Center for Neurodiversity
The Center for Neurodiversity
Our Mission
The Center for Neurodiversity advances lifelong growth with the support of an inclusive community by delivering dynamic, evidence-informed programming and services for neurodivergent individuals of all ages, their families, and supporters. Through this work, each person is empowered to deepen their self-understanding, build meaningful connections, and actively engage in communities where they are valued, contributing members.
About the Center
About Us
The Center for Neurodiversity represents a natural and necessary evolution of Franklin Academy’s mission. While Franklin Academy has long provided a transformative educational experience for neurodivergent students, we recognize that the need for thoughtful, affirming, and high-quality support does not begin or end within our campus. The Center for Neurodiversity is designed to extend that impact—building a community of knowledgeable providers who can serve individuals across the lifespan, including those who may not attend Franklin Academy.
At its core, the Center is about access, continuity, and community. We are a strength-based, person-centered group of professionals dedicated to helping neurodivergent individuals and their families and support systems navigate the expectations, responsibilities, challenges, and opportunities that arise throughout our lives. Our multidisciplinary team takes a collaborative and holistic approach, ensuring a comprehensive understanding of our clients’ profile, needs, and aspirations.
We offer a broad range of services, including individual, family, and couples counseling; evaluations; occupational therapy; college counseling; executive functioning coaching; tutoring and test prep; social gatherings; skill-based groups; consultation; and professional development. All of our services are designed to meet the individual needs of everyone we serve and are delivered with respect to the unique strengths and challenges that come with being neurodivergent in today’s world.
Meet Our Team
Dr. Alex Morris-Wood – Head of School at Franklin Academy
Josh Acocella-Stollerman – Executive Director, Center for Neurodiversity
Kelly Coons – Tutoring Services
Linda Bennet – Program Coordinator
Marina Scott – Occupational Therapist
Nicole Markovitz – Evaluations Coordinator
Toni Schexnyder – Launch Lab Coordinator & College Counselor
Our Services
The Center for Neurodiversity serves neurodivergent people of all ages. We take a strength-based, person-centered approach, and our team will work with you holistically through our compassionate, evidence-based programming.
Check out the services our team of professionals offers below.
College Counseling
College Prep 101: Ideal for high school juniors or rising seniors and services must begin no later than the beginning of senior year. Students and their families will gain information about different types of college environments, support services, financial aid, and more. Students will receive guidance on searching for colleges, writing college application essays, completing their applications, and more! This plan includes 20 total hours of college counseling.
Comprehensive College Prep: Ideal for high school students in their sophomore or junior year and must begin no later than Spring of their junior year. This package includes all services included in the College Prep 101 package plus the following services.
- FAFSA assistance
- Housing and Orientation registration assistance
- Assistance with support services application
This plan includes 35 total hours of college counseling.
Inquire now for more information about College Counseling!
Evaluations
The Center for Neurodiversity is dedicated to providing a range of educational and psychological evaluations to meet the needs of neurodivergent children, adolescents, and young adults. Together, we can design and conduct evaluations that answer your questions and provide guidance for intervention and planning. We are committed to not only identifying what individuals may be struggling with, but also what their strengths and talents are in order to understand the entire person and not just their areas of deficit.
In addition to individual assessment, all evaluations include:
- Clinical interviews with the individual being assessed, parents/guardians, and any other individuals we are authorized to speak with (e.g., school personnel, therapists, psychiatrists, etc.)
- Records review
- Evaluation report with diagnoses and recommendations (if appropriate)
- 1-hour feedback session with the individual being assessed and their parent/guardian
Cognitive Functioning Evaluations are designed to identify how individuals take in, process, and use information. We look at different areas of functioning including:
- Cognitive/IQ
- Learning
- Memory
- Executive Functioning
- Visual-Motor
Educational Evaluations assess how an individual performs in the areas of reading, written expression, and mathematics compared to their cognitive abilities and normative expectations. These evaluations can identify the presence or absence of Specific Learning Disabilities. Areas assessed include:
- Cognitive/IQ
- Reading
- Writing
- Math
Psychological Evaluations examine the social, emotional, and behavioral functioning of an individual. These evaluations consist of:
- Social-Emotional Screeners/Rating Forms
- Personality Assessment
Diagnostic Evaluations are designed to identify specific diagnoses. Domains that are assessed would be dependent on what diagnoses are being considered.
College and Career Readiness Evaluations are specifically tailored to determine whether an individual is ready for post-secondary experiences, which environments may best suit their profile, what supports and accommodations they may need and qualify for, and which areas of study and/or vocation may best align with their profile and passions. Areas of assessment include:
- Cognitive/IQ
- Academic
- Reading
- Writing
- Math
- Learning
- Memory
- Executive Functioning
- Visual-Motor
- Social-Emotional Screeners/Rating Forms
- Personality Assessment
- Adaptive
- College Fit Assessment
- College and Career Interest Inventory
Personality Screeners are designed to provide a brief snapshot of how an individual sees themselves, others, and how they process their internal and external experiences. The results may indicate whether further social-emotional assessment is warranted and which interventions may be helpful.
