Okay, welcome to the AdaptX podcast where we
have conversations with individuals building
accessible businesses advocating for inclusion
or excelling in adaptive sports. Today I'm joined
by Lacey Artemis, a neurodiversity and accessibility
advocate, consultant and speaker from Toronto,
Canada. She's passionate about helping people
and focuses on helping organizations, venues
and event organizers adapt their systems, spaces
and experiences to be more neuro -inclusive.
Lacey, thanks for joining me. I'd like to start
with maybe how you pursued this career combination
of personal and professional experiences. But
what were you particularly interested in growing
up? I have changed a lot since I was a kid. So
I am kind of in a whole different world now than
I was. I was diagnosed with I was diagnosed as
autistic in my late 20s, so I kind of lived most
of my adult life knowing I was different, but
not knowing why until I found that. When I was
younger, I always knew that I was creative and
I tried to go to college for design and I loved
the classes that I was taking, the things I was
learning, but the professors made it pretty clear
that It's really hard to make a living to support
yourself as like a professional artist and they
were not wrong. So from a lot of the things that
they were saying, I was like, okay, I don't want
to end up hating this. I don't want to be miserable
and broke my whole life. So I went, I switched
tracks and I went and got like a safe job. I
got a, I went into accounting, which worked well
with my autism. I did that for a long time, but
I was never really like happy in it. It was just
like, I'm good at this and it pays the bills.
So, you know, it's the quote unquote good enough
job. But I just knew that I was capable of more
and I wanted to do more. And last year in 2024,
I finally broke away from that field. And I'd
started to notice over the last few years that,
like, I have sensory issues as a lot of neurodivergent
people do. And I was frustrated that a lot of
venues and a lot of events were just completely
not, like, conscious or considerate of that at
all. So there'd be, like, music playing at a
social event, and, like, how am I supposed to
talk to people and meet them and get to know
them when I have to, like, yell to hear them?
And, like, you know, different things with, like,
lighting or scents or other things, like, it
just started to get really frustrating. And I
was like, somebody needs to do something about
this. Well, I guess I am somebody. I guess I
could do something about it. So I started to
plan and run my own events with that in mind
of finding venues that were quiet and that were
good lighting, not too bright, not too dim, and
scent -free and all these different things. I
found out that running events itself is very
difficult to make money from as well, but then
going further down that rabbit hole, I've gotten
into advocacy and consulting, and that's a whole
realm that I've stumbled into that I'm really
like, there's a lot to dig into there. So it's
exciting. Yeah. Yeah. A few different directions
and a few different kinds of things that came
to mind as, as you were responding there, um,
maybe before we dive into the career piece, cause
I think that will probably take up the bulk of
the conversation and what you do now and how
you make events more inclusive. Uh, what originally
Encouraged or led you to seek out a diagnosis
in your late twenties and maybe how did getting
that label change things for you? Yeah, so it's
I still I still feel like whenever I tell it
like when I I was aware of Autism loosely because
you know, everyone kind of knows a brain man
or I don't know if big bang theory was on TV
at that time or not, but. there was some cultural
awareness of it but it was one very specific
stereotype and I didn't identify with that because
it was like portraying a really extreme version
of autism and there's a lot of people that are
like have much lower support needs and are much
more functional kind of day -to -day can mask
more easily so I just stumbled upon an article
on the internet one day and I was reading it
and I was like why do I identify with so much
of this? Like I have no idea where this has been.
And so I kind of, you know, the way that autistic
people tend to be, we find a thing that catches
our interest and then it becomes like nothing
else matters. This is all I'm going to care about
for, you know, however long. And so I really
dove into that and I went and saw my doctor and
he referred me and I got assessed and diagnosed
and The biggest thing was just like, okay, so
this explains my quirks and why I am the way
that I am. And it kind of helps people understand
what my sort of needs are and these different
things. And I didn't mention this in the introduction
because there's so many things to say, but I
did have to mask it work. And I was kind of consistently
told whenever the topic came up, it was like,
don't disclose because more than likely it's
going to be used against you. or it's gonna you're
gonna get discriminated or you're gonna get held
back or whatever and I didn't want that obviously
so I just did my best to suck it up and be quiet
and just do my work and you know it took a lot
out of me to do all that masking and it got to
the point where I couldn't really do that anymore
which is why I left that field but that's kind
of the other part of the consulting idea is not
just around events but I also want to consult
with organizations to help their neurodivergent
staff, because to tie into what you have talked
about on the show before, it shouldn't just be
a matter of thinking like, oh, well, it's a charity
thing. Like, oh, we're being nice to our neurodivergent
staff. Like, if you actually support them, because
we're capable of quite better output, faster
output, more quality output, when we're supported
properly. And if it falls to us to do that, It's
just not gonna be as good. So yeah, what were
the specific? Strengths that you possess that
made you effective at bookkeeping because I think
that's a good I think that's good evidence of
Leveraging strengths over maybe relative or perceived
weaknesses to perform really well at a specific
job Uh, I like, I mean, I feel like my, my autism
is kind of like this designated driver in my
brain that it's kind of just there, like looking
over things. And so I can't help that when I.
