Saturday, June 17, 2017
12:45 - 1:45 "I Am A Pre-Exisiting Condition":
Healthcare, Mental Health, & Self-Care
12:45 - 1:45 "I Am A Pre-Exisiting Condition":
Healthcare, Mental Health, & Self-Care
Moderator: Kristen Salkas | PhD Candidate, UIC
Kristen Salkas is a PhD candidate in Disability Studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She works and does research with Latinx families that have children with disabilities in the Chicagoland area. Her previous research has included looking at spiritual coping in Latina mothers of children with disabilities, the effectiveness of a peer education program for Latina mothers of children with autism, and increasing cultural competency in transportation education.
Recently, she collaborated on a research study with students and parents in Bogota, Colombia helping families of children with autism gain knowledge and resources through peer education. She also works for a transportation agency in Chicago doing community outreach to Latinxs and advocating for equal access to transportation for people with disabilities and for Latinxs. Her dissertation work is on disparities in public transit access and use for Latinxs with disabilities.
Kristen Salkas is a PhD candidate in Disability Studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She works and does research with Latinx families that have children with disabilities in the Chicagoland area. Her previous research has included looking at spiritual coping in Latina mothers of children with disabilities, the effectiveness of a peer education program for Latina mothers of children with autism, and increasing cultural competency in transportation education.
Recently, she collaborated on a research study with students and parents in Bogota, Colombia helping families of children with autism gain knowledge and resources through peer education. She also works for a transportation agency in Chicago doing community outreach to Latinxs and advocating for equal access to transportation for people with disabilities and for Latinxs. Her dissertation work is on disparities in public transit access and use for Latinxs with disabilities.
Jim Bloyd | Cook County Department of Public Health
As an undergraduate at San Francisco State University, Jim discovered public health through a Sociology of Medicine course. His interest further blossomed as a volunteer in San Francisco General Hospital’s Emergency Room, where he observed that the health problems he witnessed were not rooted in biomedicine, but in social factors like hunger and malnutrition. He switched career paths from medicine to public health. Currently, with the Cook County Department of Public Health in Chicago, Jim has been heavily involved in Place Matters, a national initiative to address the social, economic and environmental factors that influence health inequities. Jim’s experiences highlight the challenges and opportunities of working within a local health department, as well as the need to maintain social justice as a central tenet of public health.
As an undergraduate at San Francisco State University, Jim discovered public health through a Sociology of Medicine course. His interest further blossomed as a volunteer in San Francisco General Hospital’s Emergency Room, where he observed that the health problems he witnessed were not rooted in biomedicine, but in social factors like hunger and malnutrition. He switched career paths from medicine to public health. Currently, with the Cook County Department of Public Health in Chicago, Jim has been heavily involved in Place Matters, a national initiative to address the social, economic and environmental factors that influence health inequities. Jim’s experiences highlight the challenges and opportunities of working within a local health department, as well as the need to maintain social justice as a central tenet of public health.
Katherine Perez | PhD Candidate, UIC
Katherine Perez, a CNLD Co-Founder, hails from La Mirada, California. She holds a J.D. from the UCLA School of Law and is currently a PhD candidate in Disability Studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Her scholarship analyzes disability laws and policies through critical legal and historical frameworks.
As a law student, Katherine re-engaged the Disability Law Society and was a leader in the La Raza Law Students Association. Before law school, Katherine was a Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute Fellow in Washington D.C. (2006-2007) and a Peace Corps volunteer in Peru (2008-2010). She currently serves as a REV UP Advisory Committee Member and as a Student Representative on the National Advisory Board of the National Center for College Students with Disabilities. She was honored to receive the 2017 American Association for People with Disabilities (AAPD) Paul G. Hearne Leadership Award for her work as a co-founder of CNLD.
Katherine identifies as a Latina with mental disabilities and has a sister with intellectual disability. She runs Disability Rights Blog. Find her updates on Facebook and Twitter.
Katherine Perez, a CNLD Co-Founder, hails from La Mirada, California. She holds a J.D. from the UCLA School of Law and is currently a PhD candidate in Disability Studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Her scholarship analyzes disability laws and policies through critical legal and historical frameworks.
