Episode 231: Trans and ADHD inclusion at work – with Trystan Reese

The episode transcript is below.

Carolyn Kiel: Welcome to Beyond 6 Seconds, the podcast that goes beyond the six second first impression to share the extraordinary stories of neurodivergent people. I’m your host, Carolyn Kiel.

Carolyn Kiel: On today’s episode I’m speaking with Trystan Reese, an award-winning author and facilitator dedicated to diversity, equity, and inclusion with nearly two decades of experience in the trans community. He also has ADHD and identifies as neurodivergent.

His acclaimed book How We Do Family was released in 2021, and he co-authored the children’s book, The Light of You, with his partner, Biff Chaplow. A Lambda Literary Fellow, Trystan’s storytelling gained attention through a viral performance of The Moth Mainstage, which was featured in the 2024 anthology, The Moth Presents: A Point of Beauty.

Trystan founded Collaborate Consulting to provide training on LGBTQ+ inclusion and has contributed to various anthologies on mental health and social justice. Trystan lives in Portland, Oregon with Biff and their three children, Riley, Sully, and Leo. Trystan, welcome to the podcast.

Trystan Reese: Such a long intro. I can’t believe I made you do that. I’m so sorry.

Carolyn Kiel: There was so much good information to include. It was, you know, I wanted to definitely share it all at the beginning. So I am so excited to learn more about your experience, you know, as an entrepreneur with ADHD and growing up with ADHD and being trans and your speaking and all of that.

I’d love to know more about how did you realize that you have ADHD?

Trystan Reese: You know, when I was a kid, that was the joke. It was the eighties and nineties. I’m not blaming my parents. It’s ableist in retrospect, but everyone always joked, oh, Trystan has ADD, you know?

But I did try to get assessed and I was diagnosed as not having ADHD when I was a kid, which as we know is pretty typical as a transgender person. You know, I was a young girl at the time. That’s how the world saw me. And we know it’s pretty typical for girls to be underdiagnosed. And so I think both through masking as well as, I think they did the ADHD assessment, like a grown up one on one with me asking me questions, which doesn’t make any sense because if it’s a one on one situation, like I can focus for hours, you know? In a big classroom setting, not so much.

So I was diagnosed as not having it very early on. It wasn’t until my eldest son was diagnosed with ADHD when he was maybe nine or ten. And I was like, no problem. We’re going to do everything we can to support this kid. I read all these books. And I was like, oh no! I thought this is how everyone’s brain worked! I think I might have ADHD too. And so I went to a psychiatrist and, you know, he had a conversation with me. He tried to have me take the little test, the like, you know, the form. Rate yourself one through five. I got about halfway through it and he was like, Trystan, I’m going to stop you right now. I can go ahead and diagnose you with ADHD, like you don’t even need to finish the form.

So I was an adult diagnosed ADHDer, which again is not uncommon for women and, and a lot of transgender people who presented as, as girls or young women and got skipped over.

Carolyn Kiel: it’s really interesting. I hear so many stories when I talk to particularly people who are autistic and have ADHD or, or have ADHD that a lot of times they discover their own diagnoses when their children are getting diagnosed. So it’s a really interesting process that way. Yeah.

And a lot of those biases and just ways that our understanding has changed of ADHD really impact you know. Back in the 80s and 90s, it was, it was very different also. So yeah, big changes since then.

What was it like growing up with ADHD that you didn’t realize that you had or maybe joked about or thought you might and, and trans, you know, at the same time?

Trystan Reese: Yeah, I mean, at least the ADHD part, so much of my life makes sense in retrospect looking at it through that lens. But truly, because I didn’t have the language, I didn’t have the diagnosis, I didn’t have the community support. I just thought I was lazy or stupid or undisciplined, that was the big thing, you know, and I was just told, well, you have such, you have such potential, you know, oh, you’re so smart and it’s being wasted. Why can’t you just blank? And again, was eighties and 90s. So nobody ever thought to sit me down and say, okay, well, if you have a test coming up. How could you plan for that? If you have a paper coming up, I just didn’t have the prefrontal cortex, the executive functioning do any of that.

