Silvia Gil and Lynn C Davison Interview Transcript
Lynn Davison: Hey, I just want to introduce you all to Silvia Gil. She is the Founder of Neuro Consulting Solutions, and let's figure out what she's all about.
So first, what inspired you to start Neuro Consulting Solutions?
Silvia Gil: Well, first of all, Lynn, thank you so much for having me. It's just such a pleasure to connect with like minded, amazing professionals who are out there doing this work. And I think we're just always stronger when we work and collaborate together, right?
So it's really a team effort. It's not just one person out there doing all this, you know, this work. And really what inspired me, I started my career as a special ed teacher the classroom, right?
I think that's where you can get all your knowledge, all the bases, and really learning early on, how everybody learns different. Whether you're in a gen ed setting, you're in a specialized setting, wherever you are, we all take in information differently. And if you as a teacher, only teach one way, you're only going to really serve a small, small part of your students, right?
Yeah. So I think that was like my aha moment early on in my career. And I just always knew if you could adapt the way you as an educator, can cater to your students, the more the higher the outcomes I saw.
And so what really kind of dragged me into there, I then had an opportunity to work for the University of Miami Center for Autism and Related disabilities, and that really is where my life changed. I was able to do case management, not only work with students, but being able to work with over 16,000 family members at case management side. So flipping over to the parent side, you know, how do we navigate these resources?
How do we navigate where do we go when we get that diagnosis, for a lot of parents, it's like it's shattered, it is. And they don't have the knowledge, and there's so much information out there that we don't know who's the right, trusted resource.
Lynn Davison: We just keep telling ourselves we don't know. And that's paralyzing.
Silvia Gil: It is. And then what's, you know, even a big turning point wasn't my daughter. I had a two year old at the time who then got diagnosed. So, you know, talk about going from the professional side and then being able to see it from a parent.
And I, as a parent, was totally paralyzed, and I remember me and my husband like, No, there's no way. Or how did you know? What do we do?
And I have all this knowledge, and I was stuck, and I think that's what really put things in perspective and really humbles you as a professional when you get that other side. And I had a master's degree in special education, and I still struggled, yes, so I really got to see, how do we support our families in navigating these resources, and then how do we support our community members, our businesses, our corporations? How do we get them to understand that like I did in the classroom, if we cater to our different learners, whether you are neurodiverse, neurotypical or anywhere in between, how do we get the best from people?
And that's really where this kind of stem from. I really wanted to support businesses and organizations in getting the best out of their people. And that's really where this was built.
Lynn Davison: Well, most people are really happy when they're being their best. They're happiest when they're being their best, so we want to put them in a place where that can happen.
Silvia Gil: I love it exactly. So, you know, that's where this was kind of born. And everywhere I would go when I was at a card, this sounds great.
How do we do this? What do we do to implement this? And I think there's so much awareness out there, right?
We can talk about autism and neurodiversity, and yes, I think there's so much information. But then how do we implement it? How do we actually design the programs?
Or look at our workplaces and say, how do we get the best of our people? And really, that's where I wanted to step in.
Lynn Davison: So you create visual learning tools and structured systems. Can you share an example?
Silvia Gil: Yeah, absolutely. So one of the biggest things I noticed, and even in our own workplace experiences, like, how many of us start a job and you're like, where do I park? What do I wear?
And the anxiety is just like, off the charts, right? Yeah, that's yeah, I would say, 99% of everyone's experience. Now imagine an individual who struggles, you know, understanding social cues, understanding what's the routine we're already starting to set up people for failure.
And I noticed this when what I do is, you know, everyone's got these big handbooks that no one reads. No one reads, nobody. I'm like, it's collecting dust on your shelf.
It's because everyone always tells me we have policies and procedures. I'm like, but does your staff know what those policies and procedures are most of the time now? And so what we did was we were able to take their policies and procedures, structure it in a way where not just neurodiverse employees can utilize them, but everybody could.
And my favorite story is we had an employee who they kept saying, He's always late, always late. And when I spoke with the employee, which, you know, that should have been step one, but I spoke to the employee, and he tells me, well, I can't get up the elevator until nine because he needed a key fob to get there. And nobody explained that he needed a key fob, right?
