Mental Health & Neurodiversity

3-D book mockup of THE FREELANCE ACADEMICAs a bipolar-autistic author and speaker, I give keynote talks and teach workshops on mental health and neurodiversity.

My audiences include higher education groups, attorneys, professional organizations, and more. For booking information, please contact BrightSight Speakers.

 

I’ve written two books on the subject and have one in the works:

 

✤ MOM, INTERRUPTED: A Field Guide to Neurodivergent Parenthood (In progress.)

✤ A LIGHT IN THE TOWER: A New Reckoning with Mental Health in Higher Education (University Press of Kansas, 2023).

✤ LIFE OF THE MIND INTERRUPTED: Essays on Mental Health and Disability in Higher Education (Blue Crow Books, 2017). Named to BOOK RIOT’s top 5 Books to Help You Understand Higher Education and to THE PROFESSOR IS IN’s Top 12 Books About Academia.

 

I am also the founder of NeuroEq, an organization dedicated to the inclusion of neurodivergent riders and trainers in equestrian sports and the education of our community about neurodiversity. 

 

Public writing & scholarship on mental health and neurodiversity:

 

Psychology Today: What Does Neurodiversity Mean Today?
Column "Living Neurodivergence"
Sept. 9, 2023
Psychology Today: “Making Sense of the Past as a Late-Diagnosed Autistic Adult”
Column "Living Neurodivergence"
July 22, 2023
Chronicle of Higher Education (Essay): Neurodivergent Students Need Flexibility, Not Our Frustration
July 3, 2023
Longreads
Longreads features “An Autistic Girl’s Guide to Horses” (Essay)
May 30, 2023
Camille Pagan Podcast Thumnail
Podcast Guest on Neurodiversity and Writing: You Should Write a Book with Camille Pagan
May 23, 2023
The Chronicle of Higher Education: How to Teach Your (Many) Neurodivergent Students
March 29, 2023
Forthcoming Book: A LIGHT IN THE TOWER: A New Reckoning with Mental Health in Higher Education
With evocative storytelling and incisive research, Pryal brings a new eye to the mental health crisis that higher education has faced for decades.
University of Kansas Press, Fall 2023
Keynote: “How Abortion Bans Harm Campus Mental Health”
West Chester University, PA
March 1, 2023
“Front-Line Faculty and Systemic Burnout” in Journal of the Legal Writing Institute
Vol. 27 (2023), free download
Feb. 28, 2023
Keynote: “Systemic Burnout in Higher Education”
Johnson County Community College, Kansas City
Jan. 14, 2022
Catapult Magazine: An Autistic Girl’s Guide to Horses
Dec. 8, 2022
Chronicle of Higher Education: When “Rigor” Targets Disabled Students
Oct. 6, 2022
The Rumpus (Interview): Accommodations Are not Accessibility: An Interview with Katie Rose Guest Pryal
Interviewed by Ayla Samli
Sept. 21, 2022
The Diversity in Research Podcast (Interview): Roe vs. Wade – Katie Pryal on Why Abortion is a Higher-Ed Issue
Aug. 18, 2022
Chronicle of Higher Education: Abortion Bans Put Colleges in Legal Limbo
Post-‘Dobbs,’ weak medical privacy endangers students — and the rest of us.
Aug. 4, 2022
Book Release! LIFE OF THE MIND INTERRUPTED on Audio
via Blackstone Publishing
July 29, 2022
Good Rx (Profile): Why I Waited to Disclose My Mental Health Disorder at Work
July 26, 2022
Chronicle of Higher Education (Essay): Disclosure Blues: Should You Tell Colleagues About Your Mental Illness?
Now available for free on SSRN; originally published June 13, 2014
Chronicle of Higher Ed: “Abortion Is a Higher-Ed Issue”
"The End of Roe Will Worsen the Campus Mental-Health Crisis"
June 30, 2022
LIFE OF THE MIND INTERRUPTED: Audiobook deal with Blackstone Audio!
Audiobook coming late 2022
May 20, 2022
TAKE YOUR CHARMING SOMEWHERE ELSE wins IPPY Gold in Romance for 2022!
Part of the Hollywood Lights Series, romantic women's fiction that centers neurodiversity.
May 10, 2022
New Book: The Hollywood Lights Complete Series
The Hollywood Lights Series is romantic women's fiction that also centers neurodiversity.
April 13, 2022
Texas Appellate Law Podcast Logo
“Addressing Burnout in the Legal Profession,” Interview on the Texas Law Appellate Podcast
March 17, 2022
Chronicle of Higher Ed: When Universities Raid Student Therapy Records
On mental health, FERPA, and higher ed
