AUCD Conference Word Cloud

February 1, 2019

From November 11 to 14, 2018, AUCD hosted its annual conference in Washington, DC, with the theme "We All Belong Here!" Conference attendees were invited to create their own buttons words and imagery of their choosing. Many used words that conveyed empowering messages that show the disability rights community is committed to achieving inclusive communities for all.

Words are powerful. People express and create meaning of their world through words. Maryland Center for Developmental Disabilities UCEDD high school trainee Danielle Kim and Director of Training Dr. Mirian Ofonedu took the words and phrases used on Conference attendee buttons and compiled them to form a word cloud, a visual representation of recurring words. This visual shows the disability rights community perspective that was present at the AUCD Conference. The result revealed a determined call for all to mean all and to disable the labels that disable.

Dr. Ofonedu and Ms. Kim shared their hope that this single, powerful image overlaid on AUCD's logo would be a reminder for us all to continue to create a space where we ALL belong together, to honor diversity, and to promote equity.