Thesis Projects

The DST 99 AB Applied Community Project/Thesis is a "capstone" course of the Disability Studies program. It is a two semester course providing students with the opportunity to engage in focused scholarly and project work from a disability studies perspective. The orienting question revolves around how social environments and structures shape the experience of people with disabilities.

2020

Juliann Allison: Do disability and Indigeneity come together? Searching for oral history accounts
Ghofran Alyass: Rethinking disability disclosure within post-secondary institutions: Searching for stories that institutions tell
Carl Andrews: Fathering a disabled child: The lived experience of fathers who care for and raise their disabled children
Kristie Bath: Normalcy, exclusion and teaching otherwise: What can we learn from the National Film Board of Canada?
Anna Bauer-Ross: Cripping fashion on Instagram
Sarah Brillinger: Everywhere and nowhere: Educational assistants, disabled students and schooling: An ethnographic study
Lyndsey Bryson: Disabled joy is an act of resistance
Lynda Callahan: Marginalized/marginalizing communities in the COVID 19 crisis: Did/how did a local government respond?
Amanda Chalmers: Living the contradictions of peer labor: An auto-ethnography
Rebecca Churly: Food insecurity in disabled communities: An interdisciplinary inquiry
Kirsten Dixon: Accessibility legislation in the archives: Listening to David Lepofsky
Leona Ernst: Querying peer labor in mental health services: Writing fictional letters to my boss
Amy Evans: Accessibility: Mapping a shrinking world
Kalie Gibson: The missing piece: Teaching disability to children in the general curriculum: What stories will we tell?
Adam Gluszczyk: Representations of Indigenous people and disabled people: Can Hollywood critique itself?
Christine Goodwin: Advocacy through personal expression: Disabled voices on TikTok and Instagram
Heather Hermans: Individuals with developmental disability, victimization, self-advocacy and voice
Jeanette Korosi: Mental health “talk” on campus: An ethnography of university/college management strategies
Valerie Krick: Unpacking “post-partum depression” – Discovering discursive formations using Google as an archive
Danielle McLean: Challenging the DSM-5 – Indigenous and global perspectives
Danica McPhee: Fight or flight? Disappearing cities and disabled futures
Hedy Ng: My year of living COVID-ly: A critical novel
Anjah Ollivierre: Regis, Michael and Ian: Reading newspaper accounts of police encounters with Black people experiencing mental distress.
Vincent Rankin: Inclusive education as a debate: Dissenting voices in the news
Melissa Rideout: Community organizing in/against austerity: Following street nurse Cathy Crowe in the long fight against homelessness
Sarah Santry: What’s in a name? A historical analysis of re/framing disability by a national community organization
Nishanthi Sathasivam: Autoethnography of an educational assistant: An international journey
Amy Scriver: Recreation and leisure programming: Is inclusion possible for disabled people in virtual space?
Ela van Sertima: “Happy campers?” Tracing disability discourses through camping websites
Brooke Sheldrick: Who’s hungry? Following the movement of food in the lives of students and the routines of a special education program
Tiffany-Anne Stones: Unmasking the truth: The material culture of disability in a pandemic
Ashley Stroud: Normalizing the “unknown”: A group home worker’s standpoint on the effects of COVID-19 within the workplace
Amanda Temolder: Disabled athletes in the public eye: Representations, misrepresentations and other acts of power
Renee Trepanier: Redefining participation in occupational therapy: A disability studies perspective

2018

Najmah Abdalla & Abigail Buist: Tracing inclusive education
Mary Ellen Burrell, Michaela Duguay, Ambre Kostyria: Play and leisure
Nicole Castle, Marian Lara, Amy Morden & Maria Tersea Larrian: Narrative and the arts
Jasmin Deen & Kristina Kelley-Walsh: Cripping sex education
Dimple Gandhi, Keisha Smith & Kesha Wright: Family entanglements and support
Alejandra Hernandez, Naleni Jacob & Kyle Kostyria: Care and communities
Meghan Hogg, Amanda Lin, Tracey Matte & Samantha Murray-Doyle: Relations of policy & practice
Tonika Jardine-Laborde, Rupinder Kandola, Emily Marino & Sabrina Rai: Interrogating the front lines
Ryan McInally & Trevor Smith: Locating access
Ronnie Samarita, Nabeela Siddique & Andrea Tropea: Disabling schools

