Susan Mann

On the show

“They can’t be gifted if they can’t do their schoolwork.”

Susan Mann told Dave and Mike how teachers called her two children gifted while every test put them near the bottom, until an audiologist identified auditory and visual processing disorders. A retired San Francisco police officer, not a clinician, she now runs Bright Minds Processing so other families get answers sooner. She described the therapy as 16 weeks, one session a week with exercises five evenings a week at home, starting with a $30 screening, and the basketball program she is building in Palm Beach Gardens with former NBA player Dwayne McClain.

Background

• She is the founder and president of Bright Minds Processing, where she oversees the strategic direction and operations of the nonprofit.
• Bright Minds Processing Inc. is a Florida 501(c)(3) nonprofit that works to raise awareness of auditory and visual processing disorders and to bring solutions into schools.
• She started the organization after both of her children were diagnosed with auditory and visual processing disorders, a journey she tells in her own words on its site.
• The organization runs the McClain Basketball Academy, led by former professional player Dwayne “D-Train” McClain, where students must keep their grades up to take part.
• In April 2026 she appeared on CBS12’s ARC Florida with Dwayne McClain ahead of the group’s first fundraising event at the SoFi Center in Palm Beach Gardens.

Watch the episode

Play: 1 in 4 Kids Have a Processing Disorder

Episode 15

1 in 4 Kids Have a Processing Disorder

Susan Mann

Every teacher said Susan Mann’s two children were gifted; every test put them at the bottom of the scale. A retired San Francisco police officer rather than a clinician, she kept digging until an audiologist named it: auditory and visual processing disorder. Both kids retested off the charts and took full academic scholarships to Oxbridge Academy.

Watch on YouTube →

• ▶Play clip: They were super smart, and everyone said they were gifted.

  They were super smart, and everyone said they were gifted.

• ▶Play clip: It is like the movie Coach Carter.

  It is like the movie Coach Carter.

• ▶Play clip: It is one in four children.

  It is one in four children.

• ▶Play clip: You go in once a week.

  You go in once a week.

• ▶Play clip: She put everything on the line.

  She put everything on the line.

Listen

Read the recap: They Were Gifted and Failing: Susan Mann on Processing Disorders