Jessica L. Rismiller, PhD

Jessica Rismiller is a Developmental Behavioral Health Specialist and owner of OpenMind Connections, LLC. Jessica works to advance neurodiversity-affirming principles and practices within intervention and educational fields. In her position as owner/director of OpenMind Connections, Jessica offers coaching and direct support for neurodivergent individuals, families, and care providers to build capacities for self-knowledge, personal agency, and self-advocacy. As a pathway toward social justice for neuro-minority individuals and communities, Jessica is dedicated to helping people of all neurotypes build cross-cultural and cross-neurotype understanding.  

Jessica received her PhD in Infant and Early Childhood Development from Fielding Graduate University with an emphasis in Infant Mental Health (IMH) and the Developmental, Individual Differences, Relationship-based (D.I.R.) Model. Jessica received her master’s degree in Psychology from Cal Poly Humboldt (formerly Humboldt State University) with an emphasis in academic research in developmental psychopathology, and she later served a lecturer in the Psychology department at Cal Poly Humboldt. Jessica’s current research foci are developmental diversity across the lifespan, neuro-affirming support practices, and neurodivergent experiences.  

Jessica brings many personal experience to bear in her reflective examination of what it means to be neuro-affirming and how to expose epistemic injustices embedded in intervention modalities rooted in the medical model of disability. Jessica is a late-diagnosed Autistic adult and ADHDer. She is also a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA), and she has spent 15+ years working in both the behavioral and developmental fields. Dr. Rismiller now strives in her work to foster resilient human communities that embrace neurodiversity and reject neuro-normative biases.