Grayson Schultz began experiencing symptoms of rare disease as a small child. After receiving several diagnoses shortly after starting kindergarten, he endured a tumultuous childhood without proper medical care. With his health under better control, Grayson has spent the last decade on a wide variety of projects, including:
- Improving awareness of rare diseases, disability, and chronic illnesses.
- Developing and improving curricula for education around sex, disability, equity, and more.
- Conducting research around how health care providers and patients discuss (or don’t) sex, sexual health, sexuality, and gender.
- Presenting on equity, sexuality, gender, disability, and chronic disease at multiple academic and professional conferences in addition to leading monthly equity meetings at his day job.
- Working with organizations across healthcare, academia, pharma, professional membership organizations, and more to improve patient access, education, and equity.
Notably, Grayson is a bit of a workaholic. When he does have free time, he spends most of it focused on learning, streaming games on Twitch, cooking up a storm, renovating his first home, and spending time with his partner McGravin and their dogs Hank and Dean.
You can find Grayson’s work across the internet at graysongoal.carrd.co.
Please note: links within the above link include information on sexual health and may not be safe for work computers, depending on your position and/or workplace.
Okay, time to ditch that formal third person!
There was a long time in my life when I couldn’t go on hikes or even cook very much. It took several years for me to get the proper diagnoses and care to recover. During that time, I could no longer work outside the home. My first marriage broke, leaving me emotionally distraught and frustrated. Healing emotionally from that time has not been easy. It has been worth it, though.
When I say that I know first-hand how much being disabled and facing ableism can suck, I mean it. I try to be who I needed when I was younger, which is part of why I enjoy helping folks rediscover their lives.
How can I help?
- Providing information & resources.
- Coaching.
- Educating.
- Troubleshooting.
- Advocating.
- Flexing that good old listening muscle.
No topic is too taboo! As a transmasculine sex educator, I’m honored to be able to help people rediscover what feels good and meaningful to them. I work hard to bring an understanding of culture, oppression, and empathy to the work I’m privileged to do.
Not satisfied with only working to dismantle ableism from one angle, I finished my master’s degree in Healthcare Administration in 2017. While studying, I focused heavily on patient engagement and advocacy, playing to what I know from working within these spaces as a patient. Working on systems change is something I’m incredibly passionate about. We can’t make lasting change unless we address equity issues on the four i’s of oppression. We must work on dismantling the ideologies behind oppression, the institutional barriers, the interpersonal violence, and the ways we have internalized oppression.
Throughout the time I’ve been doing work around health, I’ve been able to work with organizations all around the world. From writing to working with pharma companies to presenting at conferences, I’ve tried to tackle those four i’s across the board. While I don’t do this work for the pats on the back, my work has been featured in publications such as US News, Everyday Feminism, Bustle, and Everyday Health.
Reflexivity
Before you continue exploring the site, I’d like to offer a little bit of reflexivity.