And I was able to skate by, just by like, if you give me a test, I can prove I know the work. And so I was able to get an A on the test. I just didn’t do any of the classwork. Or frequently when I’m doing trainings, I’ll try to explain to people, you know, like the student’s nightmare where you show up and you’re like, people often have a dream where you show up in class and the teacher’s like, and here’s the test! Or like, where’s the final paper? And you’re like, what final paper? That was my entire life. And often for people with ADHD, that was our entire educational careers is showing up in a classroom and having a teacher say, turn in your final and you’re like, what final? Because my brain just wasn’t able to hold on to any of those details.

And so I, I really truly struggled and thought, I guess my brain is just broken. You know, I, I was going to fail out of high school and I ended up testing out when I was 15, because there’s the option to take a high school equivalency exam. It was, I think, intended for people who would like to go into the military at 16 instead of 18, but I found this loophole and I just literally tested out and was like, okay, good. I don’t have to do that.

I went to college and I failed at college as well. And it was like, Oh shoot, what am I going to do? I eventually went to performing arts conservatory and I got straight A’s for all both years, including the academic courses. And I was like, wait a minute. Okay. Okay, if I genuinely care about something, if the interest is there, if the dedication and passion is there, I could stay up studying all night. I have no problem wrangling my stupid brain to do this thing, and I use that word of course in quotes, in a tongue in cheek way. So with the diagnosis later on, it made a lot more sense and I wish that I had had it earlier so that I could have had some resources and tools in place. Does that make sense?

Carolyn Kiel: Yeah, it does. And having that sort of intense interest, it makes it easier, I think, for a lot of people who have ADHD to, to focus. You know, it’s sort of like a very deep focus a lot of times or sometimes when you’re really interested in a particular topic.

Trystan Reese: Absolutely, yeah, Shakespeare became my special interest. I had no problem writing papers and studying and memorizing the soliloquy or whatever.

But you did ask about that intersection with my trans identity. I’m old in trans years. So I didn’t even come out as trans until I was 20. And so I didn’t have that intersectional experience growing up other than, you know, I wasn’t, you know, living my life as a young boy and a young man. And so I think I, like many people perceived as girls got passed over when they were thinking about neurodivergence and why I might have been struggling the way that I was. Yeah. And so I think now the, oh, that, the, the intersection really.

And the other intersection I think about as an adult at least is around my values. And we talked about this a little bit before we started recording, but you know, as a man, a transgender man, but a man, you know, I don’t to interrupt women when I’m on a Zoom call with them. And as someone with ADHD, I am commonly interrupting the people in my life! And so I have to develop these systems and structures so that my neurodivergence doesn’t butt up against my values and cause me to do something that’s not in alignment with my values. As a white person, I don’t want to interrupt or talk over people of color. So on mute, I put myself on mute on zoom whenever I’m not talking. And that’s how I make sure that I am not doing that. Does that make sense?

Carolyn Kiel: It does. And you mentioned you don’t want to interrupt women, as a man, but I guess growing up you know, assigned female at birth as someone who probably was interrupting a lot due to ADHD, do you see people sort of either treat you or view that differently as a trans man versus someone who was growing up as a young girl?

Trystan Reese: Absolutely. Yeah, because there is, you know, as a man, I’m stepping into this current in the culture, which, you know, like the, the analogy of, you know, water has these ebbs and flows and tides under the surface sometimes. And as a man, there is a long history, a rich and sordid history of men talking over, interrupting, taking credit for women’s ideas. And so as I, you know, transitioned and became what the world would see as a man, I step into that current and I have to be aware of it. So absolutely. The same thing I assume if I was person of color, I would be much less conscientious about interrupting, speaking over other people of color. No, I’m a white person, you know, so I have to be keenly aware of this dynamic that exists that I’m stepping into. And, you know, it’s, it’s not my responsibility. It’s not my fault, I guess, but it is problem. You know, I didn’t do it and here I am and I just, I’m so keenly aware of not wanting to replicate those problematic things. Yeah, absolutely.

