Mental Health Symposium, Friday, April 16, 2021, “Mental Health in Trying Times”

Virtual Ability Presents

the 10th Annual Mental Health Symposium
“Mental Health in Trying Times”

Friday, April 16, 2021
Sojourner Auditorium,
Virtual Ability Island
In Second Life

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Virtual%20Ability/53/172/23

The 10th annual Mental Health Symposium will take place in Virtual Ability’s Sojourner Auditorium, on Virtual Ability island on Friday, April 16, 2021. There is no charge to attend.

The theme of this Symposium is “Mental Health in Trying Times.”  Our international group of presenters will offer a wide interpretation of the theme, based on their interests and academic backgrounds.

The Symposium will take place in the virtual world of Second Life, at the Sojourner Auditorium on Virtual Ability island. The SLURL for the auditorium is:  http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Virtual%20Ability/53/172/23.  (You can create a free Second Life account through Virtual Ability’s Sign-Up Portal (https://virtualability.org/second-life-signup/), entering at the beginning of our New Resident Orientation Course. You can then post the auditorium’s SLURL into Nearby Chat, click the green underlined link, and teleport to the auditorium.)

Virtual Ability hosts this annual Symposium to share information about mental health and mental disabilities with the general population. Within our cross-disability community we have members who deal with a variety of mental health issues. Not only is this an opportunity for our community members to learn more about topics related to mental health from experts they probably would not have a chance to meet otherwise, it allows the general public to attend a professional conference at no cost.

Below is the full schedule for the conference.

Mental Health Symposium 2021 Schedule of Events

April 16, 2021. All times are in SLT/PST.

