Ep. 56: The OT Who Showed Up at TED: Bill Wong on Visibility, Neurodivergence & Making Bold Career Moves

The OT Who Showed Up at TED: Bill Wong on Visibility, Neurodivergence & Making Bold Career Moves What does it look like when an occupational therapist refuses to stay inside the OT bubble? In this episode of The BRAVE OT Podcast, I sit down with Bill Wong, the first OT student or practitioner to deliver multiple TEDx talks, publish those talks on TED's platform, and attend many TED conferenendces. Bill is a home health OT, a neurodivergent individual, a TEDx event organizer, and one of the most intentional networkers in our profession. Our conversation weaves through career resilience, neurodivergent-affirming mentorship, and a provocative challenge to the OT community: instead of waiting to be given a fish, why don't we learn to fish for ourselves? If you've ever felt like OT is healthcare's best-kept secret, or wondered what it would look like if we stopped waiting for an invitation and started creating our own opportunities, this conversation is for you. IN THIS EPISODE, WE DISCUSS: •       The "teach OT to fish" principle: why Bill believes our profession needs to stop waiting to be invited and start creating our own stages •       Resilience, risk-taking, and the "Hall of Fame vs. Hall of Very Good" framework Bill has used to drive his career forward •       Neurodivergent-affirming mentorship: what it means to meet mentees where they are while still holding them to their own stated goals            •       How Bill became the first OT to deliver multiple TEDx talks and what he learned from his early "failed" attempts at                 organizing TEDx events •       What it's actually like inside a TED conference as a paying attendee and why Bill thinks more OTs should be in those rooms <p class="MsoListParagraph" style= "t