STANFORD NEURODIVERSITY SUMMIT 2022

Day 3 Program and Speakers

Please note that times shown below are in Pacific Time Zone.

DAY 3 - Tuesday, October 25, 2022

Gyasi Burks-Abbott 

LEND Program Faculty

Boston Children's Hospital/UMass Boston Institute for Community Inclusion

Gyasi Burks-Abbott is a writer, public speaker, and autism self-advocate. In addition to serving on the boards, committees, and commissions of several autism and disability organizations, Gyasi is on the faculty of the LEND (Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities) Program at Boston Children’s Hospital and UMass Boston’s Institute for Community Inclusion. He graduated from Macalester College in St. Paul, MN with a BA in English and psychology, and he has an M.S. in Library and Information Science from Simmons University in Boston. Recently, Gyasi published a book about his life called My Mother’s Apprentice: An Autistic’s Rites of Passage. He lives in Bedford, Massachusetts.   

Abstract 

The making of an autism self-advocate. The journey from being deemed too disabled to be educated to being able to educate others about disability. The agency of a resourceful mother who helped along the way. Reflections on the intersectionality of disability and race. Lessons learned about effecting societal change.