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Featured Talk
What happens when you have a disease doctors can’t diagnose (TED Talk by Jennifer Brea)
Jennifer Brea, director of Unrest, was a Harvard PhD student when she became ill with myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), part of a broader family of Infection-associated chronic conditions (IACC) that includes Long COVID, fibromyalgia, and POTS — illnesses that affect over half a million Canadians.
In her TED Talk, she offers a powerful glimpse into what it means to live with one of the most invisible disabilities. For many, severe illness can confine them to their homes or beds, absent from workplaces, schools, and public life, and therefore often unseen by society. She invites reflection on the human cost of this invisibility — the physical, emotional, and social impacts that define patients’ experiences of care. Her story invites us to reflect on how we can continue building a more inclusive learning and working environment, one that helps make the invisible visible in our classrooms, clinics, and research practices.
Workplace
UBC Accessibility Hub
Equity & Inclusion Office
A central entry point for accessibility at UBC. It connects students, faculty and staff with services and resources in place to advance accessibility and meet the needs of the disabled community. It includes:
- Accessible & Inclusive Event Planning
Checklist for planning accessible in-person, hybrid, and virtual events (spaces, captioning, sensory considerations, food).
Centre for Workplace Accessibility (CWA)
UBC Human Resources
Confidential, person-centred support for disability-related access at work—without requiring medical disclosure. The team helps with ergonomic assessments, assistive tech, captioning/ASL, accessible communication, and formal accommodation planning.
- Workplace Accommodation Fund
Supports disability-related accommodations for faculty and staff at UBC
Workplace Learning – Accessibility Stream
UBC Human Resources
Self-paced modules and live workshops on disability inclusion, accessible meetings, hybrid work, digital accessibility, and inclusive communication.
Duty to Accommodate – Employer Responsibilities
BC Office of the Human Rights Commissioner
Plain-language guidance on employer obligations under BC law, including what constitutes “undue hardship.”
Accessibility Toolkit for Documents, Slides, and Media
BCcampus Open Education
Step-by-step guidance for making Word, PDF, PowerPoint, images, and video accessible.
Education, Teaching & Learning
CTLT Accessibility Resources
Centre for Teaching, Learning and Technology (CTLT)
Comprehensive hub for accessible teaching and learning at UBC. Start here when designing a course.
Accessibility & Accommodation Courses and Guides
EIO
Curated learning for accessible teaching, and exams.
Universal Design for Learning Resources for Teaching & Learning
UBC UDL Hub
Comprehensive hub for Universal Design for Learning. It includes an Accessibility Corner which provides resources on accessibility in the context of teaching and material development.
Universal Design in Health Education
REDI
A short, FoM-specific introduction to Universal Design with examples for learning and working environments.
CAST UDL Guidelines
CAST
UDL evidence-based principles for flexible, accessible teaching and assessment.
Research
OPTIMISE Recommendations for Designing Inclusive Consent Processes
CONSULT & OPTIMISE Research Programme
Practical recommendations for making consent and recruitment processes inclusive for people with sensory, cognitive, communication, or energy-limiting disabilities. Includes strategies for plain language, flexible formats, timing adjustments, and supportive environments—so participation doesn’t depend on disclosure or extra effort.
From Intention to Impact: CIHR Anti-Ableism Action Plan
Canadian Institutes of Health Research
Centers disabled voices with 32 actionable commitments to remove systemic barriers in health research. Focuses on funding, research priorities, allocation processes, and organizational culture—aiming to make research environments accessible, equitable, and accountable
BC SUPPORT Unit – Inclusive Research & Patient Partnership
BC SUPPORT Unit
Training and tools for co-designing research with disabled community partners, compensating lived-experience contributors, and ensuring accessibility in ethics and recruitment.
Clinical Settings
Am I Ableist? Disability in Healthcare Education
Disabled Medical Residents & Advocates
Self-paced interactive learning exploring how ableism shows up in care interactions, documentation, professionalism norms, and training.
VCH Accessibility Resources
Vancouver Coastal Health
Publicly available programs supporting accessible care, communication, and navigation.
WHO Global Report on Health Equity for Persons with Disabilities
World Health Organization
Evidence-based recommendations to integrate disability inclusion into health systems and clinical education.
Lived Experiences & Disability Justice
Unrest
Documentary
A landmark documentary by Jennifer Brea, a Harvard PhD student who became suddenly ill with chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS). Through her own story and those of others around the world, the film reveals the physical, emotional, and social toll of the illness — and the medical neglect and underfunding that have long surrounded it. It’s both a powerful love story and a call to action for greater scientific understanding and recognition of invisible disabilities.
Crip Camp
Documentary & Educator Guide
Crip Camp is a powerful documentary that traces the modern disability rights movement from a radical summer camp for disabled youth in the 1970s to landmark federal civil rights legislation in the United States. Through archival footage and personal stories, the film shows how community, friendship, and political organising helped transform private struggles into a public movement for accessibility, dignity, and equal rights.
Wingspan Disability Arts, Culture & Public Pedagogy
UBC Research Excellence Cluster
Artists with disabilities use their creativity to educate the public about what it means to live with disability, challenging stigma and expanding how disability is understood beyond medical or academic frameworks. Their work makes visible the often-hidden realities of living with both visible and invisible disabilities, fostering empathy and deeper understanding that can strengthen patient care.
The Accessible Stall
Podcast
Frank, thoughtful conversations about disability culture, everyday experiences, and ableism. Hosted by disabled creators, it offers an honest, often humorous look at navigating the world while challenging assumptions and expanding how disability is understood.