Start Time	Presenter Name	Institution
7:00 am	Clara González Sanguino	Anti-stigma chair University Complutense of Madrid - Group 5
Title of Talk: The impact of Covid-19 on our mental health: A longitudinal study from the beginning of the pandemic to the return to the new normality in Spain
Presenter Biography: Clara González Sanguino has just obtained her PhD in psychology at the Complutense University of Madrid, where she is currently on a postdoctoral fellowship and part of the anti-stigma chair UCM-Group 5. Her research is mainly focused on the stigma associated with different mental health problems, and with the arrival of Covid-19 on the consequences of the pandemic for mental health.
Summary of Talk: Spain has been one of the countries most affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, leading the world on several occasions in the number of infected and dead people. The aim of this research was to know the consequences throughout the first wave of the pandemic on depressive symptomatology, anxiety and post-traumatic stress by means of a longitudinal study in the general population. Other measures such as loneliness, spiritual well-being, discrimination or social support were also evaluated. The results showed the impact on mental health over the months, with values appearing to improve with the return to the new normal. Loneliness, spiritual well-being, being female and younger age were the main predictors of the impact on our mental health.
8:30 am	Laura Ritchie and Daniel P. Cervone	University of Chichester Conservatoire, UK and University of Illinois at Chicago
Title of Talk: Projects pursued and abandoned: Pandemic reactions of care & coping
Presenter Biography: Laura Ritchie is Professor of Learning and Teaching at the University of Chichester, UK. Laura’s teaching is heavily influenced by her research into people’s self-efficacy beliefs and metacognitive processes as they learn and perform/carry out tasks. Her recent book Yes I Can: Learn to use the Power of Self-efficacy is a practical and personal book about self-efficacy, strategic thinking, and recognising possibility in order to adopt the yes of self-efficacy into daily life. Daniel Cervone is Professor of Psychology at the University of Illinois at Chicago. His research has addressed issues in social-cognitive analysis of personality and behavior including self-efficacy processes, self-regulation, and the influence of affective states on thinking about the self. In recent years his main effort has been to advance a model of the overall architecture of cognitive and affective personality systems: The Knowledge and Appraisal Personality Architecture or KAPA model, which, in research by Dan and others has shown how social-cognitive systems can account for a classic phenomenon in personality psychology, namely, the cross-situational consistency of psychological response.
Summary of Talk: In early 2020 with the global spread of COVID-19, ‘lockdown’ imposed travel restrictions that affected many aspects of day to day living, including the pursuit of meaningful personal goals. This study investigated the impact of that initial period of lockdown on people’s views and self-beliefs about personal projects they were already working to complete when they were suddenly interrupted. Participants were invited to complete an online questionnaire collecting both qualitative and quantitative data about self-efficacy beliefs and free text responses describing their goals and projects, whether they believed they could still complete them, if and how they were pursuing them, and whether they still cared about the project. At the time, life had been ‘normal’ only a few weeks before and participants were able to compare how they felt both before and in these new lockdown conditions. There was a notable drop in self-efficacy levels; over two thirds of the 161 participants were either unsure or did not believe they could still carry out their goals. Over a quarter either abandoned or were uncertain they could pursue their goals, but despite this, people continued to care about their goals. The self-reported strategies for dealing with the new situation included aspects of emotional and problem-focused coping and involved active planning and engaging with metacognitive strategies. The implications and usefulness of creative engagement and strategies for coping with realigned goals beyond lockdown are discussed.
10:00 am	Catherine Ettman	Boston University School of Public Health
Title of Talk: Mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic: A story of depression and growing inequity
Presenter Biography: Catherine Ettman is Chief of Staff and Director of Strategic Initiatives for the Dean’s Office at Boston University School of Public Health. Catherine is pursuing a PhD in Health Services Research at Brown University School of Public Health. Catherine studied public policy at Princeton University. She has previously worked in campaign politics in Washington, D.C., and Texas. She is the co-editor of Urban Health (Oxford University Press, 2019). Her work explores the social and economic factors that shape population mental health.
Summary of Talk: While the COVID-19 pandemic has upended daily life for all people, the economic and mental health consequences of the moment have not been borne equally. This presentation will report the first findings published in the U.S. on depression severity experienced during the pandemic relative to before COVID-19, and emerging trends for increasing inequities. We will explore leading edge data on mental health, assets, and what we can learn from this moment to build back a better world post-pandemic.
11:30 am	Tom Boellstorff, Evan Conaway, Sandy Wenger	University of California, Irvine
Title of Talk: Virtual Worlds, Mental Well-Being, and COVID
