Category: Gabrielle Kelly

I’m very sad to have left Ireland, but I also couldn’t be more satisfied with the four weeks we had! For our last section of the conference, we heard from  great panelists and learned lots from their presentations. From the presentations, the two that stuck out to me the most were from Rebecca Cokley and Helena Corello.

Rebecca spoke about how disability was represented in the last election. She said how this was the most accessible election with early and same day voting as well as that it was the first time disability was a topic in a political debate. This is something I had never even thought about with elections being or not being accessible. She also talked about how leaders should be held accountable for laws passed that hurt the disability community, for example forced abortions and Canada’s DNR’s for PWD. I loved her presentation because you could feel the energy in the room perk up, she was so passionate about what she was talking about which was truly inspiring and was a big takeaway for me from this trip. Helena was a woman from Ukraine who talked about institutionalization in her home country. She spoke about how children with disabilities were not taken in account during the chais in Ukraine which led to mass institutionalization. She showed a video of an institution filled with children to a point that they were in their beds all day, did not move, and were not cared for because they didn’t have the resources. I think this was something really eye opening to me as we hear in the news about Ukraine all the time but not once did I ever hear or think about what’s happening to PWD in Ukraine. It was one of those things that once you saw it you immediately wanted to help.

Overall, I am so grateful for the experiences that I had in Ireland as well as the information I gained about disability not just in Ireland but all over the world. I hope to take these experiences and work them into my profession to further become an advocate for PWD. It was bittersweet saying goodbye to Ireland, but I am so happy to share my experiences with friends and family and spread what I have learned from this trip.

This week, we started attending the NUI Disability Summer School Conference. Ive heard a lot of really interesting presentations from so many speakers!

The first day, we heard from 6 panelists each discussing either climate, conflict, or health in a disability category. Some of the ones that really caught my attention were the discussions on refugee camp disability rights and the covid health crisis of PWD. The refugee camp topic was something that I have never really though of before. The panelist presented how refugee camps are severely inaccessible with long walking distances, unaffordable transportation, no sign language, etc. In RHS 300, we had a discussion about refugee camps where I really felt like I gained a better understanding of the reality of refugee camps, to put it in the perspective of a person with a disability was even more enlightening. For the Covid-19 disability crisis, the speaker provided a lot of interesting statistics about the effects of covid on PWD. They shared that those with learning disabilities have six times the mortality rate of those without, also that in Ireland 56% of nursing home deaths were PWD. It really showed how PWD were less informed about covid protocol  and how to protect themselves.

On the second day, my favorite discussions were about Body Autonomy and Women with Disability. The body autonomy presenter was from India, she had started by discussing what body autonomy is and if we all knew who Britney Spears was. She spoke about Britney’s guardianship and how she didn’t have the rights to her own decisions. She made a point to say that we all may be thinking how could she be relating to American pop-star Britney Spears. Well, she talked about how she as a PWD and member of the LGBTQ+ community is also experiencing human rights violations. She explained the importance of identity celebration and how the government should support instead of discriminate. Then, the Women with Disability presentation spoke about how there is an increase in gender based violence. Specifically, 94% of women with disabilities experience more violence. They then spoke about the importance 0f advocating and understanding that PWD have their own ideas about disability.

Overall, I have learned a lot more about disability and the current state of disability within the government, healthcare, etc. and I cant wait to hear from the rest of the panelists!

We’re in Galway! Definitely going to miss Dublin but Galway is such a pretty place! Yesterday we took a bus to to the Cliffs of Moher which was such a cool place, we hiked to the top and the view was incredible. Also on our tour, we stopped at a little convience store and it was actually in the area where Obama’s family is from. I thought that was so cool! I would have never known he had family from Ireland, of course we had to take some pictures with the Obama’s cardboard cut out before we left. We got to NUI and the campus and rooms are really nice, however it was very hard to get myself to unpack again. It was a really nice day so we all went out to dinner and walked around the downtown area. There’s a lot of really cool older looking buildings and restaurants. We went to a pub that one of the researchers recommended and it was really nice, it had live music and was in a super cool building. So far I really like Galway and I cant wait to explore more for the rest of the week!

On Monday, we start the Disability Summer School conference. I’m really excited to see the speakers and what they’re researching. This years topic is on climate change which I think should be really interesting. Overall, Galway has been great so far and I cant wait to find more cool places. I cant believe we only have one more week but we’re going to make the most of it!

