What is Disability Wisdom?
“Disability wisdom” has a double meaning. Wisdom is a synthesis of knowledge and experience. We can build this wisdom by learning about the experiences people have living with disabilities and combining that experience base with the knowledge that research gives us.
But disability wisdom has a second meaning. The sociologist Irving Goffman described “wise” people as those who treat people with differences in the same way they would treat “ordinary” people without differences. People with disabilities want to be treated wisely–to be respected as full human beings, to be included in the full range of human pursuits and to be empowered to make their own life choices.
Disability wisdom is a way of including people with disabilities that goes beyond following legal requirements. It involves building person-to-person relationships with them and learning from their life experiences as you build a culture of inclusion together.
About Me
I am a disabled activist and a social scientist who is passionate about improving public understandings of disability. This passion was kindled when, as a college freshman, I joined the National Federation of the Blind and became aware of the many misunderstandings about disabilities that exist in our society. I discovered two important things: that many of the challenges facing people with disabilities are correctable, and that most people want to include people with disabilities, but the inclusion they want to create is often blocked by pervasive misunderstandings and stereotypes. I made it my life’s mission to find and remove the unnecessary barriers keeping people with disabilities from reaching our potential.
In pursuit of this goal, I obtained a Ph.D. in social psychology from the University of Colorado Boulder in 2014, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Washington School of Medicine in 2016. I have authored over a dozen peer-reviewed research articles on disability psychology, including resilience and adjustment to disability; disability identities; employment barriers; the importance of peer support; and good and bad ways to teach others about disabilities. My real passion lies in the process of bringing research findings and disability voices to the general public through trainings and knowledge translation efforts.
In the spring of 2016, I founded Disability Wisdom Consulting. As principal consultant, I provide trainings on disability inclusion and etiquette; social science tools that facilitate involvement of disabled people in research and development; and technical writing services, such as preparing reader-friendly summaries of research on disability topics.
Want to learn more? Check out my services, publications, and the Weekly Wisdom Blog