Blog of the Week: Words I Wheel By

This week's blog of the week is Words I Wheel By, written by Emily!

Meet Emily:

 

I am a passionate self-advocate and I strongly believe in the importance of teaching skills for self-advocacy. I’m currently pursuing a career in which I can use my communication, writing, and social media skills as a means of positive change for all disabled people!

I was born with a genetic physical disability called Larsen syndrome. I use a wheelchair to get around.

Want to know my fun fact for getting-to-know-you games? I was on Sesame Street for a season when I was 10! True story. Check out the photos and plot summary from my introductory episode. I got quite the warm welcome from all the Sesame Street residents when I moved in to the neighborhood! Sesame Street helped launch my lifelong passion for disability advocacy.

I recently graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. in English from Adelphi University on Long Island, New York, where I was born and raised. You can visit my featured student profile to learn more about what I participated in!

During my undergraduate career, I was actively involved in disability advocacy initiatives. I was a member of Adelphi Committee on Individuals with Disabilities, I did a part-time outreach internship at the Suffolk Independent Living Organization and I worked as a mentor for a student with Asperger’s syndrome.

I devoted lots of my studying and research to disability issues. My favorite research interest is portrayals of disability in the media. To graduate, I wrote an honors thesis entitled “A Study of the Influence of Popular Television on Perceptions of Nondisabled People Regarding Physical Disability and Romantic Relationships.”

I recently completed an amazing summer internship at the Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD) under the auspices of the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) internship program. Check out projects I worked on during my internship.

Thanks Emily!  Emily has some great post about telecommuting as well as being a disabilities rights activist!  Be sure to stop by her blog this week and say hi and give her a follow!

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