Presenter Biography: Tom Boellstorff: I’m a professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of California, Irvine. My original research was about sexuality in Indonesia and includes the books The Gay Archipelago and A Coincidence of Desires. Since 2004 I have been studying the cultures of virtual worlds, and have written about this in my books Coming of Age in Second Life and Ethnography and Virtual Worlds: A Handbook of Method. I have also studied disability in virtual worlds. Two articles about that research are “The Ability of Place” and “The Opportunity to Contribute.” I’m excited to be working with Evan and Sandy on this project! Evan Conaway: I’m a graduate student in the Department of Anthropology at the University of California, Irvine! My focus is on video game preservation, and in my dissertation I explore the motivations, values, and strategies of people who are working to bring old online virtual worlds back to life, closely examining the challenges and meanings that emerge as a result of the centrality of servers to these endeavors. I have also worked on projects related to mental wellness among youth online, LGBTQ gaming communities, and data localization laws. I’ve been an avid gamer since I was a kid, and I’m thrilled to be bringing my passion for games, virtual worlds, and specifically Animal Crossing to this project! Sandy Wenger: I am a graduate student in the Department of Anthropology at the University of California, Irvine. My research is about love and relationships among queer men in Malaysia. I examine how men navigate competing ideas about masculinity, sexuality, and male bodies in their relationships with one another. Before moving to the US, I spent several years working at a university college in Malaysia where I taught classes on food and culture, culture and media policies, and research methods in the social sciences. While I do play the occasional game (this may or may not primarily happen on my phone), participating in a project that focuses on virtual worlds is new and exciting for me.
Summary of Talk: This talk is based on a research project supported by the National Science Foundation, involving four anthropologists (Tom Boellstorff, Evan Conaway, Chandra Middleton, and Sandy Wenger) and the filmmaker Bernhard Drax. With a primary data collection period of July 1, 2020 to March 31, 2021, the research project took place entirely online, focusing on the virtual worlds Animal Crossing: New Horizons (ACNH) and Second Life. In this talk we will focus on ACNH, with some comparative insights from Second Life. We will discuss how residents of these virtual worlds have used them to respond to the challenges of the pandemic with regard to mental well-being, as well as ways in which the virtual worlds were experienced as less beneficial to mental well-being. At this early stage of our data analysis, we will set forth some preliminary conclusions and their broader implications, and look forward to audience questions and insights.
1:00 pm	Ryan Schultz	University of Manitoba, Canada
Title of Talk: Acedia During the Coronavirus Pandemic: A 5th-Century Term for a 21st-Century Problem
Presenter Biography: Ryan Schultz is a science and agriculture librarian at the University of Manitoba Libraries in Winnipeg, Canada, and for the last three and half years he has been writing a blog about social VR, virtual worlds, and the metaverse (including coverage of steals, deals, and freebies in Second Life!) at https://ryanschultz.com. From time to time he writes about other topics, such as the pandemic, and mental health issues (he is a mental health consumer and he writes from that perspective).
Summary of Talk: Acedia, described as listlessness, distraction, and wanting to avoid the task at hand, was first identified by 5th century monk and theologian John Cassian. The spatial and social constrictions of 5th-century monastic life are also a rather apt and concise description of the governmental and societal responses to the coronavirus pandemic. Social distancing limits physical contact, and quarantines and lockdowns constrict physical space and movement. Working from home day after day, and rarely leaving that space, means a distinct lack of external stimulation. In other words, the 21st-century coronavirus pandemic conditions we face ironically approximate those of 5th-century solitary desert monks.
2:30 pm	Mark Czeisler	Monash University (Melbourne, Victoria, Australia)
Title of Talk: Mental health, substance use, and suicidal ideation during the COVID-19 pandemic—disproportionately affected populations
Presenter Biography: Mark Czeisler, A.B. (he/him), is a Fulbright Scholar and Ph.D. student in psychology at the Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health of Monash University (Melbourne, Victoria, Australia). He is also a Research Trainee in the Department of Psychiatry of Brigham and Women's Hospital (Boston, Massachusetts, USA), and an Honorary Research Fellow at the Institute for Breathing and Sleep of Austin Health (Heidelberg, Victoria, Australia). Since March 2020, Mark has been leading The COVID-19 Outbreak Public Evaluation (COPE) Initiative, a public health surveillance activity launched to assess (1) public attitudes, behaviors, and beliefs about the COVID-19 pandemic and its mitigation, and (2) mental and behavioral health during the infectious disease outbreak.
Summary of Talk: The COVID-19 pandemic and its mitigation have introduced challenges for communities related to the morbidity and mortality caused by the disease itself, and related to mental and behavioral health. Just as with the disease itself, mental and behavioral health inequities are evident. This presentation reviews evidence on mental and behavioral health in 2020, particularly in terms of populations that have disproportionately experienced adverse mental and behavioral health symptoms, and considers how we may reduce these inequities going forward.

