Today’s events will take place at The Poorvu Center for Teaching and Learning, 301 York Street. You can find directions on our website.
The Self-Care Wellness Retreat will take place inside the Student Accessibility Services Building, 35 Broadway Street. You can find directions on our website.
Grab some refreshments and connect with symposium attendees!
Victoria Copeland (This presenter will be virtual)
When rest is (not) resistance, when rest is pri(son)ority. Nearly 3.3 million people suffer from ME/CFS in the U.S., a disease that causes profound physical and cognitive disabilities. Although named “Chronic fatigue syndrome”, the disease is anything but restful. Influenced by the Disability Justice principles, this presentation will share results from a study on ME/CFS to: problematize the concept of “rest”, emphasize interdependence and cross-disability solidarity, and expand ideas about accessibility and care.
This session will be pre-recorded.
Evan Wicklund
In this presentation, I argue that while contemporary critical disability scholarship is grounded in the pursuit of emancipatory politics, posthumanist scholarship introduces a theorization of disability that prioritizes interconnectivity (yet recognizes the inevitability of discontinuity) between humans and other actants. While we are all unavoidably connected to others, bodies which require intimate personal care, assistance with communication, and interpersonal support to complete both daily tasks and life planning, exemplifies the extent of human interdependency.
Maria Rovito
Persistent, disbelieved pain destabilizes the optimism that anchors much of disability theory. This presentation contends that feminist disability studies must treat relief as a justice imperative, expanding the field to include bodies whose primary experience is suffering rather than affirmation.
Moderator: Kenya Loudd
Laura Forlano
Drawing on nearly 15 years of experience from “disabled cyborg” life as a Type 1 diabetic, this presentation showcases an artistic research project that uses data from an insulin pump and sensor system to create a digitally knit blanket and pillows. The project raises questions about human-machine power asymmetries, agency, control and surveillance when technology is enmeshed into our bodies and nestled into our bedrooms.
Rachel Furey
This talk focuses on writing short stories through a neurodivergent lens, the short story form serving as a mode to acknowledge conflict harbored in past selves, achieve sensory joy through the visceral creation of settings, and reclaim playscapes where neurodivergent individuals may have experienced sensory overwhelm or bullying. To illustrate this, I’ll share sections of my short story, “Albatross Landing” (published in Fourth River), and discuss how storytelling is a necessary form of play.
Kelly Diaz
Moderator: Yair Guijosa-Torres
Hassan Aliyu Mu’azu
This presentation draws from my lived experience as a person with mobility impairment navigating education, technology, and everyday life in Nigeria. It explores what it means to move through a world that often sees disability as “invisible,” and how inclusive design and awareness can change that reality. The session invites reflection on how belonging and visibility can coexist through empathy, accessibility, and shared understanding.
Stacey Cordova
Moderator: Nivetha Karthikeyan
This is an open house session that will allow community members and Symposium attendees to learn more about services and collectives centered on disability, dccess, and disability community building at Yale and beyond.
The Expo will take place in Room 120 B.
Participating vendors:
This event will be held at the Student Accessibility Services (SAS) building, 35 Broadway, courtyard entrance, Room 222. This website provides detailed information on how to access the building.
Come join our Self-Care Wellness Retreat hosted by Yale’s Student Accessibility Services in collaboration with the Good Life Center. This is an opportunity to unwind after a long day at the Symposium and relax/connect with other attendees. At this space, we will provide: