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Diversity Affirmation

Living my values.
Drawing of a silhouette of a person, with the word "diversity" printed all over the screen in different fonts and colours.

Diversity Commitment

I strive to create an environment where you feel safe and welcome as you are.

An environment where you have sovereignty, choice, and can advocate for your needs.

Where you can communicate and be understood in whatever form that takes.

I value diversity, inclusion, equity, accessibility, anti-oppression, and compassion.

I welcome people of all abilities, diagnoses (or lack thereof), ethnicity, race, gender and gender identity, sex and sexual orientation, age, methods of communication, body size and shape, traumas, social and economic status, spiritual and religious practice, country of origin, citizenship, geography, military status, and other areas of human experience.

Neuodiversity Affirmatitive​ Commitment to Practice

I commit to follow, to the very best of my ability, these signposts of a respectful practitioner inspired by the Therapist Neurodiversity Collective International:

  • We presume competence
  • We offer alternative and augmentative communication methods
  • We advocate for self-determination
  • We advocate for inclusion
  • We facilitate self-advocacy skills
  • We do not support ABA practice or any methodologies that teach compliance
  • We take a strengths-based approach
  • We respect each client’s autonomy
  • We respectfully appreciate intersectionality in both ourselves and our clients and work to unpack any privilege we may have
  • We are actively anti-racist
  • We are LGBTQIA+ affirmative
  • We actively seek out Continuing Professional Development (CPD), research, and learnings from neurodivergent adults
  • We use identity-first language while respecting individual clients’ preferences

Gender and Sexuality Inclusivity

I welcome people of all genders, sexualities, or current states of exploration of your personal experience. I am comfortable with and welcome trans, non-binary, gender non-conforming, agender, ace, aro, lesbian, gay, queer, autigender, neuroqueer, and other gender marginalized humans, as well as cishet humans.

Healing from Whiteness

In regards to race and ethnicity, I reject the idea of “color-blind” and instead want to live in a “color rich” world, where each experience helps to weave a tapestry of strength and love. 

To be able to do this, I regularly read, listen to, and learn from Black anti-racism activists. I am actively working to understand more deeply, to be trauma sensitive, and to root out white supremacy and colonial ideologies from my own thinking and actions, in order to be as inclusive and humane as possible.

Land Acknowledgment

The land that I live and work on is the traditional homeland of the Omaha, Ponca, Ioway, Otoe, Missouri, and the Sauk and Fox tribes. I acknowledge that I am the beneficiary of both the irrevocable damage done to them and their current inequities. 

I honor the ways they have managed to endure, persevere, and thrive, and try to listen to their voices and stories.

It is my hope that the work I do becomes one small step in the direction of dismantling the thought patterns that lead people to hurt and oppress each other.

Putting this into Practice

As a white-owned company, I’m going to miss seeing things that would be obvious to someone with different experiences. When you see me missing something important, or when I don’t live up to my very lofty ideals, please let me know, and (if you are open to this and have the capacity) help me to understand how to make it better for you.

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