SAVE THE DATE! - Friday April 16, 2021 - Virtual Ability, Inc. Mental Health Symposium

 

Virtual Ability, Inc.
2021 Mental Health Symposium
Mental Health in Trying Times

Friday April 16, 2021 is Virtual Ability, Inc.'s Mental Health Symposium.  This year the theme is “Mental Health in Trying Times.”

Please view Virtual Ability's page for the event at Virtual Ability, Inc. - YouTube.

You can attend “live” in Second Life or watch the live stream on Virtual Ability, Inc.'s YouTube site.

We hope you can attend!

Things To Do - "Mental Health in Second Life: Then and Now" and Mindful Cove Open House

What: Mental Health in Second Life: Then and Now

Who: Avalon Birke

When: Sunday May 24, 10am SLT

Where: Mindful Cove Amphitheater

• Mindful Cove is a new Second Life Community Gateway with a focus on mental health and emotional wellbeing. We offer a vast amount of related resources, developed and curated by real life mental health clinicians. And because we know that play is good for our brains, there are dozens of fun activities, from horseback riding, golf, fishing, dancing, and much more.  Ready to relax? We have three levels of meditation, yoga, exercise, and self-study areas...even a Rainbow Bridge to honor lost pets. 
• Visitors can go on a guided waking tour, visit with Dr. Birke and our staff of volunteers, gather mental health resources in the Library, and watch slide shows about our work in mental health.
• Presenter bio: Avalon Birke is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in real life, holds two Masters degrees, and a PhD in Cognitive Studies. She has spent the last 13 years working on a wide variety of mental health-related projects in Second Life. 

Things To Do - Mental Health Un-Conference, Week of May 25, 2020

Mental Health Un-Conference

All presentations are presented in voice and text simultaneously for maximum accessibility.
This event is part of Virtual Ability's 2020 Mental Health Un-Conference.


What: The Yellow Wallpaper
Who: Read aloud by John Laughing
When: Monday May 25, 1pm SLT
Where: Cape Serenity Library patio

• "The Yellow Wallpaper" is a short story originally published in 1892. It is considered an important early feminist work. The story tells about a woman (who would now have a diagnosis of postpartum depression) who is treated as was typical in the 19th century for "female hysteria." 
• Presenter bio: John Laughing is enjoying his time in Second Life. He attends classes and events, and is learning to build and script.

Things To Do - Mental Health Un-Conference, Week of May 18, 2020

All presentations are presented in voice and text simultaneously for maximum accessibility.
This event is part of Virtual Ability's 2020 Mental Health Un-Conference.


What: Coping with our avatars, and the people behind them
Who: Dr. Nick Bowman
When: Monday May 18, 11am-1pm SLT
Where: Yellow Hibiscus Cabana, Virtual Ability, Second Life

• A growing body of research has shown that technology users have varied social relationships with their avatars. These relationships range from asocial "Object" orientations in which avatars are nothing more than pixels, to "Me" orientations in which avatars are a true representation of ourselves in a digital world, to "Other" orientations in which avatars represent a companion in the virtual space. Research even shows "Symbiote" orientations in which users blend pieces of themselves with pieces of their avatar as a way to work through uncertainty. These relations are already dynamic and complex during somewhat routine online engagement. In the face of COVID-19 in which many around the world are becoming increasingly exposed to and reliant on online interactions, we might wonder if and how we are shifting our relationships with our avatars as a way to cope with the sudden influx of so many social others online. Following a brief presentation on user-avatar relationships, Dr. Nick Bowman will lead an open dialogue focused on how the relationships we form with our avatars might be affected by the relationships we form and foster with other users.
• Nick Bowman (PhD, Michigan State University) is an Associate Professor in the College of Media and Communication at Texas Tech University, where he researches the cognitive, emotional, physical, and social demands of interactive media such as video games and virtual reality. He has published over 80 manuscripts in academic journals and is a regular speaker on issues of media psychology and mass communication research. He is the incoming editor of Journal of Media Psychology and just recently completed a J. William Fulbright research and teaching fellowship at the National Chengchi University in Taiwan.

