Jessica Leza is a board-certified music therapist, author, and multimedia artist. She graduated with a Bachelor of Music in Music Composition from the University of North Texas and a Master of Arts in Music Therapy from Texas Woman’s University. Leza’s music therapy scholarship and advocacy centers around neurodiversity, disability justice, culture, and LGBTQ+ liberation and includes publications in The Neurodiversity Reader, Sociocultural Identities in Music Therapy, and The Oxford Handbook of Queer and Trans Music Therapy, as well as the solo-authored An Introduction to Neurodiversity and Autistic Culture for (Music) Therapists. Leza’s multimedia works have been showcased in film and arts festivals across the US and Europe, China, and South America.

Luke and Jessica discussed her process of becoming a music therapist and her recent experiences of clinical practice, followed by the concepts of neuroqueering and neurocosmopolitanism as they might apply to music therapy.

e-Book: https://www.etsy.com/listing/1492591757/an-introduction-to-neurodiversity-and

Paperback: https://www.etsy.com/listing/1510338925/paperback-an-introduction-to

https://jessicaleza.com/

References

Hadley, S. 2021 Sociocultural Identities in Music Therapy. United States: Barcelona Publishers.

Lee, C. 2024 Oxford Handbook of Queer and Trans Music Therapy. United Kingdom: Oxford University Press, USA.

Leza, J. (n.d.). An Introduction to Neurodiversity and Autistic Culture for (Music) Therapists. United States: La Migdalia Press.

Walker, N. (2021). Neuroqueer Heresies: Notes on the Neurodiversity Paradigm, Autistic Empowerment, and Postnormal Possibilities. United States: Autonomous Press.