2017

Lee Armstrong: Searching for hospital “accessibility”: An insider ethnography
Ann Beatty: The opioid epidemic as temporal eclipse
Thalia Bullen-Rutherford: So you’re finished high school, now what? A narrative inquiry of uncertain futures
Leanne Cornell: Chasing Fit: An altered story of the Fitbit
Ernest Drako: Breaking the Silence: Intimate conversations about disability in the Ghanian community of Toronto
Francis Pineda: Missing in action? Are student unions accessible to disabled students?
Habiba Rahman: Muslim women and career interruption: Narratives of post-migration distress
Stephanie Stojanov: Dance in disability arts – a critical discourse analysis of politics and practice

2016

Ackerman, Amanda: Incompletely Secure
Alhambra, Nina: Transitioning from disability studies to work: Discomforts that come with new learning
Atkin, Bev: Mental health and inclusive policing: Are we Listening to everyone?
Baker, Megan: The long and winding Road: The journey from high School to paid employment for young adults with Intellectual disabilities
Beckett-Woodrow, Amy: Creating disabled students: Barriers in the pathway to Graduation
Belanger, Samantha: Disability and sexuality: Exploring the barriers
Bieg, Lee-Anne: Reading between the lines: A critical comparison of Personal stories and service documents pertaining to Acquired Brain Injury
Boyce, Nicole: Madness: Changing the Stigma
Brown, Alisha: Portraits of inclusive education: What inclusive education Looks like in practice
Dasilva, Elizabeth: “Stuck in the middle”: Stories of advocate mothers with children with disabilities
Doberstein, Jessica: Quilting Identity: Out of the Box
Dolby, Verna: Guess who’s moving in? How our family became whole
Edwards-Ragguette, Netisha: Exploring cultural dissonance: The formation of Subjectivity, Culture and linguistic minority of deaf Individuals
Einoff, Tara: “Community” treatment as a discourse: A critical Discourse Analysis of the Rhetoric of Community Treatment Orders
Ercole, Chelsea: Intersecting disability and sexuality: Is there a space for meaningful relationships in group homes?
Garrod, Lisa: What’s up with Hollywood? Friends, family and Colleagues analyze filmic representations of Disability
Granby, Elizabeth: Learning to listen: A sibling conversation about Meaningful days
Kalkan, Aysegul: “Behave yourself!” Unpacking constructions of Physical disability in the experience of air travel
Kent, Deneshia: Disability awareness & access-ability in God’s House
Korkush, Mary-Teresa: Stuff revealed: What do possessions of importance Tell us about people with developmental Disabilities?
Lee-Jones, Carolyn: Walking with strangers: Mapping experiences of madness and space
McPhail, Tarra: Mothering for schooling disabled children: What Undergraduate research in Disability Studies reveals about Lived experience
Meehan, Nicole: Breaking free: Exploring the aesthetics of Madness Through dance
Mesquita, Heather-Ann: Organizing Educational Assistants for systemic change: An Activist community project
Park, Jessica: Disability: The new black
Poudrier, Erin: Precarious Terrain: Narratives of American Sign Language Interpreters
Punja, Aleem: Journeying with learning disability: My year of living Reflectively
Saccardo, Cheryl: Where Can I Play? The Making of an Accessible Playground
Salmon, Shenique: Teach me disability awareness: A teaching manual for Parents and teachers
Smith, Kelly: On My Mother’s Couch
Vincent, Erin: A Hairy Situation: A link Between hair and Disability Oppression
Walker, Brandon: Autism and accessibility: Public misconceptions and Refusals
Watson, Fiona: Do (Disabled) Black Lives Matter? Analyzing Accounts of Race and disability in the Toronto Star and Jamaican Newspaper

2015

Bailey, Neesha: To Serve And Protect: Training provided to law Enforcement Officers to handle encounter with Individuals with mental health
Brown, Michelle: Wearing Two Hats: Exploring the tensions Between student and worker roles
Burston, Emma J.: Coffee, for here: A short storied critical perspective on Living assisted
Eje, Catherine: Ethnographic Study of the experiences of individuals with a developmental disability in educational acquisition in Nigeria
Ghobrial, Rania: On the Carousel: Exploring The Relationship Between Disability And Criminality
Henry, Kade-Ann: Stop, Look & Listen: The Black Community, the Deaf Community and the Equitable Access to Inclusive Education
Klazinga, Kristina: When is Geoff Moving in? Stories from the Lives of Live-In Support Workers
Krawcow, Emilia: Who am I? Silenced voices of Immigrant families raising children with disabilities
Martin, Elizabeth: The Social Model of Disability and Finding My Voice
Master-McRae, Paris: “I AM RUNNING FOR _________” Charity, Rights, Big Business
Mead, Lorien: Being in the Firing Line: The chronicles of Employed Canadians who acquire a disability
Mugisha, Nelson: Understanding Ugandan Disability Terrain and the Role of Media
Poku, Prince: Keeping the Ring: Married Couples’ Experience Raising a Child with a Disability & their Perspective on Marriage, Divorce, & Strategies
Scott, Jennifer Ann: Communicating about Sexuality: Augmentative and Alternative Communication Users’ Experiences with Sexuality disruption
Sharpe, Lafane: My Hair is Enough! - Navigating Beauty and Wellness in Disability
Sobharam, Natasha: Women in the Caribbean: Stories of Disablement
Stanley, Michael: Poverty, Policy & Practice: An institutional Ethnography of ODSP Employment Supports
Steele, Barbara: Exploring Female Literary Madness Writer's Creation with Film Interpretations
Stewart, Megan: Fashion and Vibrators: Creating Community at the Rose Centre for Love, Sex and Disability