What: Research in Online Communities: An interactive workshop on privacy and human subjects research considerations
Who: Dr. Michelle Colder Carras
When: Wednesday May 20, 1pm SLT
Where: Yellow Hibiscus Cabana Classroom, Virtual Ability island

• Belonging to an online community can be good for your health, especially if you have a disability, but do you know the implications for your privacy? What are your thoughts and opinions about health research being conducted within online communities? How can we balance protecting health information that people share with the realities of public spaces that are accessible with only a few clicks? Join Dr. Michelle Colder Carras, a health researcher specializing in video games, online communities, and health research for a frank discussion. Questions to think about in advance are posted here. You can write out your thoughts to share during the discussion. Notes from the discussion will be used to inform designs and ethical protocols for research in online communities.
• Presenter bio: Dr. Michelle Colder Carras is a public mental health scientist and informaticist at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health who specializes in normative and problematic media and technology use. Her most recent work has focused on how commercial video games and gaming communities can be useful for mental health and suicide prevention. She is a gamer, a mother, a hiker, and a person with bipolar disorder. You can find more information on her website, https://mcoldercarras.com/.

What: Virtual Worlds, Real Healing for PTSD
Who: Anya Ibor/Colleen M. Crary
When: Thursday May 21, 1:00 pm
Where: Fearless Nation PTSD Support

• A review of how PTSD symptoms can be negotiated, re-framed, and resolved through virtual world activities, creating resilience in people with post-trauma. Slide show, visual presentation in voice and chat. 
• Anya Ibor, Colleen M. Crary, M.A. in RL, is a Ph.D. candidate in Psychology currently editing her research for publication. A BA in Graphic Design from SDSU and Masters in Forensic Psychology from the Chicago school, Colleen has been focused on the efficacy of virtual reality for PTSD care for over 10 years. A PTSD subject matter expert and group facilitator in SL and RL, she works as a consultant in XR (VR, UI, AR) and Cyberpsychology.

Things To Do - Virtual Ability's Mental Health Un-Conference

What: Art & Mental Health
Who: Marylou Goldrosen
When: May 12, 9:00 am
Where: Yellow Hibiscus Cabana, Virtual Ability Island

• Marylou Goldrosen will share images of paintings related to mental health from various times in history. We will learn a bit of history about the artists and their time period.
• In RL, Marylou Goldrosen is Dr. Mary Stokrocki. She is a Distinguished Professor at Arizona State University. She teaches at NonProfit Commons in Second Life at her Art Ark.

What: Mental Health in Poetry
Who: Shyla the Super Gecko
When: May 13, 10:00 am
Where: Cape Serenity Library patio

• Shyla will read poetry by poets with mental illness or on the topic of mental illness or mental health.
• Shyla began writing poetry at a young age, including lyrical expression. She has been the featured reader at poetic venues within Second Life including Sunday Spoken Word and Circe's. Her work has been published in Second Life's REZ Magazine and in the physical world's The Fib Review. Shyla has an installation of her work on Ethnographia Island in Second Life.

What: Ability Strange Days Indeed!
Who: Coughran Mayo
When: May 14, 2:00 pm
Where: Sojourner Auditorium, Virtual Ability

• As with most everything else, the world-wide health crisis is having an impact on alcoholism and other drug addictions. Helping professionals are required to find new ways to reach people in need and deliver services. People are sheltering at home, but liquor stores are still considered “essential businesses” in many places, and sales of alcohol have increased dramatically. Mental health problems are accelerating and many will turn to drugs for relief. The economic impact on non-profit and for-profit treatment programs alike is profound, with experts predicting that 30 – 50% of the traditional treatment providers may not survive the next six months. The potentially large increase in the number of people showing signs of addiction as the crisis progresses, along with the likely reduction in resources available is setting up a crisis of dramatic proportion. What will the future bring?
• Dick Dillon is the man behind the avatar Coughran Mayo. Mr. Dillon has over 30 years of experience in organization management, working with both for-profit and non-profit behavioral health organizations. He is the founder of the Cox CARE Center and co-creator of the Web of Addictions site (one of the first websites to provide accurate information about addiction). As an executive at Preferred Family Healthcare, he created Avatar Assisted Therapy, in which therapeutic interventions are delivered in a virtual environment. He is now CEO of Innovaision LLC, a consulting firm for non-profits wishing to work in virtual worlds.

