In honor of National Disability Employment Awareness Month and National Disability History Month, student group Chronically Us is hosting the second annual Disability & Chronic Medical Conditions Week, Oct. 23-27 at the University of Utah.
Chronically Us is the U’s disability and chronic illness-focused student organization dedicated to creating a safe space for disabled and neurodivergent students on campus.
Bailey Nordquist, a Chronically Us member, said the week is important “because it’s raising awareness for students who are disabled or have chronic illnesses, which I think sometimes gets swept under the rug at bigger institutions like this.”
Disability and Chronic Medical Conditions Week events will include virtual and in-person panels, tea and cookie social gatherings and a movie night to help the public learn more about disability and unlearn various stereotypes surrounding disability. All events are open to the public.
Panels will be held virtually on Tuesday from 10-11 a.m. and in person on Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. in LNCO 2110, discussing accessibility and experiences of disability and chronic illness in higher education.
The Communi-Tea social event on Thursday will be held in Gardner Commons 4200 from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. and will provide tea, coffee and snacks, including vegan options. Various student groups such as the Black Student Union, MECHA, Asian Student Association and Pacific Islander Student Association will also attend.
The week will conclude on Friday with a Chronically Us member meeting from 1:30-2:30 p.m. and a movie event at 5:15 p.m. in GC 4490 featuring the film “Crip Camp,” a documentary about the radical disability rights movement and creation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Chronically Us hopes this week of events will help fill public knowledge gaps and provide more awareness about the disabled student experience at the U.
“There may be unfair stereotypes that say that disabled and chronically ill students don’t always pursue higher education or they choose not to,” Nordquist said. “And that’s just not true. There’s plenty of people that go into higher education.”
Additionally, the group wants students with disabilities to know they have a safe space to be themselves and feel understood by their experience.
Diarmid “Dragon” Brashear, a leadership member of Chronically Us, said the group is focused on “we or us.”
“We’re focused on trying to create spaces where people can come together and be surrounded by and able to talk to people who truly understand what they’re going through in some way or another,” they said.
Brashear added the group is open to all students and does not discriminate against diagnoses, whether they are doctor- or self-diagnosed.
“I just cannot emphasize enough,” they said. “It is not diagnosis-focused. We are not going to discriminate against people who self-diagnose. We know that is an important tool. Yes, it has been misused. But I think having been misused does not eliminate a critical frame of peace of mind. We know how important that is.”
Brashaer said students should “come as you are. We see you. If we don’t, let us know you’re here. We will learn, and we are dedicated.”
In addition to hosting Disability and Chronic Medical Conditions Week, Chronically Us is working towards establishing a Disability Cultural Center on campus, according to a press release provided to the Chronicle.
To view a full list of events happening for Disability & Chronic Medical Conditions week, click here.
