Changing perceptions through experience!
Will You Rise to the Challenge?
I believe that when we take the time to leave our comfort zones and step into a way of being that is very different from our own, it opens our perceptions to the experience of others' lives, thus deepening our understanding. That's where true and lasting learning begins. Bryony Grealish
About Bryony
Real Experience matters!
A lifetime of learning and experience makes a difference when it comes to understanding disability and being able to teach it to others.
I was born with a rare genetic condition called Ectrodactyly Ectodermal Dysplasia. As a result, I have only a pinky finger on each hand with limited dexterity and partial feet. I am one of ten multi-diverse adopted children. My father became a quadriplegic from a car accident when he was twenty. My mother was legally blind in her fifties from complications with diabetes, and one of my sisters has Turner's Syndrome & Cerebral Palsy. Growing up, I was part of the Empire State Games for the Physically Challenged and competed with students with disabilities across New York State and Ireland.
I graduated from Syracuse University with a professional degree in social work and did eleven years as a social worker in the City of Syracuse, NY. My focus was on the HIV/AIDS community, OPWDD, and child and family service programs in conjunction with the Syracuse City school district and child protective services. I provided direct support, goal planning and implementation, counseling, emergency services, student behavioral interventions, disability, advocacy, and mental health support.
Disability has been my life, both personally and professionally.
"The No Thumbs Workshop has granted the invaluable opportunity to gain insight through esperience. It is a testament to the adaptability we all have within us and that we should never let something hold us back from doing what we love."
Connor Copeland: Lemoyne College Occupational Therapy Prgogram Graduate Student
What People are Saying
Speaker Services
A unique and impactful way to learn!
Limitations are Opportunities:
Challenging Disability Beliefs Through the No Thumbs Experience
This fully immersive No thumbs Challenge is a one-of-a-kind training that uses the power of experiential learning to propel participants into what it's like to have a severe limb difference by mimicking my disability called Ectrodactyl.
Each person will engage in a series of roles designed to understand disability and another's life experience, creating a foundation for purposeful change in perspective, empathy, acceptance, and support.
Key Takeaways:
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Transformational Power of Adaptation
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Disability and Cognitive Diversity
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Resiliency
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Discovering their Limitations become an Opportunity.
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Understanding of micro-inequities facing people with disabilities
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Experiences of providing and receiving support
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Teamwork and Teambuilding
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Leadership Development
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Vulnerability and Patients
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Disability and the human experience in and out of the workplace
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Hands-on application of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
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And so much more
*** For more information and a list of the pricing. Please complete the request form***
You've never experienced anything like this!
Beyond your typical disability training!
I dive deeper and use my experience with disability from my personal life and professional career in Social Work to craft an experience that truly speaks to all of us and who we are as people and the much-needed equity for people with disabilities.
The Fingerless Kitchen is more than my work; it is how I live my life every day. I find inspiration, experience success, and failure, and overcome my struggles to share joy, representation, and uplift my community by creating Abled Allies and giving hope to those who need it.
Following my purpose, I have created a keynote speech and workshop that is uniquely The Fingerless Kitchen.