Look at, like, if I look at a stack, like I just,
I'm compelled to organize things, which is kind
of weird because I'm also ADHD. And so I'm also
very like kind of organized messy. I'm very creative.
I have like, my ideas get blow up and become
these. you know, disasters in a sense. But like,
ultimately, I gravitate towards making order
out of chaos. And that's like, that's not very
common in the artistic world, which is why it's
always been like, oh, like, I'm the artist friend
that actually can, you know, keep things like
herd the cat, so to speak. I was just good at
it. And it felt good to to do that to an extent.
I mean, like I said, I didn't want to be bookkeeping
forever. It wasn't like a passion. It was just
something I did get some dopamine from being
good at. Yeah, and it's a means to an end, right?
Like sustainability and socioeconomic considerations
are always really relevant for career choice
too. One thing I personally A little bit of friction
point maybe for my gym or my career in the fitness
space and you alluded to it in the first question
is just designing a space that I know isn't going
to be suitable for everyone. You come into my
gym. And the premise of our business is to allow
people with and without disabilities to seamlessly
coexist. But maybe that environment isn't perfect
for everyone and there's music playing and there's
lights. Are there certain environments that maybe
can't be neuro inclusive? Or if you were advising
me on how to make a gym space more accessible
or inclusive for someone like yourself? And I
guess what steps do you think I should take to
better support people with neurodiversity? So
one of the first things that comes to mind, one
of my primary struggles is sound sensitivity,
which I have the double -edged sword of having
both audio auditory processing disorder and tinnitus.
But so I need to like, it's harder for me to
hear to begin with, but because I'm also sensitive
to noise, I tend to wear earplugs. So I'm kind
of like, fighting two opposite fights at the
same time, but whenever I go to venues and they
have like, you know, solid brick walls and they
have all, you know, like the steel beams and
tubes and HVAC system and stuff, like all those
like hard flat surfaces reflect sound like completely.
And when you have like 50 or more people all
talking at once in a space like that, it's just,
it's a frequency nightmare and like, That's the
kind of case where like, I'll be, I can be standing
in a group and I will literally only be able
to hear the people directly beside me and no
one else because it's just, there's too much
and I can't filter it. And that's the thing I
think I've run into the most often is just environments
that are too loud. And there's like no consideration.
Like I know like most people like music and I
get that then you want to have music playing
because it's going to be, you know, A lot of
people don't like silence, which is unfortunate.
But it's just a thing that I know that a lot
of people don't even think twice about. And it's
really frustrating to walk into a space and just
immediately know like, oh, okay, so I'm going
to have to be at like, I'm going to have to be
filtering all these things just to exist in this
space and interact with people and to try to
have this experience. the whole time it's like
eating away at my energy more than anybody else.
And this is why I'm starting to do some research
now because I know it's not just neurodivergent
people that have some struggles. Introverts hate
loud environments too. Introverts aren't necessarily
neurodivergent. They can be, they don't have
to be. So I'm trying to start gathering data
to find out what of these factors can impact
anyone regardless of their neurology. Um, because
I need to be able to bring that data forward
and be like, Hey, I'm not just asking for special
treatment. I'm saying like, this is something
that's affecting the majority of your patrons.
So it's worth thinking about. Yeah. Yeah. So
if you were to come into my gym for the first
time and say, Hey, like Brendan, I'm interested
in joining this gym. Um, I identify as neurodivergent.