Feb. 11, 2022
Speaking: “Managing Burnout and Mental Health in Our Ongoing Crisis Mode”
Talk delivered at the Festival of Legal Learning for North Carolina attorneys
Feb. 2, 2022
Pushcart Prize Nomination
For essay "The Holes We Live With" in Full Grown People Magazine
Dec. 1, 2020
Speaking: “Let’s Acknowledge Our Suffering: Systemic Burnout After Two Years of Pandemic”
Audience: Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education (NASPA), MENASA Area
Nov. 30, 2021
Full Grown People (Essay): The Holes We Live With
Nominated for a Pushcart Prize
Oct. 28, 2021
Letter: On Grief, and Shame, and Miracles
Sept. 23, 2021
Chapel Hill Magazine features TAKE YOUR CHARMING SOMEWHERE ELSE
TAKE YOUR CHARMING SOMEWHERE ELSE is romantic women's fiction that also centers neurodiversity.
July 1, 2021
LIFE OF THE MIND INTERRUPTED Named to “Top 12 Books About Academia” by THE PROFESSOR IS IN
May 19, 2021
Women in Higher Education: Pandemic Procrastination Requires Self-Compassion
April 1, 2021
Women in Higher Education: Staying Focused
March 1, 2021
The Tacoma Ledger (coverage): UWT Staff Reads: Tackling social issues affecting higher education
LIFE OF THE MIND INTERRUPTED selected as Staff Reads pick
Feb. 22, 2021
Women in Higher Education: Listening to Our Bodies, Even When It’s Hard
Feb. 1, 2021
Women In Higher Education: Let’s Acknowledge Our Suffering
Jan. 4, 2021
Women in Higher Education: How Are You Caring for Your Students This Year
Dec. 1, 2020
Women in Higher Education: Letting Go of Rigor Anxiety During a Pandemic
Oct. 1, 2020
Podcast Appearance: Stereotype Life (on mental health, disability & access in higher education)
Featuring Life of the Mind Interrupted
July 1, 2020
Women in Higher Education: Whether We Improve or Not
July 1, 2020
Reframing Autism (Interview): On Thriving and Wellbeing
April 29, 2020
Educause Review (Coverage): Accessible Technology Support for Faculty with Disabilities: Challenges and Barriers to Inclusivity
Featuring LIFE OF THE MIND INTERRUPTED
March 30, 2020
Airdrie Today (coverage): Accessibility for Everyone
Featuring DISABILITY ACTS Magazine (disabilityacts.com)
March 28, 2020
Macalester College Radical MacACCESS, Keynote: “Break the Cycle of Mental Health Stigma in Higher Ed”
Featuring LIFE OF THE MIND INTERRUPTED
Feb. 25, 2020
UNC Law Festival of Legal Learning: “Mental Health and Collegiality in the Legal Profession”
Featuring LIFE OF THE MIND INTERRUPTED
Feb. 7, 2020
Catapult: No, I Don’t Want Your Advice on How My Kids or I Can Be “Cured”
Dec. 16, 2019
Rocking the Academy Podcast (Appearance)
Featuring LIFE OF THE MIND INTERRUPTED
Dec. 4, 2019
Chronicle of Higher Education (Coverage): Why We Need to Talk More About Mental Health in Graduate School
Featuring LIFE OF THE MIND INTERRUPTED
Aug. 27, 2019
Women in Higher Education: Don’t Let Trolls Set Your Boundaries
June 1, 2019
Catapult: What It Takes to Advocate for Twice-Exceptional Kids in School
May 29, 2019
How to Write Publicly About Mental Illness
May 1, 2019
Catapult: Friendship Has Always Been Hard for Me—I Hope I Can Make It Easier for My Kids
March 25, 2019
Disability Acts: “Dan Mallory and ‘Bipolar Made Me Do It'”
March 5, 2019
Catapult: My Son and I Don’t Do Well with Chaos—and That’s Okay
Feb. 12, 2019
Catapult: For Parents and Children with Psychiatric Disabilities, the Stigma Creates an Extra Fight We Don’t Need
Jan. 7, 2018
Catapult: When You’re a Mom with Anxiety Disorder, You Know the Monsters Are Real
Nov. 26, 2018
Women in Higher Education: You’re Super—And a Hero—Not a Superhero
Nov. 1, 2018
Disability Acts: The Inescapable Images of Ableism
Oct. 21, 2018
Catapult: Finding a World Big Enough for My Twice-Exceptional Kids
Oct. 17, 2018
Women in Higher Education: Find the Middle Lane
Oct. 1, 2018
The Establishment: My Disability Story Isn’t For Your Catharsis
Sept. 25, 2018
Women in Higher Ed: Held Accountable: An Interview with Andrea Pino
Aug. 1, 2018
Catapult: The World Doesn’t Bend for Disabled Kids (or Disabled Parents)
July 10, 2018
Women in Higher Education: Trust Disabled Students and Their Technology
July 1, 2018
Women in Higher Education: Stop Scapegoating the Mentally Ill
