Bethany Stevens is a wheelchair-using doctoral candidate at Georgia State University’s Sociology Department and a sexual health educator. Trained as an attorney and holding a Master of Arts in Sexuality Studies, she has a diverse range of interests that ground her work in human rights and social justice. Her publications and invited talks address a range of disability topics, including media analysis, sexual violence prevention, and policy analysis. Stevens lectures and offers workshops internationally and has taught courses in public health, disability studies, and social work across the United States. Please follow and engage with her on all platforms @disabethany.
Closing Keynote:
Promoting Disability Autonomy through Disability Joy: How To Build on Disability Rights Work
People working for disability rights have made tremendous strides, helping people with disabilities move away from institutionalization, embracing person-centered planning, and working to shift society’s understanding of disability. Yet even as we celebrate this progress, ableism persists and, in many ways, is intensifying alongside broader social regression. This moment calls us to be more passionate than ever in our commitment to the autonomy, joy, and power of people with disabilities. This talk invites disability professionals to expand their vision of person-centered work, to move beyond practical support to engage more fully with the emotional lives of the people they serve, including grief, rage, and desire. By attending to more of the whole person, we open doors to deeper authenticity, stronger community connections, greater accessibility for BIPOC disabled folks, and a richer expression of disability community joy. Rooted in the principles of disability justice, this expanded approach doesn’t ask us to abandon what we do well. Instead, disability justice asks us to believe even more fully in what we practice, and to embrace disability in its fullest, most expansive sense.
