Moderator
Amanda Blais
Senior Disability Learning Support Coordinator;
Paul Menton Centre
A Carleton University Alumna, Amanda Blais has worked at the Paul Menton Centre for Students with Disabilities for ten years as a Disabilities Coordinator and Learning Strategist. In 2018-2019, Blais led a team in creating and implementing the Carleton University Accessible Experiential Learning (CUAEL) Project (now ACT to Employ), providing subsidized employment opportunities for students with disabilities.
Panelists
Larry McCloskey
Former Director, Paul Menton Centre
Larry McCloskey earned his undergraduate and two Master’s degrees at Carleton as the earth cooled. He lobbied the provincial government for funding which resulted in the establishment of the Accessibility Fund for Students with Disabilities, and our professional body the Inter-University Disability Issues Association.
McCloskey founded the Paul Menton Centre for Students with Disabilities in 1990, and in hiring the right people thereafter, allowed us to found or co-create many innovative programs that built Carleton’s widely recognized reputation for accessibility.
Dr. Tammie Ricci
C. Psych.
Dr. Tammie Ricci earned her Ph.D. in clinical psychology from York University in Toronto, her Masters from Carleton University and an Honours BA from Nipissing University. She has trained in a variety of clinical settings including CAMH (formerly known as the Clarke Institute of Psychiatry) in Toronto, the Chiropractic College in Toronto, the Counselling and Development Centre – York University in Toronto, and the Downsview Rehabilitation Centre in Toronto.
In the past, Dr. Ricci has worked at The Paul Menton Centre at Carleton University and at the Rehabilitation Centre in Ottawa. She has been in private practice for the last 22 years and is a registered member of the College of Psychologists of Ontario, as well as a member of the American Psychological Association, the Canadian Psychological Association, the Ontario Psychological Association, the Canadian Academy of Psychologists in Disability Assessment, the Canadian Society of Medical Evaluators, the Ottawa Academy of Psychology, and the Canadian Registry of Health Care Providers.
Currently, Dr. Ricci lives in Ottawa with her husband and two teenage sons.
Dr. Paul Peters
Associate Professor, Carleton University
Dr. Paul Peters (PhD in Sociology, University of Texas at Austin) is an Associate Professor in the Department of Health Sciences at Carleton University and leads the Spatial Determinants of Health Lab. Dr. Peters was late-diagnosed with ADHD and has a proudly neurodiverse family. Since his diagnosis, Dr. Peters has worked to promote accessibility by sharing his experience and amplifying those of others. He is active on ADHD Twitter as @unitepangaea.
Dr. Peters’ academic research aligns with the values of accessibility via the study of small places and small spaces in a context of enduring social inequities. These health inequities are manifest between social groups across a range of factors, such as income, education, or ethnicity. At the same time, health inequities are spatially evident, with differences between provinces, regions, communities, and neighbourhoods. His lab has received funding from SSHRC and CIHR to study rural health, small-area rate variation in hospital use, and the environmental factors associated with Autism, ADHD, and OCD.
Rebecca Andre
Recent Carleton Graduate
A recent graduate from the Applied Linguistics and Discourse Studies B.A. Honors program at Carleton University, with a minor in Disability Studies, Rebecca Andre is a passionate disability rights advocate with a firm belief in the power of language and its ability to give dignity back to those who have had it stripped away. Andre believes that creating space at the table for the voices of those with lived/living experience is a vital step forward in cultivating change and building a society we can be proud of.
Andre has worked with Caretons’ READ Initiative on critically important projects that help move our community towards creating more inclusive spaces for persons with disabilities, and is excited to be able to continue this work.
Andre identifies as a disabled woman living with both visible and non-visible disabilities, and continues to make the commitment to learn, to educate, and to consistently push towards a more inclusive community for everyone.
Presenter
Cathy Malcolm Edwards
“Accessibility Through the Lens of the CAS”
With 25+ years of experience in research and academic environments, Cathy Malcolm Edwards has an enthusiastic appreciation for the power that research and education have to improve lives and the world we live in. Her approach fosters open dialogue, promotes collaborative engagements and results in high-impact stakeholder relationships. Malcolm Edwards identifies her “why” for accessibility as discovering dignity through design. She is passionate about co-creating positive change in the world using an empathetic approach that values living/lived experiences.
Join Us
The live Culture of Access event will take place over Zoom. The Zoom link and instructions to join will be available to all guests on the Culture of Access webpage.