Disability Identity and Culture Month
Disability Identity & Culture Month
At Miami University we recognize National Disability Employment Awareness Month. NDEAM 2021, “America’s Recovery: Powered by Inclusion,” reflects the importance of ensuring that people with disabilities have full access to employment and community involvement during the national recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. NDEAM is held each October to commemorate the many and varied contributions of people with disabilities to America’s workplaces, including higher education, and the economy. We encourage all Miamians to engage in dialogue and allyship, including through campus and community organizations such as SDAC and the Miller Center for Student Disability Services.
Upcoming Events
For a full list of upcoming events, please visit our University Events calendar page.
Resources
University Libraries Resources
Disability Focused Centers and Degree Programs
AccessMU Center
The AccessMU Center works to create a more accessible environment by providing information and services to enhance equal access for students with and without disabilities. Responsibilities include the accessibility review and testing of applications, websites, and documents; accessibility training; and captioning support services.
Learn more about the AccessMU Center.
Miami University Center for Assistive Technology
The Miami University Center for Assistive Technology (MU-CAT) is a cross-disciplinary scholarly research center to enable engineering solutions for socially relevant problems for improving quality of life by assisting the lives of older adults and people with disabilities. Housed within the College of Engineering and Computing, MU-CAT is an interdisciplinary center working collaboratively with Scripps Gerontology Center as well as the Center for Social Entrepreneurship in Farmer School of Business.
Disability Studies Minor
The disability studies minor offers a broad liberal arts approach to the study of disability, providing students with knowledge of the historical, social, artistic, literary, legal, educational, philosophical, and political framing of disability.
Additional Disability Centered Resources
Good Reads/Listens
- Disability Visibility: First Person Stories from the 21st Century, edited by Alice Wong
- Demistifying Disability: What to Know, What to Say, and How to Be an Ally, Emily Ladau
- Care Work: Dreaming Disability Justice, Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha
- Building Access: Universal Design and the Politics of Disability, Aimi Hamraie
- Academic Ableism: Disability and Higher Education, Jay Dolmage
- Disability Visibility Project Podcast
- Power not Pity Podcast
Disability Accounts to Follow
- Alice Wong on Twitter, @SFdirewolf
- Dominick Evans on Twitter, @dominickevans
- Haben Girma on Twitter, @habengirma
- Imani Barbarin on Twitter, @Imani_Barbarin
- Andrew Pulrang on Twitter, @AndrewPulrang
- Rebecca Cokley on Twitter, @RebeccaCokley
- Mia Mingus on Twitter, @miamingus
- Disability Reframed on Instagram, @disabilityreframed
Ways to Connect
- Students with Disabilities Advisory Council (Students)
- The Miller Center for Student Disability Services (Everyone)
Resources
- Lib Guide
- Student Counseling Service
- Center for Student Diversity and Inclusion
- Center for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (Regionals)
- Access MU Center
- Center for Assistive Technology
- Disability Resources
- Disability Studies Research Guide
- Disability Visibility Project
- PBS Able to Raise: Reflections on the Disability Rights Movement
- National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled Library of Congress (NLS)
- DisArt: Art, Podcasts, Resources, and More
- Virtual Panel Discussion: Accessibility in the Arts
- Netflix Documentary: Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution
- Disability Visibility: Podcast, Disability Visibility Project
Previous Events
2022
Disability Identity and Exploration Film Series - Crip Camp
Tuesday, October 25, 5 p.m. in Admission Auditorium, First Floor Shriver Center
The Miller Center is hosting the Disability Identity and Exploration Film Series. Crip Camp starts in 1971 at Camp Jened, a summer camp in New York described as a "loose, free-spirited camp designed for teens with disabilities". The film focuses on those campers who turned themselves into activists for the disability rights movement and follows their fight for accessibility legislation. The film is 1 hour and 47 minutes long, and will be followed by a short conversation.
Sponsored By
Miller Center for Student Disability Services
Student Perspectives on Mental Health
Thursday, October 27, 2:30 - 4 p.m. in 1086 Armstrong Student Center
Please join us for an open discussion with a panel of Miami undergraduate students about their mental health struggles and concerns while navigating higher education. Students will share their experiences, what has worked for them and what supports they currently need. The discussion panel will be followed by a Q and A with the audience.
Sponsored By
Disability Studies, the Office of Institutional Diversity and Inclusion, and the Miller Center for Student Disability Services
Coffee & Conversations with the Students with Disabilities Advisory Council
Thursday, October 27, 4:30 - 6 p.m. in 310 Shriver Center
Coffee and Conversations, one of the Students with Disabilities Advisory Counsel's signature initiatives, is a panel-style event designed to allow students with disabilities to share their Miami experience with faculty members. This event strives to establish open lines of communication between students and faculty by encouraging faculty members to ask questions and learn more about the student experience of disability. Faculty who have attended in the past have found Coffee and Conversations to be an eye-opening hour meaningful experience.
Panelists
Students with Disabilities Advisory Council members
Disability Identity and Exploration Film Series - Sound and Fury
Thursday, November 17, 4:30 p.m. in 153 Shideler Hall
The Miller Center is hosting the Disability Identity and Exploration Film Series. Sound and Fury takes viewers inside the seldom seen world of the deaf to witness a painful family struggle over a controversial medical technology called the cochlear implant. Some family members celebrate the implant as a long overdue cure for deafness while others fear it will destroy their language and way of life. The film is 1 hour and 20 minutes, and will be followed by a short conversation.
