When schools mislabel and systems misdiagnose, families are left to pick up the pieces. In this episode of Demystifying PANS/PANDAS, Sheilah Gauch shares her powerful personal and professional journey navigating PANS/PANDAS as a parent, clinical social worker, and school leader. She discusses the urgent need for integrative mental and medical approaches, systemic reform in education and diagnosis, and the overlooked trauma caregivers face.
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In this episode of Demystifying PANS/PANDAS, Sheilah Gauch joins us to share her journey as a mother of two children diagnosed with PANS/PANDAS and as the clinical director of Dearborn Academy. Sheilah recounts the early misdiagnoses, the heartbreak of watching her children spiral, and the breakthrough that came when someone mentioned PANS/PANDAS. After seeing dramatic improvements with medical treatment, she began questioning the lack of awareness and integration between mental health and immune-driven illness in educational and therapeutic environments.
Sheilah also dives into the neuroscience of anxiety, trauma, and caregiver stress, revealing how chronic caregiving trauma can distort decision-making and cause long-term harm if left unrecognized. She offers empowering insight into why mental health stigma persists, how professionals and families can improve differential diagnoses, and how therapeutic schools are pioneering trauma-informed, neuroscience-driven education. Her work in legislation and nonprofit advocacy is helping create systemic change, aiming to ensure no more families fall through the cracks.
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Sheilah Gauch is a licensed independent clinical social worker, educator, and the Principal and Clinical Director of Dearborn Academy, a therapeutic day school for students with complex social, emotional, and learning needs. As a mother of two children diagnosed with PANS/PANDAS, she transformed her journey into professional advocacy, pushing for systemic change in schools, mental health care, and state policy.
Sheilah co-founded the Massachusetts Coalition for PANS/PANDAS legislation, securing insurance coverage and establishing a permanent Department of Public Health Advisory Council. She also serves on the boards of the Alex Manfull Fund and the LOOK Foundation, working to expand research and caregiver support. Through her Psychology Today blog, The Whole Child, she bridges science, trauma-informed care, and lived experience to help families and professionals better understand immune-mediated psychiatric illness.
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Website: https://dearbornacademy.org/
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Website: https://www.drohara.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drnancyohara/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nhoharamd/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancy-o-hara-md-mph-faap-390781258/
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