2014

Ahee, Nadia: How We See It: Narratives from above the Big E
Alucema, Flavia: Invisible Workers: A Documentary Study of the Representation of Educational Assistants
Beausoleil, Simone: A Stalking Narrative: The Discovery of Accessibility in My Community
Branch-Spadaro, Carolynne: “Who’s going to cut your toenails?” Questioning Client-Centered Practice in Occupational Therapy
Clair, Thomas: Tangled Identities and Contested Citizenship: Relational Spaces of Struggles on the Periphery of an Ancient Homeland
Copeland, Margaret: Sitting with my Grandmother’s Psychiatric Records: Sorting through Intergenerational Trauma
Dell’Unto, Jessica: Biting the Hand that Feeds: Navigating a Medical World through the Social Model
Diaz, Liliana: Listen: Mothers are Talking
Fabrychnova, Natalia: Plenty of Fish? Disability and Online Dating
Franklin, Kendall: Drop-In Made Accessible Through Redesign
Gilchrist, Barbara: The Customer Service Standard - It’s The Law: How Are We Doing?
Jackson, Kevin: Even in Death, How Total is a Total Institution?
Little, Alex: Finding Your Wings of Independence: Out in the Field of Orientation and Mobility
Lok, Annie: East Asian Immigrants’ View of Disability
Manalac, Jennifer A. P.: Living the Caregiver's Life
Pacey, Sarah: Families Learning Through Advocating for Their Disabled Children
Patterson, Joanne: In the Place of Trees, in the Paradise of the Imperfect: Entwining Deaf Lives Past and Present
Picklyk, Cherish: It’s a Revolution, I suppose: Tracing the Movement of Disability Arts
Rickards, Laura: Talking to Black Women about Depression
Scourfield-Thomas, Olivia: Is There a Home for Me? Exploring the Housing Crisis in Ontario
Siegel, Stephanie: Any Excuse to Talk about Comics: An Exploration of the Portrayal of Disability in Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Comic Books
Simmons, Stacey: What I Really Want to Say Is… Who the Hell is Listening?
Smeets-Ruml, Patricia: Santiago de Queretaro: Deconstructing Disability through Advocacy and Social Change in Mexico
Stokes, Anna: So Close and Yet, So Far: An (Auto)biographical account of reconnection
Teves, Sandra: Divided We Stand
Vert, Sheena: Disappearing Act? The Invisible Work of Sign Language Interpreters
Wilson, Jennifer Marie Elyse: AODA Compliance: A Narrative Inquiry into the Stories Behind Organizational Implementation

