Call for Proposals is now closed.

The Waterloo Region District School Board (WRDSB) is excited to announce the 2024 Building Community: Advancing Anti-Ableism in Education Symposium.

This inaugural event is being held on Thursday, May 30, 2024 at Wilfrid Laurier University.

Interested in presenting a workshop?

The planning committee wants to offer thoughtful and reflective workshops around the topic of ableism. We want our workshops to:

  • raise awareness
  • prompt conversations
  • address ways we can dismantle ableism in education systems and across the community

We are looking for dynamic, interactive, and engaging speakers, facilitators or teams to lead a workshop for an audience of 15-25 people. The workshop must be 75 minutes and be connected to the theme: “Building Community: Advancing Anti-Ableism in Education.”

The workshop audience will include:

  • educators
  • community members
  • parents and caregivers
  • students
  • local leaders

For purposes of this symposium, we define ableism as:

“A culture that values able-bodied people more than disabled people, and views individuals with disabilities as less able to contribute and participate in society.”

Examples of workshop topics:

  • transition support and considerations
  • mental health
  • racism and ableism
  • invisible disabilities
  • caregiver barriers

Considerations when planning your presentation

Language

We will use both identity-first and person-first language.

We encourage presenters to use an intersectional lens and plain language in their presentation. To us, this means you might not only address disability, but may also focus on how other identity markers influence or are influenced by ableism as well, such as race, gender, sexuality, etc.

Representation

We will be unapologetically prioritizing presenters who are disabled.

To help make sure we have appropriate representation, questions about your personal identity are included in the application form.

The information we collect will only be used to ensure we have appropriate representation. We value representation and will score submissions accordingly.

Payment

A fee of $500 will be paid for each workshop presentation.

Apply to be a workshop presenter

We invite you to submit your workshop proposal. The deadline to apply is Monday, February 19, 2024.

Apply now!

If you would like to submit your answers in a video format or another creative format, or if you’d like to preview the questions, a copy of the questions we ask on the form can be found on this Google Doc.

If you have questions about your proposal, please contact ableism-symposium@wrdsb.ca.

Successful presenters will be notified of acceptance by March 1, 2024. If your presentation is selected, a planning committee member will contact you with further details. We look forward to meeting with you to discuss your accommodation needs once your proposal is accepted.

Thank you for your interest!

Attending the symposium

If you are selected to be a presenter and would like to attend other sessions, you must register for the symposium. Presenters are responsible for their own travel arrangements. Economy ground travel expenses (mileage and accommodations) will be reimbursed.