The Missing Voice in the Diversity Conversation | Sierra Grandy | TEDxWatkins Glen: transcript

[applause] [music] >> I first learned why talking about diversity was important in my early 20s. I was taking a mandatory diversity class at a tech college and it was one of the last classes. And we did a discussion prompt exercise. And the question was something along the lines of, if you had to give up one of your privileges, which would be the hardest to give up and why?

Everyone in that classroom, except for me, said ability. I said race because I had already been identifying as disabled at this point. Everyone in that classroom, everyone here, everyone in the world is someday going to have a disability if they don't already have one or they're going to be dead. And I know that kind of sounds like a vague threat. >> [laughter] >> It's not. Uh, it's a fact.

When we talk about diversity, equity, and inclusion, often times the last piece that is talked about, if at all, is disability and neurodiversity. Yet with attacks on DEI, it is now more important than ever to make sure that we are talking about disability and accessibility. I've been identifying as disabled from a very young age.

I got done multiple diagnoses very early on. And I've learned throughout my time as an advocate and a speaker that part of my story is incredibly helpful for people to understand why I got into this work and why it matters. I do want to give a trigger warning though because I am a suicide survivor. I'm going to share part of my story pretty quickly. Uh, and it's primarily just my diagnostic history. See, when I was 11 years old, I was struggling with my first mental health crisis.

I had been struggling with my mental health for a very long time, but I did not know the words for that. And because I'm also a rule follower to a T, and I had been told if your life is in danger, you should call 911, I connected in my mind, "My life is in danger because I want to hurt myself." So, I pulled the uh phone, the home phone, dialed 911, and a police officer came and assessed the situation.

And then, I was put in an ambulance, sent to an emergency room, and spent what felt like forever in that emergency room until they finally found a bed for a kid my age at my first psychiatric hold. There I was diagnosed with depression and anxiety. I was put on some medication, got a therapist, and sent on my way. And then, the cycle continued. I'd stabilize for a little while, and then I'd have another mental health crisis.

Throughout my teen years, I went to countless hospitalizations, uh partial treatments, different types of therapies, different diagnoses, and I also developed chronic pain. It was hard. I was trying my best to survive. Uh people were very focused on what I couldn't do. It was primarily um where are her limitations and can we keep her alive? And I'm grateful for all the help that I was getting. I'm still alive.

By the time that I was a senior in high school, 18 years old, I had another mental health crisis. And there various suicide attempts throughout this. And as an 18-year-old, the my medical team suggested and did electroconvulsive therapy, which is modern-day shock therapy. And I lost a year of my memory due to diagnosed amnesia. In my early 20s, things continued to progress. I'd stabilize for a little bit and then I wouldn't be that stable and then I'd stabilize and I also developed additional disabilities, progressive disabilities, things that will continue to get worse throughout my life and continue to be painful every day of my life.

There were a lot of instances where I would try on different diagnoses and it was always imperfect as it is. I got incredibly lucky because of a variety of different things going my way in my mid-20s and I was able to start my mental health recovery journey. I still feel my symptoms every day, but I have the tools, skills, and allies to be able to want to live in this world. And so I went back to school, got my psychology degree and after having dropped out twice from colleges because of disability-related things. And once you have a psychology degree, you kind of realize pretty quickly, oh, I need to grad school. What else am I going to do? Um so I went to law school.

And my second year, right before my second year of law school, I did a new neuro psych evaluation for a variety of reasons. One being that I was curious about what was I actually living with. Now that there had been time, the DSM had been updated, there a variety of things. And right before my second year of law school, I got diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder, my old friend. Treatment-resistant depression in remission, which will be forever my greatest accomplishment.

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder combined type and autism spectrum disorder level one. I finished law school. I got an international tax law master's degree on top of that as one does. >> [laughter] >> Uh and then I got a tax law associate job uh lined up. Then I turned that job down to start my own speaking business and I would have if you asked me like, "Why'd you do that?" I'd be like, "I was following my dream."

But really it was so that I could accommodate myself and my disabilities as they progress and I have flexibility over my schedule and I don't have to call in sick and explain everything to someone. So, I took the bar exam anyway cuz it was expensive to prep for. Uh and I am a licensed attorney now. Disabilities I have as you can see here. Um I have a lot of them diagnosed and they're always within they're always there's always a little bit of change happening with them. These are This is language to help categorize things that are happening.

But diagnosis is never the full story. Just because you know one person with a diagnose a specific diagnosis, you just know that one person with a specific diagnosis. Disability is complex. But I'm very grateful for the medical system. I'm grateful for the medication that I get to use. I'm grateful for the doctors. I'm grateful for it. But it's only part of the conversation. When I got diagnosed with ADHD and autism right before my second year of law school, I had already been a part of the neurodiversity movement for a while.

But once I got those, I dove in and I got opportunities to start training attorneys while I was in law school and I found this thing that I love talking about people wanted to know more about. A diagnosis is like a map. And every person is going to have a different journey walking that map. I'm grateful that I got an updated diagnosis cuz I got an updated map. And when you have a variety of different disabilities, you kind of have they start piling on and you have a variety of different journeys happening at the same time.

