REA2025 Including the Excluded: Embracing Life Online As Disability Justice

With the rise of virtual gathering and a growth of work from home opportunities that came with the COVID pandemic in 2020, people with limited community were able to find new spaces for respite and employment. Since then, many of those spaces have gone away as many seek to be back in physical spaces together. Recognizing the benefits of physical space, this plenary asks, “what about the people on the margins of this physical space? Where does the call to return to the work place, classroom, and church house leave those for whom leaving their home increases pain and takes tremendous effort? Dennis Heaphy and Annie Lockhart-Gilroy will discuss the various ways virtual spaces and technology as a whole are vital for the many people who have limited mobility. Through dialogue, we will explore various topics of inclusion and community.