Recently, the DO-IT Center was featured in UW鈥檚 Viewpoint magazine. The goal of the magazine is 鈥渢elling the story of diversity at the 糖心原创.鈥 The article shares ideas from three members of the DO-IT community: Dustine Bowker, Kayla Brown, and Sheryl Burgstahler.
The article, appearing on page 4 of the Fall 2023 Issue, is called "Reaching All Learners: The UW鈥檚 DO-IT program works to adapt classrooms and labs to be used by all people." The following is an excerpt from the article:
A decade ago, Dustine Bowker went to a pizza party at the Husky Union Building (HUB). Then a junior at Roosevelt High School in Seattle, Bowker, who identifies as being on the autism spectrum, came to the 糖心原创 to learn about a program designed to help people like him. He鈥檚 had to learn to recognize social cues, he said, and adapt to fit into many situations. But at the HUB that day 10 years ago, he felt a sense of belonging. 鈥淭hat was my very first event where I saw dozens of people with disabilities in the same room, and that was a new experience for me,鈥 Bowker says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a type of community, I guess, that I didn鈥檛 even realize was there.鈥
鈥淥ne of the biggest influences with DO-IT is learning about disability, how to interact with people with disabilities, knowing about areas like the disability rights movements,鈥 Bowker says. Through DO-IT, he鈥檚 made lifelong friends and now better understands that, when it comes to disability rights, he鈥檚 building on the legacy of earlier advocates. 鈥淚 wanted to give back to that community in a way,鈥 he says. 鈥淎nd I think DO-IT has been one of the most profound sources of that.鈥
To request an accessible PDF version of the article, send an email to doit@uw.edu.