Sonoran Center Represents UArizona at National Self Advocate Conference

On Saturday, April 29, the Sonoran Center for Excellence in Disabilities participated in the 2023 Self Advocates Conference. The conference, which took place online over Zoom, brought together dozens of disability self-advocates and allies from across the country. 

Presented by the Southwest Institute for Families and Children, the theme of the conference was, “We fall, fight, and rise as one across Arizona.” As the theme suggests, the event showcased the amazing work of Arizona’s disability self-advocates to uplift their fellow disability community members, as well as highlighting the issues and obstacles that they continue to face. 

The Disabled Staff Workgroup at the Sonoran Center presented on the topic of disability inclusion in the workplace, while Sonoran Center affiliated faculty Drs. Julie Armin and Yumi Shirai presented on the topic of including people with intellectual and developmental disabilities in health research.

The presentation given by the Sonoran Center Disabled Staff Workgroup (DSWG) was called “Building Collaboration in the Workplace: Experiences and Practices from a Disabled Staff Workgroup.” The Disabled Staff Workgroup was established in 2020 to uplift the voices of Sonoran Center staff with disabilities of all kinds. Since then, the group has served a consulting role on many Center projects, as well as organizing some of their own projects and outreach programs. For their presentation, the group explained the benefits of having a staff of diverse abilities, creating a disabled staff workgroup, and disability acceptance. 

“Real inclusion goes beyond just tokenism,” said Drew Milne, Sonoran Center’s Content Coordinator, in one of his sections of the presentation. “It means keeping accommodations in mind at every stage of the process, not as an afterthought.” 

The team went on to discuss the practices. These included the use of accessibility technology (like screen readers, task management software, and transcription services), sensory-sensitive office spaces, and work-from-home time. 

“I enjoyed presenting with my colleagues for the first time and sharing what we have learned through the development of DSWG,” said Brandy James, PhD, Sonoran Center’s director of outreach and community education and a member of the workgroup. “I believe it allowed for each member of the DSWG to share their strengths as collaborators and presenters to a national audience.”

Drs. Julie Armin and Yumi Shirai’s presentation was called “Using Our Voice to Build Capacity to Include People with IDD in Health-Related Research.” Armin and Shirai discussed the lack of health research that includes people with I/DD and detailed their new project to develop a resource library to help health researchers to include people with IDD in their projects.

The full day of presentations featured a wide range of other topics for self-advocates to explore. Some of these presentations included: Voting Rights 101; Supported Decision Making; Getting Started with Legislative Advocacy; and AZ ABLE Accounts.

“My favorite thing [about the conference] was definitely presenting with my team,” said Austin Duncan, PhD, another Sonoran Center DSWG member. “I felt proud of us for putting together a relevant and useful presentation that I think anyone could use to help develop similar disabled staff groups at other organizations.”

“One thing I learned: there are a great deal of disabled people who are struggling on their own for recognition and inclusion in the rest of society, not just those of us who are already well integrated,” he said. 

To learn more about the 2023 Self Advocates Conference, visit swifamilies.org/2023saconference.