Paralympian keynotes Disability is Diversity Week at UNCA

Paralympian Matt Glowacki. Photo courtesy of UNC Asheville

Press release from UNC Asheville:

Paralympian Matt Glowacki will present Able-Bodied Like Me on Monday, Nov. 7 in an event that will keynote and start UNC Asheville’s Disability is Diversity Week 2016. Disability is Diversity Week focuses on disability as an identity of diversity and difference to be not only accepted but celebrated.

Glowacki, a highly sought after diversity speaker and entrepreneur, will talk about “intersectionality” and “passing” within a framework of disability and social justice, seeking to break down barriers between the able-bodied and those with disabilities. His talk, Able-Bodied Like Me, takes place at 7 p.m. on Nov. 7 in UNC Asheville’s Highsmith Union, in Alumni Hall.

Glowacki’s talk and the following related events are all free and open to everyone:

Nov. 9 – Sparrow Rose Jones: Neurodiversity – Creativity and Innovation Thrive When we Welcome Diverse Minds – Jones is an autistic writer, artist, public speaker and activist. She is the author of No You Don’t: Essays from an Unstrange Mind and The ABCs of Autism Acceptance. Her talk takes place at 12:30 p.m. in UNC Asheville’s Ramsey Library, in the Whitman Room.

Nov. 9 – Documentary Film: Lives Worth Living – Lives Worth Living is both a historical documentary about the disability rights movement and a chronicle of the lives and experiences of its leaders who refused to remain unseen and unheard. This 2011 documentary, directed by Eric Neudel and produced by Alison Gilkey, was originally broadcast on PBS as part of the Independent Lens series. The screening takes place at 7 p.m. in Highsmith Union in the Grotto.

Nov. 10 – Panel Discussion: UNC Asheville Students with Disabilities – Students will share their perspectives and insights gained through experiences on and off campus. The discussion takes place from noon-1 p.m. in Highsmith Union room 224.

Disability is Diversity Week is presented by UNC Asheville’s Office of Academic Accessibility (OAA). For more information, visit oaa.unca.edu. If you need an accommodation to fully participate in one of these events, please contact OAA Director Joshua Kaufman with as much advance notice as possible, at kaufman@unca.edu or 828.232.550.

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About Virginia Daffron
Managing editor, lover of mountains, native of WNC. Follow me @virginiadaffron

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