Excited to be offering a keynote tomorrow for Western Washington University's Institute for Critical Disability Studies called "Shifting Language, Shifting Power: Plain Language, Cognitive Accessibility, and Knowledge" - online access available! Check it out!
Becca in a maroon dress holding a plaque and smiling.
Honored to receive this year's Edith Rathbun Award for Outreach and Engagement Excellence Award for my work with creators with intellectual and dev disabilities.
Disability studies matters. We have (and will continue to have) a strong presence at the University of Toledo.
Toledos disability studies major was one of the first, if not the first, in the US. A calamity to lose.
The University of Toledo's Disability Studies major was an early success story for that discipline. It's an absolute shame that the university doesn't believe that we should study how society creates barriers for people with disabilities and for people who are a part of all the groups listed below.
Due to Ohio SB1 the University of Toledo is eliminating majors in Disability Studies, Women’s & Gender Studies, Africana Studies, Asian Studies, Middle East Studies & more.
Toledo was one of few places where undergrads could major in disability studies.
news.utoledo.edu/index.php/04...
I am so proud to educate them, and I am so worried that without programs like ours, they will fall out of the leaky pipeline. Disabled students, like other marginalized students, deserve to see a place for themselves in our public universities. (6/6)
These students then go on to work in state and local governments, in non-profits, in disability services, as lawyers, as medical providers, as social workers. They become people who make a difference in the world. (5/6)
They benefit from personal support and close relationships with faculty and cohorts who connect to and honor their experiences. Those connections are only possible in a small program like those the legislation targets. (4/6)
They start and stop coursework as their lives and health allow. More than once a graduate has told me they would have dropped out if they hadn't found Disability Studies. (3/6)
SB1 demands the elimination of our BA in Disability Studies (the first in the nation, by the way). Many of our majors and alums are disabled or caregivers for disabled family members. These students often take a longer time to graduate. (2/6)
Today on a panel at the University of Toledo about the impacts of SB1 (a bill that completely transforms higher education in Ohio), state representative Josh Williams claimed there is nothing in the bill that will hurt students with disabilities. That isn't true. (1/6)
Our podcast, Telling It Our Way, was selected by the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities for its annual Media Award. So honored and grateful to WGTE for supporting unique and necessary stories.
www.aaidd.org/news-policy/...
Today's episode of Telling It Our Way is about confidence and disability. Heidi talks about confidence when her employer trusts her. Ellison shares the transformation she experienced after catastrophic illness. Becca and guest host JoRita Fox talk about building confidence as a self-advocate.
In my disability and tech class, students pitch tech based on desires of actual disabled people. This year's projects:
- crowd-sourced app of social stories for cultural institutions
- at-home orthotics repair kit
- migraine-friendly flourescent light covers
And more! Someone fund these projects!
Inclusion isn't a program, it's an action. If we want inclusive communities, we need to be inclusive communities. If disabled people are your clients or your participants but not your friends, that is not anti-ableism. Programs and policies won't save us. Only we can save us.