2013

Allsop, Benjamin: All Grown Up and Still Scared: Fear from Within. A study on the effects of learning disability labels
Andrews, Myfanwy: Policy, Helpful or Hurtful: How Administrative Funding Policies Hinder the Care Staff is able to Provide
Bosse, Katie: Out with the old; In with the New: A Community Workshop on Universal Design
Bradshaw, Mary Ann: The importance of coalitions: A qualitative study on the effects of coalitions on the safeguarding of social justice
Burnie, Velvet: “Far from the Tree of Identity”
Chambers, Stephanie: Supporting Self-Determination: The Group Home Worker’s Experience
Dawkins, Aniel: What does it take to be a swinger? ‘Unpacking’ Disability in Swingers’ Clubs
Demacio, Lisa: Stigma, Speeding Tickets and the State - To the Archive and Beyond: Searching for the Chosen
Dial, Lisa: East Indian Families and Long-term Care Homes (Cultural Beliefs vs. Present Reality)
Elsadr, Sally: The Deepening Effects of Social Inequalities in the Workplace: A Career Based on Volunteer Work
Figliomeni, Carmela: Using Critical Discourse Analysis to explore “Inclusive Education” in Ontario
Florence, Rosemary: Opening Doors and Minds: A Critical Ethnography of Environmental Barriers that Shape a Student’s Experiences within Community and Agency Schools
Grieve, Katie: Social Model Stories: Writing and Reviewing Children’s Literature
Hishon, Kate: How Just One Teacher Can Change a Life: Creating enabling environments for students with learning disabilities
Hooker, Candace: Seeking Sexuality: The Missing Link in Inclusive Education
Hurst, Lisa: Looking Towards the Future: Siblings’ Experiences with Disability and Future Caregiving Expectations
Izzo, Teresa: “A Day in the Life”: An Ethnographic and Arts Informed Inquiry of L’Arche Ottawa and Mutuality from Sunrise to Sunset
Jensen, Ulrik: All Aboard! Exploring the Issue of Parental and Self-Advocate Involvement on a Board of Directors
Kanth, Sundip: Real Inclusion: Incorporating Disabilities Studies into the Ontario Curriculum
Karachalios, Vikie: Disability and the Greek Community
Kelly, Taryn: Disability and Travel: The World is Your Oyster OR Is It?
Khan, Farkhanda: Exploring Friendship among Adolescents with Invisible Disabilities
Lajoie, Danielle: Individualized for Whom? An Exploration of Individualized Funding Models of Support
MacDonald, KayDee: Walking through a transition: A family's struggle and triumphs through Cameron’s transition
Obasi, Veronica: From Local to Global
Osei, Margaret: “Shoes and Footwear”: A Narrative Inquiry of Disabled and Non-Disabled People
Osoria, Ese: Increased Choice-making for Adults with Developmental Disabilities in Group Homes
Perveen, Nusrat: Where East Meets West, Finding the Truth, Filling the Gaps: Stories of Asian Mothers of Children Labeled with Disabilities
Ridolfo, Katherine: “Unheard and Silenced Voices”: An Ethnographic study exploring the end of life care and decision-making process as it applies to individuals with a developmental disability
Sciba, Rhea: Proud to be Me: Disability, Impairment and Identity
Teppo, Stephanie: Bitchy, Whiny, Lazy and Hysterical: Why is a Diagnosis Needed to Legitimize a Woman’s Experience of Chronic Pain?
Warne, Tracy: A Lot Like Ashley: Why Representations of Disability (Still) Matter
Watkins, Kristin: Playing on Equal Ground: Can we Create Inclusion that the World Can See?

2012

Ang, Steven: Not Lost in Cyberspace: Stories of Blind and Partially Sighted Computer Users
Beaudion, Margaret: “It’s all About the Fishing”: Disability, Place and Learning from the Story of my Life
Belanger, Danielle: Geography and Movement from the Experience of Individuals with Disabilities at Health Sciences North
Bradshaw, Mary Ann: The importance of Coalitions: A Study on the effects of Coalitions on Safeguarding Social Justice
Chen, Xiufang: Where is My Family? Familial Relationships of People Living with Brain Injuries
Cooper, Andrew: “It’s a good time to be in a chair”: A narrative inquiry exploration of the sports experiences of disabled athletes
Gallant, Liana: “Do you hear what I hear?” Differing voices of the social and medical models of disability
Hiruta, Kaori: Personal is Societal: An Autoethnography of a Journey toward Adoption
Hogan, Jessica: Tenderhearted Bravery: An Autoethnographic Adventure of the Self in “Special Education”
Ho, Winny: East Meets West - The Journeys of Chinese Immigrant Parents of Children with Disabilities through social service
Lyttle, Kemisha: Building Walls from the Inside Out: An Ethnographic Inquiry
McCauley-Philion, Brigitte: “Thanks a Latte”: Is Communication in a Coffee Shop Such a Tall Order?
Pol, Neeta: “I Feel Like a Puppet!” An Institutional Ethnographic Study of the Work of Educational Assistants
Ryan, Catherine: Moving In and Out of Group Homes: An institutional ethnographic study of institutional practices in the community
Schmitz, Pixie: “Just Because I Have Gray Hair Doesn’t Mean I’m Deaf!” Exploring the ways in which age and preconceptions of age disable people
Sharp, Helen: “How did we get from there to here?” An oral history investigation into how the social movement of people who are deafblind influenced contemporary intervenor services
Toteda, Christina: Don’t Fix Me, I’m not Broken: Discovering disabling relations in inclusion policies from the standpoint of educators and families
Umutangana, Gloria: “Why Are You Shouting?” The experiences of blind and visually impaired federal government employees in a virtual working environment