've really demonstrated that about that connection really is the pathway to health and as we move forward at this place in our lives coming together and knowing that we're not alone, that we are taking care of ourselves and taking care of each other and to just normalize that whatever doing, whatever needs doing for your own life, for your family, that's what we're going to do. Sarah, do you want to talk a little bit about that? Can you hear me? I found out about all brains belong because I'm a parent and I have a seven and 10 year old and we came to the vaccine clinic that was in December and I had never seen anything like this model of healthcare before. It was a major paradigm shift for me. I grew up having to take my oldest child to the doctor a lot, to the dentist a lot and it was a lot of top down, sit here, do what I tell you to do and that doesn't work for all kids. It certainly didn't work well for my kid and so to have this experience of a customizable vaccine option felt just amazing to me. I had never seen something that was really so simple and yet so valuable. So, you know, we were able to say what my child's interest was and what might make the experience work best for him and so that was a great experience. Both my kids got vaccinated and it was such a positive experience and so I wanted to be more involved in all brains belong after that point because I recognized how powerful this model is and we're really pulling people together and creating community and we have a whole village of people now that have been involved for several months since the inception of All Brains Belong and are volunteering and working together to really affect change. So, it's really nice to have that when you feel like you are still being careful around COVID, still doing all the things and it can feel really isolating and so coming together whether it's on Zoom or it's at an event like this I think is just really valuable. Thank you, Sarah and, you know, as we wrap up this portion of the event we have so many of our community partners here today and I just encourage everyone to walk around and learn from the work of all of, you know, so many gems in our community. Speaking of gems, I see my little gem running across the field and we are so grateful to all of you for coming out today and grateful to the Department of Health for sponsoring our neuro-inclusive vaccine clinic grateful to the Vermont Family Network and the Confident Care for Kids program for providing all of our sensory tools and grateful to our partners at Orca Media for helping us today and through this summer as we've been modeling what a true hybrid event looks like where neither one is the default and to all of our speakers here today and all of you as members of the audience for furthering our community conversation around what inclusion really can look like and I really, really am grateful to the folks here in the media who are helping tell this story because we really need you as our partners to tell the story of what the community is experiencing. You know, we really can't do this without you. There are so many people in our community who do not feel included, who do not feel like they belong, who do not feel safe, whether that be physical or emotional. This is the time to reimagine what our community can look like and what is possible. So, we're grateful to all of you for helping tell that story. Thank you and I'd love to chat with all of you and then shut the microphone off. Thanks!