The Evolution of Resistance
May 7 at 5:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Contrary to societal narratives, those who are marginalized have persevered and thrived as a result of learning to adapt audaciously to outside forces, openly opposing the breakdown of their unique cultures, continuously championing their spaces in society, and reaffirming their resilience and dignity in the face of complex challenges.
Today, in unprecedented ways, marginalized populations—including those who are disabled, immigrants, older adults, ethnically diverse and Queer—are being directly affected by societal norms and institutional frameworks grounded in the belief that some people are inherently superior to others and therefore deserve more rights and privileges.
From deficit-based research to engineered exclusion in societal systems such as education, health care, criminal justice and digital information, awareness of and resistance to the status quo are rising and gathering the winds of change. Around the world, the fight for democracy has become intertwined with the struggle for individual rights, civil rights, human rights and justice.
In this talk, Dr. TC Waisman traces the evolution of her unintended journey into activism and resistance as a late-diagnosed autistic, Black, Indigenous Oceania, South Asian, non-binary, multiply disabled person. Dr. Waisman shares stories from her Indigenous Fijian culture, from her childhood in the 1970s and her upbringing in Canada, so that others might see their own journeys of resistance through a decolonized, inclusive, and anti-normative lens.
Biography: Dr. TC Waisman
EdD Leadership, Policy, & Governance, MA Leadership & Training
Dr. Waisman is an Indigenous Oceania, South Asian non-binary person who was late-diagnosed as autistic at 48 years old in 2017. Since her diagnosis, TC co-founded the Autistic Researchers Committee at the International Society for Autism Research (INSAR); developed the Autism Training Academy offering online training about autism and neurodivergence, and became a founding editorial board member of the only scientific journal focused on Autistic adults: Autism in Adulthood.
Dr. Waisman was a member of a Review Board for the Autism Intervention Network on Physical Health (AIR-P), where she was tasked with reviewing grant applications worth millions of dollars to ensure research conducted through AIR-P ultimately aimed to improve the health and well-being of Autistic people as defined by them. TC is on the advisory council for the Sensodyne Sensory Inclusion Initiative, which launched worldwide in 2024, and she was the team lead in Unity Technologies’ Global Initiative to create a full-scale framework for accessibility for the world’s leading platform in gaming and interactive experiences. Based in Vancouver, Canada, Dr. Waisman lectures and trains at the crossroads of autism, neurodivergence, intersectionality, participatory research, disability justice, and culturally informed design in education, the workplace, and the world.
Links: www.adaptcoach.com | www.autismtraining.academy
Publications: adaptcoach.com/publications/
This is a UBCO STREAM (Science, Technology, Research, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) Event. STREAM is a multi-pronged initiative, aiming to enhance the appreciation of impactful equity-based and historically, persistently, and systemically marginalized (HPSM)-produced scholarly work at UBCO and beyond. STREAM’s overarching philosophy is to demonstrate to students, staff, and faculty that there is much to learn from marginalized voices in scholarly research.
