Why might you want to get disability-friendliness just right?

An estimated 1.3 billion people globally are disabled (16% of the global population) and you want to do this demographic justice because portraying disabled people in a fair and realistic light is good for business .

Not to mention, it is literally the law in several countries to prioritise accessibility, making disability-friendliness a necessary part of doing business on the global stage.

You are defiantly not an expert in this area, but you still want to comply and be known as an inclusive place to work, shop, or visit. An important part of the accessibility big picture is your resources you distribute to the public, and that's exactly what I can help you with. 

Do you want to  include disability issues and voices in your publication?

Are you developing a series of resources on chronic illness and neurodivergence meant to make your workplace a more comfortable and inclusive environment for disabled people?

Are you in charge of finding guest speakers with disabled lived experiences for your workplace's diversity and inclusion programming?

​All the above are things I can help you with you.

So...how can we work together?

Writing for web and print publications

Accessibility and fair representation is factored in to how information is presented, the language used to discuss certain disability communities, and the context in which the subject matter is discussed. Anything not directly pulled from my own lived experience as a disabled person is backed up by in-depth research. ​

I am holding up copies of two print magazines I have written for before, Broken Pencil Magazine and Spacing Magazine.

Both ghostwritten and bylined options are available, and my past experiences mean that I am comfortable with writing for print magazines, blogs, newsletters, and company brochures. To see samples of my past work, check out my writing portfolio.

My writing includes interviews with relevant disabled people directly affected by the subject matter I am discussing. To factor in credibility, I also talk to people who have worked or lived with disabled people affected by the subject matter discussed.  Making interviews part of my process helps me work around the fact that my experiences are different than someone with a disability I have never lived with, an upbringing or culture I am unfamiliar with, etc. When you dig deeper and get as diverse of input as you can, you will reach new audiences because more people will see themselves reflected in your point of view. 
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To make the final draft meet your editorial requirements, I expect to have revisions and feedback to address pre-publication and never take constructive criticism too personally. Keep in mind that you'll have a better experience working with me if all editorial standards are carefully and thoughtfully expressed and thought about before we start working together.  Average editorial requirements include who the article or resource is for, ideal tone and style for the piece itself, and what you want the piece to achieve, along with more technical requirements like formatting and word count preferences. ​

Editing

Through a mixture of lived experience as a neurodivergent, disabled person, and feedback from members of the disability community, I help my clients discuss subjects that affect the disability community from a point of view of dignity, respect, and accessibility.

​From a professional background point of view,  I studied editing at George Brown College's St.James Campus in Toronto (I was trained by editors who have worked in everything from publishing and journalism to marketing and design agencies). I also am a published author, have been published in several web and print magazines, been featured on numerous radio and podcast programs and have occasionally been invited to do speaking engagements as a subject matter expert in the neurodiversity and disability niche.

As an editor, I help people with their website content and educational resources used for online training programs and lead generation purposes. I can also help you factor in social media and search engine friendliness and readability. 

Before we start working together, I will ask you a series of questions about the goals of the content you're working on, in order to make individualised feedback my top priority. To see samples of my past editing work, check out my editing portfolio.​

Speaking: virtual and in-person

For diversity and inclusion training programs and special events meant to raise awareness of neurodivergent lived experiences and teach people how to create a more inclusive workforce. For more info on my speaking work, check out my speaking page.

A screenshot of an author event I did during dyspraxia awareness week 2023 for Dyspraxic Me.

Available for both virtual and in-person events, such as panel events, solo guest talks, and Q&As.

In the mid-90s, I was diagnosed with dyspraxia. Dyspraxia is a coordination disorder that affects how you plan, learn, and process the limitations of your environment and movement-based tasks.  In every new environment I have had to  educate others on my condition, and develop the vocabulary to describe my condition in a concise and simple way. 


​Through my involvement in neurodiversity advocacy, opportunities to speak about how we can treat other with similar conditions a whole lot better often come up . The core goal of my speaking work is making sure that other neurodivergent and disabled people can lead stigma and discrimination free lives at school, work, and all other aspects of their lives.

Why choose me?

Here are a few reasons why:

I am formally trained and quite experienced...

As of June 2024, I have now officially been working for a lengthy list of clients for ten years. I have worked with a vast variety of tech, diversity and inclusion programs, neurodiversity training specialists, and not-for profit organisations. I have also worked with print and web publications: everything from Readers Digest and Travel & Leisure, to Toronto Star, one of Canada's most widely circulated newspapers.