May 1, 2018
Disability Acts: Awakening to the Intersection of Disability and Gender Violence
April 9, 2018
Disability Acts: Conferences Must Embrace Accessible Technology
March 16, 2018
BookTrib: Forkner’s “The Real Thing” Teaches Profound Truths
Jan. 18, 2018
The Chronicle of Higher Education: On Faculty and Mental Illness
Dec. 18, 2017
Huffington Post: When You Talk About Banning Laptops, You Throw Disabled Students Under the Bus
Nov. 27, 2017
Practice Tuesday Blog (Interview): Dr. Katie Pryal and the LIFE OF THE MIND INTERRUPTED
Featuring LIFE OF THE MIND INTERRUPTED
Oct. 18, 2017
BookTrib: Mental Health and Family Relationships Come Together in Yoerg’s ALL THE BEST PEOPLE
Oct. 12, 2017
Women in Higher Education: When Disability Meets Sexual Assault
Sept. 1, 2017
Chronicle Vitae: Still Screaming, But Not Over Nothing
Aug. 3, 2017
Women in Higher Education: How to Have the Accommodations Talk
June 1, 2017
Motherwell: With New Life comes a Fear of Death
May 22, 2017
Women in Higher Education: Believe Your Colleagues with Disabilities
May 1, 2017
Women in Higher Education: Don’t Accommodate Me
April 1, 2017
Paste Magazine: Our Gun Problem Is More Than a Mental Health Problem
Mar. 2, 2017
Women In Higher Education: How Making My Teaching Accessible Made My Teaching Better
March 1, 2017
Chronicle Vitae: Collegiality and Disability
Feb. 7, 2017
Women in Higher Education: The Unethical FERPA Roadblock
Feb. 1, 2017
Women in Higher Education: Not a Compliant Woman Colleague
Nov. 1, 2016
Writers in the Storm: Why “Write Every Day” Isn’t Always the Best Advice
June 15, 2016
Chronicle Vitae: The Secret Life of the Doctoral Student
May 19, 2016
Disability Acts: Why It Stings: Disabilities & the Oscars
May 15, 2016
The Establishment: How The TSA Perpetuates Harmful Mental Health Stigmas
May 12, 2016
Chronicle Vitae: Conference Challenges for People with Psychiatric Disabilities
April 28, 2016
Huffington Post: We Believe You, Even If You’re Broken
April 15, 2016
Disability Acts: Can You Tell the Difference Between Accommodation and Accessibility?
April 12, 2016
Disability Acts: Are Your Characters Tragically Disabled or Magically Disabled?
March 31, 2016
Disability Acts: Write Characters with Disabilities Who Don’t Suck
March 5, 2016
Women in Higher Education: Trigger Warnings Are a Disability Issue
March 1, 2016
Chronicle Vitae: The Vitae Bookshelf
Feb. 15, 2016
Chronicle Vitae: My Post-Promotion Clarity
Jan. 29, 2016
Chronicle Vitae: Working When Your Brain Isn’t
Nov. 20, 2015
Chronicle Vitae: We Are Not Prepared for Students in Distress
Oct. 2, 2015
Dame Magazine: Did a Jane Doe Just Deal Rape Culture a Huge Blow
On FERPA, sexual assault, and mental health
Sept. 9, 2015
Huffington Post: Why I Didn’t Report Being Raped In College
July 29, 2015
Chronicle Vitae: Revisiting Disclosure
June 26, 2015
Dame Magazine: Breaking the Mad Genius Myth
April 22, 2015
Chronicle Vitae: Handling Personal Tragedies Around You
April 16, 2015
The Toast: A Mother’s Suicide and the Guilty Burden of Statistics
April 9, 2015
Chronicle of Higher Education: Raped on Campus? Don’t Trust Your College to Do the Right Thing
On FERPA, mental health, and sexual assault
March 2, 2015
Chronicle Vitae: Where Title IX Meets Title II
Jan. 15, 2015
Chronicle Vitae: Help! My Best Friend Is Bipolar
Jan. 2, 2015
Huffington Post: Counting Steps and Staying Sane in the Suburbs
Dec. 31, 2014
Chronicle Vitae: Rough Accommodations
Nov. 20, 2014
Chronicle Vitae: I’m Not Brave
Sept. 25, 2015
Jason’s Connection (Interview): Discussing the Stigma of Psychiatric Disabilities in Academia
Sept. 17, 2014
Chronicle Vitae: What Do Psychiatrically Disabled Faculty Owe Our Students?
Aug. 28, 2014
Slate: The Worst Part of the Bar Exam
On mental health and the bar exam
Aug. 7, 2014
Dorf on Law: When Failure is Not an Option
On mental health and the bar exam
Aug. 1, 2014
Chronicle Vitae: Shattering the Madness Monolith
July 31, 2014
Chronicle Vitae: ‘She’s So Schizophrenic!’: How Not to Alienate Your Colleagues with Psychiatric Disabilities
July 9, 2014
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August 23, 2021