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This semester was truly enriching. As one of my last DHD courses before I graduate, it was beneficial for me to revisit past DHD concepts of social/medical model, policies, self-determination, interdependence, advocacy, etc. in order to solidify learning those ideas and its importance to the disability community. During the policy/legislation part of the course, it was surprising to learn that many acts are in place to protect rights, but discrimination is still widely prevalent. I hope what I have learned overall can continue to benefit me in the future if I ever continue in disability studies realm and make me into a more supportive ally.

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One of the most important things I think we touched upon this class would have to be the difference between access and accomodations. I've been in a few DHD classes here at UIC and this has been the first class where we truly have gone over the topic and taken our time to really dive into it. I find it frusturating that people with disabilities still have to fight for the bare minnimum when it comes to having access to public places. I believe I'll be able to use this knowledge as an aspiring Physical Therapist to make sure I am advocating and being an ally as well.

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A lot of important and meaningful things were covered in this class. To me though, one of the most interesting and important was the topic of self-determination, self-advocacy and social moments/disability justice. It's important to know the differences between all these meanings. Learn more about battles people with disabilities have been dealing with for years but no one knows. See unfair and unjust life can be for them. I will take this knowledge with me and apply it to the real world. Try to help people with disabilities the best that I can and have genuine intentions on doing so.

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One of the most surprising things that I have learned was that despite the efforts of the disability community and their allies, there are still many barriers present. Accessibility is a major issue that needs to be resolved soon. Most people do not realize the severity of lack of accessibility in public institutions. This class really helped to inform me about the severity of the disparity and the importance of amplifying the voices of the disability community. I will use this new knowledge to inform others on the various issues that the disability community faces and educate myself further as well.

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This semester has taught me a lot of valuable lessons that I'm excited to carry on within my current job and my future career as a possible Occupational Therapist. One important concept that has stuck with me is the difference between access and accommodation. The weekly content has really opened my eyes and stuck with me since, so much that I discuss the difference with my current patients at the hospital I work at now. I love helping them out with understanding the difference and obtaining resources if I have them. Because of this class and my other DHD classes, I can't walk into a space and not examine whether it's accessible or not. I'm always wondering how a space can be disability friendly.

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This semester has taught me the importance of facilitating access and accessibility. The health resources and tools required for people with disabilities promote health and wellness, which should accommodate everyone not just non-disabled people. This knowledge will help me further my career in physical therapy, My knowledge of disability will help me build a better relationship with my patients through proper communication and care.

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This course has truly changed my perspective and expanded my knowledge within the foundational concepts of disability, such as the types of oppression and the barriers in access/accessibility and accommodation in different areas of life like employment and/or transportation.

The most interesting thing that I learned and glad that it was brought up in the course material are the most commonly overlooked elements of access and accessibility. To be honest, the one that really stood out to me is where people that have disabilities that are not commonly included in regulations, such as allergies. I believe that this is important because there are people who could potentially have severe allergies.

As a future rehabilitation professional, I will use these types of concept in the back of my head to recognize any issues that should be made to benefit the patients/clients needs, even if they might not know what they need until it is given to them.

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The most interesting thing I learned during this semester was the different models of disability. The different types of models we learned  helped me further understand some of the struggles that people with disabilities go through. I also found very interesting the lived experiences of people with disabilities. Learning about different experiences has allowed me to be aware of the different ways people live with disabilities and the struggles they have faced. In the future I plan on finishing my career as nurse, and I think what I have learned will allow me to be a better nurse to advocate and bring awareness to the struggles people with disabilities face in the healthcare environment.

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This course helped me better understand some of the students I already work with. The models of disability were one of the most interesting things I learned in the class because it good to see how society looks at people with disabilities and how sometimes these models can be thought to be beneficial to the community but actually can be apart of the misunderstanding of people with disabilities.

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The most interesting thing I learned this semester was the access vs accommodation argument. Even through all the DHD courses I have taken we have never gone over this topic. It is so important to understand the difference because while getting accommodations may seem like a minor issue to abled people disabled people deal with this too often and it is debilitating. Having to constantly announce your disability to receive necessary accommodations is tiring. I can use this information to ensure that any events I am at or conduct will be accessible and not require accomodations.

