Annual U.S. Conference on Disability Set for Oct. 5
The University of Scranton’s 22nd Annual U.S. Conference on Disability, “Ability Focused Advocacy: Breaking Barriers to Achieving Careers and Independence,” will be held on Oct. 5 the McIlhenny Ballroom at the DeNaples Center. Co-director Jim LeBrecht will attend the conference and host an interactive viewing of his Academy Award-nominated film “Crip Camp” that will begin at 2:30 p.m. The conference is free of charge, however, registration is required to attend the conference.The co-director of the Academy Award-nominated film “Crip Camp” will appear at the 22nd annual U.S. Conference on Disability at The University of Scranton on Thursday, Oct. 5, to discuss his film and advocacy for disability rights.
The event, which seeks to educate and enhance the lives of individuals with disabilities and their families, will return to an in-person format this year for the first time since 2019.
For the last three years, the conference was held virtually.
The conference will focus on this year’s theme, “Ability Focused Advocacy: Breaking Barriers to Achieving Careers and Independence.”
It is free and open to the general public, but registration is required.
Co-director Jim LeBrecht will attend the conference and host an interactive viewing of his renowned documentary that will begin at 2:30 p.m. to close-out the daylong conference. He will stop the film at various points to discuss aspects of the movie and its subjects. He will also answer audience questions.
“Crip Camp,” which was co-directed with Nicole Newnham, won the 2020 Sundance Film Festival Audience Award for feature length documentary, the 2021 Independent Spirit award for Best Feature Documentary and a 2021 Peabody Award. It tells the story of Camp Jened, a rustic summer camp opened in the Catskills in New York in the early 1970s for disabled teenagers. The idea was to break down the barriers disabled youth faced in participating in the kind activates their able-bodied peers did.
“Jened was their freewheeling Utopia, a place with summertime sports, smoking and make-out sessions awaiting everyone, and campers experienced liberation and full inclusion as human beings,” the film’s website explains. “Their bonds endured.”
LeBrecht has worked as an activist for disability rights for more than 40 years. He is a former board member at the Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund and he co-founded FWD-Doc, an organization that supports documentary filmmakers with disabilities.
The “Crip Camp” viewing will take place from 2:30 to 5 p.m.
The Conference on Disability will open at 8:30 a.m. with remarks from University President Rev. Joseph G. Marina, S.J.; Victoria Castellanos, Ph.D., Dean of The Panuska College of Professional Studies; and Edward R. and Patricia Leahy, honorary conference co-chairs. Employment and inclusion advocate and scholar Mason Ameri, Ph.D., will then give an opening keynote address.
Dr. Ameri is an associate professor of professional practice at Rutgers University who has been published nationally, including by the New York Times. He has also given TEDx talks and addressed the World Bank Group on promoting accessibility.
Later, Kathy West Evans, the director of business relations for the Council of State Administrators of Vocational Rehabilitation, and John Evans, retired State of Washington, Vocational Rehabilitation Program Administrator for Employer Relations, will present VR-Building Careers through Business Relations from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. The session will include personal journeys, lived experience, and the impact it has made on the advancement in the careers and independence of VR customers.
Before lunch, Michelle Bornman, who is currently working on special projects with the Pennsylvania Office of Vocational Rehabilitation, will give a talk called “Nothing Changes Unless Something Moves.”
Dr. Castellanos will speak again at the start of the lunch break at noon and Dan Cosacchi, vice president of mission and Ministry at the University, will give the blessing.
After lunch, attendees will see a recorded presentation from Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor Office of Disability Employment Policy Taryn Williams and a virtual presentation on “The Greatest Challenge,” from Theo W. Buddy, the executive director of the National Council on Independent Living.
Time will also be carved out for breaks and networking during the day-long conference.
Edward R. and Patricia Leahy helped to establish the Conference on disAbility more than 20 years ago in honor of their son. Over the past two decades, numerous nationally-recognized speakers have appeared at the event to foster advances in the quality of life of individuals with disabilities.
This year’s session will be held in in the McIlhenny Ballroom at the DeNaples Center on campus. It is free and open to the general public, however, registration is required. More detailed information and registration can be found on the Disability Conference website.
