Interested in Disability Allyship?

Welcome to the Disability Ally Program (DAP)! DAP offers programming that provides opportunities to increase your awareness, understanding, and competency of disability. In our programming, we connect you with resources, knowledge, and co-create relationships of disability, with an understanding that disability deserves a seat at the diversity table. We envision cross-campus collaboration, education, and experiences that allow all members of our campus community to include disability as diversity in conversation, action, and philosophy. Help us achieve our vision by hosting a DAP program!

Who can attend a DAP event?

We have customized programming available for students, staff and faculty at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus!

How do I sign-up to host a DAP event?

As dates for future trainings are added, dates and sign-up forms will be posted here.

What can you expect if you attend DAP programming?

We modify our programming to meet the needs of your group! Typically, programming is offered in a 3-hour block where we co-create with you a positive learning environment that is conversational and interactive. The content of the programming includes opportunities for improving your self-awareness of disability, sharing knowledge on disability and disability culture (e.g., the spectrum of disability, neurodiversity, intersectionality, recognizing and challenging ableism, understanding universal design and accommodations, myths and stereotypes related to disability), participating in small group activities, asking questions to our powerful student panel, and supporting you in realizing your personal and professional definition and embodiment of disability allyship.

Want to go beyond the basic DAP programming content described above?

Let us know if you’re interested in more concentrated programming content concerning one of the following topics: neurodiversity, intersectionality, inspiration porn, recognizing and challenging ableism, moving beyond requirement to universality, the spectrum of disability (and disability experience), and ableism and violence.

What are DAP’s overall goals?

Provide high-quality, experiential, research-based programming on the spectrum of disability experience and information to interested and invested faculty, staff, and students
Introduce concepts and recognition of neurological and cognitive diversity as strengths of an inclusive campus
Extend invitations for cross-campus collaboration of the inclusion of ability status in all conversations on diversity, accessibility, and inclusion
Improve personal and professional growth in the understanding and allyship of ability
Improve personal and professional growth in the understanding and allyship of ability, ableism, and remove barriers to experience knowledge and resources for competent diversability conversations
Provide a path for inclusion of ability status in all cultural competence conversations and assist in shifting understanding of diversity to always include ability