| B.A. '71 - |
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| President & Author of Iris the Dragon Charity; Vice Chair - Iris the Dragon; Mental Health Advocate | |
| Career History Since Graduation | Gayle Grass turned what some might see as a hardship in life into a story of overcoming the odds to bring one of The West’s last stigmas to the forefront of Canadian society through the age old medium of a fairytale series for children.
Over 15 years ago, Gayle was faced with a son whose psychotic episode disrupted his first year at university. Upon trying to get help for her son, she discovered a mental health system that proved to be under resourced and dysfunctional. In between her efforts to get her son better, she wanted to communicate to others what she had learned and observed in navigating a mental health crisis. Those observations included that those with mental health challenges 1) need to feel supported and have a support network upon which they can rely upon 2) need structure and routine in their life so that their challenges can be worked on consistently providing building blocks to achieve personal goals and 3) should not be made to feel shunned/stigmatized by their condition to receive the acceptance they need to get better. It was with these observations that Gayle Grass started a book series called the Iris the Dragon series that would share these important messages with children, parents, teachers and caregivers for youth. To date, Gayle Grass and her book series have touched more than 4 million lives and counting in Canada and around the world. Believed to be the first of its kind, Gayle Grass created a children’s storybook series that spoke directly to children about their mental health and wellness using the genre of a fairytale. Understanding that the books of her youth such as the stories of Hans Christian Anderson had a powerful ability to communicate life lessons, Gayle created a mythical creature called Iris the Dragon that would be the heroine in her stories to help children through various mental health challenges. Iris the Dragon embodied Gayle’s messages always communicating the importance of acceptance, communication and support. It was and is Gayle’s hope that if children learned early on about the importance of their mental health and wellness through her books, that challenges related to mental health later in their lives could be managed before their quality of life was severely altered. Gayle has: In the beginning, Gayle was turned down by over 25 publishers who said the market had no interest in such a story. Determined to not give up on communicating her messages, Gayle decided to incorporate and self publish The Iris the Dragon Series. While the mainstream market still resisted the idea of talking about mental health and wellness in a storybook for children, those that were experiencing mental health challenges or working in the field found the books to be an asset. Through identification with the young characters in the books that experienced different mental health challenges, children were able to start a dialogue with a parent or professional about their thoughts and feelings leading to open and supportive conversations around mental health and wellness. Gayle’s books became known as a tool to start conversations around mental health and wellness and consequently educated audiences about the topic which in turn de stigmatized their perceptions towards mental illness. However, communicating to audiences that were already sympathetic to the need to educate others about children’s mental health and wellness was not enough for Gayle. Understanding that society at large was somewhat responsible for the attitudes towards mental illness, Gayle fought for her books to be recognized in the mainstream marketplace. While Canadian publishers still refused to take on such a book, slowly The Iris the Dragon Series found its way into schools systems worldwide (see additional supplementary info) consistently being recognized by educators as a tool to start conversations around the importance of mental health and wellness. The consequence of these conversations have led to de-stigmatizing the attitudes towards mental health in children. Word Count – 965 Supporting Material Iris Fun Facts |
| Most Memorable York University Experience | As the first graduating class, we knew we were breaking new ground and setting standards. We became very supportive of each other and the staff were amazing. It was a unique experience to have this opportunity to be pioneers in our field. |
| York University Anecdote or Highlight | As the first graduating class of only 15 students, we were asked to do a lot. Many of us were on more then one University Sports Team just to fill up spaces. Often, I felt that I was at school 12 hours a day. My favourite experience was being goalie for the University Women's Hockey Team - actually by process of elimination. But I had a very competitive spirit and nothing was going to get by me into my goal. One game, I received a glove shot and it broke my finger but as we did not have another goalie, we froze my finger and put it in a split and literally shoved it in the glove. "We won the Game" |
| Highlight(s) of Professional Career | Leader in Mental Health Award- Royal Ottawa Hospital, 2016 |
| Honours and Awards | Leader in Mental Health Award - Royal Ottawa Hospital, 2016 |
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