Track: Palo Verde Ballroom

Closing Speaker & Grand Prize Drawings: Riding Through Life With Cool Beth: My Sister’s Journey To Independence, My Journey To Embracing My Sister

Rachel Simon’s sister Beth is a spirited woman who lives a full and independent life in her community. In this talk, based on Rachel’s memoir Riding The Bus With My Sister and illustrated by photos, Rachel takes you on a journey – her journey as a sister, and Beth’s journey as she moves from childhood to adulthood and into an independent life. This talk incorporates such issues as parental struggles and victories, the concerns of siblings throughout the life cycle, the transition to adulthood, inclusion, self-determination, romantic relationships, travel training, and friends in the community.

Learning Outcomes

  • Self-determination is the key to a fulfilled life. This talk illustrates how the support of friends, partners, and staff makes a difference for both the individual’s self-determination and those who have yet to get on board.
  • Life passions are universal. This talk illustrates how engaging with a person’s life passion facilitates understanding and moving beyond conflict.
  • Inclusion benefits everyone. This talk illustrates the relationship between inclusion, independence, and community embrace of a person’s individuality.

Keynote: Navigating the Opportunities and Challenges for Disability-Inclusive AI

Artificial Intelligence has captured imaginations and enabled new realities. People are leveraging it to reshape education, work, and communication. Will we harness it to enhance accessibility, agency, and social inclusion for people with disabilities, or reinforce existing inequalities? Through storytelling and an intersectional lens, Lawrence Weru explores the crucial roles we play in ensuring AI fulfills its promise of improving lives for everyone.

Learning Outcomes

  • Identify and analyze at least three potential opportunities and three potential challenges of Artificial Intelligence (AI) for people with disabilities across different domains such as education, employment, and social services.
  • Explain the significance of an intersectional perspective in understanding the impact of AI on people with disabilities, recognizing how the intersection of disability with other identities (such as race, gender, and Indigenous status) can lead to compounded advantages or disadvantages in the context of AI technologies and their deployment.
  • Articulate at least two concrete actions that professionals in the disability field (including educators, employers, healthcare professionals, and policymakers) can take to promote the inclusive and equitable development and implementation of AI technologies for people with disabilities, mitigating potential harms and maximizing benefits.