Disability Visibility
Welcome to the uea(su) disability awareness campaign! Over two weeks from 15th March, we will be raising awareness of student with disabilities at UEA, showcasing the work of disability advocates, reflecting on the history of disability liberation, and starting a bigger conversation about disability in our community.
It is important that we all recognise people with disabilities are human beings. Having a disability does not erase other intersections of our identities and the continuing fight for liberation must centre diverse voices advocating for the liberation of everyone.
Disability is massively varied and there are many ways in which someone will consider themselves, or be considered, disabled. Throughout this month we will be featuring myth busters and articles written by UEA students with disabilities, so that we can understand the harmful misconceptions many have and how to combat them. We will also be raising awareness of lesser known facts about disability, particularly how it can affect the student experience.
Feel free to join our community of students with disabilities on our Facebook group
UEA Students with Disabilities Forum
You’re also more than welcome to contact the uea(su) disabilities officers to talk about disability at UEA.
If you enjoy this campaign and want to learn more to become a better ally to your disabled friends and community members, feel free to explore the following resources:
Creators and influencers to follow
Hannah Daisy: @MakeDaisyChains on Instagram; Website: https://www.hannahdaisy.co.uk/
Michelle Elman: @ScarredNotScared on Instagram; Website: https://www.michelleelman.com/
Hannah Witton: @HannahWitton in Instagram; YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/hannahgirasol
Lucy Beall-Lott: @Lucy_Bealll on Instagram
Chella Man: @ChellaMan on Instagram
Wesley Hamilton: @IAmWesHamilton on Instagram
Kati Morton: Website: https://www.katimorton.com/bio; YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/KatiMorton
Imogen Fox: @the_feeding_of_the_fox on Instagram; Website: https://thefeedingofthefox.wordpress.com/about/
Thomas Henley: @aspergersgrowth on Instagram; YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJr76B0ZPGNGEHvZHCenSdg
Ellen Jones: @Ellen__Jones on Instagram
Books to read
About Us: Essays From the Disability Series of the New York Times
Autism in Heels: The Untold Story of A Female Life on the Spectrum - Jennifer Cook
Disability Politics and Theory - A.J. Withers
Brilliant Imperfection: Grappling with Cure - Eli Clare
Crippled: Austerity and the Demonization of Disabled People - Frances Ryan
What Can a Body Do?: How We Meet the Built World - Sara Hendren
Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories from the Twenty-First Century - Alice Wong
I Go Quiet - David Ouimet
Websites
6 Ways Your Social Justice Activism Might Be Ableist - Carolyn Zaikowski
6 ways to be a better ally to people living with disabilities
8 Ways to be a better ally to LGBT Disabled people
Invisible Disability Project
Not Your Inspiration
Academic papers to read
Barnes, C, Mercer, G, and Shakespeare, T (2010) Exploring Disability: A Sociological Introduction. 2nd edition, Cambridge: Polity Press.
Berghs, M. (2019) Do disabled people need a stronger social model: a social model of human rights? Disability and Society, 34 (7/8), pp. 1034-1039.
Cameron, H, Coleman, B, Hervey, T et al (2019) Equality law obligations in higher education: reasonable adjustments under the Equality Act 2010 in assessment of students with unseen disabilities, Legal Studies, 39(2), pp. 204-229.
Clifford, E. (2020) The War on Disabled People: Capitalism, Welfare and the Making of a Human Catastrophe, London: Zed Books.
De Beco, G. (2020) Intersectionality and disability in international human rights law, International Journal of Human Rights, 24(5), pp.593-614.