What: Mental Illness in Literature

Who: Gentle Heron and Draxtor Despres

When: May 15, 6:00 am

Where: Sojourner Auditorium, Virtual Ability

• Draxtor and Gentle, both avid readers, will discuss how mental illness has been portrayed in literature of all varieties. An amazing number of works of literature throughout history deal with various aspects of mental illness. A booklist of recommended readings will be provided.
• Draxtor Despres (Bernard Drax in the physical world) is a German filmmaker, composer, and host of the Second Life Book Club. His recent feature film “Our Digital Selves” documents embodiment and place-making for people with disabilities in virtual worlds. He has been documenting SL via short reportages as the Drax Files since early 2007 and is now a contractor for Linden Lab.
• Gentle Heron (Alice Krueger in the physical world) is President of Virtual Ability, Inc., which is the nonprofit that supports the Virtual Ability community in virtual worlds. She is a former educator and education researcher, sidelined by multiple sclerosis.

Things To Do - Attend the introduction to Virtual Ability's Mental Health Un-Conference!

Thursday, May 7 at 7 am SLT
Gentle Heron will present Introduction to the Mental Health Un-Conference
SLURL:  http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Healthinfo%20Island/239/128/23
Description:
This is an introduction to Virtual Ability’s 2020 Mental Health Un-Conference that will be held throughout the month of May. A guided tour of the mental health displays and exhibits on Healthinfo Island will include information on how these interactive poster sets are made to be accessible.

Host Bio:
Gentle Heron likes to share evidence-based health and wellness information. Her RL avatar is president of Virtual Ability, Inc.

Thursday, May 7 at 9 am SLT
Jadin Emerald will present Identity, Mental Illness, and Disability: How Second Life Has Helped
SLURL:  http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Ethnographia/175/78/32
Description:
This exhibit is a sort of "build biography" — a story of the discovery of a new self as a result of being in a virtual world, after having become disabled due to mental illness. The build is set up like an immersive gallery exhibit that you can walk through and interact with. It includes signs with pictures and captions, as well as objects and demonstrations that show some of the things that the story is talking about. Jadin will give a brief introduction, and then be available for questions while participants tour the exhibit at their own pace for the remainder of the session.

The exhibit is designed to be accessible primarily with notecards that participants can get by clicking any of the signs, and also with semi-transparent ramps overlying all stairs, clear labeling of objects, a pleasant soundscape, and other accessibility features.

Host Bio:
Jadin Emerald is otherwise known in SL by a host of other avatar names, including Jadyn Firehawk, who is now retired from public life to pursue her favorite hobbies and practice self-care. Today, Jadin is primarily a creator in SL with a focus on wellness and owner of Jadin Emerald Design Studio. She also operates the Coronavirus Survival Store, a store that is all freebies and is designed to help people through the pandemic crisis. She has developed a layperson's expertise on bipolar disorder and PTSD from having lived with their effects for most of her life. She is a former faculty member at the University of Texas at Austin, where she taught environmental science. She holds a B.A. from the University of California at Berkeley, and an M.A. and Ph.D. from Rutgers University.


Sunday, May 10 at 7 am SLT
Gentle Heron will once again present Introduction to the Mental Health Un-Conference
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Healthinfo%20Island/239/128/23

Save the Dates! The IDRAC Conference Is Nov. 1 & 2

8th Annual
International Disability Rights Affirmation Conference
November 1-2, 2019
The Sojourner Auditorium, Virtual Ability, Second Life®
“We Health Each Other,
We Help Ourselves.”

Virtual Ability’s eighth annual International Disability Rights Affirmation Conference (IDRAC) will be held on Friday and Saturday, November 1 and 2. The conference theme is “We help each other, we help ourselves.”  The conference is free and open to the public.

We bring together academic researchers and practitioners to share their wisdom with our audience in a variety of formats. This year our presenters are from Canada, China, Italy, Malta, Mexico, the Netherlands, the UK and the US.

