Angie Sylas

About Angie Sylas

Angie Sylas MMT, MT-BC, FCT is a neurodivergent disability advocate, music therapist, and educator with more than 20 years of experience supporting individuals with complex communication and mobility needs. Her work is deeply rooted in trauma-informed care, disability justice, and transformative justice, centering the voices and autonomy of humans who wish to grow.

Currently based in Manitou Springs, Colorado, Angie lives with her spouse and three cats, embracing a life of community care, advocacy, and ongoing learning. She is committed to challenging systemic barriers and unlearning the harms of imperialist capitalism, working toward an anticolonial, healing-centered framework.

Professional Work and Impact

For more than two decades, Angie has worked as a music therapist, educator, and consultant, training professionals, caregivers, and families on AAC (Augmentative and Alternative Communication), sensory support, and trauma-informed care. She has developed assessment strategies for mind-body disconnect in communication, facilitated training protocols for total communication approaches, and collaborated with hundreds of AAC users to support their autonomy and self-expression.

Angie has facilitated workshops across topics for CMTES and CEUs, including exploring how to presume competence in the disability community, disability studies within music therapy, culturally sensitive professional supervision, development of professional identity and writing of therapeutic philosophy statements, and supporting autonomous living for young adults with complex support needs.

Angie’s recent focus has been caregiver support—helping families and support teams develop strategies to foster independence, dignity, and self-determination for individuals with complex support needs. She believes in centering the voices of disabled individuals while empowering caregivers to provide support with less stress and greater respect for autonomy.

Angie is currently seeking their Masters for Disability Studies from CUNY.

Disability and Advocacy

Living with hidden and partially hidden disabilities, including Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (hEDS), dysautonomia, and multiple neurodivergences (PDA, ADHD, autism, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, dyspraxia, and sensory ataxia), Angie has firsthand experience navigating mobility challenges. As a part-time mobility scooter user and full-time cane user, she advocates for accessible environments, self-determined living, and breaking down harmful assumptions about movement and autonomy.

Trauma-Informed and Justice-Oriented Work

As a survivor of religious trauma, familial trauma, and systemic oppression, Angie is deeply invested in trauma-informed advocacy. After deconstructing and deconverting from Evangelical Christianity 15 years ago, she has dedicated herself to restorative justice and personal healing work. She offers consults and workshops that help individuals reclaim their identity outside of high-control religious environments, using expressive arts, music therapy, and nervous system regulation techniques.

Personal Life

When she’s not working, Angie enjoys spending time with her spouse and three harness-trained cats, exploring nature, playing piano, creating art, and reading. She is currently working on a memoir about her experiences navigating disability, trauma, and personal transformation.

Identity and Privilege

Angie identifies as genderqueer (she/themme) and acknowledges the privileges she holds as a White, hearing, sighted, middle-class person with higher education experience. She actively works to deconstruct societal norms and advocate for greater accessibility, inclusion, and equity.