disAbility Awareness Week April 11-16 2010
Open to all students, faculty, staff, and community members!
Disability is a social label, a status, a category, and many more things. No two disabilities are the same and there is not a conclusive list of all disabilities because they vary in the degree, severity, and type for every person who has one. Also, one person can have more than one disability at a time. But disability is more than a status or a label, it is also a culture. It is now part of Washington law that post-secondary institutions teach the history and topics relating to disability culture. Moreover, disability is not static to one person for all time, and it does not discriminate on age, race, gender, sexuality, class or anything else. Disabilities can exist in everyone and you will not always know if you will have one or not. This is why the disability community is the largest minority community and the easiest and quickest one to join.
This year, the theme for DisAbility Awareness Week is “Intersections,” acknowledging the various ways in which many different identities intersect with disability culture and identity. Please join us to celebrate disability culture and empower our community!
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DISABILITY AWARENESS WEEK 2010 SCHEDULE
MONDAY THRU FRIDAY
Disability Experiences
10AM- 5PM VU MPR
Grab a wheelchair, crutches, or ear plugs and find out what it
might be like to have a physical disability for a day.
SUNDAY APRIL 11
Music Within film showing
7PM & 9PM Viking Union 552
Co-sponsored with ASP Films and Social Issues Resource Center
The true story of Richard Pimentel, a brilliant speaker with a troubled past. Pimentel returns from a tour of duty in Vietnam, his hearing severely impaired and finds true purpose and meaning in his life working on behalf of Americans with disabilities.
MONDAY APRIL 12
Allison Matt: Motivational Speech
3PM-4PM Viking Union 565
Former Western student and graduate of the psychology program, Allison Matt now works in the Western Counseling Center and present on her unique experiences as a visually impaired student at Western.
Music Within film showing
7PM & 9PM Viking Union 552
Co-sponsored with ASP Films and Social Issues Resource Center
See Sunday April 11 description.
TUESDAY APRIL 13
Resource Fair
12PM-3PM Viking Union MPR
What’s in it for you? Candy, handouts, information, free stuff, door prizes, networking, meeting local organizations, more! FREE FOOD too!
Sex and Disability in Queer Relationships
7PM-9PM Viking Union 462AB
Like to talk about sex? Like to have sex? Like to have queer sex? Like to have queer, disabled sex? Or are you at least curious? Come and enjoy safe and inclusive discussion about what it may be like to have a queer disabled relationship in a hetero-normative and sex-crazed society.
WEDNESDAY APRIL 14
Ability: What’s Yours?
1PM-2PM Viking Union 565
You may be asking yourself, “what is a disability?” Come here and find out! Listen, learn, and spread the word!
Wheelchair Races around the Fountain
2PM-4PM Red Square Fountain
Co-sponsored with Bellevue Healthcare
Passing by Red Square any time soon? Grab a wheelchair and race other students for a chance to win some cool prizes from the WWU Bookstore!
Is Disability a Culture? Panel Discussion
7:30PM-9:30PM Viking Union MPR
Co-sponsored with the Social Issues Resource Center and Diversity Fund
An exploration of disability as it intersects with race, class, gender, age, sexuality, and more. With so many identities and variations of disabilities, can we say that it has its own distinct culture? The panelists are:
Two Empowered Fe Fes from Chicago, Illinois, a group of young women of color with disabilities who make film with BeyondMedia. Jacquelyn Thomas and Veronica Martinez are part of this support group, and they will discuss the relationship between disability, race and gender.
Dan Teachman, the Program Success Specialist in the Center for disAbility Studies and Universal Access at Eastern Washington University, will discuss disability as a social culture.
Naaman Brooks, “NAAMAN” means TO BE PLEASANT and at all times I strive to live my life as if I wore my name on my sleeves!!!!!
THURSDAY APRIL 15
Socially Constructed Disability: A Commercialized System
12PM-1PM Viking Union 565
Dan Teachman, from the Center for disAbility Studies and Universal Access at Eastern Washington University, will be leading a workshop on the differences between the social and medical models of disability and how it affects society’s understanding and perceptions of disability.
Disabilities in the Media: Avatar, Glee, and Modern Media
7PM-9PM Viking Union 565
A look at modern media such as Avatar, the hit show Glee, and other media representations of disability through an analytical lens.
FRIDAY APRIL 16
Redefining Ability: Campus-wide Cupcake Challenge
12PM-2PM Viking Union 565
Originally a residence hall event, SDA decided to invite everyone to join us for some cupcake decorating, eating, and socializing! Cupcakes are free, just draw from a hat a random temporary disability to experience and enjoy the company!