Carolyn Kiel: interesting. Yeah. And it’s good to be aware of those currents in society and kind of how the things are kind of structured.

Yeah. You do a lot of different things as part of your company, but one of the things you do is that you’re an ADHD coach. So what inspired you to start providing coaching for specifically people with ADHD?

Trystan Reese: You know, honestly, as with most things, it was, it felt kind of random. It was, I was already doing some consulting work with an organization. And I had done a training on neurodiversity with this organization. And they came to me and said, we have someone with ADHD who’s been put on a performance improvement plan. They’ve asked for one on one coaching as part of the performance improvement process. Is that something you’d be willing to do? And I really spent a couple of days feeling into it, you know. As with many neurodivergent people, I struggle uniquely with imposter syndrome. So how dare I, if I don’t have any special certifications, if I’m not a licensed coach of whatever kind, do I have any right? You know? But I think eventually I just felt that this is organization, they know me, they know my work. I have all these models for self awareness, for self advocacy, for adaptation. Maybe I could bring it a coaching container, you know? And I started that conversation and it went great! And the feedback I got from that person was, this was amazing. All the adaptive skills that I learned growing up, not having the tools and the diagnosis, now seen through a healthier lens, absolutely are frameworks I can teach people.

And so I have the, the, the three A’s of ADHD coaching that I do, and it’s really wonderful and gratifying to hold space with people. And at the end of every single session, I tell every single one of my coaching clients, there is nothing wrong with you. And there’s, I don’t know what it is about that phrase. But hearing that another person when you’re neurodivergent, and especially if you’re struggling at work, hear someone say, you are not broken, you are not defective, your brain just works differently, and we’re gonna harness those differences together. It’s, you know, it’s, it feels good to feel like I’m having an impact.

Carolyn Kiel: And it’s kind of a full circle moment because when you were sharing your own story you often felt growing up that your brain just didn’t work the way it was supposed to, you know, until you realized that you had ADHD. So now you’re able to do that for other people in terms of pointing that out to them and giving them that reassurance that like, no, you can succeed, you just have to use, you know, you have to use different techniques and you can help them through that.

Trystan Reese: Yeah, I mean, I appreciate you saying that. I’ve never really thought about it, but it did feel like the world was telling me in so many ways, what is wrong with you? You know? Like there is something wrong with you! And so to be able to sort of soothe the nervous systems of other people. And you know, I’m a parent as well. And so not in a paternalistic way, but I hope I bring some good, healthy dad energy to the coaching, you know, to be like, I’m proud of you. Sometimes that’s a tool that I try to use and that people, some people do appreciate.

Carolyn Kiel: That’s great. And in your coaching, do you have like specific recommendations that you give broadly, or do you work with people individually to find out what help, what’s the most helpful for them?

Trystan Reese: It’s really tailored, you know, and in fact, I did a session yesterday. And the, the, like the first part of any coaching is building self awareness. That’s the first A is awareness. Because some people really struggle with rejection sensitivity, right? But not everyone. And so I’ll ask someone like, tell me what happens when in your body, when someone brings forward feedback for you, even like if it’s very well intentioned and if they’re bringing it out of love, like how does that land typically? You know, so I’m helping them map what is unique to them. Do you struggle with side questing: when you’re supposed to be doing a big task, but instead you get distracted with some little task that nobody ever needed or asked you to do? You know, so I’m helping build that self awareness.

