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Join NEADS in Antigonish on October 23rd!

Join the National Educational Association of Disabled Students and the Spatializing Care Lab on Wednesday, October 23rd from 12:00 pm - 5:00pm AT at the Charles V Keating Conference Centre (Room B) and on zoom for the Antigonish stop of our State of the Schools Tour!

As part of NEADS’ Virtual Access 4 All Project and quarterly State of the Schools Reports, the NEADS team is partnering with the Spatializing Care Lab, disabled and neurodivergent student organizers, and St FX professors to host this hybrid event on post-secondary accessibility and accommodations, while providing local students advocacy and networking opportunities!

This jam-packed afternoon will begin with an overview of the work NEADS does across Canada, before Lead Researcher Chloée Godin-Jacques shares their thoughts on how NEADS projects and insights can be applied to St FX’s rural context.

Following a break, participants will hear from participating community partners on local initiatives: including the Spatializing Care Lab and Tramble Centre for Accessible Learning!

After another break, there will be two interactive panels. The first will host four local student organizers as they share their own experiences navigating rural post-secondary education and mobilizing the local disabled student community. Then, our professor panel will explore the barriers professors teaching in rural settings face to truly accessible post-secondary education, while sharing helpful tips and tricks to make the classroom more accessible.

The floor will then be opened to all participants, where they are invited to share their own experiences, raise any questions or comments directed at presenters or panelists, or engage with provided discussion questions.

Contact tracing, social distancing, and masking will be enforced for in-person participants. A pre-packaged lunch will be provided to in-person participants, and closed captioning and ASL interpretation will be available online and in-person through zoom. We ask that you bring a personal device to best access ASL and closed captions if attending in-person.

Both in-person and online participants are encouraged to share their lived experience, questions, and concerns during the non-recorded discussion period.

All participants must register for this free event – please register here. Please indicate any accessibility requirements through the registration form, or email chloee.godinjacques@neads.ca

Meet the Student Speakers

Q, Founder of St FX Neurodivergence and Disability Society

Hi my name Norah Quirk, I go by Q my pronouns are She/ Her. I'm in my final year as an undergraduate student at stfx. I advocate for accessibility, no one should dictate what someone is capable of achieving.

Mack Murphy, StFX Students’ Union VP Campus Affairs

Mack Murphy (she/they) is a 3rd year Honours Public Policy & Governance student at STFX with a subsidiary in development. They currently work for the StFX Student Union as the VP of Campus Affairs and are an active volunteer in the HRM with the Nova Scotia SPCA.

Jasmine Stoffer, St FX PhD Candidate

Jasmin Stoffer (she/they) is a multiply-neurodivergent/disabled and chronically ill PhD candidate (St. FX) and educator in Nova Scotia. She has worked as a learning support teacher for 14 years and is currently a Learning Centre teacher in HRCE. Her research is focused on how lived experience can inform the creation of anti-ableist pedagogy for pre-service teacher training programs, and inclusive education that centres disability pride and justice. Jasmin is also a member of the Disabled Academic Collective and the Disabled Educators Curriculum Collective, a project led by Dr. Kathryn Meyer (Binghamton University).

Claire Haussman, Vice-President of St FX Neurodivergence and Disability Society

Meet the Professor Panelists

Dr Emmanuel Banchani, St FX Sociology Assistant Professor

Dr. Emmanuel Banchani is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology at St. Francis Xavier University. Prior to joining StFX, he completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness, York University. His research interests focus on global health, population health, and health services research. In particular, his research explains how various aspects of the social determinants of health can be used by policymakers and practitioners to prevent, control, and manage non-communicable diseases (NCDs). His research appeared in journals such as Global Health Promotion, BMC Health Services Research, Health and Social Care in the Community, Journal of Biosocial Sciences.

Dr Maureen Moynagh, St FX English Professor

Maureen is an English Professor at Saint Francis Xavier University examining global intimacies, African and Indigenous speculative fiction, child-soldier narratives, and much more in both her research and teaching activities. Recent publications include “Decolonial (Re)Visions of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror” in the Special Issue of Canadian Literature 240 (2020), and “Frames of War: Thinking Child-Soldier Photography” in Photography and Culture 14.1 (2021). Maureen holds a BA Honours in English and French from the University of Winnipeg, an MA in English from the University of Victoria, and a PhD in Comparative Literature from the University of Texas at Austin.

Dr Amanda Casey, St FX Human Kinetics Associate Professor

As a two-time academic All-American, Amanda attended the University of Tampa on an NCAA swimming scholarship, later completing her MSc. and Ph.D. in Kinesiology at the University of Calgary (2006). Amanda’s applied research and teaching at StFX involve designing, implementing, and evaluating community-based participatory action research in the field of disability and health. She follows evidence-based practice to implement carefully structured clinical interventions and community initiatives via the Motor Activities with X (MAX) Lab where she collaborates with rehabilitation and planning specialists, local schools, non-profit organizations, and assisted living facilities. Amanda’s community-engaged scholarship promotes universal design and health equity for at-risk populations including people with autism and intellectual disabilities. Her research centers on intervention design, vulnerable and rural population health, co-morbidity, accessibility, assistive technology, water safety and autism, inclusive para hockey, and knowledge transfer. Amanda has published in refereed journals such as Disability & Health, Disability & Rehabilitation, APAQ, Archives of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, and Pediatric Physical Therapy; she is also funded by SSHRC, Research Nova Scotia, Goodlife Kids Foundation, and CLARI Action Research. Amanda advocates for inclusion on accessibility committees and as a Board member of non-profit organizations such as Nova Scotia Early Childhood Intervention, L’Arche, Antigonish Minor Hockey, and Positive Action for Keppoch where she recently introduced an Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility plan.