As a law student, Katherine re-engaged the Disability Law Society and was a leader in the La Raza Law Students Association. Before law school, Katherine was a Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute Fellow in Washington D.C. (2006-2007) and a Peace Corps volunteer in Peru (2008-2010). She currently serves as a REV UP Advisory Committee Member and as a Student Representative on the National Advisory Board of the National Center for College Students with Disabilities. She was honored to receive the 2017 American Association for People with Disabilities (AAPD) Paul G. Hearne Leadership Award for her work as a co-founder of CNLD.
Katherine identifies as a Latina with mental disabilities and has a sister with intellectual disability. She runs Disability Rights Blog. Find her updates on Facebook and Twitter.
Ligia Andrade-Zuniga | Co-Director/Sexuality & Disability Educator, Sexability
Ligia Andrade Zuniga, M.A. has dedicated her focus on educating and empowering individuals living with disabilities on various aspects of independent living, especially in the area of sexuality. Ligia holds a bachelor's degree in Human Services with an emphasis in Administration and Counseling, and a Masters degree in Public Administration from Notre Dame de Namur University in Belmont, California. Ligia became interested in sexuality and disability seven and a half years ago after realizing there was very limited information, accessibility, and support available regarding sexuality for quadriplegic women living with spinal cord injury, specifically for young women of color, and women in the latino Spanish-speaking community.
Ligia acquired a spinal cord injury in 2009 following an automobile accident and has since been actively and deeply involved in the community advocating for individuals with disabilities. Currently, Ligia is a director and sexuality and disability educator for Sexability, an organization providing sexuality education to individuals with disabilities. She has been a peer supporter for seven years through the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center Spinal Cord Injury Peer Support Program. Ligia serves on several boards and commissions within the county she lives in (San Mateo County).
Along with being an active participant and advocate in her community, she also stays extensively involved with her two sons, 19 and 14, by fully participating in community groups through their school, sports, and community.
Ligia Andrade Zuniga, M.A. has dedicated her focus on educating and empowering individuals living with disabilities on various aspects of independent living, especially in the area of sexuality. Ligia holds a bachelor's degree in Human Services with an emphasis in Administration and Counseling, and a Masters degree in Public Administration from Notre Dame de Namur University in Belmont, California. Ligia became interested in sexuality and disability seven and a half years ago after realizing there was very limited information, accessibility, and support available regarding sexuality for quadriplegic women living with spinal cord injury, specifically for young women of color, and women in the latino Spanish-speaking community.
Ligia acquired a spinal cord injury in 2009 following an automobile accident and has since been actively and deeply involved in the community advocating for individuals with disabilities. Currently, Ligia is a director and sexuality and disability educator for Sexability, an organization providing sexuality education to individuals with disabilities. She has been a peer supporter for seven years through the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center Spinal Cord Injury Peer Support Program. Ligia serves on several boards and commissions within the county she lives in (San Mateo County).
Along with being an active participant and advocate in her community, she also stays extensively involved with her two sons, 19 and 14, by fully participating in community groups through their school, sports, and community.
Matt Perry | Next Steps
Matt Perry works with an Illinois Advocacy Organization called Next Steps, NFP on a federal grant to build a statewide network of mental health consumers. This work hits a number of areas: political and legislative advocacy around mental health, forming spaces for support and discussion, forming community and political power amongst people who identify with mental health, changing representation at all policy related events so that people with lived experience of mental health conditions are in equal or greater representation to all other stakeholders. He lives in Chicago, IL, and identifies with lived experience of mental health, and has been tinkering around with ideas about Mad pride, Mad acceptance, and Mad movement. He is not Latinx, but is honored to be invited to the conference and to be invited to talk about mental health with the Latinx Disability community.
Matt Perry works with an Illinois Advocacy Organization called Next Steps, NFP on a federal grant to build a statewide network of mental health consumers. This work hits a number of areas: political and legislative advocacy around mental health, forming spaces for support and discussion, forming community and political power amongst people who identify with mental health, changing representation at all policy related events so that people with lived experience of mental health conditions are in equal or greater representation to all other stakeholders. He lives in Chicago, IL, and identifies with lived experience of mental health, and has been tinkering around with ideas about Mad pride, Mad acceptance, and Mad movement. He is not Latinx, but is honored to be invited to the conference and to be invited to talk about mental health with the Latinx Disability community.