Decolonizing Work - Jack Mason-Goodall

“Jack, you are a white personal growing up in a majority white country. You are going to be racist” - Jack’s godmother to 12 year old Jack.
This is a conversation for all of us, who’s work is to help and care for others. Parents. Therapists. Social workers. Teachers. Medical professionals. Nannies… and everyone else! This helping work must be decolonized too. With autism as an example of difference, Jack and I explore decolonizing our work to care for and support others and think about how these lessons can apply to inclusion and belonging in the wider sense. We talk about how our privilege can make us blind and harmful to those who don’t have that privilege. Jack learned about some of his own centered thinking as an autism therapist working internationally. He realized that his therapeutic approaches were predicated in white, western assumptions about parenting and child development and so privileged neurotypical ways of being.
Decolonize Work is a series of conversations with business leaders, educators and change makers about the hidden impact of colonization of how we define and implement "work" and the "workplace". If you are committed to cultivating work ecosystems where humans thrive, and want to personalize these conversations to your company, let's have a coffee chat about the simplest, context specific strategy for your company. Visit calendly.com/f...
More about Jack: Jack has worked with children and adults with autism and developmental differences since he was 16 - it truly is his passion!
After graduating in psychology in the UK he moved to the USA to train in specialised play therapy, and then continued to work as a global play therapy consultant for a USA-based non-profit for the next 10 years. He has also trained as a yoga and meditation teacher and studied counselling and psychotherapy to add to his skillset.
In 2020 he founded Autism Optimism International - through which he and his team provide support and training for autism families, other professionals, and employers of neurodiverse employees around the world.
Jack believes that all change comes from the relationships we are in: whether between a parents and a child, a professional and a client, or an employer and an employee. Autism Optimism International’s mission is to help create relationships based on understanding, acceptance and compassion - and through these relationships to create meaningful, lasting change for everyone. We support autistic people leading their best lives - whatever that may look like. With AOI, learning is fun, personalised and powerful.
Jack’s website: www.autismoptimisminternational.com
Jack’s Facebook profile: @autismoptimisminternational
Jack’s Instagram: @autismoptimisminternational