And so just by doing a task analysis that picture step by step of one, we needed to explain he needed a key fob. And maybe he didn't even know that he had to advocate for himself in getting one. Yeah, and guess what?
He was there, waiting. He was 30 minutes early every day, waiting for the elevator to go to be able to utilize it. And that's when it really hit me.
I was like, Oh, my goodness, if we just knew what those social expectations, those norms, if we dust off the handbooks and create the systems just good for our employees who identify as being neurodiverse? No, you know, I'm a big firm believer of universal design for learning and being able to put those structures, put those visuals. I just think it is really good for everybody.
Lynn Davison: Oh, for sure. For sure. Well, speaking of good skills for everybody, this banking for independence workshop has been wonderful.
What have you seen happen to the young adults that participate?
Silvia Gil: Yeah, I first of all really just want to recognize and thank Chase Bank and JP Morgan, because we need corporations that understand the value of financial literacy and education. And it's not just, you know, who are those that are at risk, but sometimes we are not strategically teaching these important life skills. A lot of the times, parents will tell me he's never going to handle his own money, he's never going to be able to do that, and so we just don't even have that expectation to teach the skills.
And it really the project started. I want to recognize a mom, Juliana Escobar. She is an employee there.
And you know us as moms, we are the true advocates and trailblazers, and that's what she was. She stopped them at a baby, and she's like, What are you doing to help our population?
Lynn Davison: Yeah, yeah, right, yeah.
Silvia Gil: So, you know it takes, it takes a mom like that. And she brought it. I was working at the time at UMS U card, and we piloted this program, and we took 30 adults on the spectrum, and this was the first time they'd ever heard about a bank account or savings or budgeting.
And after the pilot program, 100% of them were able to do that or open up an account. So I've had countless stories of just people saying I was able to save money this week, I was able to put a budget together that I never had, or a financial goal. I've never set a financial goal for myself because I didn't know how to do that.
So just seeing story after story of our adults coming back and feeling empowered with their money, that's like the number one way to become independent, and that's the path we're really trying to support them with.
Lynn Davison: Yeah, yeah. Oh, I love that. I just love that. So when, when I try to raise this topic with some of my graduates, many are really interested, but some are resistant. How do we help them overcome that?
Silvia Gil: Yeah, I think the biggest thing is, everybody needs their skills, right? I had wished someone that when I was 1718, told me about my credit. We don't realize what bad shape we're in until we go and apply for our first loan and they tell us that our credit score is so awful and we're like, but why?
Well, when you're young, you don't realize, you know, these skills, and I think transferring it that it's not in a neurodiversity issue, right? It's an everybody problem, yeah, everybody needs these skills, and these are just crucial life skills so that you don't need to struggle like I did when I couldn't get a loan for a car, when a house, you know? So those are those problems.
I think, relating it to our everyday I think finances is so abstract. We don't necessarily see it and touch it right. You use our Amazon buy now.
It's so foreign to us, but also having parents really make our adults start paying for things. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. If I got to live off my parents credit cards, I would not learn how to so I think it starts at home, right?
I think empowering our parents to say, Hey, it's okay. Let them work for things, let them understand what the value of money is, and how that relates to the things they like to do. You want that video game, you want to go out with your friends, or whatever it is that they really want, allow them to work for it, to understand, hey, two hours of chores, that's how much that cost.
Lynn Davison: And then you're going to see how they want to learn and take accountability for that. Yeah, yeah. Translate it right down to an immediate thing they're interested in, in getting.
Yes, I love that. I love that. So for employers who not only want to support neuro diverse talent, but also want to employ more of them, how do you, how do we, how do we get that started?
Silvia Gil: Yeah, I think one of the biggest things is always fear, right? I get that like, Oh, we're, we're gonna do this. And so they put these, I call these imaginary roadblocks, yeah, that stops the conversation.
And what I really always want to showcase is, this is not a charity case, no, right? We know that 80% of individuals with varying disabilities are either unemployed or underemployed, yes, probably going to be some of your best workers, yes. So I really translate it when we talk to businesses about kind of that return on investment, right?
Yes. Are you struggling hiring in these positions? Are you struggling?
You know this high turnover? Well, we have a solution for you. This is some of the best workforce, but we have to do it right, right?
