Creating Our Own Lives

Michael Gill is associate professor of disability studies at Syracuse University. He is author of Allergic Intimacies: Food, Disability, Desire, and Risk and Already Doing It: Intellectual Disability and Sexual Agency (Minnesota, 2015).   Beth Myers is Lawrence B. Taishoff Professor of Inclusive Education at Syracuse University. She is executive editor of the Journal of Inclusive Postsecondary Education and author of Autobiography on the Spectrum: Disrupting the Autism Narrative.

• Contents Introduction: Recognizing Student Voice in Inclusive Higher Education Michael Gill and Beth Myers Part I. Laying the Foundation: Why Everyone Belongs in College 1. I Want to Go to College Antonio E. Contreras 2. I Got In Taylor Ruppe 3. Adventures in Postsecondary Education Stirling Peebles 4. A Language to Open Adam Wolfond 5. “The Wanderer” and “This Is What I Sing” Steven Brief 6. My History of the Excel Program Alex Smith 7. Taking the Llama for a Walk and Other Things That Helped Us Olivia Baist and Kylie Walter Part II. Opening Up Possibilities: Overcoming Doubt and Uncertainty 8. Being Independent Has Risks: How to Recover When Something Terrible Happens Kailin Kelderman, Eilish Kelderman, and Mary Bryant 9. Spartan Kid: Journeys Brandon Baldwin 10. Best Experiences at IDEAL De’Onte Brown, Deriq Graves, Nadia Osbey, Breyan Pettaway, and Sayid Webb 11. Two Poems Carly O’Connell 12. Goal(s) in Common Hannah Lenae Humes 13. I Did What They Said I Couldn’t Allen Thomas 14. Climbing Higher and “From Mission Impossible to Mission Possible” Courtney Jorgensen 15. Inclusive College on Zoom? My Inclusive Higher Education 2020 Experience Stephen Wanser, Kate Lisotta, and Kim Dean 16. Inclusive College for All and How My Perception of My History Prof Changed Keiron Dyck 17. Qua’s GT Excel Life and “Never Give Up” Marquavious Barnes 18. Photo Essays and Selections from Student Leadership Conference 2019 Breana Whittlesey, Kaelan Knowles, Elise McDaniel, Kenneth Kelty, Katie Bartlett, and Rachel Mast Part III. Inclusion as Action: Diversifying Student Experiences 19. Hi, I’m Jake Miller Jake Miller and Katie Ducett 20. “BGWYN” and “Confidence with Curves” Taylor Cathey 21. Inclusive College Education Micah Gray, with Karlee Lambert and Lydia Newnum 22. My UC Perspective Joshua R. Hourigan 23. Phoenix Nation as in Spirit Cleo Hamilton 24. My Excel Story George Barham 25. #CreatingMyOwnLife Payton Storms 26. Inclusive College Education Makayla Adkins 27. My Story about Aggies Elevated at Utah State University Brenna Mantz Nielsen 28. Questions and Answers Lawrence Sapp 29. College Memories but Ready for What’s Next Amanda Pilkenton 30. Full Year of College Luke Wilcox 31. My Favorite Memories in College Elizabeth Droessler Part IV. Supporting Growth: Peer Mentoring and Support 32. Communicating Successfully in College Maia Chamberlain 33. True Rafferty Interviewed True Rafferty, with Nathan Heald 34. College Program Experience Gracie Carroll 35. Teaching, Assisting, Reflecting: Our Experience Working Together Phillandra Smith and Meghan Brozaitis 36. My Georgia Tech Excel Story Maggie Guillaume 37. Emma’s Journey Emma Miller 38. Come Read about My Awesome Journeys through Life Brianna Silva 39. My Social Experience throughout Georgia Tech Rachel Gomez 40. The Importance of Goals Tyler Shore 41. Support and Encouragement for the Ones Who Seek It Elliott Smith Coda: Why This Collection? Beth Myers and Michael Gill Acknowledgments Contributors

"I like Creating Our Own Lives because people with disabilities talked about being in college and shared their stories in their own words. And they really shared their experiences, not just about how everything is great, but about how it is to be in college and what Syracuse is like for people with disabilities. Beth Myers and Michael Gill also shared, and that made the book great to read."-Tia Nelis, Director of Policy and Advocacy, TASH