Disability is Human with Dr. Stephanie Cawthon
Website: www.StephanieCawthon.com Stephanie W. Cawthon, PhD is author of DISABILITY IS HUMAN: The Vital Power Of Accessibility In Everyday Life, a researcher, and consultant who brings relatable insights and real-world skills to her mission that – when we tap the power of accessibility – we ensure disabled people can thrive and succeed. Dr. Cawthon’s groundbreaking research has been funded by over $50 million in federal and other grants. In 2023 she founded the National Disability Center for Student Success at The University of Texas at Austin, where she is a tenured Professor of Educational Psychology. She brings a lived experience to her work. In addition to her congenital hearing loss, she has several mental health and physical disabilities that have a significant impact on her ability to engage in important life activities. Dr. Cawthon earned her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Stanford University and her doctorate from the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Social media: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephanie-cawthon/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drstephaniecawthon/ Interview Transcript (11/14/24) Caroline Dowd-Higgins (CDH) I'm Caroline Dowd Higgins. I'm a speaker, an author, and an executive coach. And today, I am delighted to welcome Dr. Stephanie Cawthon to the show. Stephanie is a researcher and a consultant who brings relatable insights and real-world skills to her mission that when we tap the power of accessibility, we ensure disabled people can thrive and succeed. And I must tell this amazing global audience, this is a very special episode today. Dr. Cawthon is deaf, and we're joined by two of her interpreter colleagues, Olivia and Amanda, and we are delighted that they will be simultaneously interpreting our conversation today. The audio version of the podcast will appear on all major podcast platforms. Stephanie, welcome. I'm delighted that you're with me today. 01:33.76 Amanda Ford (voicing for Stephanie) Well, thank you so much for having me. I really appreciate having this time with you today. 01:38.70 CDH You are very welcome. So, let's dive right in. Stephanie, you are a professor, an author, and a lifelong advocate for the deaf community. What compelled you to write Disability is Human, your wonderful new book? 02:03.23 Amanda Ford (voicing for Stephanie) Well, thank you for the opportunity to share that with you. So, the story really behind the book is a culmination of 25 years of experience with individuals, groups of people, students, and colleagues doing different workshops along the way in different spaces. What I've noticed is that many people feel hesitant or afraid of talking about disability. They don't know what to do or say. 02:28.46 Amanda Ford (voicing for Stephanie) They think: Do I need to help them? Do I need to make the world a better place? What does this look like for people with disabilities? And so, I thought it was time to take all the research and all the lessons that I've learned over the years and put it in a book where people could read it—those who want to make a difference. And honestly, it's for those who think, gosh, I don't know where to start. I wanted to give people a place to start, a platform to kind of jump from and where they can read some stories and say, ah, I get that. That makes sense to me. This is where I can start. It's not overwhelming. There are little steps, little things they can do along the way after reading this book. And so that's sort of what prompted my writing this one. 03:14.94 CDH Well, Stephanie, I'm deeply grateful because I learned so much from you in this book, and I'm eager for you to teach this global audience a bit today. But let me start. Something that I learned when reading your book was that disabled people experience high levels of discrimination, bullying, unemployment, reduced access to health care, and exclusion from faith communities and many, many more. So, I'd love for you to help this audience understand why those things are happening and how you have been an advocate to really change that. 04:03.59 Amanda Ford (voicing for Stephanie) Well, sure, historically, in our culture and society, and it's everywhere. It's the view on disability that is often couched in a negative light. People are separated from our understanding of what's normal and what people prefer, right? By and large, people would say they prefer not to have a disability. It's hard. It makes life harder. And so, with that in mind, that is just ingrained within ourselves, and also within disabled people. And even at that point, disabled people often want to separate themselves and mingle more with those who have that common experience. 04:44.44 Amanda Ford (voicing for Stephanie) And so, if we think way back, even in education, we used to have separate schools, separate environments for those children with disabilities to learn and be educated. That is part of our history. That's ingrained. And that is how we all have learned about disability until much more recently. And so, if we think about that separation or segregation of people with disabilities, even from a young age, we realize how it impacts everyone and how they experience life. And part of why I wrote disability is human and the book itself is because it is a human experience, and it encourages people to consider everyone having a human experience, and at some point, we might all experience a disability. And so, with that in mind and that perspective, I feel like that really helps shape and navigate this thing we call life. And so, separating out people really doesn't help the situation, but that is a historical context in which we find ourselves. 05:53.16 CDH I appreciate that. That's excellent context. Stephanie, something that you said in the beginning really resonated with me. You said many people fear those that are disabled. And I have seen this in my own personal experiences. I've seen this in in workplaces and interviews. And I must say, too, it's also confusing. The word disability has been a questionable word in recent decades. And I have heard that “differently able” is a more appropriate term. Help me understand how we can honor all people with disabilities and address them with dignity and respect. 06:42.66 Amanda Ford (voicing for Stephanie) Yes, words are definitely an issue. So, when I'm teaching, I teach a course here at UT, I refer heavily to language and the words that we use. Typically, what I say is ask the person what their preference is because it's not a one-size-fits-all. Not everybody identifies with their disability in the same way. Generational gaps play a part. For me personally, my view of language surrounding disabilities is evolving and changing on a regular basis. And so, person-first language has been a shift. And in academia, it seems that that is still the preference by and large. However, there has been a shift in the community to disability-first language. Because it's part of our identity. For me specifically, it's identity-based language. That is a more common thing, specifically with the younger generation, Generation X, you'll see people saying, hey, you know, introducing themselves and putting their disability kind of right in the mix. Instead of separating themselves out from it, it's more of an accepted and sort of a space where people reclaim that and have a more positive relationship with their disability as it's a part of their identity. I have become more and more comfortable using a disability to describe myself. Now, that's very new for me. Growing up, absolutely not. We were not talking about it. We were avoiding it. But figuring out how to reclaim that and garner some respect as I've done that has really been a shift for me personally and professionally. 08:30.86 Amanda Ford (voicing for Stephanie) I think it also matters on context, who we're with, where we are, thinking about the relationship in which we find ourselves. I am used to people with disabilities. And so, I talk about that. We set that up. And among ourselves in our culture and community, that is how we refer to ourselves. But when we're among other people, if they don't know about disability or if they're uncomfortable, I will try to sort of meet them where they are and build that bridge. So, it's respecting me and them based on where we are. So, I use both. Again, it really just depends on the situation and the people I find myself with in terms of how I use language surrounding disability. And another thing is, I often give advice to people to be careful how you approach the person themselves, right? So, language matters, words matter, and the person matters. And if a person with a disability says they want to use a particular type of language to describe them, that's the end of the story. It is really where I stand with that is respecting that person’s preference and going with that. 09:43.21 CDH That makes so much sense. Thank you for that clarity. Stephanie, my next question is about accessibility. And you write very eloquently in the book that accessibility is a vital power. So, tell me about that. And how do you define accessibility? 10:09.28 Amanda Ford (voicing for Stephanie) Okay. Well, I'll start with a definition, but I'd like to go back to empowerment because those are two critical pieces and they're separate issues that are really powerful. So, accessibility for me, I'll give a definition often with two or three prongs. And so, what we're looking for is accessibility to information. Sometimes that's not too terribly clear, so I like to clarify it. And let's identify who we are. How did we grow up? What is our relationship to ourselves? And accessibility to my development, for myself, how did that work? How am I able to navigate the world? How did I grow up doing that? So, accessibility to our ow
