The Mental Wellness Task Force of the University Senate Benefits and Welfare Committee is sponsoring two upcoming programs.
Neurodiversity in the Pitt workplace
A new scenario-based online workshop titled “Neurodiversity in the Workplace” will help Pitt faculty and staff learn about and practice communication strategies that support effective, respectful interactions with coworkers when we experience or interpret situations differently.
Have you ever found yourself searching for the right words when you are caught by surprise? Have you ever known someone who has difficulty recognizing faces? How do you know what kind of mood someone is in? If a colleague becomes overwhelmed when things don’t go as planned, can you help them feel grounded and supported?
These are a few examples of common interpersonal challenges in the workplace. They represent the variety of ways we think, learn, connect and behave — our neurodiversity.
When colleagues, neurodivergent and neurotypical, approach each other with curiosity, empathy and clear communication, they open opportunities for collaboration and mutual understanding in the workplace.
Tracy Grieve-Martin, clinical manager for Life Solutions on Pitt’s Oakland campus, will lead the workshop from noon to 1 p.m. May 11 via Zoom. Register here to get the Zoom link. Employees from all of the Pitt campuses are welcome to attend.
Mental Wellness Book Club
The Mental Wellness Book Club will discuss “Six Dimes and a Nickel” by Damon West from noon to 1 p.m. May 6 at 630 William Pitt Union and via Zoom. Two separate discussions will be held at the same time with different hosts.
If you come in-person, please feel free to bring your own lunch. Register here to receive a free copy of the book and a calendar reminder.
The title of this book, “Six Dimes and a Nickel,” is slang for the author’s prison sentence: 65 years. But he re-defined himself in prison, having learned from his first friend there that when you are in hot water you change. Some things, like eggs, become hard in hot water. Other things fall apart or get ruined in hot water, silk fabric for example. A coffee bean in hot water becomes something better than it was.
West changed his attitude, his way of dealing with people, and other facets of himself and got paroled after just a few years. He relates this coffee bean conversation early in this very engaging book to assure readers that if he could improve himself and the course of his life, anyone can.
As the publisher says, “If you want to not only make a change in your life, but discover how to maintain that change and become the best version of yourself, then you’ve come to the right place. The principles and stories in this book are the blueprint for how Damon rewrote his story and, if applied, how you can rewrite yours.”