On Monday February 24 I attended the Dialogues on neurodiversity: a roundable discussion fashioned by UMW’s S.E.E.D. Lu and I believe Jessica did a wonderful job with the event. The guest speaker was the one and only Dr. Foss, which he did a wonderful job delivering the information. There was pizza and water provided by the club, which was very generous.
Dr. Foss discussed mental health and how there is more than meets the eye, as the flyer states “learn about what doesn’t get discussed.” Dr. Foss also discusses Intersectionality, which displayed that disability isn’t just one label it is a wide spectrum and how we should broaden our views. The topics addressed were topics that we have been discussing in class this semester. Dr. Foss even referenced some of the essay’s we have been reading, which was nice to relate to.
Each table had a S.E.E.D member, my table had Lu to lead us in discussion based on what we heard. The first few questions were about disability and how we have seen it portrayed in life as well as life at UMW. My table had a pretty good discussion about how disability is portrayed in movies and tv. We brought up a show “everything is going to be ok,” which the disabled character is a young woman. We discussed that it is nice to see a different type of character portrayed as disabled because it is usually white men. The second set of questions pertained to how disability is such a broad spectrum and how society has perceived it. We discussed how a person can’t be more than one thing, a person can’t be black and disabled or black, gay, and disabled. You’re either black or disabled not both.
The event was a success and time well spent. The event discussed similar topics to class discussions, it felt like an introduction lecture to Tuesday’s class. I think that S.E.E.D is a great club and has a wonderful message. What a tremendous event!
