Tara Allen
Tara Allen (she/her) joined Accessibility Resources for Students in August 2024. She holds a BM in instrumental music education with concentrations in instrumental wind band and bass clarinet from the Crane School of Music (2021), and an MA in psychology of music from the University of Sheffield (2022). Her master’s thesis, “The Bees Are Too Loud!: ADHD’ers Sound Preferences as an Aid Daily Task Completion" focused on how ADHD’ers used sound and/or music to help cope with completion of mundane tasks, and the combined social hardships. Her research areas of interest are: neurodivergence and music perception/cognition, learning, processing, behavior, and accessible music education.
Allen identifies as a queer, neurodivergent, and disabled music psychologist, music educator, advocate, and bass clarinetist. She has been advocating for neurodivergent and disabled musicians through a variety of platforms since 2020. She has a podcast, Breaking the Third Wall in Music, that invites disabled and/or neurodivergent musicians to discuss disability topics in the music scene. Allen has also spoken on podcasts, such as The Brave New Sound and Marching Arts Education. She has also given talks at universities, conferences, and organizations about neurodivergence. Lastly, she is a bass clarinetist and active performer in a variety of contemporary, classical, and popular music ensembles.
In Allen's free time, she enjoys Yu-Gi-Oh!, thrifting, making contemporary/modern music for solo bass clarinet and track, and moshing at metal concerts. She can be found regularly on the weekend at a metal concert, or at a local thrift store.
Allen can help neurodivergent students find community and social support at Berklee.