Strength-Based Evaluations help supplement traditional evaluations to ensure an individual’s strengths, talents, and passions are identified and included in therapeutic and educational planning and documentation. Recommendations that align with best-practices for neurodivergent individuals can be applied to educational documents, such as an IEP.
Executive Functioning Coaching (Launch Lab)
The Center for Neurodiversity’s Launch Lab provides personalized executive function coaching for neurodivergent individuals navigating the transition into college, career training, employment, or other postsecondary pursuits.
Through structured coaching and real-world application, Launch Lab helps individuals move into their next chapter with greater autonomy, readiness, and resilience.
Launch Lab supports the development of:
- Planning & organization
- Self-advocacy
- Emotional regulation
- Social integration
- Independent problem-solving
Inquire now for more information about the LaunchLab!
Individual & Family Therapy
Individual Counseling – Neuro-affirming therapy is a person-centered approach that not only identifies and addresses challenges an individual would like to explore, but also focuses on the individual’s strengths and personal goals, valuing their neurodivergence as an integral part of one’s self. Neuro-affirming therapy also explores what it means to be neurodivergent in a culture that is not always neuro-inclusive and how to find personal identity, agency, and community in the modern world. Developing healthy self-esteem, confidence, and personal narratives while also fostering a sense of belonging are hallmarks of the work done at The Center for Neurodiversity.
Family Counseling – Relationships are complex and can sometimes feel like a source of stress rather than an anchor of support and safety. Family therapy explores family relationships and history, as well as the home environment, to help identify adaptive and authentic communication and relational skills while honoring the richness of a neurodiverse household.
Populations served – Children, adolescents, adults, and families who are looking to address school difficulties, family dynamics, life transitions, living with anxiety and/or depression, social difficulties and social skill development, meaning-making, identity development, understanding diagnoses and testing.
Occupational Therapy
Individual OT Services – Support for sensory processing, regulation, executive functioning, motor coordination, daily living skills, and participation barriers commonly experienced by neurodiverse students. (Fine and visual motor skills, including handwriting for younger children ONLY- 5th grade and below).
Group-Based OT Interventions – Sensory-regulation groups, functional life-skills groups, shared-interest activity-based groups, play groups (for younger children- 5th grade and below)
Executive Function Coaching – Task initiation, planning, organization, time management, flexible thinking, and emotional regulation.
Sensory-Informed Interventions – Regulation spaces, movement-based supports, body-based regulation strategies, and individualized sensory diet development.
Family & Caregiver Support – Parent coaching, sensory education, co-regulation modeling, and strategies to reduce daily-life stressors.
Neurodivergent-Affirming Evaluations – Strengths-based assessments of sensory processing, executive functioning, participation, and adaptive skills.
Skill-Building & Developmental Supports
- Life Skills Coaching – Routines, self-care, sleep hygiene, organization, meal prep, and independent living readiness.
- Emotion-Regulation Workshops – Combining sensory-based tools and OT-informed regulation strategies to reduce overwhelm and support autonomy.
- Career and post graduate readiness- Self advocacy, accommodations, self-regulation in a career or college campus.
School Collaboration (Functional Occupational Therapy)
- Comprehensive OT (Strength-based) Assessments – Sensory, motor, functional, and regulation assessments.
- Staff Consultation – Guidance on accommodations, sensory supports, and classroom environment design.
- Transition Planning – Home → school, school → adulthood, including life skills, executive functioning, sensory processing, and community participation support.
Community Support (e.g. leisure activities, shopping skills, job searching)
- Direct Services for Local Children, Teens, and Young Adults – Strengths-based, neurodivergent-affirming occupational therapy available to the broader community.
- Parent & Caregiver Support Groups – Education, shared problem-solving, and sensory/behavioral strategies that support daily routines.
Workshops & Classes For Parents, Teachers, Caregivers, Community Members, Siblings, and Medical staff – Topics such as executive functioning, sensory processing, neurodivergent communication, and co-regulation. - Sensory-Friendly Community Events – Quiet hours, structured activities, inclusive spaces, and community engagement.
- Occupational Therapy Consultations – Detailed sensory and motor assessments, environment modifications, and accommodation planning.
Environment & Accessibility
- Sensory Regulation Room Development (businesses, schools, and clinics) – Calm, spacious environments for self-regulation, co-regulation, and sensory exploration.