Sponsored By
Miller Center for Student Disability Services
Campus Accessibility Bingo
Download the Accessibility Bingo Board (PDF; opens in a new window)
Learn more about our campus and the experiences of people with disabilities by playing Campus Accessibility Bingo! Gain an understanding about authentic representations of disability by following, watching, and listening to content created by disabled creators. Discover accessibility features on campus and take time to consider how you move through the world. Be one of the first ten people to bring proof of bingo completion (of all 9 activities) to the Miller Center and receive a Miller Center reusable tote bag!
Sponsored By
Miller Center for Student Disability Services
2021
Meet the Author of Afrotistic: Kala Allen Omeiza
Tuesday, October 4, 2 - 3 p.m. in 3032 Armstrong Student Center (CSDI C-Suite)
Sponsored By
Center for Student Diversity and Inclusion (CSDI)
Come and meet the author of the novel Afrotistic, Kala Allen Omeiza. Kala is a Miami alum who navigates her intersectional identity of being Black and part of the disability community. We are giving away free copies of her book Afrotistic to the first 20 students. Hot beverages and pastries will be provided!
Your Next 9 Years: Developing Self-Compassion and Your Interests to Thrive at Miami and Beyond
Tuesday, October 4, 6 p.m. in John Dolibois Room C, Shriver Center
Presenter
Kala Allen Omeiza, Keynote Speaker
Many students in college struggle to cultivate their true interests and find friends who reflect their real selves. For those that are neurodivergent such as autistic, or part of another minority community, the desire to suppress oneself is often an act of survival. This can subsequently lead to long-term physical and mental health outcomes like depression and even suicide.
In this keynote, Kala will discuss her own experience with being autistic and Black, and will share how she discovered her interest in writing, mental health and entrepreneurship. It’s been 10 years since Kala first stepped foot on Miami’s campus. We welcome her back to share her journey of self-acceptance as neurodivergent, how she advocates for intersectionality, and some success and self-care advice she’s learned this past decade.
Refreshments will be served beginning at 5 p.m with the Keynote address at 6 p.m.
Sponsored By
AccessMU Center, Alumni Association, Department of Disability Studies, Office of Institutional Diversity and Inclusion and The Miller Center for Student Disability Services
Love, Honor, Access Tie Dye
Wednesday, October 5, 11 a.m. - 2 p.m., Outside at the Seal
Celebrate Disability Identity and Culture Month with the Miller Center by tie-dyeing free t-shirts and tote bags!
Sponsored By
Miller Center for Student Disability Services
Improve Your Courses with Ally
Thursday, October 13, 3 - 3:30 p.m.
Presenter
Autumn Meade, Accessible Technology Coordinator
Ally is an Award-Winning Accessibility Solution designed to assist faculty in creating alternative formats for better quality, usability & accessibility of content for everyone! Ally guides instructors in improving the accessibility of their course content. Join us for this 30-minute session to learn how you can get started with Ally.
Sponsored By
AccessMU Center
Disability Culture BINGO
Thursday, October 13, 5:30 - 7:30 p.m. in John Dolibois Room C, Shriver Center
Learn about disability culture through BINGO! Prizes include snuggies, squishmallows, loop headphones, fidgets and more!
Sponsored By
Miller Center for Student Disability Services
DIY De-stress in the Miller Center
Wednesday, October 19, 2 - 4 p.m. in The Miller Center, 304 Shriver Center
Relax and decompress at the Miller Center. Together, we will create cloud dough, stress balls, friendship bracelets, and bookmarks! All are welcome to hang out, color, and practice mindful meditation in our destress space. Find a sense of peace and relief while crafting good vibes.
Sponsored By
Miller Center for Student Disability Services
Disability Studies at Miami: Bridging Pedagogy and Activism Panel
Thursday, October 20, 1 - 2:30 p.m.
The panel celebrates Disability Identity and Culture Month by highlighting the role of Disability Studies in shaping scholarly and grassroots conversations following the motto “Nothing About Us Without Us”. Critical education extends a bridge between pedagogy and activism. Panelists will discuss the importance of community solidarity in relation to critical education and activism, focusing on two themes: 1) holistic approaches to education that prioritize lived experience and grassroots knowledges in diverse cultural contexts, and 2) the key role of solidarity (not charity) in successful community organizing with rather than for otherwise marginalized disabled people.
Sponsored By
Disability Studies, the Office of Institutional Diversity and Inclusion, and the Miller Center for Student Disability Services
Mapping a Journey of Accessible and Inclusive Studying Abroad/Away: Explore. Assess. Go for it!
Thursday, October 20, 5 - 6:30 p.m. in John Dolibois Room A (first floor), Shriver Center
Panelists will share their experiences designing, leading and supporting accessible and inclusive study abroad/away programs; and provide opportunities to explore and assess a wide range of strategies to be considered through engaging interactive conversations. Information about advising and resources available across campus regarding opportunities to support study abroad and/or away with disability will be discussed.
Panelists
Marnie Nelson, Assistant Director, Education Abroad, Global Initiatives
David Motta, Assistant Lecturer, Spanish and Portuguese
Jacqueline Rioja, Associate Director, Center for American and World Cultures, Global Initiatives (panel facilitator)
Hope Sweeney, Access Coordinator, Miller Center for Student Disability Services
Sponsored By
Miller Center for Student Disability Services and Global Initiatives