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CIE Night with Tiffany Yu

More than 60 parents, faculty, and staff members had the pleasure of hearing from vibrant speaker and author Tiffany Yu in Centennial Hall on October 17. Yu spoke about her new book, “The Anti-Ablest Manifesto,” and her personal journey that led her to become a content creator and an advocate for the disability community.

Yu shared a wealth of information with the group, including three of the lenses through which society views people with different abilities. The medical model treats disability as something that can be or needs to be fixed; the tragedy model sees people with disabilities as victims in need of help or pity, and, conversely, the social model focuses on societal changes in attitudes and environments rather than putting the onus on the individual with the disability.

Yu explained the difference between making accommodations, which are band-aid type fixes made after the fact, and true accessibility, which occurs when people with different abilities — and what they need to participate fully — are taken into consideration from the start. She advised that small changes in language can make all the difference. For example, rather than asking someone about the specific and personal details of their disability, a better question is: Do you have what you need to fully participate?

“Tiffany really opened my eyes to how many of us have some sort of disability and how essential it is to open our eyes to providing comforts for all, not just for some,” said Middle School Modern Languages Coordinator Jessica Nelson. “I realized that people with a disability do not want to be felt sorry for but be given a platform to show their abilities, not the other way around. It was a true revelation of how I need to shift my thinking a bit more.”

Yu also shared about her work in the employment sector, fighting for the rights of people with disabilities to be treated fairly in the workplace, starting with the way job descriptions are written.

“I learned from Tiffany’s presentation how many disabled individuals struggle to secure employment because they are often dismissed from the outset,” said Director of Marketing and Communications Stacy Hedeman. “Employers frequently overlook them, assuming their disability will be a barrier, without ever considering their qualifications or talents.”

Earlier in the week, Upper School students heard from teachers Robby Ford and Colin Regan who presented personal stories during assembly in honor of National Disability Employment Awareness Month.


Thank you to the CIE Office for bringing this amazing individual to speak to our community!

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