Oana Negrea’s Post

The University of Queensland is currently developing the Disability Inclusion Research and Innovation Strategy, a key action arising from the Disability Action Plan 2023-2025. In the Disability Action Plan, an action was laid out to ‘Establish a Disability Inclusion Research Plan’ (now, the Strategy) to ‘leverage the opportunities of the 2032 Olympics and Paralympics as well as our growing expertise in intersectionality’. To develop the Strategy, the project team is consulting widely in order to centre the voices and experiences of UQ staff and students with lived experience of disability. Within the context of research and innovation at UQ, the Strategy will consider opportunities to enable and grow: research by people with disabilities disability research professional staff who work with researchers with disabilities end-user engagement with UQ’s disability research; and training and development for staff supporting disability research. The project website can be viewed here: https://lnkd.in/gemCxmXG. The project team would greatly value your expertise and insight into the creation of the Strategy. You can complete the consultation survey here: https://lnkd.in/g5F8QBrM. For more information, or if you have any questions, please contact the Project Team at strategy@research.uq.edu.au.

This article provides some very interesting insights into how disability professionals perceive their understanding of ableism. "As a group that has great power over people with disabilities, it is critical that disability professionals understand ableism and its influence on interactions, relationships, environments, systems, and structures. Without the ability to do so, disability professionals will continue to reinforce ableism, especially unconsciously, and contribute to the inequities people with disabilities face." Thanks to CQL | The Council on Quality and Leadership for this work! https://lnkd.in/e_2mSfQ4

Check Protection International's latest publication on the inclusion, protection, and wellbeing of human rights defenders with disabilities. Together with University of York and Durham University, we look at how ableism continues to shape decision-making spaces, processes, and expectations for participation in society. We highlight how defenders with disabilities continue to face significant challenges with accessibility, encompassing not only physical and communicative barriers but also challenges related to representative accessibility. It is crucial to recognise this group as an integral part of the global human rights movement and allocate the necessary resources to reach this goal.

🔦 Check out Protection International's new guide, “Strengthening the Inclusion, Protection, and Wellbeing of Human Rights Defenders with Disabilities." This guide explores how ableism continues to shape decision-making spaces, processes, and expectations for participation in society. They also highlight how defenders with disabilities continue to face significant challenges with accessibility, including those related to representative accessibility. Find the publication here 👇 https://lnkd.in/eGt36nhC

Staying physically active is synonymous with good health and well-being, and its benefits on the health of people with intellectual disabilities have been studied. 🤓 This study aimed to analyse the relationship between QoL (Quality of Life) and physical activity in people with intellectual disabilities according to gender and the characteristics of the practiced activity: 🔹 no association was found between gender and physical–sport activity practice 🔹 men were more likely to engage in sports, while women seemed to prefer other types of physical activity 🔹 women perceived more barriers than men in terms of practicing sports. Women and girls with disabilities are historically disenfranchised from physical–sport activity practice due to “double discrimination”: being female and having a disability. Learn more about it: https://lnkd.in/eWJ5j7ZD

This month is Disability Pride Month, first originating in July 1990, which raises awareness of and celebrates persons who experience disability, their identities, diverse cultures and their positive contributions to society. The Disability Flag was designed by Ann Magill in 2019 and began to circulate during Disability Pride Month - and revised in 2021 to this current design.  - The meaning behind each design element:  All six flag colours: Disability spans borders between nations  Black background: Mourning for victims of ableist violence and abuse  Diagonal Band: Cutting across the walls and barriers that separate disabled people from society  Red Stripe: Physical disabilities  Gold Stripe: Neurodivergence  White Stripe: Invisible and undiagnosed disabilities  Blue Stripe: Psychiatric disabilities  Green Stripe: Sensory disabilities 

Last September, I contacted Andrea Juillerat-Olvera from the Disability Resource Center to seek help. I expressed my interest in learning more about Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) and the resources available at the University of Nevada, Reno. Andrea promptly responded to my request and scheduled various training sessions for me. These included Respectful Language and Ablism, Intersectionality, Microaggressions, Neurodiversity, and Allyship, as well as Orientation for the Disability Resource Center. The trainings were engaging and informative, with simple language, interactive activities, and real-life examples. Andrea explained how our attitudes and beliefs towards people with disabilities can affect the way we communicate with them. We should not pity or doubt them, and we need to acknowledge that some disabilities are not visible. It's essential to understand that disabilities are not a negative aspect of someone's identity. If you want to learn more about DEI and disability inclusion, the Disability Resources Center provides additional training opportunities. Overall, I found the training outstanding and highly recommend it to anyone interested in learning about DEI and disability inclusion. #disabilityawareness #disabilityinclusion #language #respect #neurodivergence

July is Disability Pride Month, a time dedicated to accepting and honouring each person's uniqueness whilst promoting visibility and mainstream awareness. The disabled community encourages self-acceptance and embraces all disabilities, allowing us to focus on and celebrate their pride. As a recruitment company, Ruella James - Recruitment to Recruitment - London Rec to Rec understand the importance of shaping diverse candidate pipelines for the positions we aim to fill, supporting organizations in their diverse hiring strategies. What does the disability pride month flag represent? Within the flag, each colour stripe has a meaning: ❤️ Red - physical disabilities. 💛 Gold - neurodiversity. ⚪ White - invisible disabilities and disabilities that haven't yet been diagnosed. 💙 Blue - emotional and psychiatric disabilities, including mental illness, anxiety, and depression. 💚 Green: sensory disabilities, including the blind, deaf, and deaf-blind communities Let's make this July a month of awareness, and action.

📢 Exciting news! We are introducing our latest guide “Strengthening the Inclusion, Protection, and Wellbeing of Human Rights Defenders with Disabilities”, which Protection International developed together with the University of York and Durham University. In this guide, we look at how ableism continues to shape decision-making spaces, processes, and expectations for participation in society. Furthermore, we highlight how defenders with disabilities continue to face significant challenges with accessibility, including challenges related to representative accessibility, that is, being recognised and seen as persons that are relevant to participate. We also address how protection initiatives need to be tailored to the defenders' specific circumstances and contexts. It is essential to involve them and their representative organisations in the design and implementation of such initiatives. For this Guide, we engaged with 70 defenders with disabilities and protection actors. We collected the challenges and risks faced by HRDs with disabilities, and the kinds of practices that strengthen their security, protection and wellbeing. All HRDs contribute meaningfully to shaping our societies and to making them more equal, democratic and just. We urge human rights movements to be more inclusive of defenders with disabilities. This requires all of us to: ➡️Center the meaningful participation and leadership of people with disabilities ➡️Acknowledge and tackle ableism ➡️Ensure that defenders with disabilities have the resources and opportunities they need to carry out their work. Find the publication here 👇 https://lnkd.in/eGt36nhC

Food for thought. The strength of our disabilities is the need we have to move through and see the world differently to navigate it. This builds skills unique skills and creativity valuable to companies. I have found this true for myself. There are skills I have developed naturally through my world view and learning to cope with my disability that have become asset to the teams I have been a part of. https://lnkd.in/gJmgAbvw