James Deaville, Carleton University, Member of the Federation’s Equity and Diversity Steering Committee

According to the revised version of the Ontarians with Disabilities Act from 2005 (originally drafted in 2001),

“disability” means,

(a) any degree of physical disability, infirmity, malformation or disfigurement that is caused by bodily injury, birth defect or illness and, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, includes diabetes mellitus, epilepsy, a brain injury, any degree of paralysis, amputation, lack of physical co-ordination, blindness or visual impediment, deafness or hearing impediment, muteness or speech impediment, or physical reliance on a guide dog or other animal or on a wheelchair or other remedial appliance or device,

Caitlin Stone Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences

In my opinion, what makes disability studies such a unique discipline is its emphasis on storytelling and the experience of disability. As one of the few academic disciplines which values the intimate personal stories of individuals and the collective (much like Women’s Studies and History to name a few), disability studies can inform academic work in an enriched way that theory alone cannot.

This unique aspect of disability studies was beautifully illustrated by Roxanne Mykitiuk and Eliza Chandler in their digital storytelling project, which they presented during the first of two panels on equity and disability that took place at Congress 2012. Accompanied by presentations from Jennifer Rowsell and...

Michael J. Astrauskas, Arizona State University
Guest contributor

This entry is part of the CFHSS’s VP Equity Issues series on diversity, creativity and innovation / diversité, innovation et créativité

To see a whiteboard at the front of the class, students with severe visual impairment typically use a monocular for far-sight viewing. This provides a greatly magnified but a very narrow field of view of the board. In addition to the monocular, they might need to use their glasses for note-taking (i.e. near-sight viewing). As these students take notes in class, they must repeatedly switch back and forth between the whiteboard and their notes,...

Gregor Wolbring, University of Calgary
Guest Contributor

This entry is part of the CFHSS’s VP Equity Issues series on diversity, creativity and innovation / diversité, innovation et créativité.

Innovation, according to Wikipedia, “generally refers to the creation of better or more effective products, processes, technologies, or ideas that are accepted by markets, governments, and society.”  Many of these innovations in scientific and technological products as well as novel ideas and theoretical concepts have implications for people with disabilities.

Today, we are witnessing extraordinary innovations in scientific and...