And then based on that awareness, we then start to shift into advocacy, self advocacy, which is the second A, which is then how do you get what you need to help mitigate some of these things? What can you ask for? And frequently the neurodivergent people that I work with, and myself, we really struggle with that. We want to make ourselves fit into the system, often at great cost to ourselves. And so helping, I do a lot of scripting, so I give people very specific words and phrases that they can use to ask for what they need in order to be successful. Sometimes even, like, saying it out loud or hearing it out loud, they’re like, Oh! That seems very reasonable, you know, to say, would you mind sending me the agenda for that meaning ahead of time? That sounds very reasonable when I say it out loud. The people that I coach, sometimes I think in their head, that sounds like cuckoo bananas bonkers and nobody would ever say yes to that, you know? So the scripting really, really helps get out of your head of what seems unreasonable. And then I say it out loud and they’re like, Oh yeah, that sounds normal. I could say that. So that’s a big part of it.

Carolyn Kiel: And then I think though, because the first two A’s, what’s the third A

Trystan Reese: The third A is adaptation. And I think that’s frequently where I see coaches go first, or like tools online. It’s frequently about like, how can you change to fit a neurotypical world? And I’m like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. We’re not going to start there. We’re going to be like, Hey, what makes you special and unique? B, how can you get what you need to really leverage the special and unique things about yourself and get rid of some of the barriers or the distractions? And then C, yes, okay, fine. Not every system can adapt to you. What are some unique strategies that we can employ to help you stay engaged in those long Zoom meetings? I can teach you some adaptive strategies tailored to your specific needs but I want to go there last because that’s frequently what we’re asked do is how do we sand down the pokey parts of ourselves to make others feel comfortable. And I’m less interested in that. I’m more interested in how can the pokey parts serve all of us and how can I get better at accepting them?

Carolyn Kiel: And that is one of the things about being a neurodivergent adult is that a lot of times we grow up in these rigid systems, like, you know, school, there’s only, you don’t have a lot of agency as a kid in school or a kid anywhere, like a lot of people don’t. But then when you get to an adult, sometimes you don’t realize like, oh, I don’t have to follow exactly every single thing. I don’t have to do it exactly the same way. I have a little bit of flexibility to, you know, ask for that agenda ahead of time. Like, not everybody needs it, but it’s not a huge deal to ask for it. It’s a reasonable request. So kind of getting people in that mindset and helping them realize that can be really

Trystan Reese: Or even when I realize, like, when I go on a date with my partner, like, it is okay for me to say, “my darling love, I would really like to be able to focus on what saying. Can we switch seats? Because the seat that I’m sitting in is facing the TV screen. It’s very distracting for That is like a normal, appropriate, fine thing to ask. And no normal person, quote unquote, no healthy person you want to be in a relationship with would be offended or hurt or judge you for that.

Like, I mean, like I use that example ad hoc, like off the cuff, and when I was doing an ADHD training. And like half of the room was all ADHD people. Half the rooms’ minds were blown. They’re like, you can just ask for that? I’m like, yeah, you can just ask for that. Did that sound bonkers when I said it? And everyone’s like, no. And I was like, yeah, you can just say, is it okay we switch seats so I can focus on you?

Just the most basic things, to your point, having grown up in these rigid systems, we feel like can’t ask. And in most cases we can, as long as we’re not weaponizing our neurodivergence on other people,

Carolyn Kiel: Absolutely. So yeah, so you do a lot of work in the workplace with people who are neurodivergent, including ADHD. I’m curious to get your thoughts on what workplace inclusion really looks like for, I guess we can talk about neurodivergent people or maybe specifically people with ADHD because neurodivergence is so big. And, and also, you know because especially the times we’re in here in the United States, what workplace inclusion looks like for trans employees.

Trystan Reese: Yeah, well, to answer the first one, when I go into a situation, like I do some conflict resolution, I do a lot of coaching, where like there’s been an issue, I can work one on one with the manager, I can work one on one with the employee who has, who’s neurodivergent, and then kind of bridge the gaps there.

My fantasy going in, and when it works well, is when it feels like each person is on either side of like a river, and we’re building a bridge and meeting in the middle, right? And so as neurodivergent people, we’re not always going to be able to expect the system to adapt fully to what we want. So we should be willing to say, Oh yeah, I can find a way to do that.

