Dr. Teresa Vásquez

Activist, Blogger, Business adviser, Business leader, Business mentor, Change Agent, Consultant, Doctor, Educator/Teacher, Entrepreneur, Event planner, Filmmaker, Idea generator, Life mentor, Parent, Philanthropist, Photographer, Producer, Project manager, Public servant, Social entrepreneur, Technologist, Web guru, Writer/Editor

I'm Dr. Teresa Vásquez (Dr. Vás), a technologist, keynote speaker, doctoral researcher, and the founder of Repped® and Autism Possible®, where I help neurodivergent builders turn how their brains actually work into their competitive advantage. I'm a NISE NeuroCorps Fellow at Vanderbilt's Frist Center for Autism and Innovation, an MS in Data Science candidate at Vanderbilt, and adjunct faculty at Trevecca Nazarene University. My REMLE Framework reframes neurodivergent traits as entrepreneurial assets and gives builders a step-by-step path from evidence to momentum to legacy. I was named 2023 Software Engineer of the Year by the Greater Nashville Technology Council and 2025 Distinguished Alumni of the Year by Nashville State Community College. I've trained more than 300 technologists at Nashville Software School, mentored over 2,000 technologists across the industry, and coached TEDx speakers whose talks have reached more than a million views. My work centers one idea: neurodivergent people are not broken versions of neurotypical people. Build the right environment, and what looks like a deficit becomes the edge.

Empowerment, education, and life!

The duality of professional motherhood

Autism, Autism - education and parent, Business Administration & Marketing, education, Leadership, Speaking, Software Development, System Implementati, Multimeda Production, Technology Intergration

I began my TED journey as the organizer of my local TED event, TEDxAntioch. As I continue to push us forward to finding creative and innovative ideas, I have grown as a person also. I have learned that a supportive community is important in the spread and sharing of rich ideas which will, in turn, cause us to act. I’ve always used TED videos in the courses I teach, but I never thought that I would be able to add to the landscape of idea spreading. Because I have stepped out on a limb to bring a global voice to our community through the TEDxAntioch stage, I feel like I am a part of something that includes others like me who want to educate and inspire. With the youth of the community being where my passion lies, I hope to continue to encourage young people to follow their ideas and dream via TEDxYouth. TED allows me the ability to meet the needs of my local community by providing a global community that supports ideas worth spreading. With TED, we are neither alone, nor bored!

pretty much everything that I set my mind to learn...