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The most important thing I feel that I learned about in this class was legislation regarding disability. It is an obstacle or a useful tool and I feel that it is important to know about the rights it provides like the ADA or know what there is still left to fight for in getting rights. This class has taught me so much, it was interesting to learn more about access and how to be an ally. As a person who hopes to work in rehabilitation and disability it has taught me many things I hope to use in my work.

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This class has truly opened up my view on the many ways that specific concepts of disability studies are applied in reality. I truly enjoyed learning more about the different models that exist within the study of disability, and how they are applied in specific situations as well as how they may be used together. I also enjoyed differentiating what it means for something to be accessible and another to be accommodating. Grounding the difference between the two made me realize the ways in which these terms are used in society. I will try my best to incorporate what I have learned when coming across any situation that will urge me to speak up, allowing me to stand up for what I believe is righteous.

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The most interesting thing I learned during this course has been the concepts revolving around identity. Learning that there are individual, relational, and collective levels of identity helped me understand how a person is made up of many identities in order to make them, themselves. I believe it is really important taking all of these different identities into account when thinking of the experiences people with disabilities face. Their different identities play a big role on how they are treated, what resources are exposed to them, accessibility, and so much more. I will use this knowledge of what makes a person themselves through their identities by having a better understanding of why one person may be going through what they are going through. Knowing how a person who has a disability identifies can help the people around them be more understanding as well.

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This course expanded the knowledge that I have been building over time as a DHD major. Each year I get to read and see different narratives of disability and its advocacy history. To me, the thing that always gets my attention are the personal narratives that talk about things that may seem insignificant to non-disabled people. For example, I enjoyed reading narratives in the medical system and how that impacted several disabled people. Seeing how something so regular, can be a real problem for PWD. It's also frustrating and very surprising to see how many clinics and people who work in the health industry have no idea how to examine a patient with a disability. To me it seemed every unprofessional and dangerous to leave a disabled person waiting at the ER just because doctors and nurses didn't feel comfortable treating someone with a disability.

Because I'm not a health student, I cannot do much to change the industry directly. But I can talk to people who I know who are OTs, nurses, etc. and share these narratives with them. I feel like if one person learns important information such as this, they can also pass it on to their peers, co-workers, or maybe even higher ups.

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The most important thing I learned during this course is the stories by people with disabilities and the importance of centering the voices/experiences/leadership of those most impacted. As a graduate student who also took DHD courses in undergrad I personally did not learn that much that was entirely new to be honest, but I love learning from the different perspectives and experiences of disabled people. I appreciated this part of the course since many other spaces that talk about disability tend to not center actual disability communities. I think this course will further help me support disability communities in cultural centers/non-profit and/or in higher education paths I plan to pursue.

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The most surprising thing I have learned from this course is how much media and lack of proper representation has created a negative narrative of people who have disabilities and further increases barriers for socialization and independence. I enjoyed learning about how simple changes like awareness and appropriate exposure of people who have disabilities in media, news and videos can create inclusive environments for all people and normalize the experience.
I learned a lot about the importance of interdependence and self-determination being extremely important to every individual and one must always take this consideration when trying to help.

As a future OT professional i hope to minimize barrier to quality care and truly listen to what my patient needs to improve their daily living. I will also hope to promote inclusivity in physical environments, and bring awareness to universal needs like ramps, buttons to automatically open doors and interpreters.

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The most surprising thing I have learned throughout this course is the way that disability is viewed in clinical settings. Not only was it surprising to learn about the ICF model, but also that all models including the social and medical model work together in a clinical setting. I also found it interesting to learn that enviornment can pertain to a larger context than just physical surroundings, which the ICF allows us to navigate.

Moving forward into my future career and life, I also found this knowledge to be most important as I will begin working with those with disabilities in the clinical setting.

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The most important thing I've learned during this semester is how crucial facilitating access and accessibility is. The health resources and tools that are necessary for people with disabilities promotes health and wellness, which is what everyone deserves the right to.

I will be using what I've learned in this class as part of my future career within the physical therapy field. The knowledge I have on disability will further enhance the relationship I'll create with my patients through proper communication and care. It's important as a healthcare professional specializing in assisting people with disabilities to understand the disability community as a whole starting with its history.

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Being in this class has taught me so much more about disability. The most meaningful thing that I've learned from this class is the importance of advocacy, whether it be self-advocacy or non-disabled individuals advocating for those with disabilities. Throughout history the disability community's voice has been ignored and silenced, for meaningful change to happen everybody needs to standby and support those whose voices are not heard. We are the future and it is our responsibility to create the change that the disability community deserves. I will use what I've learned from this class and continue to educate others and spread awareness of the inequality the disability community has faced.

