Meet the Founder

Hi, howdy, salaam! My name is Tehnyat J. Sohail (she/her). 👋

I am an autistic, ADHD, Pakistani-American. Epidemiologist by training, social work therapist (in-training), founder of The Bouncy Brain, and writer by absolute necessity. You can find my author website here for writing-specific content.

I grew up in a tiny town tucked away in the North Georgia mountains, where I was raised by Pakistani immigrant parents, which meant growing up with a foot in multiple worlds from an early age. That experience shaped much of my curiosity about culture, identity, systems, and community belonging.

I bop around the U.S. quite frequently but am currently based near North Lake Tahoe, where I live with my three rescued cats and spend my days bouncing between writing projects, iced coffee/matcha experiments, books in the sun, and climbing rocks whenever the mountains call.

Formal Education & Training

Masters in Social Work (M.S.W.) Candidate
Specializing in Clinical Mental Health | University of Oklahoma (expected 2027)

Masters in Public Health (M.P.H.)
Concentrated in Epidemiology | Georgia State University (2023)

Bachelors of Science (B.S.)
Majored in Psychology & Philosophy | Georgia State University (2020)

Work & Experience

I hold a Master of Public Health (MPH) in Epidemiology and have spent over eight years working in public health research, primarily in violence prevention. My work has spanned military settings, state health departments, research universities, nonprofits, and social service organizations, where I have contributed to initiatives addressing sexual assault, suicide prevention, substance misuse, and other public mental health challenges. Throughout my career, I have been drawn to using research and data not simply to understand problems, but to design prevention strategies that strengthen communities.

While research remains central to my work, I have increasingly felt called toward the clinical side of mental health care. I am currently pursuing my Master of Social Work with a clinical mental health concentration, building on my public health background with direct practice experience. I recently completed my clinical practicum at The Neurodiversity Clinic in Salt Lake City and currently provide service coordination through the Nevada Autism Treatment Assistance Program, supporting families of autistic children. My long-term goal is to open a private practice serving neurodivergent individuals and emerging adults, with a focus on trauma, addiction, and life transitions.

Beyond research and clinical work, I am also a writer and the founder of The Bouncy Brain, a neurodivergent-led consultancy and educational initiative focused on neurodiversity inclusion, public education, and direct community engagement, where I bring both systems-level research expertise and lived neurodivergent experience. I am currently writing a dystopian novel exploring cultural erasure, alongside a hybrid memoir/autotheory examining structural extraction across multiple domains.

As an autistic and ADHD person myself, I bring both lived experience and professional training to everything I do. Whether I am analyzing population-level data, supporting individuals in clinical settings, writing, or developing educational resources, I am ultimately interested in the same question: How can we build systems that better support human flourishing?

My work sits at the intersection of public health, clinical social work, philosophy, phenomenology, and storytelling. I have pursued each of these paths because they offer different tools for understanding the world and responding to it. Together, they shape how I think, work, and contribute in ways that are lasting and meaningful.