Since September we have been setting up a network to address the exclusion of researchers with speech impairments/differences from disability research and ableist academia by sharing our experiences, as well as providing a peer support group. After months of email communication, a few of the network members met for the first time on Monday 2nd of December. It was lovely to meet some of the network members and put faces to the names! Prior to the meeting, some of us had circulated written introductions about ourselves and how our speech impairments had shaped our past and current research work.
In the meeting, after the introductions, we had a live discussion about our ideas and expectations for the network. We started exploring some important topics, such as being in academia with our speech impairments/differences, societal responses to our speech, and how to make communicating in the network accessible to all. The discussion was rich and sharing our experiences powerful.
We decided to communicate mainly using emails and meet once a month on the first Tuesday, starting in February. We will next meet on the 4th of February. We hope that the next meeting will be another opportunity for sharing and discussing ways to collaborate together on writing and other research activities.
Considering that the idea of the network was conceived only in September, all the background work we have done together so far to set up the network is encouraging. We are looking forward to our future meetings and working together, drawing on each others’ skills and expertise.
