In 1988, our founder was diagnosed with Visual Perception Deficiency / Visuospatial Deficit Disorder as well as Attention Deficit Disorder without the feature of hyperactivity.
This diagnosis was the springboard to early civic engagement with the local CHADD (Children with ADHD) chapter. In addition to local advocacy groups, there was early proliferation of educational activism including: Individualized Education Plan as well as academic accommodations for the classroom and for standardized testing.
All of this firsthand data led to years of self- discovery and research into how people think, behave, and feel.
In the early part of their 30’s, our founder realized they met the criteria as a Sexual and Gender Minority based on their lived identity.
Although for decades the performance, expression and presentation of gender was binary and traditional; this was not a static reality. They were left with processing the pathology of their own gender minority status on one hand, and the clarity, insight, cohesion or oneness self on the other hand.
How/ where do you deal with the fullness of minorities who by definition usually don’t have sufficient data nor visibility. Who are they, what do we do when we find people of full experiences who don’t align with presumed cultural, sexual, gender, or physical ability standards?
This my friends is what D &A Consulting created its mission around.
“Our target is to strategize in decreasing unemployment and increasing mental health accessibility for
LGBTQ people of color. Using our training and capacity building as helping professionals along with our
ability to identify with LGBTQ people of color; by providing mental health services through job coaching,
individual and group therapy, cultural competency training for employers, educating the public on
gaps in physical or mental capabilities, personal, and professional development for clientele; while being
a (re)source for those in the community who are marginalized and sidelined by a lack of
social and emotional support..”- D. Ray, Founder
The Mental Health Café 