October is Washington’s Disability History Month and National Disability Employment Awareness Month. To celebrate, join Renton Technical College for Disability Justice Week, October 19–26! This will be a week of programming that celebrates and examines the intersectionality of the disability experience through enriching learning formats including lectures, presentations, and more. Programming this year is focused on the theme Collective Access, Collective Liberation.

Pictured above: RTC email banner in blue color block with burgundy accents promoting Disability Justice Week.

Events

Keynote Address – Mir Aminy, M.S. – Beyond Access: Disability, Incarceration, Belonging, and Collective Liberation

• Monday, October 19
• Noon – 1:30 p.m.
• RTC Cafeteria (Building I) & Virtual (Zoom)

Mir Aminy serves as the Program Director for Project Rebound at California State University, Fullerton, a campus-based program that supports formerly incarcerated college students as they pursue higher education. He is also a Ph.D. candidate at Chapman University, where his research focuses on the experiences of students with disabilities, particularly among incarcerated and formerly incarcerated populations. Born in Afghanistan, Mir immigrated to the U.S. as a child and settled with his family in New York City.

Drawing from his own lived experience with the criminal legal system as a teenager, Mir brings a deeply personal and informed perspective to his work in education, disability advocacy, reentry, and social justice. His professional and scholarly interests center on creating more inclusive pathways to education, elevating the voices of people directly impacted by incarceration, and examining the intersections of disability, race, identity, and institutional access.

Lunch will be served beginning at 11:30 a.m.

Film Screening – Crip Camp

• Thursday, October 22
• 2 p.m. – 4 p.m.
• Unity Center (Building D)

In the early 1970s, teenagers with disabilities faced a future shaped by isolation, discrimination and institutionalization. Camp Jened, a ramshackle camp “for the handicapped” (a term no longer used) in the Catskills, exploded those confines. Jened was their freewheeling Utopia, a place with summertime sports, smoking and make-out sessions awaiting everyone, and campers experienced liberation and full inclusion as human beings. Their bonds endured as many migrated West to Berkeley, California — a hotbed of activism where friends from Camp Jened realized that disruption, civil disobedience, and political participation could change the future for millions.

Workshop – The Social Justice Model of Disability & People First Language

• Monday, October 26
• 11 a.m. – 12 p.m.
• Unity Center (Building D)

Dr. Elizabeth Flanagan, CCP Faculty, and Jake Swanke, Director of Disability Resource Services, will discuss the importance of language and its impact on perceptions of disability. Discover the principles of People-First Language (PFL) and how it promotes respect and dignity for individuals with disabilities. We will also explore the social justice model of disability, which emphasizes how systemic, institutional, and environmental barriers create limitations to access and perpetuate ableism, rather than focusing on an individual’s disability as the barrier.

Accommodation Statement

Renton Technical College is committed to providing access and accommodation in its services, programs, and activities. To make an accommodation request connected to a disability or health condition contact Disability Resource Services at drs@rtc.edu or (425) 235-7854, by October 16, 2026.

Sponsors and Committee

Sponsored by the Associated Student Government, Disability Resource Services, Division of Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion, and Division of Student Services.

Special thank you to the 2026 Disability Justice Week Planning Committee: Amaury Avalos, Hector Perez, Sarah Hoaglin, Kaia Rodriguez, and Jake Swanke.

Other Resources to Continue Your Disability Justice Work

Expand Your Feed

Create space for social (and other) media to expand your understanding and engagement with the disability community.  Each individual feed is working to keep us engaged and show us more of what we “like” but in doing so can leave out differing experiences and perspective. Expand your algorithm by following influencers from the disability community, selecting a book/film that explores aspects of disability, or engaging with a podcast that presents ideas from a new perspective. Check out the RTC Library and Disability Awareness LibGuide for some ideas to get you started.

Universal Design Practices & Scavenger Hunt

We live in an ABLEIST world that discriminates in favor of able-bodied people. This reality presents itself in big and small ways, but we can all do our part to notice and respond to ableism when given the right information and an available call to action. We invite you to be the eyes and ears of the RTC campus and be on the lookout for these 15 easy to identify Universal Design practices.

Physical

• Door openers are working.
• Elevators are working.
• Curb cuts are clear and available.

Social

• Speak directly to the person – not interpreter or attendant.
• Ask permission before offering assistance.
• Respect identity preferences: person-first or identity first language.

Instruction

• Syllabus has statement of support such as:
• Renton Technical College is committed to providing reasonable accommodations for all persons with disabilities. The syllabus is available in alternate formats upon request. If you have a disability that may have some impact on your work in this class and for which you may require accommodations, please contact Disability Resource Services: drs@rtc.edu / (425) 235-7854
• Alternative formats of information are offered (text, verbal, diagrams, photographs, etc)
• Videos are captioned.

Events

• Fliers and/or registration materials include an access statement stating how to request accommodations such as:
• Renton Technical College is committed to providing access and accommodation in its services, programs, and activities. To make a request connected to a disability or health condition contact [INSERT sponsoring department contact, phone number, and email address], by [INSERT specific date].
• Furniture is movable, or if fixed seating areas, accessible seating options are available to participants.
• Restrooms with accessible stalls are located near event location with clear signage.

Digital

• Videos are short in duration and divided into chapters and sections.
• Text is accessible across all student devices, including mobile technologies.
• Images are tagged with text descriptions, ideally with critical information in text rather than in an image.

Additional Resources to Learn More about Universal Design

The RTC Accessibility Resource Library was created by members of the RTC Accessibility Advisory committee to help faculty and staff make RTC accommodating and accessible to all. The library contains resources to help you improve the accessibility of web content, instruction, events, and more! 

Universal Design: Process, Principles, and Applications: The DO-IT (Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking, and Technology) Center at The University of Washington is dedicated to empowering people with disabilities through technology and education. It promotes awareness and accessibility—in both the classroom and the workplace—to maximize the potential of individuals with disabilities and make our communities more vibrant, diverse, and inclusive. DO-IT has helped connect the ideas of Universal Design (UD) in the educational setting by looking at how the design of teaching and learning products and environments can be usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialized design.

Accessibility at the UW: The University of Washington is a leader in disability and accessibility. Here they have provided information on accessibility best practices across teaching, learning, working, event planning, service animals, access statements, policies and regulations, as well as marketing and communications.

What Is Universal Design: The Center for Inclusive Design and Environmental Access within the School of Architecture and Planning at The University of Buffalo provides historical context for an enduring design approach grounded in the belief that the broad range of human ability is ordinary, not special. This includes the Seven Principles of Universal Design: equitable use, flexibility in use, simple and intuitive use, perceptible information, tolerance for error, low physical effort, and size and space for approach and use.