“Capturing Our Ingenious Ways of Being and Becoming”: A deCRIPtion workshop by Bri Noonan and Joy Young

Welcome to deCRIPtion Capturing our Ingenious Ways of Being and Becoming “Disability is not a ‘brave struggle’ or ‘courage in the face of adversity’. Disability is an art. It is an ingenious way to live.” -Neil Marcus

As a Ph.D. student, part of why I love living in Chicago is access to a wide array of disability arts and culture events. One of the hubs and incubators of disability arts and culture is the creative research lab Bodies of Work, led by Disability Studies and Performance Studies scholar Carrie Sandahl. Bodies of Work has an array of programming and educational opportunities. Access Living with contributions from Bodies of Work created “deCRIPtion,” which explores disability poetry and storytelling through workshops facilitated by PhD students in Disability Studies in collaboration with Access Living. deCRIPtion offers graduate students opportunities to explore research interests in disability community and develop pedagogy and facilitation experience beyond university walls. These workshops draw a wide range of participants and produce original takes and perspectives on disability arts and culture that are critical to creating engaged research across the disability arts and humanities. 

Disability is often framed as a challenge or something to endure or overcome. But for many disabled individuals, disability is not a source of tragedy but a unique and powerful way of living in the world. This perspective was at the heart of the two deCRIPtion poetry and storytelling workshops led by PhD student Bri Noonan and Access Living coordinator Joy Young, which were titled “Capturing our Ingenious Ways of Being and Becoming.” In these workshops, participants explored the concept of "disabled knowledge"—a term that challenges the medical model of disability and offers a critical approach to how we live with and engage disability history, literature, and culture.

At the core of the discussions was a focus on the value of shared experiences and the wisdom of lived realities. By reflecting on the many ways disabled people adapt and thrive, participants engaged in the process of reimagining disability as a source of innovation and strength rather than something to be cured or rehabilitated. Through dialogue, creativity, and collective storytelling, the workshop highlighted the richness of disabled knowledge and its power to shape both individual and community identities. 

“Disabled knowledge” was a term centered in the workshop and its meaning was explored from multiple angles. Often, disabled people can be cast aside as producers of knowledge about disability, chronic illness, and pain and are viewed only as patients. This workshop de-emphasized medical approaches to disability that can result in being gaslighted, misdiagnosed, and mistreated by medical providers. This perspective was challenged as participants were invited to reflect on how they personally engage with and share knowledge about disability within their disability communities and with non-disabled people. Many described it as a constantly shifting, relational, and collaborative process that was messy, difficult, and beautiful. 

The knowledge that disabled people generate and share is not only about surviving in a world not built for them; rather, it’s about creativity and radical care in the face of an ableist society. One participant described disability as something that “forces you to be creative and find different ways of doing things.” Other key elements of disabled knowledge shared included ideas about care, exploring disability terminology such as Mia Mingus’s “interdependence,” and mutual aid. Workshop participants also shared practical disability knowledge, such as how to manage pain with tools like heating pads and nontraditional forms of medication, finding ways to adapt mobility devices, or sharing tips on managing chronic conditions with specific forms of movement. 

Along with sharing practical tips and crip hacks, participants also demonstrated the complex and rich sources where they’ve learned and gained disability knowledge. These sources ranged from cultural workers such as Alice Wong and Leah Lakshmi Piepzna- Samarasinha, as well as disabled elders and family members, to more institutional settings such as Access Living and Disability Studies classes at UIC. As a disabled graduate student and a virtual workshop participant, it was a rich evening of being in the disability community, sharing disability knowledge I have gained over the years, and walking away with ingenious and creative crip hacks. 

To sign up for upcoming deCRIPtion events, please see the dates and form below.

Saturday in person 1-3pm and Monday virtual 6-8pm:

Feb: 22 and 24

March (virtual only) 17

April: 19 and 21

May 17 and 19

June 21 and 23

https://forms.gle/LtR1dWRyS2SvsuKu5

To learn more about deCRIPtiontion reach out to Access Living Coordinator Joy Young at jyoung@accessliving.org 

 Sarah Kim-Williams is a disabled Ph.D. candidate in Disability Studies with a concentration in Gender and Women’s Studies at UIC. Her research focuses on representations of disability in Global Asian literature and visual cultures.