I have these sensitivities to sound. I think
my first question would be like, well, one, when
were you hoping to work out? Are you mourning?
middle of the day afternoon. And then for me,
it would be like, okay, well, our gym is pretty
busy first thing in the morning. And then in
the afternoon, it picks back up again. But there's
these quiet periods in the middle of the day.
And you kind of see some other companies, I know
Walmart got a lot of recognition for adding like
sensitivity hours or sensory friendly hours from
like 10 to 12. But those times don't work for
most people shopping if they have a job, et cetera.
So I guess, what would your preference be to
come to the gym when there's really no one else
there? Would you want to come when it is lively,
but maybe you would wear noise canceling headphones
or something along those lines, in which case
then if I was coaching you, we would just have
to come up with a different communication method.
If I'm not able to call across the gym and get
your attention or kind of have a verbal conversation,
maybe. we would have more written communication
or some sort of iPad or assistive technology
type of thing. But yeah, I guess what would make
the gym experience the best for you if you were
to come? So the first thing that comes to mind,
you can correct me if I'm wrong on this, but
I think at this point in time, most people have
their own headphones. They're probably listening
to their own thing when they're working out.
So if there is still going to be music playing
in the broader gym, like it's maybe for the staff
that can't wear headphones because they have
to be able to pay attention to customers or clients,
then one of the things that you could do is have
the general gym music kept to a certain volume
or lower. And alternatively, I would say have
only instrumental or ambient music or something
that doesn't have percussion and vocals, something
that's easier to kind of fall to the background
having potentially a bit more like maybe sound
dampening materials in different places or I
know this one's a little bit more going out of
your way but if you can have like a separate
area or designated area I mean maybe if you have
like if there's like a yoga studio and it's not
currently being used for yoga classes then go
in there have no music in there and just have
that be kind of the space that Um, because I,
I would be most likely to come in kind of first
thing in the morning and I know that's one of
the busiest times. Yeah. Yeah. I think the, maybe
one piece that's a little unique about our gym
is that it is kind of like a training gym. So
pretty much everyone who comes in gets some degree
of coaching, uh, which means actually that not
many of our clients. wear headphones, because
there's more communication between coaches and
clients. So I definitely understand commercial
gym, you go in and everyone's kind of in their
own world doing their own thing. And they're
probably wearing their headphones and all that
stuff. And so in that case, the ambient background
music, stuff like that would definitely be. advisable.
I guess just for me, I struggle with the idea
of wanting to be inclusive, wanting to create
these integrated sessions where people with or
without disabilities can kind of coexist, but
at the same time being considerate of people
that do need maybe one -to -one or do need kind
of an empty gym to be successful. One other small
thing that you could do, it's a very small thing,
it makes a small difference, but if you have
like a large enough space and maybe if you have
the speakers sort of kind of at the midpoint,
but they're pointing distinctly towards one end
of the gym and away from the other, that does
help a little bit because sometimes I go into
a venue and all of the speakers are pointed like
straight down or straight center, so there's
nowhere to go that has like less of that. That
sensory input, but if they're have kind of more,
the back is louder, the front's quiet or something
like that. That's a little thing that can help
suggestion that I have. Do you believe that all
venues and events should be taking these things
into consideration and should be narrow includes
or do you think there's certain. Environments
and activities where it might not be possible.
I know some venues would be harder. Like, I understand,
like, a sports bar, maybe, is a place, like,
I avoid those because they're just typically
too loud. I mean, you can't have a TV on with
the game and, like, they don't have to have the
play -by -play going. People can still watch
it. But I think for, like, places like, just
kind of maybe, like, cafes or, like, again, I
get that people kind of like to have a little
bit of background music on a lot of the time,
but it just, it doesn't have to be as loud or
maybe like, again, speaker orientation, like
direction or having just a little bit more sound
dampening panels or like padded furniture or
things. There are different things that can just
help to soften it a little bit more. But yeah,
I know the sound is the trickier one, I think.
But I think that's Those are good recommendations,
right? Because they're pretty low cost, low,
not very invasive, right? Because I think a lot
of people assume that they have to drastically
overhaul either their services or their environments
if they're going to support a different population
than they were doing beforehand. So I do like
the practicality of those recommendations. I
think one of the other things that comes to mind,
and I'm not an expert in this by any stretch,
but I have been a musician for multiple decades.
