Consultation
Workshops and Keynotes can be delivered virtually or in person. Activities and exercises will be adapted to fit the topic, format, and length. Workshops may be presented in partnership with Neurodrive.
Topics
Personal Story, ADHD, Autism, Management, and Leadership
As a kid, I was the person who couldn’t figure out how to relate to other kids but always hung out with the teachers. As an adult, I was a high-performing employee who struggled to get ahead because I constantly had miscommunications with those around me. I felt like I was nothing but a pile of wasted potential: smart but a procrastinator. A good speaker, but couldn’t have a 1:1 conversation. Then, when I was 39, I got the diagnosis that explained it all: Autism and ADHD. Suddenly, my life made sense. Now, I can work with my brain instead of against it. In addition to being an expert facilitator, public speaker, and adult learning expert, I have become a fierce neurodiversity advocate, educator, and coach. My mission is to create a world where other neurodivergent adults find the same success I have had -and more.
Personal Story, LGBTQIA+, Autism, Management, ADHD, Leadership
Format: Keynote
Audience: Any
Title: Triple Gifted
The last few years in the Michaels house have been interesting, to say the least. Jessica and her spouse lived for seven years as a cis-het couple (i.e. “traditional”. Then, as they each began to learn more about their minds, they started to learn more about their hearts as well. Jessica tells the story of how her Autism and ADHD diagnosis led her to discover even more about her life than she knew possible.
Neuroinclusive Corporate Learning Design
Format: Keynote
Audience: Talent Development, Talent Management, Learning and Development, Sales Enablement, Onboarding
Title: One Size Fits All Fits Nobody
As educators, we design sessions to appeal to our learners: to be engaging, to drive participation, and to spur behavior change. Without considering neurodiversity, however, we’ve created a one-size-fits-all solution that genuinely fits no one. As an expert in both neurodiversity and corporate education, Jessica will use her experience as a late-in-life diagnosed neurodivergent with Autism and ADHD, as well as her passion for facilitation and instructional design, to transform your corporate learning to be neuroinclusive for all employees.
After the session, your team will be able to:
- Explain how neurodivergence shows up in the corporate training environment
- Express why neuroinclusive learning is a benefit to all employees
- Construct content and activities that are accessible and neuroinclusive
- Evaluate how learning engagement is measured
Neurodiversity 101
Format: Keynote
Audience: Talent Development, Talent Management, Learning and Development, Sales Enablement, Onboarding
Title: The Neurodiverse Workplace: What is the Neurodivide?
What is neurodiversity? Are there neurodivergent people at my company? How does this affect me, and how does this affect the bottom line? Neurodiversity expert and corporate trainer Jessica Michaels answers these questions and more. By sharing her experiences as a late-in-life diagnosed neurodivergent with Autism and ADHD, Jessica will deliver an inspiring session to your employees that will motivate them to drive neuroinclusion through no-cost actions easily added to their daily conversations.
After the session, your employees will be able to:
- Express what neurodiversity is and how it affects the workplace
- Explain the importance of supporting neurodivergent employees./li>
- Employ a neuroinclusive mindset to address differences in communication and information processing among their employees and colleagues
- Identify supportive neuroinclusion references
Recruiting a Neurodiverse Workplace
Format: Workshop or Keynote
Audience: Talent Acquisition, Recruiting, Sourcing, Hiring Managers, Interviewers/screeners, Human Resources, DEI, Legal/ADA
Title: You’re Not as Diverse as You Think: Recruiting a Neurodiverse Workforce
Your inclusive hiring practices – aren’t. Stuck on the wrong side of the Neurodivide, standard recruiting practices seem designed to exclude neurodivergent individuals. Transforming your recruiting practice to be neuroinclusive requires letting go of old opinions and myths surrounding everything from the way we advertise jobs to the way we interview and make offers.
Available in full-day or half-day workshops/seminars. The overview presentation is only available for 60 minutes. Note: objectives and activities will be tailored to the length and format of the workshop or seminar.
At the end of this workshop, your employees will:
- Assess job postings for neuroinclusive best practices
- Contrast standard interview practices with the needs of a neuroinclusive business
- Differentiate between old and correct interpretations of demonstrated candidate behaviors
- Effectively argue and advocate for neuroinclusive best practices with those who are unfamiliar with the need for neuroinclusion
Diversity and Inclusion for the Skeptical and the Too Busy
Format: Workshop or Keynote
Audience: All Employees or Leadership/Management
Title: Advanced Communication: Diversity and Inclusion for the Skeptical and the Too Busy
Is sitting in a D&I workshop the last thing on your to-do list? Are you unsure of how these concepts apply to your busy day-to-day?
If you’d prefer to focus on performance and production, this is the talk for you.
At the end of this workshop, you will be able to:
- Identify the correlation between advanced communication skills and employee engagement
- Evaluate current communication practices and how they affect employee performance
- Contrast traditional hiring practices against the goal of putting the right people in the right places
- Optimize employee work scenarios to facilitate high levels of production
- Categorize Team Performance using the Tuckman Model and create an action plan for improvement