As someone who has been actively involved in social media marketing, newsletter writing, and blogging since 2009, I understand exactly what social media users and search engines are interested in. I am knowledgeable in a wide variety of content marketing systems, social media platforms, and know basic HTML, SEO, and a heck of a lot about how to write an engaging newsletter or social media post. I honed my experiences in this area through working in the Canadian not-for-profit sector, running my own blog, and freelancing for the past ten years.

I am a transparent and dependable communicator...

When we first start working together, my top priority is acquainting myself with your goals, interests, and tastes. That's exactly why I benefit from and expect project briefs, virtual conversations about your goals and interests, and constructive feedback. I also carefully examine your public facing marketing communications to make sure that my tone aligns with the content that you are already putting out there.

I have worked with multiple English-speaking markets...

I am a Canadian with some British relatives, but my  work has allowed me to work with American, British, and Canadian clients. I am very much in tune with the differences between all three markets and the current affairs of all three markets particularly in terms of how current affairs affect disabled people. As an author, I have reached the entire English speaking world at large, through media outreach, my book being present in libraries and bookstores globally, and through online content creation.  

I really understand disability...

And when I don't, it's because the people I am discussing have a different health condition, background, sexuality, etc than I do. I am well connected enough to the online disabled community that I can easily access the feedback of the right people.

I care about and know disability because it has affected my whole life. I knew I was neurodivergent by age 4, was in hospital for severe anaemia by age 18, and am a recent thyroid condition diagnosis. As a result, I don't just help you make your content accessible to a variety of health conditions, but that's defiantly something I factor in. I also help you priortise outlooks on disability that don't perpetuate stigma, discrimination, or inaccurate views of what disabled peoples' lives are like.

I have a built in platform and reputation...

As a traditionally published author and active part of the disability advocacy community, every project I work on comes with the added advantage of access to my built-in, niche platform, and a possibility to expand your overall reach as well.

Frequently asked questions

How long will my project take?

For writing, I do an average of two to three drafts before sending a copy for your approval and review and that's typically a one to two weeks from when your project was assigned to me process, although I am open to much sooner if you have short turnaround times or need the work done much sooner than that. Occasionally, when interviews have to be scheduled with other people for the project itself it can take longer if there are availability conflicts, but not always. If it's taking longer than expected to secure a source, I will let you know and we'll collectively decide the best course of action based on your deadline restrictions. Then, it will be a matter of you reviewing the material and letting me know if there's any aspect you want to change about the draft itself. Expect to provide feedback, because this is a collective process.

For editing, it depends on the project itself, the longer the document, the longer it will take, and same goes for how much work needs to be done to have the project ready for the general public. 

For speaking, I need at least two weeks notice about an upcoming event to practice and prepare, and longer for events that are in-person to plan travel accordingly.

What are your policies around constructive criticism? 

We all have our own tastes and preferences in writing, kind of like how you and I might have different tastes in movies or music. To avoid thinking exclusively based on taste, think with the goals of your organisation in mind for the content itself, and anything your target audience might vibe well with or not. Have no more than two people giving feedback, ideally one if constructive criticism in the context of writing is nothing new to you. You know that expression "too many cooks in the kitchen"? That can happen very easily with writing too. One round of revisions only please, since each draft takes time, and you're often not my only client or project.

Who suggests the topics discussed?

I am happy to suggest topics if you can't think of anything, but you can suggest something for me to cover too! Ultimately, this is a collaborative process so there's a great deal of flexibility in terms of who suggests the topics themselves. As long as you give me a project brief, a rough outline of what you want the project to achieve, your preferences and interests for the project itself, and who your audience is, either option is possible. 

Where are you based?

These days, my time is divided between Toronto (EST) and Marrakech (GMT+1: Casablanca Time). I will always tell you quite transparently which location I am working from throughout the project itself.

I heard you're disabled, how will that affect your work?

I created an entire page (my access rider page) to disclose in detail how my disability may come up in my work in any given period of time and what others can do about it.  Give that page a read through before we start working together to understand what this actually looks like. 

What are your payment expectations?

If it's a one-off project, payment after the project is done is fine. For longer term projects, like if you're paying more to secure my time for longer periods of time, you can choose between paying in full, or paying after receipt. I invoice through Wave Apps, and currently the Wave system is only set up for direct payment transfers from Canadian clients. If you require a PDF invoice, let me know because Wave Apps invoices convert quite easily into PDFs. Both wire transfer and Paypal are acceptable forms of payment for me, and if you're Canadian, you can send me an E-transfer too. Once the payment is received, I will send you a downloadable receipt for tax purposes.   

Do you have a project for me?

Go check out the portfolio that ties into your needs and requirements:

• Writing
• Editing
• Speaking

And if you're already ready to reach out about a potential project commission, why not head over to my contact page to figure out how to contact me?