And so I do have an understanding of sort of
like the frequency spectrum and I just had it
just popped into my auditory memory of like the
sound of if you're in a cafe and they're running
like a grinding machine to like make an espresso
or something and just it's it's like I know it's
probably not necessarily possible for them to
like you know put some kind of thing around that
but like when you're sitting near the thing if
you're like talking to a friend or on a date
or something and all this is like right next
to you it's like Why? Why do we have to do this?
It's gotta be a better way. Yeah, I think those
small things a lot of businesses can benefit
from, and I think too often they're not considered
because the people that operate them don't really
have the lived experiences. So that's where the
consultancy thing that you mentioned comes into
play. And I was interested when you said you
were hosting events, why you opted to go... your
own events versus working with pre -existing
events to make them more neuro -inclusive. So
maybe could you start with explaining kind of
what the events you hosted were like? And then
maybe I know you're transitioning more into the
consultancy side. So let's maybe talk about what
you do for that. Yeah, so when I kind of first
started, there was this one particular event
that is kind of a social mixer. It's meant to
meet new people, make new connections, find people
that have similar interests and be friends. And
it's unfortunately held in one of those venues
that's all hard flat surfaces and the beams and
the HVAC overhead. So it's just a terrible auditory
Reverb and all that stuff. It's terrible, but
I love the event itself and I said to the organizer
like I've approached event organizers in the
past to like kind of help them work with them
because I wanted to get more into events anyways
and Surprisingly a lot of them have been like,
oh, we don't really need help or like, oh, you
know various, you know polite deflections or
rejections and I kind of was like, okay people
don't seem to really want or need help apparently
so I guess I'm just again, it came back to like,
I'm not getting anywhere by trying to go to other
people. So I think I just need to like, take
initiative and do what I want to do. So I started
with doing a social connection event and. The
venue I used was one of the more affordable ones
I found, and it still wasn't great for. Reverb
and such, but from there, I shifted into doing.
where I call them place based workshops. And
so it's a series of activities. There's like
improv, there's arts and crafts, there's like
just kind of interacting with other people and
kind of like getting to know them a little bit.
So it's kind of a mixture. It's a little bit
of skill building, a little bit of like just
creativity, networking. And like, this is the
sort of thing I want to exist more of because
it doesn't really exist. nearly as much as I
think it should. Um, and so I started doing that
and like, again, if, if I'm doing this and I'm
having these quieter environments and I'm having
these different, like, it's not taking away from
anybody's experience. It's just becoming more
accessible. And that was kind of the, the other
point too, is to give more experience to make
them more accessible. And like I said, I kind
of ran a couple of those and I found it's just
really If you're trying to make your living from
running independent events, at least in this
current time, with our current economic situation
and such, it's not very viable, I don't think.
That's part of why I started shifting towards
consulting. If I'm just focusing on this one
tiny little sliver of accessibility in just certain
kinds of events, that's selling myself short.
I don't know if I answered all your questions.
No, yeah, but I think also as you were speaking,
I was thinking like, so if a business hires you
to make their environment and their experience
more neuro inclusive, they would want to understand
like the value of that investment, I guess. So
being able to articulate to that business, like
these are how many people with various neurodiversities
are not coming to your facility because of this.
And if you make these two small changes, et cetera,
like all these people might be patrons. But then
I think there's going to still be a presumption
from people who are neurodivergent, like sports
bar is not the place for me. So then that sports
bar, I guess, the next challenge or hurdle is
marketing themselves. as neuro -inclusive or
that they're taking these initiatives to be more
inclusive. So I think that's maybe one of the
steps that's sometimes missed is like the promotion
or the invitation of people with disabilities
into facilities after they make those steps.
It's not just like a build it and they will come
type of thing. Like sometimes people with disabilities
need to be invited at least in my experience
because they have these assumptions that these
spaces aren't built for them. Yeah, I can say
from my experience that I'm in a few different
online communities around whether it's just sort
of broadly or. You know, whether it's specifically,
you know, version related, or if it's more just
broadly disabilities slash invisible disabilities.
And there is some talk of, like, I've brought
it up before and other people kind of agree like,
oh, yeah, this, this venue is terrible for. noise
or it's too bright or it's too dark or whatever
and I have been in touch with a couple of other
local organizations to try to start building
a database of what venues I have found that I
like that I think are good or well suited. I'm
in plans to start going to different venues to
kind of broach this more formally and that's
part of why I'm collecting this data because
I want to say like I'm not just trying to ask
for special treatment. I'm trying to like say,
because, you know, there are times like somebody
might come into your gym or come into any business,
just be like, hey, I don't know if you were aware
of this. But like, you might say, you know, your
your website is a broken link on it. You'd be
like, oh, cool. Like, thanks for letting me know.
I didn't know. And I can fix that easily. I can
say like, hey, you know, just just in case you
didn't know, you could implement this one small
little change. It would make it a little bit
better for, you know, 80 percent of your patrons
or something like. I know I have to approach
it that way, or they're just going to be like,
yeah, no, absolutely. Yeah, it's too bad that
you have to advocate for the value of the advocacy.
But it is important, I guess, as I can see both
sides of the coin as a disability advocate, but
also as a business owner, you do have to make
decisions that are in the best interest of the
sustainability of your business, too. You do
a lot of public speaking as well, and I saw one
of your signature talks is labeled fish and trees.
Can you elaborate maybe a bit on where that title
came from and what topics you cover and in that
presentation? Yeah, so that's taken from a quote
that has been attributed to Albert Einstein,
but may or may not have actually arranged. The
quote basically says everyone is a genius, but
if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a
tree. it will live its whole life believing that
it's stupid and the idea there is basically the
first way everyone is a genius everyone has their
talent their their abilities their strengths
but you know we have this thing called the social
model of disability where disabled people aren't
disabled because of their limitation quote unquote
they're disabled because of the way that other
people treat them and what they assume they can
and can't do or tell them that they can and can't
do like a person in a wheelchair can do a lot
of things but if you just have stairs and no
ramp, then you're the one that's limiting them,
not them, it's not their limitation. And so that's
kind of, this is looking more specifically at
the more divergent side of it, but that I've
always loved that quote and just that idea of
like fish in trees is a catchy, it sticks in
people's mind because like, you think why would
a fish be doing a tree? And so I kind of went
with that for now, it may change, but that's
the title that I'm working with right now for
just trying to present this idea to businesses,
organizations of like that idea of everyone has
strengths. Everyone brings something, whether
it's like a skill or whether it's ROI or it's
innovation, you know, team, team mood, like,
you know, like all these things. And it's just
that. these people are just not being if you're
if you're leaving them to support themselves,
you're you're it's it's You're missing an opportunity
essentially and this is a thing that I dealt
with in my own career and part of why I just
got so fed up and I was like I can't deal with
this anymore because my last two jobs they worked
in 15 plus years experience in this field and
I had two jobs in a row where I was treated like
a five -year -old and they didn't care about
my experiences like you're not senior, you're
whatever. And so this is how we're telling you
this has to be done. And it doesn't matter if
I'm saying there's a better way or this is inefficient
or why like, just like, no, this is what we're
telling you, this is how you do it. Don't ask
questions, stop being a pain. Just and it was
like, I, I, I deserve better than this. Like,
what the hell? So it's trying to really put that
idea forward of like, You know, you're saying
it's there is a business case for it. You know,
there's, there's better retention. There's better
productivity innovation. Um, you know, uh, all
these things, there's so many facts and I just,
I have to pull the data together to really drive
that home. Like, I know it, but I just have to
be able to prove it to them. So, um. That yeah,
well, I think the fish and trees is a great title.
I think when you just look at. corporate like
disability erg presentations or just people in
general that do a lot of public speaking. You
pretty much see the same jargon, the same title
is kind of just reworded or recycled. So I think
something that stands out is great. And I think
if you lead with that quote, I think it really
sets the precedent for what. what point you're
trying to get across. So I personally like it.
How do you prepare for your presentations and
kind of what do you hope that the audience gets
from listening to you speak? I prepare usually
by going over a few times to it's partly lived
experience and partly like my own research and
talking to other people. So because I'm speaking
both about my experience and I'm also trying
to represent broader community. And of course,
the disabled community more broadly, because
I do consider myself hard of hearing as well.
