Knowing where someone is coming from with an uncomfortable question is essential.
Transcription:
Hi, I am JoyGenea, international neurodiversity coach. One of the things I lead my clients on and we have some definite important conversations is about bias. There can be workplace bias, there can just be general social bias situations that come up, circumstances that arise where somebody is, um, undereducated or aware of neurodiversities and says or does something that may cause you to feel emotionally hurt and that’s valid, you get to feel that way, but I highly recommend that you don’t always react that way instantly, you learn and gain a little more knowledge on where that’s coming from, and so, is someone’s bias coming from a lack of education and just this is all they know, or is it coming from a place of wanting to instigate a row with you, bully you, put you down, like is it coming from that negative space or is it just coming from an I don’t know space? I know, I hope a majority of my biases, when they come out, come from just plain out flat out ignorance, and I very much appreciate when other people recognize that and help me and educate me on growing in those manners, because we all have biases. Don’t pretend you don’t, maybe you just haven’t run into them recently but if people are kind and gracious to you, they will point them out also and help you work through them.
So, this was a situation that happened recently, I was at a community event, I was helping out, my head was in the refrigerator, somebody had asked what my job title was, I had explained, a national neurodiversity coach, they were like, “Oh what is neurodiversity?” I explained, you know dyslexia, ADHD, autism, twice gifted people, that is who I hang out with and coach all day, and their response was, “Well isn’t that fixed in school? Like doesn’t dyslexia like just go away?” And I went- but my head was in the fridge, so I didn’t see them and I thought, “Oh, is that a joke? Like, did they say that to be mean or what was going on?” And so, I knew, don’t respond stand up, turn around, brought over the stuff I was digging out and then asked them to repeat that, I said “My head was in the fridge, I didn’t hear what you said, sorry about that.” And they repeated it and I went “Oh,” and I could totally tell from their body language like this was just their belief and so that tells me oh they probably just don’t know anything different, and I got to have an awesome conversation about that, so and if they are not coming from that space of kindness, right a lack of education, that is the perfect time to use the winner acronym, highly recommend you check that out, it is in my article this week about that, with this topic completely, but one of the key points of that is– you don’t engage and you walk away with confidence, and that is another thing, if you are being bullied if you’re being harassed for your neurodifferences, your different thinking, take a deep breath and walk away. You do not have to engage in that. You are better than that. You are incredible.
So, I’m JoyGenea, thanks for joining me and check in next time.