Professional Development & Consulting
Professional Consultation
The Center for Neurodiversity offers consultation services to people, organizations, employers, and schools who serve neurodivergent individuals. We can provide education and training about the broad spectrum of neurodivergence, help plan and create inclusive and sensory-friendly environments, develop individualized or group-based plans and interventions that are naturalistic and strength-based, and help to develop neuroinclusive programming and opportunities.
We also offer consultation services to families looking to understand and engage with special education services (e.g., IEP and 504 development), identify available community resources, demystify testing and evaluation reports, plan for adulthood, and more.
Professional Development
The Center for Neurodiversity offers a wide range of professional development topics. Professional development presentations are offered regularly at our center, but can also be delivered at your school or business, or through one of our webinars. Areas of professional development offered by CFN include, but are not limited to:
- Unlocking Executive Function: Building Skills for Success
- Productivity Without the Panic: Getting Things Done Without Burnout
- Postsecondary Planning for Neurodivergent Students
- Occupational therapy and sensory processing
- Technology Management
- Diagnosis and Diagnoses
- Avoidance vs. Opposition
- Neurodivergent Comorbidities
- A Narrative Approach to Working with Neurodivergent Individuals
- Strength-Based Programming
- Suicidal Ideation and Self-Harm
- Understanding Neuropsychological Testing
- Multiple Intelligences
- Twice Exceptionality
- Sleep Hygiene
Social Groups & Community Gatherings
Our Social Gatherings offer authentic and safe opportunities for neurodivergent people to socialize, form relationships, and have fun. Events include potluck dinners, Switch and Lego nights, open mic and karaoke, crafting, creative writing, time with animals, board games, hikes, and more! In addition, our virtual hangouts allow our gatherers to connect online.
Social Groups are designed to provide a safe and supportive environment for individuals to practice relationship-building and communication skills, while also addressing topics that neurodivergent people may desire support for, such as hygiene, technology use, bullying, making friends, masking, anxiety, depression, and school and homework, to name a few. These groups are guided by CFN staff, who also provide information and strategies to help address concerns and questions about the various topics. Still, the main goal of the group is for individuals to connect with one another, share their own experiences, struggles, and successes, in the service of building authentic relationships.
Check out our upcoming Gatherings here!
School Consulting
High School Consulting
We specialize in helping secondary schools reimagine their approach to college readiness and whole-student development for neurodivergent learners. Our goal is to elevate the existing strengths within a school while identifying opportunities for growth and transformation.
Our services include:
- College Readiness Curriculum Design – Tailored to the unique executive functioning, social-emotional, and cognitive profiles of neurodivergent students, our curriculum frameworks integrate life skills, self-advocacy, and transition planning into core academic programming.
- Holistic School Assessments – A deep-dive audit of your school’s structures, culture, and academic offerings through a neurodivergent lens. We assess institutional readiness and provide actionable feedback to align current practices with best-in-class standards for inclusion and success.
- School-Designed Assessments to Support College Readiness – We work collaboratively to build custom assessment tools that measure progress in key transition domains—from independent living skills to self-determination—empowering schools to track readiness beyond GPA.
- Professional Development for Faculty and Staff – Dynamic, hands-on training sessions that equip educators with the latest research, tools, and strategies to build inclusive classrooms and school cultures.
- Parent Workshops and Community Education – Interactive sessions that help families better understand neurodivergence, their students’ strengths and challenges, and how to become empowered partners in the transition to adulthood.
College & University Consulting
We partner with colleges, universities, and transition programs to ensure their systems, staff, and services are not just accessible—but designed with neurodivergence in mind. From the classroom to campus life, our work supports the full student experience.
Our services include:
- Community-Wide Professional Training & Workshops – Faculty, student life staff, admissions professionals, and leadership teams all play a role in fostering neuroinclusive campuses. Our trainings address UDL, trauma-informed teaching, mental health intersections, and communication styles across departments.
- Universal Design for Learning (UDL) Support – Guidance on embedding UDL principles in course design, campus communications, and co-curricular programming, improving access and engagement for all learners.
- Auxiliary-Based Programming Design – We help institutions design specialized programming—including fee-based models—to support neurodivergent students’ transition into and through college. This includes summer bridge programs, first-year experience supports, and coaching models that align with institutional culture.
- Family Education and Engagement – Empowering families to understand and navigate the higher education system with confidence. Our offerings help bridge the gap between high school and college with information, advocacy strategies, and realistic expectations.
Tutoring Services
Elementary School Services
- Written Expression
- Grammar
- Tutoring & homework help
- Basic research skills
- Developing organizational strategies
- Gifted student support
Middle School Services
- All Elementary School Services and….
- Executive Functioning Support
- Presentation
High School Services
- All services above and…
- Essay Support and Brainstorming
- College Admissions Essay Writing
- SAT & ACT (English sections)
Post-Secondary Services
- Presentation Skills
- Public Speaking Skills
- Resumes & Cover Letters
