On April 5th, the Developmental Disabilities and Human Services specialization and the Boltwood Project hosted the second annual Neurodiversity and Disability Studies Summit. Students, faculty, and community members met in Furcolo Hall to view undergraduate and graduate student research project posters, participate in breakout presentations, and listen to a keynote presentation by UMass alumna and assistant professor at Ball State University, Dr. Kat Stephens-Peace. Stephens-Peace presented “Expanding the Margins: Blackness, Disability Justice, and Intersectionality in (Global) Higher Education”.
Breakout sessions for this event included topics on assistive technology, neuroinclusion and universal design in education, anthropology of disability, neurodiversity-affirming framework in mental healthcare, historical perspectives on disability advocacy, implementing neurodiversity-affirming practices, and a Boltwood Project capstone project on driving change through storytelling. Attendees were able to choose a session most interesting to them.
The organizers of this event would like to thank our sponsors that made this event possible: Five College CBL Committee, UMass Psychological and Brain Sciences Department, and the UMass College of Education.
