To truly offer everyone a chance at creating their own learning experiences, it means broadening our horizons to truly make ourselves accessible in the first place. Whether it be chronic illnesses, physical disability or mental afflictions - we will pay attention to your needs and make it a point to understand what you need.
All of this work—centering the needs of students with individual learning plans, adopting an asset-based approach to teaching and learning, and contextualizing these practices within the history of disability in education—is part of a larger quest for social justice. As activist Keith Jones reminds us: “In education, a focus on inclusive spaces, high expectations for students with disabilities and training for all educators is essential. Listening to the perspectives of those with lived experience is key to understanding that disability is not a problem to solve but part of the human experience to embrace. ‘Nothing about us without us’ has real and consequential meaning.”