Accessing Disability Culture

Accessing Disability Culture is a multi-institutional digital series that highlights disability culture, lived experience, and inaccessibility at the University of Michigan. This born-digital anthology is a project of the DISCO Network, a consortium that imagines anti-ableist and anti-racist digital futures. The DISCO Network receives support from the Mellon Foundation.

Accessing Disability Culture joins DISCO in dreaming about radically just disability futures. Without a Disability Cultural Center, it can be hard for neurodivergent / chronically ill / disabled / Deaf / questioning students to find each other. However, we are here. We meet our community members here and there, at club meetings, classes, strikes, sports games, protests, parties — often in an accidental way. Through this digital series, we can meet intentionally. Here we can talk about our experiences freely, with and for each other. This anthology is not just for future students. It is for all of us who benefit from the sharing and celebration of disability culture and community.

Accessing Disability Culture defines disability broadly. We recognize that gaining access to an appropriate diagnosis is heavily biased against women and gender-diverse people, those with lower socioeconomic statuses, BIPOC, and other marginalized people. Self-diagnosis is valid. We also welcome submissions from current and former students who have experienced temporary disability, students who might be questioning whether or not they have a disability, and/or students who have had experiences with their own health or healthcare systems that have left a lasting impression. In a world where nondisabled people often determine how to talk about and identify disability, we believe that you are the best determiner of your own disability identity.

Table of Contents

This is UMich

Anna Xianyu Bochenek