Speaker
Ruben Mota
UW–Madison Americans with Disabilities Act Coordinator
Ruben Mota, Ph.D., serves as the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Coordinator for UW–Madison, collaborating and coordinating with university partners to ensure UW continually strives for access and inclusivity for individuals with disabilities.
Before joining the Office of Compliance, Dr. Mota worked on campus at the McBurney Disability Resource Center as an associate director for student services and assistant director of accommodation services. Previously, he was the head of student support services and director of learning support at two international schools in Switzerland.
Dr. Mota earned his doctorate in leadership and educational administration from Capella University and has been involved in the disability field since 2003.
Speaking in
A Disability Primer: Reclaiming, Imagining, Creating Change
When we reflect on our nation’s history and some of the more recent conversations around social justice, it is clear that society was not intended or designed for people with disabilities. Even 32 years after the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, disabled people are still fighting for equal access and inclusion.
In this session, we will review pieces of disability history in the United States and recall key moments in activism on disability justice. How we think about disability needs to be reframed to embrace access and inclusion as a shared societal norm. Collectively, engaging in conversations on disability and ableism is one way to affect change. We will highlight disabled activists, past and present, and honor their legacies in continuing these needed conversations. We will talk about ways to reframe disability through the social model of disability and steps to actively engage and interrupt ableism at the University.
Participants in this session will:
- Review some of the history of disability in the United States
- Learn about some of the key moments in activism centered on disability justice
- Understand the difference between the medical and social models of disability
- Gain an understanding of the underpinnings of ableism and how it presents today
- Strategize actionable steps to recognize and disrupt ableism