Timotheus “T.J.” Gordon Jr., MFA, MS, is a research associate at the Institute on Disability and Human Development at the University of Illinois Chicago. Gordon uses his passion for self-advocacy, racial equity, disability culture, and autism acceptance to create webinars, training sessions, and publications on autism and race, inclusion in communities of color, exploration of sexuality in the disability community, coping with the COVID-19 pandemic, mental health emergency services, and more.

He is also a co-founder of the Chicagoland Disabled People of Color Coalition (Chicagoland DPOCC), supported by the Institute on Disability and Human Development. Chicagoland DPOCC is a group of disabled people of color in the Chicagoland area that promotes disability pride, self-advocacy, and inclusion in communities of color throughout the Chicagoland area.

Gordon is a proud alumnus of Hyde Park High School (Chicago, IL); he graduated in 2006. He loves sports, and in fact, he played two years of varsity football, threw the shot put for his track and field team during his senior year, and was part of an Academic Decathlon team that advanced to the city championships in 2006. His experience in sports and competitions at Hyde Park encouraged him to advocate for more inclusion, acceptance, and recognition of athletes with disabilities in high school, colleges, professional teams, and recreational programs.

In addition to his self-advocacy work, Gordon has written essays and reviews about disability and race. His writings and cultural insights appear in the Disability Studies Review, the “All the Weight of Our Dreams: On Living Racialized Autism” anthology, the "Code of the Freaks" documentary, and ADA 30 in Color.

To check out more of his works, visit http://linktr.ee/timotheusgordonjr.