Like if we’re not going to get an agenda ahead of time, like I can accept that. And do I have the option to then send my notes in afterwards because the brainstorm doesn’t work for me or whatever it is. That’s actually more of an autism example than an ADHD example, but you get my drift.

Similarly, you know, an employer may feel like, you know, we really do need people that be in the office five days a week. Okay. Because of how distracting the open office is, this person should, should be allowed other opportunities, Well then they can work from home half of the time.

So we’re thinking about like, and I don’t think about it as compromise, but I think about like, how can we adapt to each other and create something new? And so I think at best, that’s when things go well.

There are some best practices I teach businesses, of course. There’s some best practices I teach neurodivergent people, of course. And I think what’s best is when we’re both willing to say, okay, well, that’s my fantasy and I’m really willing to give you this thing because I know that’s going to help, you know?

And so I, I think about that mental image of meeting, meeting in the middle of the bridge. Questions about that or do you want me to flip over to the trans inclusion piece because that’s like a literally a completely different thing.

Carolyn Kiel: It’s no, that’s a very, very different. Yeah. So, and that’s interesting because that’s really how like conversations about things like workplace accommodation should go ideally is like that sort of meeting in the middle. Kind of finding that fix that works. So it, for someone who’s really distracted in an open office environment, it may not be possible for them to work from home, but maybe they can work in a quieter space or maybe they can work with like some ear protection or something. It’s like that whole conversation is, is really critical. So yeah, that, that totally fits in line with that. Makes a lot of sense.

Trystan Reese: I’ll also say, I think particularly for people who are newly diagnosed and, you know, there’s a lot of science around the sort of developmental stages of identity, you know, the sort of different stages you go through as you’re coming to terms with a new identity. There is certainly a stage which is normal. It is natural. Like it’s just how our brains work where we can be quite defensive. You know, when we, when we do expect the systems to change to suit us and our needs. And so that’s, that’s a big thing is I, I do have to work with a lot of managers to say, yeah, just because someone has ADHD doesn’t mean that they can no longer be held accountable for their actions or that they don’t have any deadlines to have to pay attention to, you know?

And again, same thing if someone says, well, I have rejection sensitivity. Okay, the people on your team need to be able to give you feedback. So what do you need in order to be able to receive that feedback well? Right? It can’t be an off ramp. And I see both neurodivergent people sometimes taking that off ramp and I see managers letting them do it. Like, “well, I can’t hold them accountable because they have ADHD.” Okay, hold on. Let’s back up. People still have to be able to do their jobs. And what can we find? How can we adapt to each other so that the deadlines are met, you know, those other things can happen because they, they do have to.

Carolyn Kiel: Yeah. No, absolutely. Yeah. So, yeah. And I guess it would be good to flip to the other issue and then kind of understand more about what inclusion in the workplace looks like for trans people. Like how, how can workplaces support them? How can their coworkers, allies, cisgender allies support them?

Trystan Reese: Yeah. Well, I think the, an interesting transition from the neurodivergence to the trans topic is I’m still, the jury’s still out on whether the attacks on DEI, quote unquote, are going to also hit neurodivergent efforts. I just don’t know yet. It’s so early on. But certainly trans inclusion has hit the chopping block. And so what I’m seeing, and again, it is early on, but what I’m seeing is a lot of pre compliance. A lot of organizations who did not have to cancel their LGBT employee resource group doing it proactively, just in case. And from a business sense, I can understand you don’t want to be targeted, of course. Like, no one wants to be targeted.

But on the other hand, I think we do historically see that this is sort of how things get really bad is when people start complying before they even have to, or have been asked to. It does create and enforce an environment of fear.

But my work as a transgender small business owner and facilitator, like it’s almost completely dried up. And I think even the work that I do that’s not transgender specific, I do get the sense that people feel that even having a trans person talk about neurodiversity, could that make them a target? And again, on one hand, I understand no one wants to be targeted, on the other hand, it’s kind of time for people to say, where’s the line and can we go all the way up to it?

