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Third Annual Disability Studies Conference

Wednesday
Jim Warne presenting at the third annual U of A Disability Studies conference. He is standing at a podium in front of a slide displaying his background and credentials.

By Drew Milne

The Third Annual Disability Studies Conference at the University of Arizona took place on April 15 through 17, 2026. Since its inception three years ago, the conference has grown from a relatively small gathering on a single afternoon to a three-day affair spanning multiple locations and dozens of attendees. It has become a place where the disability community at U of A and southern Arizona can share their knowledge and build new connections.

The Disabled Faculty and Staff Coalition (DFSC) was the driving force behind the organization and planning of the conference. Sav Schlauderaff is an Access Consultant at the Disability Resource Center and a co-lead of the DFSC. At the conference, they facilitated the roundtable discussion on the impact of Disability Pride Day and presented on the disability perspective within the intersection of biology and art known appropriately as “Bioart”.

“I wanted to highlight that there is a wide breadth of what we mean by disability studies – that the field of study itself is very broad,” Sav said. “It has always consisted of community scholars, people making art, people writing poetry, people sharing their lived experiences. We also have people that do much more academically-focused work and research work. We have folks from Sonoran Center that are presenting very rigorous research that they've been doing at the undergrad, graduate, and faculty level. It highlights that there's research being done by disabled and non-disabled scholars about disability.”

The conference began on Wednesday, April 15 with a keynote session led by Alisha Vasquez, titled "Cripping Tucson’s Environmental Justice Movements”. The session highlighted Vasquez’s ongoing work with Sunaura Taylor and Survival & Resistance. The day continued with events including roundtable discussions on disability sexuality and educational accessibility, workshops addressing communication with the D&HH (Deaf and Hard of Hearing) and Autism communities, and a panel on disability support services in higher education. During lunch, participants could also attend a resource mixer, with representatives from numerous disability organizations across Arizona, including on-campus organizations like U of A Campus Health, U of A CAPS (Counseling and Psych Services), WellCats, United Campus Workers AZ, U of A Disability Resource Center, U of A Adaptive Athletics, and Survivor Advocacy; as well as other organizations like Southwest Folklife Alliance and United Cerebral Palsy Southern Arizona, .

Jim Warne presenting at the third annual U of A Disability Studies conference. He is standing at a podium in front of a slide displaying the Circle of Indigenous Empowerment logo.

Continuing on Thursday the 16th, the conference returned with a panel on disability identity, more workshops, a poster & art session, and a workshop on indigenous disability perspectives presented by Jim Warne, affiliate of the Sonoran Center and team member of our Circle of Indigenous Empowerment. The day ended with an inclusive dance workshop led by Chezale Rodriguez and the presentation of the first Disabled Staff & Faculty Coalition's awards.

Chezale Rodriguez presenting at the conference. She is gesturing to a slide with the logo of Diverse Dance Arts.
Nell Maltman receives the Advocate for Equity in Accessibility Faculty Award.

The conference concluded on Friday, April 17, at Mission Manor Park with a community discussion on groundwater contamination’s impact on the disability community. 

Not only are a broad range of backgrounds and interests showcased at the Disability studies conference, but a similarly wide range of communication styles and accessibility needs. With options to attend over Zoom, ASL interpreters on site, and presentation materials in accessible formats, among other things, the conference is a chance to display what an event that is truly accessible to all can look like. 

“The disability community is very diverse. There's often not a lot of spaces where people with different disabilities have space to interact, and there's such wildly different experiences as to what that looks like,” Sav said.

“I think for many people that have been connected to certain resources, it's very particular to, ‘you have this disability, here's this specific group for that.’ What does it look like for us to build spaces where everybody's there and we're all learning how to meet everyone's access needs and varying communication methods?” they continued. “Those are the types of spaces that I find really generative and helpful. I think that we certainly have that in the Disabled Staff and Faculty Coalition space and the Omnes Disability Student Space. I think increasing that level of visibility and trying to bring in more people is the dream.”

The conference is not the work of one single group, of course. It’s a collaboration between many different organizations both on and off campus. 

“We've also been working with the Omnes Disability Student Space.” Sav said. “We also have grassroots community organizers that are supporting this as well through the Southwest Folklife Alliance as well as Los Descendientes de Tucson and Las Aguas. We have folks from like the LGBTQ+ Institute that are supporting the work as well.”

“Additionally,” Sav continued, “we also have folks from ASU presenting, which I think is pretty exciting – to continue to make those connections, because [ASU] has a full disability studies undergraduate degree. I think that that's been cool to see: the connections being built over the past two years.”

One of the goals for the conference is to bring more visibility to the resources and connections available to the disability community on campus. Looking ahead, Sav hopes the conference will be the beginning of a wider collaboration between disability-focused organizations at the University of Arizona. 

“Speaking for the Disabled Staff and Faculty Coalition, a big thing that we have been thinking about is how to build spaces for people to connect further with each other, because that's something I hear a lot, especially from staff and faculty that may not work in disability-centered spaces. We've been having once a month brief meetings and open chats [for grad students and faculty], which I think have been helpful to build that community and hopefully serve as a space for sharing information or building more social support bonds."

Sav expressed hope that these conversations will spark larger discussions about disability identity and its intersections with other identities and community roles. 

The Sonoran Center is proud that the conference we helped to create three years ago has grown to be the thriving event it is today.