Previous disability-related experience

By sharing your own story, you begin the journey of your own self-discovery and self-reflection.  We cannot possibly begin to understand the disability experience of someone else unless we can examine our own experiences with life.  Everyone’s story is unique, and yet, we all struggle with life’s challenges and we all care about issues that are meaningful to us.  This experience of storytelling can bond us together in our diversity.  To write and share your story is to grow in who you are and at the same time, gain a more profound understanding of the people who will share their stories with you in this course.

Some of you will feel more comfortable with writing a timeline of your life so far, dividing your life into periods.  Others may want to describe your life thematically, or perhaps allegorically.  You get to choose how you share your story.

Your story is considered confidential and will not be shared with anyone other than the instructors and teaching assistants (who assist with grading during the semester). You are not required to include parts of your story that you are uncomfortable sharing. However, sometimes sharing or exploring challenging areas of our life can be a step in pressing through.