The conference schedule is available on our website. Check out the intriguing topics and highly qualified presenters.  

The conference is held in the Sojourner Auditorium on Virtual Ability island. 

The SLURL is http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Virtual%20Ability/54/170/23.
If you can not attend in the virtual world, the live stream URL for Virtual Ability, Inc., is https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCecFbqrNpnAbfaEohz8HIhQ/live.

As with all Virtual Ability conferences, IDRAC is presented in text and voice to ensure maximum accessibility.

Text transcripts from past conferences are archived on our website.

We hope you can attend our conference on November 1 and 2!

IDRAC 2019: November 2 @ 1 pm SLT, The representation of autism in the narratives of fanfiction.net

Tecnológico de Monterrey

The IDRAC session on Friday, Nov. 1 at 1 pm SLT (Pacific time) explains the results of a research study related to the representation of autism in fanfiction.net.  Through the participation of members of the autism community in writing these stories, autism spectrum disorder is portrayed differently than it is in commercial fiction. The researchers are two professors from Tecnológico de Monterrey, Queretaro Campus in Mexico.  Nohemi Lugo is a researcher and professor in the Media and Digital Culture  Department and María Elena Melón is in the Department of Art.

Dr. Lugo’s research goal is to design and develop methods, processes, materials and technologies intended to foster education,  social inclusion and health. She is writing a book about digital culture and informal learning strategies for children with autism. She coordinates two related research projects: one about mobile devices use by children with disabilities; the other about how mothers of children with autism can learn from  mothers with similar experiences through collective storytelling and an on-line course.

Dr. Melón’s research interest is in physical interfaces and interactive media applications. She has participated in two research and technology grants given by Tec de Monterrey to create alternate reality games and a virtual reality platform to learn to operate industrial design equipment.  Currently she is participating in two research projects related to Autism.

This event will be live-streamed via Virtual Ability Inc.'s YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCecFbqrNpnAbfaEohz8HIhQ/live.

IDRAC 2019: November 2 @ 6:30 am SLT, Hearing Our Voices

Rob Castellanos

Alyssa Hillary

Kirk Munsch

Historically, persons with disabilities and illnesses were hidden away from the rest of their community, either at home or in institutions. Now, we are beginning to realize the importance of telling our life experiences so that everyone recognizes our common humanity.

One way we let others hear our voices is through publication (blogging, vlogging, Facebook, podcasts, self-published or professionally published memoirs, articles and books). Another way is by participating in patient registries, which are collections of information provided by persons with similar diagnoses, symptoms and concerns. These registries support research and lead to improved understanding of and support for the quality of life of those living with disabilities and illnesses.

Panelists for this session are Rob Castellanos, Alyssa Hillary, and Kirk Munsch. The panel moderator will be Shyla the Super Gecko. The panelists will tell about their work and its importance to the overall disability community. Then they will respond to questions from the audience.

Rob Castellanos is a patient living with Ankylosing Spondylitis, OCD, and Anxiety. Traditional healthcare gave him 5+ years of misdiagnoses and years of seeking what could help him manage his conditions. What changed his life was learning what he could do from people in the same shoes as himself. This prompted him to quit his job and found Syndio Health, an online health community for sharing real knowledge and experience with chronic illness.

Alyssa Hillary is an Autistic Ph.D. student in the Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Program at the University of Rhode Island. Depending on the moment, they study brain computer interfaces, augmentative and alternative communication, neural engineering, and/or disability studies. Their work can be found in several Autonomous Press anthologies, and they blog at yesthattoo.blogspot.com.

Kirk Munsch is the Patient Advocacy Manager for Rare Patient Voice and a Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis patient.  He is passionate about connecting patients and their non-paid caregivers (family and friends) to projects where they make their voices heard to shape products and services being developed on their behalf.

This event will be live-streamed via Virtual Ability Inc.'s YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCecFbqrNpnAbfaEohz8HIhQ/live.