We have to set in these systems that, guess what? Are going to be good for all of your employees? So I think it's taking out the fear, educating and understanding we're here to solve a problem in businesses that I think is going to be a win, win for everybody.
And then you start to realize what an amazing workforce we have that's really underutilized. So being able to empower businesses and understand that return on investment, I think, usually opens the doors,
Lynn Davison: Definitely, because there's so much talent out there. There's so much, so much incredible thinking that's out of the box that can really help us innovate in this population. And then it that just, you know, multiplies in the in the business environment, there's, there's just the only downside is the, I don't know how to do this, or I'm afraid, yeah,
Silvia Gil: And what I love to really showcase in the services that you know we do and what we build and create, I'm not building a one system for this one employee. We're creating sustainable onboarding processes that are going to be utilized for everybody, right? Yeah, we all need resources.
We all need services. And guess what? There's so many trainings I do that a lot of employees come to me after like, I have a disability, and I'm terrified to disclose, of course, of course, they are right.
We don't set the systems up, but if we had visual support and task analysis and just hey, you need a key fob to get in that elevator to come we open the door to everybody being able to utilize these support to get the best out of their employees. So it's a really win-win for everybody.
Lynn Davison: It's a win-win for everyone. Oh so good. So for families, educators or young adults watching this video, what's one piece of advice you'd give them to help navigate that transition from school to independence using their neuro diverse strengths.
Silvia Gil: Yeah, I love that you're talking about strengths based me, and I'm going to talk to you as like a mom hat as a professional, and what you know I kind of do in my own home, I can sit and think of all the things that sometimes my kids or clients can't do That's right? Easier? Yeah, and I think we have to automatically shift our mindset and see and everybody has these beautiful talents, skill sets, yes, abilities.
And people want to feel good. Yes, they feel like they're doing what they really are passionate and love to do. And so what I want to tell everybody is shift your mindset, start going on strengths based assessments and skills, and build from there.
Everybody is employable, everybody is capable. We just have to build the right systems. We've got to switch our teacher hat and being able to change the way we give information to the way that they're best learning.
Oh yeah.
Lynn Davison: Focus on their strengths. You're going to get the best out of everybody.
Lynn Davison: Yeah, yeah. That's why I encourage one of the first things we do in the art of adulting is put together a strength acronym using their three initials. So when they're interviewing, like mine is loving, curious and determined.
So when they're interviewing, they and are asked that typical question, they've got an answer right there. And then, when they're asked the parallel question of, what's your weakness, you can say, Oh, well, I just carry my strengths to a to too far sometimes. Let me give you some examples.
And then they know that they are aware and coachable. It's we can do this. We just need to break it down.
Silvia Gil: That's all. And again, this is for everybody, right? So everybody we talk about these strategies, but I just think they're people.
People strategies benefit from having those strengths based like creating work environments where people are just doing what they're really good at.
Lynn Davison: Yeah, and that's where you can see their skills just shine, and then they feel so good about belonging to and making a contribution that their whole world just expands. It's wonderful.
Silvia Gil: Yeah, so many adults were like, You are so capable. You're so incredible. Why are we home?
And for a lot of them, they're just like, I can't work and I'm like, take it out of your vocabulary.
Lynn Davison: So with you, I that goes all the way back to when I was 15 and women a pool for of a camp for Neuro diverse people, and the little guy who had muscular dystrophy said that his father said, take that word can't out of your vocabulary. And here I am thinking about it and still choking up 53 years later, that guy was so inspiring. And so, you know, I think we're kindred souls here.
Silvia Gil: That's why we get together, and we, you know, combining powers and just supporting and really just raising self advocacy. Self Advocacy is voices. You know, I think what I'm so empowered by is the more I see on social media, or I see just our self advocates putting themselves out there, really showcasing and giving them the voice and the platform to be able to show us the way.
Lynn Davison: as professionals as well. We can learn so much from each other well, and I've learned so much from you today. So thank you so much. Oh, I can't wait to share this with my community, because they're going to love you.
Silvia Gil: Thank you so much. It's such a pleasure to be with you and just having these really insightful conversations, and hopefully we can continue this great work.
Lynn Davison: Oh, for sure, for sure. All righty, Bye, for now. Thank you.
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