And I have an intermittent knee issue that periodically
I have to use a cane or brace for. So I do actually
draw from different forms of disability. So I
try to remember that. And my goal is ultimately
like education to to find the people that, because
as I said when I was younger I was really awkward
and I just, I was very, I didn't have a lot of
friends and I was ignored a lot and so to have
reached the point where I am a strong, confident
speaker and I can give a voice to people that
are not able to advocate for themselves, that's
a thing that I take seriously and I try to use
that. Try to do them justice. So I'm trying to,
like, and there's people that are out in the
crowds. I was just doing something the other
day. It was like, I don't know if it's, if it's
fair for me to like, you know, self -diagnose
and like, that's something to do as well. And
the circles that I run in self -diagnosis is
very welcome because we're gaslit so much in
the society about what we can experience. If
there's people in the crowd who are maybe kind
of doubting or like me back on that article of
like, they didn't know and now that they've heard
someone put these words put this in words like
oh wow okay i need to know more about this because
that resonated with me and you know where's this
been my whole life so um there's just a lot of
opportunity to do good with it and i take that
seriously i'm very honored that i i get to do
this now yeah yeah there might be a little bit
of juxtaposition right because one of the maybe
misconceptions or maybe in many cases, it is
accurate is that individuals with autism or different
levels of neurodivergence might not be strong.
public speakers or have as strong a verbal expressive
language. So for you to be able to, like you
said, kind of not speak on their behalf, but
at least stand up and give the greater community
as a whole a voice is really useful. So was there
a particular presentation or kind of experience
that stands out to you, whether for positive
or negative reasons? So far I've had really positive
responses. I've been kind of refining this because
I, I mean, I've kind of been, I guess, on a path
towards this for years, and it's really coalesced
in the last kind of year, year or two. So now
I'm really getting like a razor focused and like,
you know, like a heat seeking missile for what
I'm really trying to do. And so I've got I've
been working with an agent and got several things
coming up this fall and into next year. So if
we have if we have like, you know, a check back
in a year from now, I sure would have a lot more
stories to share with you. Yeah, I hope we will.
Since a lot of my work does revolve around fitness
and physical activity outside of maybe some of
the stuff that we talked about earlier. Are there
ways that you think the entire Jim experience,
or maybe actually, because it's kind of top of
mind for me right now we're organizing a lot
of road races. Are there ways that we could make
the road race experience if you're familiar with
with attending an event like that more narrow
inclusive. Again, the thing that tends to come
to mind first for me is anything that's sort
of like, sound or noise related and I know being
outdoors, there's going to be a lot more opportunity
for ambient. Car noise or dogs barking or whatever
and, you know, usually if it's possible earplugs
or ear muffs for. Like that's one of the other
things too, is like in some of these cases, I'm
not gonna go tell like venues like, oh, you should
have a bunch of earmuffs on. You can give out
to like, no, they'll bring their own, but like.
Yeah, that's what I was gonna ask. Like, is that
something where it should just kind of be assumed
that the patron or the participant is going to
take the steps that they need to be comfortable
or? I mean, to an extent, but. So, I think there's
a responsibility on both sides. Like I said,
I tend to wear earplugs or something like that
to events, or I have these, so your listeners
won't be able to see it, but I'll show you. They're
clear frame, red lens. They're not prescription
glasses, but they're basically like glasses with
red lenses in them, and they're blue blocking
glasses, and I wear those when I'm really tired
or if I have a headache or a migraine, because
otherwise the light just kills me. Um, so I have
those and I have, um, special musicians earplugs
as well, which I wear to like events that I know
are going to be louder. But the conjunction of
if I'm going to wear earplugs and the venue is
also going to like, turn their volume down to
like, say, like 40 or 50 decibels instead of
like 80 or 90, whatever. Um, that's going to
help on both sides. Um, I think if it's all pushed
onto, oh, you just, again, it's like, if you
force people, neurodivergent people to do all
of the masking, You're like, figure it out. You
deal with it. It's your problem. Like, either
we're not going to come back. We're going to
have a terrible time. We're going to, like, break
the bench or the venue poorly, or we're just
not even going to go because I've gone to things
before and I get to the front door. I'm like,
it's just so I can hear it. I'm like, I cannot
handle this environment tonight. I'm too tired.
And I just I'll go back home. And that's disappointing
and frustrating. And I don't want that to happen.
So I think there are small adjustments that can
be made. and more understanding on both sides.
Like I said, I don't expect venues to just spend
thousands of dollars to completely overhaul everything.