That being said, can everyone please imagine a sloth in a sundress? Okay, in your mind's eye. You've got it. Please raise your hand if you are able and willing. If you have a cartoon sloth that popped up in your mind's eye, anyone? We have one. Okay, couple. Okay, put your hands down. What about a real sloth? Who had a real sloth pop up pop up? The majority of you, not everyone. And anybody not have a sloth pop up like any Anybody who doesn't have a movie in their mind?

Okay, one. That's typically approximately how many there is. That's Sam Fantasia. Me, too. I also don't have a movie in my mind. When I imagine a sloth in a sundress, there's a story and depth and vibe, but there is no movie. And so you can explain to me your real sloth in a tree with a sun hat and a yellow dress all you want, but I'm not going to be able to see it the way that you do. That's just a difference. Just a difference. It's not a deficit. Sometimes when you hear somebody who thinks differently than you, there is an assumption, though.

I love this exercise because that's neurodiversity. At the core of what neurodiversity is is that we all have different brains and we think differently. But what happens when there's culture, expectation, conflict, disability, that bridge between a sloth in a sundress in your mind and a sloth in a sundress in my mind widens? Uh the neurodiversity movement is a social justice movement.

And it's aiming to build accessible and inclusive systems for all brains, regardless of our neurotypes. And instead of defaulting to assuming that individuals who are struggling because of the world are inherently disordered or have a deficit, instead we can focus on what we can do. Within the certain neurodiversity movement, there's a couple terms I think that are important to discuss here. First is neurodivergent. Neurodivergent is a non-medical umbrella identity chosen by somebody whose brain functions significantly different differs diverges from the dominant cultures expectations and norms.

It is a chosen identity. It is not a diagnosis. Though most people with who identify as neurodivergent do have a diagnosable disability. Within the movement some people will use and outside of it as well, but some people will use neurodivergent very narrowly, only neurodevelopmental conditions. Some people like myself will use it much more broadly. Anybody whose brains brains differs significantly from the dominant cultures expectations and norms. So that can include mental health some mental health conditions, traumatic brain injuries, etc.

Also importantly here is the term neurodiverse. Neurodiverse is a group identity. Very likely that this group is neurodiverse. Variety of different brains, some of which are neurodivergent, some of which are not. Some people will use neurodiverse and neurodivergent interchangeably. I disagree with that. I just I have gotten a little easier on it though because I gotten an accidental LinkedIn fight about it and then found that I needed to chill. Uh >> [laughter] >> But I feel that way about diversity in general. The goal is diversity and diversity is specific based on context.

A woman is likely going to be the diversity within a boardroom, but a man is going to be the diversity within a volunteer mental health advocacy group. A neuro a neurodivergent individual is likely going to be the diversity within a white-collar workplace, but a neurotypical person is likely going to be the diversity at Comic-Con. >> [laughter] >> And the goal is to highlight that we can focus on our strengths and accommodate our weaknesses regardless of disability status and neurotype.

And in order that when I say accommodation here, what I mean is simply an adjustment. I see many of you currently using the most common form of accommodation and you didn't have to ask anybody to do it. Glasses. That's an accommodation. You are adjusting for a disability within your eyesight. And that's as as simple as it can be with accommodations, but we do make it complicated. And due to ableism, ableism is a bias, a prejudice towards individuals with disabilities resting on the assumption that individuals with disabilities are somehow inferior to people without disabilities, it can be really scary to disclose your disabilities and ask for what you need.

Biases, identity-based biases, can be explicit, like using the r-word as an insult or telling somebody that they can't do something because of their disability outright. But most ableism is implicit, meaning unconscious, unintentional. It's seeped into us because of the media we consume, our culture, and the messages that we get growing up. And so when it comes to trying to make sure that we can ask for accommodations, there's this barrier that comes up because we don't want to have somebody accidentally be implicitly ableist. The most common, and to give an example, the most common that I see is people wear very well-intentioned individuals choosing how to help somebody without asking them and assuming they know more than the person with a disability.

Like if somebody came up to me and was like, "Ooh, you have a lot on your plate. Let me take off like take some of that off of for you." I haven't asked, but they're just taking off my favorite side dish and dessert. And then looking at me expectantly like I should thank them. And I want people to try to help, but the conversation starts with how can I help? Accommodations are the first step, but we should what we should be aiming for is accessibility.

Accessibility is preemptively putting in systems that allow individuals with disabilities to be able to access systems in a similar way independently that to people without disabilities. The most common example of this is the curb cut. We see it everywhere. The curb cut is there to help individuals with wheelchairs, wheelchair users, to go up and use it, but we all get to benefit the curb cut effect, but we all benefit from it. Obviously, all of you look like big skateboarders.

>> [laughter] >> Uh uh So, when we're investing in accessibility, things can get better. The goal here is not to focus primarily on how do we make people as productive as possible. And there is a business case for it. It is helpful to have a invest in accessibility, but the goal is to highlight that every person deserves dignity and a chance to explore ways to build a purposeful life based on what they can do and based on their personal values.

So, when we invest in accessibility, recognize that disability and neurodiversity is part of the human condition and that anybody can figuratively or literally fall into either the either of those categories, it's better for all of us. Thank you. >> [applause]