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Syracuse University’s Best Buddies International chapter hosted Christine Ashby, a professor of inclusive special education and disability studies at SU, on Monday evening. Ashby discussed the evolution of language used to describe people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and evaluated strategies to build inclusivity and education accessibility.

Amid recent federal rollbacks of diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility initiatives under President Donald Trump, Ashby stressed the importance of “radical inclusion,” or actively pushing to meet the needs of people with disabilities.

“We’re not just going to say everybody’s welcome here. We’re going to make sure that our events are accessible. We’re going to make sure that we are inviting people to be a part of things,” Ashby, who serves as the director of SU’s Center on Disability and Inclusion, said. “We are going to ensure that every space we go into meets the widest range of people’s needs possible.”

Ashby said having a disability is an identity that people shouldn’t feel ashamed of and challenged the term “special needs,” calling it isolating. Similar language makes people with disabilities “others,” she said, creating a notion that people with disabilities should be treated differently.

This isolation carries over from language patterns to education systems, where students with disabilities are placed in “special education” programs instead of general classes with other students, she said. Ashby acknowledged that accommodations are needed at schools to incorporate students with disabilities, but said it shouldn’t separate or exclude some students from others.

“We have a general education system and a special education system with two different funding structures, two different certifications, different laws, different everything,” Ashby said. “We created a special place, and it reinforced this idea that disabled people’s needs are special. They’re not. They just need an education.”

Hannah Murphy, a junior biology and classics major and the vice president of SU’s Best Buddies chapter, said the group’s goal is to promote inclusivity at SU through friendship between all students. She said she hopes people who attend the organization’s events engage with each other and feel more involved after leaving.

In addition to helping students feel more welcome on campus, Murphy said Best Buddies also spreads awareness about inclusive language use and encourages students to be mindful about disability.

“In college, people can be a little bit reckless with their language and not understand that it has a real impact on people,” Murphy said. “I hope everybody who listened today understands that those words do have a history, and that they can be extremely hurtful to everyone who that history impacts.”

Stavros Ioannidis, a sophomore sports management major, said he wanted to hear Ashby speak so he can become a better advocate for the disabled community at SU. Ioannidis is a part of the university’s InclusiveU program, where students with intellectual and developmental disabilities can attend SU classes and experience inclusive college education.

After listening to Ashby, Ioannidis said people without disabilities have a responsibility to educate themselves and be an ally for disabled people. As a member of InclusiveU, he said SU is a prime example of how the disabled community can flourish when provided with the right resources.

“It’s important for everyone to learn about all this, because of how much of an impact we can make. We’re like everyone else,” Ioannidis said. “The only difference is that we just have more needs than most people.”

Ashby closed with a video presentation stressing the importance of perceptions created by language, highlighting that people’s assumptions about those with disabilities are often caused by negative, inaccurate terms and phrases.

She said that while using correct language is an important step toward changing public perception, the best way to promote inclusivity is by changing how society thinks about people with disabilities. Instead of identifying a person by their physical or physiological condition, Ashby encouraged students to look at people’s similarities.

“The things that people need to get through the day are not ‘special,’ they’re just needs,” Ashby said. “Why are certain needs considered special? What’s special about the things we need to just be human?”

Published on March 4, 2025 at 12:44 am

Contact Henry: hdaley@syr.edu