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There is so much that I have learned in this class. However, the main thing that stuck to me was the depth in which we went in regards to the barriers that people with disability face and the oppression. With this knowledge, I plan to advocate for universal inclusion and educate to stop with exclusion. Also, to use my knowledge on policies and laws that many people might not be aware of and serve as a way that I can advocate for the disability community.

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There is so much I have learned this semester, but to name one thing, I would have to say the most important/interesting thing I've learned was the difference between accommodation and accessibility.

As a future higher education professional, though students with disabilities received accommodations, in order to make college/university more inclusive and the accommodation process less tedious, I hope to use what I learned and create/implement policies and programs that will help increase accessibility for students with disabilities.

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I've learned an immense amount about disability studies in this course, it's almost hard to pinpoint what was the most important for me.

However,  learning about all the different policies in place that help the disability community felt very necessary, as I didn't have much knowledge of them before.

I plan to go into museum education and I will absolutely be using all of the different aspects I learned in this course, in my career.

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Disability is an important area of study, especially for professionals pursuing a career in health or for professions involving advocacy and work with the community. I am eager to work with the community and/or with the senior population. I am, therefore, grateful to have taken this class because it has taught me a lot about policies that advocate for disabled individuals.

These policies will be helpful for me to pass on and share with people who might not have that knowledge. For example, I could talk to people with disabilities of color who might not know their disability rights and get taken advantage of, about the ADA and its four different titles.

I also really enjoyed learning about differences between accommodation and access; it helped me to link the readings and lecture to real life examples. I think this is helpful because it shows me that I can link important disability concepts to real life experiences. This awareness can help me in my career, and it can help me to help others.

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I have really enjoyed taking this course to further my knowledge on disability studies. The most interesting thing that I have learned this semester was from week 10, learning about self determination, self-advocacy, and social movements.

This was the most important week of content for me because I am planning on going into the counseling field. I feel as if it is the most important to be educated on disability experiences and how to empower these individuals. Throughout the course,  I have gained more knowledge of interdependence, intersectionality, and how to make places truly accessible instead of just accommodating.

I will use the knowledge that I have learned in this course while pursuing my degree in counseling and while working in the mental health field to serve as an advocate to the disability community.

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In this class, we have learned so much about disability and the fundamental concepts surrounding it. I think that the most interesting and most influential thing that I learned was about empowerment and self-determination.

I had previously thought that self-determination was strictly internalized in a specific person. This course has opened my eyes to seeing that empowerment and self-determination require interdependence. Not a single can be completely self-sufficient and this has taught me a lot and helped me realize that non-disabled people can have a part in self-determination. Teaching life skills such as problem-solving, self-advocacy, and choice-making helps to get people with disabilities to realize that they can and do have a say in their own lives.

I plan to use this concept in the future by making sure that in whatever career I go into, that I incorporate these skill building exercises. This will be extremely important for me because I plan on becoming a physician assistant. I will be helping all types of people and disabled people will most definitely be a part of my career. I will always make sure that the care that I give is person- centered and that my patients have a say in their own care plan. This will be so much more empowering and create a sense of self-determination.

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It has been delightful to have taken this course this semester. I had taken disability courses before to further my knowledge on this topic, but this course truly helped me learn the foundational concepts and provided me with meaningful insight into the oppressions and barriers disabled people face and fight to overcome everyday. I feel that to understand disabilities in our society is a window towards understanding what it means to be human. This course has contributed greatly towards helping me grow as a person and as an aspiring human resources professional.

The most important thing I want to takeaway from this course is the concept of universal design - which is all about embracing disability as a part of human variation or simply as a part of being human. When society views the world through the lens of universal design, it eliminates the need for accommodations because the act itself is an approach that eradicates the concept of ablebodiedness being the standardized version of being human.

As a future HR professional, I want to use this knowledge and advocate for universal design when it comes to recruitment processes, employee engagement, employee wellness, and diversity and inclusion within the company I work for.

I wholeheartedly believe that universal design is the way to go when it comes to inclusion and consideration of the needs of all human beings, including disabled people, from the very beginning of the process so we can move towards creating a society that disabled people can partake in without feeling like an outgroup.