And I’m not saying anybody should fall on their sword, which is, you know another analogy meaning to sacrifice yourself. Like, you don’t have to do that. And we could sure use some help right about now!

Carolyn Kiel: Yeah.

Trystan Reese: We could sure use some help. Things are not great for trans people right now.

Carolyn Kiel: And in part of what you were saying is whether the neurodivergent community will be spared or, or passed over. The thing is there are so many connections between these communities. And, you know, there’s the lawsuit now around Section 504, which started as an attack on trans people, drags the whole disability community into it. It’s like, oh yeah, we’re getting rid of your rights too. Like, wait a minute, like you’re saying, like, it’s, you know… and it’s bad on its own just as an attack against trans people. It’s literally like that poem. It’s like, you’re not going to be safe for very long, like no one, you know, at all. So start paying attention. And as you said, start deciding where you want to be on that line, how close you want to get to it. And just start thinking about what, what’s important to you. So it’s, yeah.

Trystan Reese: Yeah, and I, I do often encourage people, you know, I do a lot of allyship trainings and you know, one of the core things I think is to be really clear about where is your sphere of influence? You know, where can you make an impact? For some people it’s in your family. Great! Talk to your kids about what’s happening. You know, like the good and bad news is transphobia is everywhere. Same as ableism. It’s everywhere. We need people in their homes talking to their kids. We need teachers in classrooms. We need business leaders. Whatever your sphere of influence is, we need you there. And that’s where you can make the biggest impact, is where you have the influence. What I see is when people try to go outside of that, when they end up stuck on Twitter or wherever, it’s so draining on our resources, the “spoons,” you know, to use an analogy from the disability justice movement. We’ve only got so many. Even those of us, you know, if, if, if it’s appropriate to think about that for outside of a chronic illness context. We do all, each of us have a finite amount of energy and if we waste it, letting it drain down, you know, the toxic cesspool of social media or whatever, unless that’s a sphere of influence for us, for some of us it is, getting super clear if you are a decision maker about trainings or leadership development or whatever. Can a trans person come in and do the Brene Brown work? Guess what? That’s me. I’m a trans person who’s certified to do Brene Brown work, you know? And so thinking about that intersectional lens when you’re making decisions that could, could really impact our community right

Can you say more about 504? Is everyone going to know what that means?

Carolyn Kiel: Oh, probably I should. Yeah, it’s something that’s going on right now. So when this airs, I don’t know what the status will be of it. But basically there is a lawsuit from 17 states. The lawsuit is called Texas versus Becerra, I don’t know if I’m pronouncing that right.

But basically it’s looking at removing gender dysphoria as a protected definition of disability, something that gets protections like that. But the thing is, there’s also language on page 30 something of that legal briefing that says specifically that we don’t need Section 504.

And what Section 504 is, it’s basically one of the early disability justice rights that was earned by disability rights activists which created requirements for anyone receiving government funding to be accessible to disabled people. So it’s like schools and hospitals and medical treatments. So it was a significant thing that the disability rights activists had to really fight for.

It took a long time for the media to kind of catch on, but a lot of the disability influencers were bringing the call to be like, hey, this lawsuit is more than it looks like, this is a very bad thing, if it passes, this will impact a lot of people in the United States. So yeah, unfortunately, you know, a lot of trans attacks kind of get bundled in with other attacks on other people. And you know, again, they’re bad enough on their own, but no one, no one is protected. You’re not, you’re not safe just because you’re not trans, or you’re not safe because you don’t know anyone who’s trans. You know, unfortunately, in these times, I don’t think it matters, like, there’s still danger, you still have to be concerned and aware of what’s going on.

Trystan Reese: Absolutely. I mean, I remember early discussions when I was coming out as trans, there was a push to remove gender dysphoria from the DSM, the diagnostic criteria through which someone can be diagnosed with a mental health condition and then can access gender affirming care. And, you know, there were discussions about, should we remove it? You know, should we push as a community to sort of de medicalize it? And it’s interesting because there were two pushbacks. One was the disability justice community said, what’s wrong with mental illness?

