Meet our Founder & CEO

Shannon

Shannon Wagner, OTD, OTR/L

Doctor of Occupational Therapy

Shannon holds a Clinical Doctor of Occupational Therapy and specializes in working with adults with Autism, ADHD, AuDHD, and cPTSD. She has been working with and specializing in Autism since 2009, and has been an Occupational Therapist since 2015.

Her love language is creating accessible programs that help neurodivergent adults understand their nervous systems and how to work with them, not against them. 

Your Friendly Nervous System Expert

Hi! I am Shannon, a neurodivergent OT, obsessed with the nervous system.

I am passionate about supporting adults with Autism and ADHD. I build programs, resources, and training to promote understanding and pathways forward for neurodivergent adults in employment, at home, and in school.

After becoming a Doctor of Occupational Therapy in 2015, I began focusing my career on supporting late-identified/recently diagnosed neurodivergent adults in 2018, and I have never looked back.

Professional Focus 

10+ years of specializing in the nervous system and autism 

Shannon’s professional experience has always centered around two things. Developmental disabilities and program development. She is a lover of systems and efficiency, of creating new ways of understanding things by bringing unexpected areas together. 

Currently Hyper focusing On

I am currently obsessed with polyvagal theory and interpersonal neurobiology, but my previous hyperfocus areas were motor planning theory and cognitive neuroscience.

Education

  • Pacific University School of Occupational Therapy 

    After learning about Occupational Therapy, Shannon applied to Pacific University in 2011 and was accepted into its first cohort of doctoral students. Shannon focused her electives on pediatric occupational therapy, including sensory processing and emotional regulation. In her doctoral work, she emphasized program development to build resilience through meaningful relationships and engagements for at-risk youth in rural Oregon communities. 

  • Portland State University 

    June 2009

    While Shannon originally intended to earn her bachelor’s degree in biology and move on to a program in behavioral neuroscience at OHSU, she shifted to psychology as a major after learning that lab work often did not involve interacting with people. 

  • Portland Community College  

    June 2006

    Shannon began her college career at Portland Community College’s Sylvania campus and earned her Associate of Science degree there. 

Background

How Shannon Became an Occupational Therapist 

Shannon began working with autism while she was an undergraduate at PSU in 2008. Having just switched her major from biology to psychology in favor of working with people rather than in a behavioral neuroscience lab with rodents, she was looking for avenues to support people and found one in a flyer outside a professor’s office that said “no experience needed.” She was soon working 4 days a week, learning how to play with a 12-year-old girl, and what autism was.  

Suddenly, her world was filled with words like echolalia, joining, and learning how to wait for green lights for engagement rather than demanding. It was through this context of building a relationship that Shannon learned what Autism was, that there was a field called Occupational Therapy, and that she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that that was what she would be doing. Since then, Shannon has focused her entire career and education on understanding neurodevelopmental disabilities, or, as we now call it, neurodivergence. 

Continued Education

  • After becoming an Occupational Therapist, Shannon began learning more about interpersonal neurobiology (IBNP). Shannon was specifically focused on how IPNB can provide insights into the neurodivergent nervous system and clinical burnout. In 2021, Shannon continued her training on the nervous system by participating in the only academically housed program in interpersonal neurobiology at Portland Community College of Health Professions. This 7-month, 125-hour program focused on the foundations of interpersonal neurobiology, neuroscience, attachment, and relational aspects of ethics and social justice. 

  • In 2021, Shannon completed the continuing education required to receive an additional certification in working with Trauma. This training supported Shannon in understanding how trauma creates an injury to our nervous system, which impacts our behavior. Shannon applied this understanding to her already established understanding of neurodivergence to create programs and resources that support late-identified neurodivergent adults with cPTSD related to not understanding their neurodivergence throughout their childhood and early life. 

  • In 2009, after Shannon got her bachelor’s degree in psychology and before she knew what occupational therapy was, she trained in crisis and suicide intervention techniques and volunteered every week for a year on the suicide crisis lines. During calls, Shannon provides direct crisis intervention and resources for people ranging from actively suicidal to family members needing resources for their loved ones who are struggling with addiction. 

Let’s Work Together

All great things start with a chat

Reach out to Shannon to find a time to see how she can support you as you navigate neurodivergence

Schedule A Meeting