That's not realistic either. Yeah, maybe just
kind of simply asking whether it's during a signup
process or having something on the website that
says if you could benefit from any specific accommodations
or support needs, reach out to us. Cause I guess
like, I don't know what I don't know. And if
you just signed up for my race and didn't have
any means of expressing, I have these sensitivities
until you show up that morning. And then you're
like, wait, uh, I guess it would just be a little
more helpful from an organizational standpoint
to kind of know some of these stuff, like some
of these things ahead of time, I guess. Yeah,
I did arrange an event. Um, Probably about a
year and a half ago at this 1 particular venue,
and I was speaking to the manager directly over
email and I was like. To see, you know, like,
we want this to be quieter. It was on a Sunday
morning. So, like, you know, I didn't expect
the venue to be super busy anyways, but it's
like, you know, like, to have the music either
really lower, like off and. sure you I'll let
staff know it won't be a problem and I got there
and the music was still kind of like what I felt
like is a normal volume and I went to the bartender
and I was like hey I was I was told that the
music would be kept lower and I think she turned
the volume down like one tick or something and
like come on like I didn't want to fight about
it so I just like left it but I was like that's
the sort of thing that I you know this is why
I want to go and like bring like data and bring
you know a business case for it. Like, I'm not
saying it has to be the worst. There's compromises
that we can do, I think. What type of companies
and events are you particularly interested in
working with if there was someone listening that
kind of wanted to seek out your services or learn
more? One of the organizations I'm in touch with
right now, I'm a member of a couple of Canadian
Chamber of Commerce groups. And then there's
the Canada in case people, I don't know if I
sound Canadian or not. Oh, you said the Toronto,
Canada intro, but if there's a here in Ontario,
the province that I live in, there's an organization
called the Ontario Queer Chamber of Commerce.
And I've been talking to them for a few months
about doing the place -based workshops, but also
talking about just the other kind of ways to
make things a bit more accessible. And like I
said, kind of started on the lowest level with
this with like, individual local events and I'm
starting to see like, kind of the bigger picture
and, you know, this isn't just a local thing.
It's not just a province thing. It can be national,
international. So I'm trying to get in contact
with more of these like, larger organizations,
banks, you know, like maybe larger accounting
firms that have more More like reach and more
staff to to see a larger benefit from these accommodations.
So that's what I'm trying to 1 of the I'm trying
to do both local and larger scale. I guess. Yeah,
we can include direct links in the show notes.
But if, if there was someone that want to kind
of reach out and learn more about your services,
is there a best place for them to go to. Yeah,
my website is lacyartemis .com. You can also
go to fishandtrees .com. That does link to a
sub page on my website. And I am also on almost
all the social media platforms as Lacy Artemis.
I'm not on Twitter anymore or X now, but otherwise
I have presence everywhere. Not super active
on everything, but yeah, that was kind of a thing.
I wanted to try to make myself findable. Make
sure that I can help people. So yeah, absolutely.
Well, we definitely encourage anyone that wants
to make their work and their environments and
their services more neuro -inclusive to, uh,
seek out the work that you do, or even I know
there's some. publicly available talks that you've
done that I was able to listen to beforehand.
So interviews that you've had as well. So I know
I really appreciate you reaching out and joining
us for an episode and kind of getting the opportunity
to learn from you and even getting a little bit
of advice from you as to how we can operate our
gym to make it more neuro inclusive. I really
appreciate it. Yeah. And I will also mention
this. I'm about to start a new sort of blog type
series where I'm going to be writing about The
stuff more specifically, I'm planning to go to
venues and kind of talk to them and to, I guess,
give a little bit of so that people don't always
have to. Come necessarily seek me out to do like,
just like, put some of this information out there
so that people can can get some of it more easily.
So that'll be on on LinkedIn and. Perhaps my
sub stack as well. Awesome. Yeah. We can definitely
include show note, uh, links in the show notes
to, to your different channels so people can
easily find it. But let me say again, thanks
for joining me. Thank you. Thank you for listening
to the adapt X podcast. Our effort to amplify
the ideas of our guests and create more inclusive
and accessible industries is futile unless these
episodes reach a larger audience. If you enjoyed
our discussion today, please leave us a rating
or a review on whichever platform you use. And
if you would like to learn more about Adaptex,
the course that we teach to health and fitness
professionals and the projects that our organization
is working on, you can subscribe to our newsletter
through our website www .adaptex .org. Until
next Monday.