Bridging disability and Appalachia: UK grad student organizes 1st-of-its-kind symposium

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Sept. 20, 2024) — When Mack Thompson first arrived at the University of Kentucky, adjusting to campus life presented unique challenges. Like many first-year students, he faced the usual hurdles of navigating a new environment. And as a person living with multiple disabilities — including Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome and suspected ADHD and autism — those challenges were even more complex. His health and limited mobility often created barriers to connecting with fellow students and building a sense of community.

However, instead of withdrawing, Thompson sought out others with similar experiences. He became highly involved in interdisciplinary and cross-institutional discussions on disability. During his undergraduate years, he founded the Disabled and Ill Student Coalition at UK, initiating conversations with fellow students with disabilities and creating a support network. At the national level, he took part in co-founding the National Disabled Student Coalition (NDSC), composed of dozens of student organizations and nearly 400 students from 43 U.S. states.

As his passion for these issues deepened, Thompson recognized that these challenges (and the lack of conversations about them) extended beyond UK and college campuses, and particularly into Eastern Kentucky and Appalachia, where disabilities are more prominent due to workplace injuries, environmental health issues and poverty. This realization motivated Thompson to focus his education on addressing these disparities, and he graduated with bachelor’s degrees in anthropology and gender and women’s studies in 2023.

Now a second-year master’s student in the UK Department of Anthropology in the College of Arts and Sciences, Thompson is leading a new initiative: the first-ever Symposium on Dis/Ability & Debility in Appalachia, to be hosted at UK on Sept. 28. For the past year, he has worked with partners across campus to organize this event, which will bring together scholars, advocates and people who are passionate about Appalachia and disability studies. The symposium aims to dismantle longstanding narratives and foster collaborative conversations and solutions for disabled individuals in Appalachia.

Ahead of the upcoming event, UKNow caught up with Thompson to learn more about his UK experience and what drives him to organize space for these important conversations.

UKNow: Tell me a bit about yourself — what brought you to UK?

Thompson: I was born and raised in Lexington, though I have a lot of family in Eastern Kentucky. I came to UK as an anthropology major. I had an interest in being a traditional anthropologist and going abroad. But as my disability and health started impacting me more, I instead began researching disability and connecting with the local disability community. Most of my connections on the ground were from rural Kentucky, especially Eastern Kentucky, and many were struggling to make or access resources, and then the research spiral began from there. I discovered there’s a lot here that needs to be talked about.

UKNow: What all did you learn through this research and personal conversations?

Thompson: Eastern Kentucky and Appalachia are often referred to as “The Disability Belt” because there are so many people there who identify as having a disability. But most disability studies are focused on urban centers, like Lexington and Louisville. I decided to start an oral history project about disability in Kentucky, and the more I talked to people, the more I began to understand the bigger picture and the need for more research and conversations. Disability studies and Appalachian studies have so much connection, but they haven’t connected nearly enough. I just want to make sure we’re getting the whole picture and supporting those who are most impacted.

I’m hoping the upcoming symposium will bring together experts, activists and different people who are passionate about disability in Appalachia, especially Eastern Kentucky.

UKNow: Can you tell us more about the oral history project you started?

Thompson: In 2022, I was accepted into the AppalachiaCorps program, and my project idea was to work with the Louie B. Nunn Center and interview around 30 people with disabilities in Kentucky, especially Eastern Kentuckians. I wanted to make sure that these stories and personal experiences were in the historical record. There was a wide range of people I talked to, including Kentucky’s former ADA coordinator, and a psychologist from Eastern Kentucky who helped organize the Capitol Crawl to demand the ADA. These are stories that aren’t considered when people think of Kentucky history, or when people think about disability history. They’re always treated as two separate things. And I just really wanted to challenge that. We now have this context to understand and better navigate current systems.

UKNow: What makes UK the best place to host the first-ever symposium on these two intersecting topics?

Thompson: UK is an institution that, even though it’s technically not in the Appalachian region, has long been crucial in the foundation and continuation of Appalachian studies from its inception as an academic movement. In terms of disability studies, I think what stands out at UK is our medical research in disabilities and our programs, such as special education and rehabilitation.

UK is the perfect place to bridge these conversations and bring people together to talk about this — people like me and others who are disabled self-advocates — and connect them with others to expand on our understandings of where others are at, what they need and encourage them to listen to interdisciplinary voices.

UKNow: Who all will be attending the symposium?

It’s for everyone. It is open to anyone that is interested in the topic, and we’re doing our best to make it so that it’s accessible to many different positionalities. We are having these conversations so that anyone in the community that is interested or passionate about them can plug in and understand what is being discussed, especially people who may not have as much experience with the academic side of things, but are actively doing advocacy or interested in getting involved.

UKNow: What’s next for you?

Thompson: I’ve been looking at nonprofits, NGOs or even governmental work — improving access, especially in Kentucky and Appalachia, through accessibility guidelines and connecting people to resources. I’m also considering my Ph.D., that was my original plan. I want to do research that is actively helping people; talk to people, understand their needs and then apply their needs.

As an anthropologist, I am hoping to use my cultural brokerage skills to connect and bridge conversations between researchers, self-advocates, medical practitioners, careworkers, disability service providers and more.

UKNow: If there’s one message you hope people take away from your work, what would it be?

Thompson: I want people to know that having a disability doesn’t mean that you’re less of a human with needs and thoughts. I want people to know that being unable to do something isn’t necessarily a bad thing or something that should be stigmatized. Just listen to people with disabilities around you, don’t write them off. We have unique knowledges and experiences because of our disabilities that can teach you a lot. Learn from people that might be different from you, or have different experiences or needs, and just hear about one another.

****

The Symposium on Dis/Ability & Debility in Appalachia will take place Sept. 28, at the Healthy Kentucky Research Building on UK’s campus, and virtually. The event is sponsored by the Appalachian Center and Appalachian Studies program, the Department of Anthropology, the Disability Resource Center, the Human Development Institute, the Center for Health Equity Transformation and the Office of LGBTQ* Resources.

Learn more at https://appalachiancenter.as.uky.edu/symposium-disability-debility-appalachia.