Despite the lasting challenges that the pandemic has wrought, our student group, Alliance for Disability Awareness (ADA) has been able to have another successful semester. “I won’t lie, it’s been a bit rough getting off the ground,” Aster Rye, the Social Media Coordinator for ADA shared. “We had a couple of small hiccups, like the severe rain ruining our movie night in October,” Aster said. But despite various trials and setbacks, they still shared that one of their favorite memories from this semester was their event Tea, No Shade, and Pink Lemonade. “The event was a lot more casual and laid back than we had initially intended but I feel like that really allowed us to have the opportunity to build better interpersonal relationships with attendees and one another,” said Aster about the events of the Fall Semester.

When looking towards the Spring Semester, Aster shared that, “When all of us took over the Executive Board, we tossed around a lot of subjects that we were looking forward to discussing. In the upcoming future, we are really wanting to channel our advocacy into educational but fun events, speakers, and discussions.” Some topics that they hope to cover are building healthy coping mechanisms, discussing diversity, mental illnesses, learning self-advocacy, and personal identity.

For Disability Awareness Month in March of 2022, ADA is currently exploring their options for a few different speakers, as well as developing a workshop with the Accessible Technology (ACT) Lab. “We will be discussing some of the adaptive technologies that can be used by disabled and non-disabled students alike,” Aster explained. Furthermore, ADA is currently partnered with the Theatre and Dance LLC, as well as Artists for Inclusion on an informational and social event about accessibility in theatre. Aster shared that the objective for this event is to discuss ways in which theatre can be more accessible to both performers and audience members. The ADA Executive board is excited to share more about this event, and more, in the Spring Semester.

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