You know, the framing is, well, we, we’re trans, we’re not crazy. That’s the message that was subtly being sent or not so subtly being sent by the push to have it taken out of the DSM. And it was really wonderful for the disability justice community to come to us and say, you know, this is really problematic. This push that you’re, you’re, you know, the idea of like, you want to separate yourself from, from us. You know, from the mental health world and that we took really seriously.

And then the other push was from Canadians who were like, look, we have socialized medicine up here. Gender identity disorder or gender identity dysphoria being in the DSM, that’s how we access our transition related care. So like in solidarity with us, can you please not do that? And so for those two reasons, people have often as particularly allies, you know, non transgender people would ask me, well, why? Why is it in the DSM? Why is it considered a mental illness? And I’m like, Oh, I know why! You know, and it’s those two reasons. And so I think there’s a good history of trans folks acting in solidarity with the disability justice movement and, you know, vice versa as well. And so I think you’re right. They’re interconnected in many, many ways.

Carolyn Kiel: So, yeah, I mean, as you were referring to before , we only have so many spoons or so much bandwidth if you’re on social media and, you know, it’s draining to see everything and just be like super, super aware of like every horrible thing that anyone says or anything that’s, you know, going through legislation or like, it’s, I feel like all of humankind, our brains, no matter who you are, we’re not built to handle that much information and it’s overwhelming. And in some ways it’s, it’s purposely overwhelming. Like that’s kind of the point. But you know, it’s a good reminder to kind of step back and you can still have an influence as, as an individual person, as an employer, as you know, really as part of a business. You can do, even if they’re small things, even if it’s like, I don’t know, calling your representatives about things and, and telling them what’s important to you on certain issues or, I don’t know, just getting involved in your community, in your local community and, and making connections with individual people. There are still things we can do that seem small, but if enough of us are, are doing them, it, it has, it has a big impact. It really does. And we should be doing more

It’s a whole lot to think about, so I, I appreciate you helping to talk through and explore all of these, all these different issues and circumstances.

Carolyn Kiel: Yeah, so, Trystan, how can people get in touch with you if they want to learn more about the work that you do?

Trystan Reese: Yeah, well, you mentioned social media. I’m not on there much anymore. But certainly, the consulting firm I run is called Collaborate Consulting. And that’s just www. collaborate. consulting. And that’s where I do, you know, I run my neurodiversity trainings through there. I also do training specifically for managers on how to lead neurodiverse teams.

I don’t have autism and so I’m not autistic. And so I have an incredible co facilitator who joins me for those sessions that are more broad, about neurodiversity in general. Anything that’s ADHD specific, I do.

And I’m not sure when this will come out, but I’ll at the Neurodiversion Conference in Austin at the end of March. So I’m excited about that. First conference of its kind, I think. And so I’m excited to go. My favorite training I ever did was a room full of ADHDers. Best training, I thought I had a personality. I don’t. I just have a neurotype! I’m just ADHD all the way down! And I was in a room full of all my people and it was amazing! Yes, we, people were like raising their hands, calling things out. It was so much fun. It was so much fun. So yeah, people can catch me there as well.

Carolyn Kiel: Yeah. As we close out, is there anything else that you’d like our listeners to know or anything that they can help or support you with right now?

Trystan Reese: Well, again, I’m, you know, my kids won’t listen to this and so I can officially say: I’m not any of yours’ Dad, but if you need to hear it, I’m proud of you and there’s nothing wrong with you.

Carolyn Kiel: Thank you. Yeah. Those words are really powerful. It’s good to hear.

Carolyn Kiel: Thanks for listening to Beyond 6 Seconds. Please help me spread the word about this podcast. Share it with a friend, give it a shout out on your social media, or write a review on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast player. You can find all of my episodes and sign up for my free newsletter at Beyond6seconds.net. Until next time.