     

 

 

 

Officially halfway through our trip! For the past few days I’ve been working on my epilepsy presentation. I feel like epilepsy is a disability that is very underrepresented in the world and its been really interesting to dive deeper into the resources, lifestyles and limitations of people with epilepsy in both Ireland and the US. I think a big part of this trip is being able to recognize limitations within the places we are going and the accommodation made, with epilepsy there aren’t many that are needed because people with epilepsy are functioning but I still have found lots of information on what is needed to provide inclusion.

A few days ago, a few of us had gone to a really pretty cafe called Bewleys for breakfast and it was amazing! One of my goals this trip was to get a full Irish breakfast, I can not say I was disappointed. Afterwards we did some shopping and I got some gifts for my friends and family! I actually found this really cool blanket with the Kelly family crest on it so of course I had to buy it! Other than that I’ve really just been trying to work on my wellness and allowing for myself to recharge, I feel like we’re at a point where we are all working on our projects and a little more tired than usual. I’m still having a great time though and we’re still exploring! Tonight we are going to a traditional Irish dinner and show and I am so excited! I’m very sad to be leaving Dublin next week, but I’m so excited to go see Galway, Ive heard great things!

I don’t know if its just me but these have been the fastest two weeks of my life. For the end of this week, I definitely took some much needed time for myself to be productive and recharge. However, we did go to UCD’s Centre for Disability Studies on  Thursday! We spoke with two of the researchers and they presented information to us about what they do in the centre as well as the recent projects they’ve worked on. They talked a lot about epilepsy as well as the idea of math anxiety, I’ve never really learned much about these topics before and it was really interesting to hear how they dove deep into the roots of these ideas and made so many findings. I think this trip has made me realize how interested I am in research of disability, I absolutely loved listening to all of of the researches that we have talked to in the past two weeks about what they are working on and the new information they’ve gathered to make new approaches of disability topics.

On Friday, I went to a cafe and worked on my presentation, interestingly enough my topic is epilepsy! After hearing the information at UCD it allowed me to find so many resources about epilepsy in Ireland. That night, a couple of us had gone out and we met Zai, the most famous dog in Dublin! I took lots of pictures with him because obviously he is a celebrity🤩. Its been a great week and I cant wait for the rest of our adventures!

We’ve been here for a week and its only felt like a day! The rest of this week has been so exciting! First, in honor of pride month, we went to the Outhouse which is a LGBTQ+ resource centre. We spoke about what they do to support the community as well as the history of being queer in Ireland. I would say that it is very similar to America where being part of the LGBTQ+ community was criminalized harshly and unaccepted by the majority of people. In the centre, they recreated a gay club from the 80’s called Flikkers, it was so cool! They had pictures and records and decorations that all showed how this club made people who were part of this community feel that they could truly be themselves although others were so cruel. After our tour, they actually had a cafe where we all sat down and had coffee and some traditional Irish sausage rolls, sooo good!

Next, we went to the Deaf Village and spoke to our guide about their centre and the resources they have. She talked about their accommodations they have in the building including wider hallways and staircases to allow for signing space for people to communicate through ISL. She said something really touching as well that I don’t think a lot of people realize, she said that being deaf is not a disability but a language barrier. People who are deaf are able to live quality lives but they simply speak another language! This was really eye opening to me and I think its really important for people to not think of disability as a ruined or painful life but just a life with a different routine.

To end the week, we went to the Ireland Women’s Cricket Game against South Africa. Honestly, I had no idea what was going on most of the time but it was really entertaining to watch! Maybe I’ll train with Ireland and join the Penn State club cricket team😳. Overall, this was such a fun week and I really enjoyed going to all of these different places and experiences!

Its our first week in Ireland, yay! Although I did cry when I said goodbye to my cat, I’m so glad we’re finally here! The flight out of Philly was good but I did not adjust well to the time change at first, five hours ahead is a lot! Our first official day we walked around the town and found lots of cool older buildings and the campus is so pretty! Our rooms are essentially apartments with our own rooms and a big living area and kitchen, and the views are all so nice from our windows.

For our first site visits, we went to see the Book of Kells and the Irish Emigration Museum. It was so cool to really get insight on Irish culture and to see the historical side of Ireland. Today, we went to Fighting Blindness which is a research facility for curing and prevention of visual impairments. Being able to talk to the researchers really allowed for a better understanding of visual impairments as a whole including numbers of individuals who experience this, how the process of gene therapy works and what Fighting Blindness is doing to prevent this. We talked a lot about how Dublin specifically could allow for more accessibility for people with visual impairments which also made us think about what the US could improve as well.

Overall, this has been a great first few days and I am really enjoying diving deeper into Irish culture and disability within the culture!