IDRAC 2019: November 2 @ 1:30 pm SLT, The Autistic People of Color Fund

Lydia X. Z. Brown

Lydia X. Z. Brown is a disability justice advocate, organizer, attorney, educator, and writer whose work has largely focused on violence against multiply-marginalized disabled people, especially institutionalization, incarceration, and policing. Lydia is 2018-2019 Justice Catalyst Legal Fellow at the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, defending and advancing the educational civil rights of Maryland students with psychosocial, intellectual, and developmental disabilities facing disproportionate discipline, restraint and seclusion, and school pushout.

Lydia is also Founder and Co-Director of the Fund for Community Reparations for Autistic People of Color’s Interdependence, Survival, and Empowerment, which provides direct support and mutual aid to individual autistic people of color. Previously, Lydia designed and taught a course on disability theory, policy, and social movements as a Visiting Lecturer at Tufts University. They were also Chairperson of the Massachusetts Developmental Disabilities Council, becoming the youngest appointee ever to chair any state developmental disabilities council.

Lydia is co-editor and visionary behind All the Weight of Our Dreams, the first-ever anthology of writings and artwork by autistic people of color and otherwise negatively racialized autistic people, published by the Autistic Women & Nonbinary Network. They have received numerous awards for their work, including from the White House, American Association of People with Disabilities, and Society for Disability Studies, and written for several community and academic publications.

Lydia’s IDRAC presentation will be at 1:30 pm SLT (Pacific time) on Saturday, Nov.  2.  The title of her talk is “The Autistic People of Color Fund: Building Networks of Mutual Aid by/for Negatively Racialized Autistic People.” In 2019, Lydia worked with the Autistic Women and Nonbinary Network to launch the Fund for Community Reparations for Autistic People of Color's Interdependence, Survival, and Empowerment, which has given out over $15,000 already in microgrants to negatively racialized autistic people globally as a form of mutual aid and community care.

This work follows in a long tradition of informal collective care and support networks among hyper-marginalized sick, mad, neurodivergent, and disabled communities. Lydia will talk about how and why this fund came into existence, how we've worked on the process of developing it, and what we can all do to expand and sustain this work.

This event will be live-streamed via Virtual Ability Inc.'s YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCecFbqrNpnAbfaEohz8HIhQ/live.

IDRAC 2019: November 2 @ 12 pm SLT, Disability Accommodation and Intersectional Identities

Dr. Katherine Breward

At Noon SLT (Pacific time) on Saturday, Nov. 2, Dr. Katherine Breward will present her research about disability accommodation in the workplace. Disability accommodation is crucial to ensure equitable access to paid employment. Yet despite this, many people with disability-related needs are reluctant to request accommodations in their workplaces.

Employers have a legal responsibility to provide reasonable accommodations, yet these imperatives are not always reflected in managerial decisions related to special needs. Dr. Breward’s presentation will review original research that examines the role of Intersectional aspects of identity (such as gender, ethnicity, and immigration status) on accommodation requesting and granting. Differential rates of accommodation requesting and granting are explored with an eye to identifying barriers, perceptual errors, and stereotypes that may contribute to unequitable outcomes based on identity-related variables.

Dr. Breward is an Associate Professor at the University of Winnipeg. Her research is centered around labour market access for historically disadvantaged populations, with a particular focus on best practices in disability accommodation. Her research has appeared in the Canadian Journal of Disability Studies, the Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health, the Case Research Journal, and Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion: An International Journal.

Dr. Breward is also a strong advocate of case-based teaching and an award winning case writer. She teaches a range of HR related courses, including her signature course “Leadership and Fairness in Complex Organizations”. When not working Dr. Breward enjoys spending time on her 25 acre berry orchard with her husband and a menagerie of pets and reading inclusive science fiction and fantasy.

This event will be live-streamed via Virtual Ability Inc.'s YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCecFbqrNpnAbfaEohz8HIhQ/live.