Dr Katie Aubrecht, St FX Sociology Chair and Associate Professor

Katie Aubrecht is Canada Research Chair in Health Equity and Social Justice and Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology at StFX. Dr. Aubrecht has a PhD in Sociology of Education from the University of Toronto and is an alumnus of the inaugural cohort of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Institute of Health Services and Policy Research (IHSPR) Health System Impact (HSI) Fellows. She is a CIHR External Advisory Committee member working on the Institute’s accessibility planning work to meet its obligations under the Accessible Canada Act. As Director of the Canadian Foundation for Innovation-funded Spatializing Care: Intersectional Disability Studies Lab, she leads an interdisciplinary research program that maps health services, social policies, and community resources related to marginality, mental health, and resilience across the life span, with a focus on rural communities in Atlantic Canada. Aubrecht’s teaching and research in sociology draw on health policy studies, intersectional disability studies, gerontology, and participatory, decolonizing and arts-informed qualitative research methods to analyze disability, aging, and mental health education, policy and practice and explore creative cross-sectoral approaches to person- and family-oriented behavioural health care. Aubrecht is an Associate Scientist with the Maritime Strategy for Patient Oriented Research (SPOR) SUPPORT Unit and is Chair of the CIHR IHSPR Institute Advisory Board. She has also served as President and Executive Board Member of the Canadian Disability Studies Association and as Board Director with Eviance (Canadian Centre on Disability Studies).

Meet Our Community Representatives

Elizabeth Kell, Manager of Tramble Centre for Accessible Learning

Elizabeth (she/her) has been advocating for students with disabilities for over 30 years in her role as Manager of the Tramble Centre for Accessible Learning. Elizabeth is a passionate supporter of accessible and equitable education and skilled at building relationships to create better outcomes for students.  She participates in conversations that support students within campus and in provincial roles. Elizabeth also shares her expertise within community and engages with the not-for-profit sector in her personal life.

About The Spatializing Care Lab

Led by Director, Dr. Katie Aubrecht, the Spatializing Care Lab connects and crosses disciplinary and sectoral boundaries, bridging medical, social and cultural approaches to mental health care. Dr. Aubrecht is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology and Canada Research Chair Health Equity and Social Justice at St. Francis Xavier (St.F.X.) University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia. Her research program analyzes marginality and mental health, rurality and resilience across the life span as health equity and social justice issues.

The Spatializing Care Lab benefits greatly from the contributions of an extensive network of knowledge users who are committed to incorporating the best evidence into practice, collaborating investigators, and undergraduate and graduate trainees from across Nova Scotia.

The lab is home to a participatory arts-informed health research infrastructure that supports and enhances meaningful and ethical community engagement. Projects focus on structures and conditions that influence mental health and wellness inequities and disparities. The lab models accessible and inclusive research practice, training and mentorship. We provide opportunities to engage with the research process, develop skills, and share experiential insights.

Learn More: https://www.stfx.ca/research/research-institutes-centres-networks/spatializing-care-lab

About the Tramble Centre for Accessible Learning

The Tramble Centre for Accessible Learning is an academic program of support for students with diagnosed and documented permanent disabilities. Tramble Centre Staff work with students to put in place recommended accommodations that will help students to succeed at StFX. Available supports include tutoring, note taking, academic strategy, assistive technology, and testing accommodations.

Learn more: https://www.stfx.ca/student-services/academic-services/accessible-learning

About NEADS’ State of the Schools Tour

NEADS’ State of the Schools Tour is a national hybrid tour visiting disabled student groups at their local post-secondary institutions to provide important advocacy, networking, and capacity-building opportunities while informing our quarterly State of the Schools publication on accessibility and accommodations in post-secondary education.

The State of the Schools Tour is a component of NEADS’ Virtual Access 4 All project, which provides educational support and awareness aimed at students with disabilities transitioning into and through post-secondary education. The State of the Schools Tour, and the Virtual Access 4 All project, are generously supported by Employment and Social Development Canada's Goal Getters Program.

About NEADS’ Virtual Access 4 All Project

NEADS' Virtual Access for All Project provides educational support and awareness aimed at students with disabilities transitioning into post-secondary education. Accessibility and accommodations resources are provided through our quarterly State of the Schools publications, while our regular webinar series addresses topics such as self-advocacy, accessing accommodations at work and school, and transitioning into the workforce. Further, financial support is available through Financial Assistance Program. Virtual Access for All is generously supported by Employment and Social Development Canada's Goal Getters Program, and has recently received an upward amendment in response to positive reception.

Carly Fox (she/her/elle), NEADS Communications and Partnerships Director | Directrice des communications et des partenariats de NEADS, carly.fox@neads.ca National Educatonal Association of Disabled Students (NEADS), Rm. 514 Unicentre, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, K1S 5B6

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