Check Out Marlo Payne Thurman’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Marlo Payne Thurman.

Hi Marlo, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I began my work in private practice 30 years ago, first as a School Psychologist, and more recently as a Licensed Addictions Counselor offering assessment, advocacy, consultation, and counseling services to gifted, twice-exceptional, neurodivergent, and other out-of-the box populations. In the late 1990’s through 2010, I owned and operated the Brideun School for Exceptional Children, which was a private, special needs school serving approximately 175 gifted and twice-exceptional children and teens that made national headlines and was featured in People Magazine. After my school closed, I joined the Advisory Board for the US Autism Association. In 2020, I then became the President and Board Chairperson for the US Autism Association where, during and shortly after the the Covid-19 Pandemic I created the world’s largest autism-specific video streaming library and hosted the 18th and 19th annual World Autism Conferences, with the 18th being an online conference and the 19th held in Loveland, Colorado. This past year, I expanded the US Autism Association to include 2 new entities: World Autism Alliance and Divergent Learning World, and I merged all of the multiple non-profit projects I serve (not including my private practice which I still operate) into one Divergent World Collective, which is a registered 501-c3 nonprofit serving those across the broad autism spectrum. Today, I continue to work, part-time in my private practice in Boulder with a client base that now has exceeded over 5,000 clients. With the remainder of my time I serve as the President and Board Chairperson for Divergent Learning World Inc. DBA US Autism Association, US Autism World Alliance, World Autism Conference, and Divergent Learning World. My work has been featured in multiple newspapers and magazines both locally and nationally. I am also proud to have a small part in the newest Temple Grandin film: An Open Door, which has received international accolades. I have two adult children who also live with their spouses here in Colorado. My daughter is a world-class tattoo artist and musician, and my son, who is also an artist and sword smith manages an equine center and farm in Longmont.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
We learn the most from our mistakes, and we grow the most through our adversities!

Through the years, I’ve struggled with both personal and professional challenges, all along the way. My hardest setbacks have included a traumatic brain injury, which I sustained only 4 years into my early private practice. But because I was injured at a large box warehouse here in Colorado I was eventually awarded a large settlement for my injuries, which helped me fund and operate my school. Ten years into that, I lost the school due to the financial crisis of 2008, and two years later, I was in a rollover car accident where I broke my neck and partially severed my spinal cord. This forced me to live in a rehabilitation center for several months learning to swallow and walk again, pushed me into bankruptcy, where I lost everything including my home, and for a time, even caused me to close my practice. But during that time, I made the decision to go back to school to obtain my second doctoral-level degree (a Ph.D. in Special Education), where my dissertation in the field of autism ultimately led into my current leadership position with US Autism. I’m a perpetual student and I’ve since gotten a 3rd (hobby) degree as a Doctor of Original Medicine in Naturopathy, with both additional degrees resulting in books. Professionally, I also went through a very recent challenge with the previous CEO of the US Autism Association, which is the basis for the exciting new directions we are taking there. Most of us don’t really change our course that much, across our entire lives, unless something forces us to change. Even though things haven’t been easy, I attribute my success to the multiple opportunities I’ve had to grow and change in response to life’s challenges. I’ve also been blessed with the ability to respond to hardship with increasing degrees of resilience.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I think I’ve covered my work history in other questions. But I’ve always specialized in serving individuals with the most significant degrees of divergence/neuro-divergence including those who are gifted, autistic, twice-exceptional, or who have attention and learning disorders, as well as those with a large variety of social, emotional, behavioral, and mental health challenges.

What sets me apart is that my own personal injury-to-wellness journey has evolved alongside of my professional practice, and that, combined with over 300 graduate hours of formal education and 30 years of working with clients has dovetailed into a very deep understanding about multiple correlations and cross-related variables and interventions affecting mind-body wellness for the populations I serve. While I personally see lots of clients, I also frequently refer my clients to integrative physicians, developmental optometrists, occupational therapists, audiologists, educational and vocational advocates, and a variety of other skilled professionals to help clients build a personalized, comprehensive support team. In this way, I often serve as a case manager rather than a single therapist working in isolation.

What was your favorite childhood memory?
I grew up on a dairy farm. So while I don’t have a favorite memory, I have many memories relating to the care and raising of of all the farm animals that were part of that. Living on a farm was kind of a hard childhood, but it also was a blessed way to grow up and it too, made me who I am today. I’ve frequently said “being splattered with cow manure, regularly, certainly gives a girl a solid, down-to-earth foundation.”

Contact Info:

• Website: usautism.org and 2econsultant.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/usautismassociation/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marlopaynethurman/
• Twitter: https://x.com/usautism
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/USAutismAssociation
• Email: 2econsultingservices@gmail.com