by Brooke Heath
Dr. Jennifer Jo Brout is a busy woman! As a school/clinical child psychologist who specializes in Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD), she has written and co-written numerous articles geared towards researchers, peers, and patients to help with the study of SPD in children.
As if that wasn’t enough, Dr. Brout is also involved with multiple projects at the KID Foundation Research Institute and Duke University and works with audiologists and private clinicians throughout the country. Also, Dr. Brout-Lynn started Positive Solutions of NY, LLC, an organization that supports research on psychological conditions, developmental disorders, and learning difficulties.
To top it all off, Dr. Brout is the mother of 13-year-old triplets! Yes, triplets! She is able to pass on her knowledge of raising multiples through her position on the advisory board of Mothers of Supertwins (MOST), which is a non-profit organization that supports families with multiples. She also writes an advice column for MOST that addresses concerns that parents with multiples may have.
You may be exhausted just reading the list of Dr. Brout responsibilities, but she credits her endurance to her kids. “The birth of my triplets made me realize that I had much more energy than I realized!” she said.
As a working mother, Dr. Brout is able to balance her career with her kids due to extra help from her husband and the opportunity to do a lot of her work from home.
“There are a number of reasons I am able to have a career and care for my children,” Dr. Brout explained. “First, my husband is extremely involved in all aspects of childcare. I am able to work from home and manage my own hours, which makes it much easier than it would otherwise be. I enjoy unique circumstances that enable me to live my life to the fullest.”
She also realizes that this is a luxury that all working mothers do not share. “I don’t think current government policies support women in terms of working and childcare at all.”
Dr. Brout earned her B.A. in Film from NYU, her Ed.M. in School Psychology from Columbia University, and her Psy.D. in School/Clinical Psychology from Yeshiva University’s Einstein College of Medicine.
Currently, Dr. Brout is involved with several research projects, one of which is with the Yeshiva Fatherhood Project. This research compares marmoset (small nonhuman primates) fathers to human fathers.
“Researchers have noted that marmoset fathers are extraordinarily involved with childcare (unlike other nonhuman primate fathers) because the marmoset mother burns all of her calories just feeding! If the father wasn’t involved with other facets of childcare, the infants would perish,” Dr. Brout explained. “Marmosets reminded me of triplet families. With co-parenting becoming more and more important to Americans, I thought it was important to find out what motivated fathers. We found that like marmosets, triplet fathers were willing to do both more childcare than other family types and were also more willing to do tasks considered ‘feminine’ in nature.”
Q. Where do you foresee the field of healthcare in 10 years?
A. Either collapsed or government funded.
Q. What do you enjoy doing when you aren’t working?
A. I enjoy hanging out with my family. My kids are 13 now, and I absolutely love this age. Young teens have difficulties, but they are also funny as can be! I try to encourage my kids to bring their friends to our home. So the house is always over populated, loud, and messy, but at least I feel that I know what is going on with my kids! This takes up much of my spare time. Otherwise, I am usually reading something work related, writing, or collaborating on projects.
Q. Who is your role model?
A. I could not pick one particular person. However, one of my role models is Maureen Boyle, who is the founder of Mothers of Supertwins (MOST). This is a non-profit organization offering support for families with multiples. Maureen has done an important and sometimes thankless job on a shoestring budget for many years. She has helped countless families. Another one of my role models is my children’s pediatrician, Dr. Cindi Hartz. She has been their doctor since they left the hospital, and without her, I don’t know how I would have survived!
Q. What songs are on your iPod right now?
A. My last two iPods were “borrowed” by my kids who had “misplaced” theirs. However, in general, I would say that I mostly download music from my childhood, which would be ’60s-’80s. Apparently, this is very typical.
Q. What’s your favorite book?
A. There are three books that I truly love and have read over and over. The first is The Red Queen by Matt Ridley, and although it is a bit outdated, it introduced me to evolutionary psychology (a branch of psychology that integrates neuroscience, evolution, and cognitive science). The next is Amazing Grace by Jonathan Kozol. In this and his other books, Kozol so clearly depicts the effects of institutional racism in the America. This was the first Kozol book I read, and it left me forever stirred up. The last is Mother Nature by Sarah Blaffer Hrdy, a book about motherly instincts like no other!
Dr. Brout-Lynn feels that several factors directly contributed to her success in the healthcare industry. One was the birth of her children.
“I have also had mentors along the way who changed my worldview. Two of those people are Dr. Louise Silverstein (of Yeshiva University) and Dr. Lucy Miller (founder of the SPD Foundation). These are two women who have used their unique intelligence and stamina to change the world in important ways,” said Dr. Brout
The original article can be found here: http://www.healthcarecrossing.com/article/440107/Dr-Jennifer-Jo-Brout-Lynn-Child-Psychologist/