Women with Disabilities Initiative Project Description:
The goal of the WIND Women with Disabilities Initiative (WDI) is to facilitate the professional development of students and professionals in working with, representing, and researching issues that women with disabilities encounter. This is accomplished through activities including conducting original research, developing community display boards, and hosting local and regional workshops, and other emerging activities. WDI currently offers two infusion units. The first is Women with Disabilities and Domestic Violence. This hour long presentation is available to the faculty and staff and has been well received across campus as well as within the Laramie community. In particular, this information has been useful to the local stop violence non-profit organizations and has been implemented within their training curriculum.  The other is Women with Disabilities and Sexuality. UW is also offering a course on Women with Disabilities this spring. Anyone interested in having these Infusion Units presented in class, trainings or other events, is encouraged to contact:

Melissa Derbish
MEichen@uwyo.edu  (307)766-5003

or

Sandy Root-Elledge
sre@uwyo.edu  (307) 766-2764

WDI past activities included a film series which was shown during the 2002-2003 academic year. This was created to raise discussion around women with disabilities and their unique experiences.
The WDI, in March 2005, presented a workshop and a panel discussion at the Sheppard Symposium for Social Justice.  March is Women's History Month and Disability Awareness Month, in order to bring the two areas together. Laura Hershey, a writer, poet and activist, from Denver, CO came to Laramie and hosted a workshop and a panel discussion. The workshop, Disability and Justice: ‘We're All in this Together’, addressed many issues that women with disabilities face including media portrayals, activism and stereotypes. The panel was entitled ‘Seeing the Invisible Woman’: Experiences of Women with Disabilities. Each woman discussed the unique experiences that she has had and how her specific disability/disabilities have shaped those experiences, as well as challenges they have encountered with health, invisibility, independence, and intimate relationships. These events were well attended and enlightened many community members, students and University faculty and staff about issues specific to women with disabilities.