Nora Talks Panelist Presentations: Gaelynn Lea

At this year’s Training Camp, The Nora Project welcomed a panel of esteemed individuals with disabilities  to share their thoughts and perspectives about what inclusion should look like in schools. Each panelist provided a presentation with their own personal story, and later came together for a discussion facilitated by Torrie Dunlap of Kids Included Together. On the blog this month, we’ll be highlighting each of these presentations.

Our final Nora Talks presentation comes from award winning singer/songwriter and activist, Gaelynn Lea. Gaelynn was the winner of the 2016 NPR Tiny Desk Contest, and since then began touring full time. Gaelynn has made a commitment to only performing in accessible spaces, which sends a clear message to venues about the importance of meeting the needs of all performers and audience members. Gaelynn is also a public speaker, and has presented two TEDx Talks, both in 2017. The first was for TEDxYale, titled “Sexuality and Disability: Forging Identity in a World that Leaves You Out” and later for TEDxGullLake, titled “Why I Chose Enrichment over Progress."

Gaelynn’s Nora Talk presentation was extremely impactful for all of our educators this summer. In it, she shares a story about the music teacher that helped her figure out how to hold her violin and bow more like a cello so that she could play in a way that worked for her body, rather than steering her away from the orchestra toward a different choice, like choir. She urges teachers to think creatively about the individual student, to include students in decision-making about their educational supports, and to constantly revisit what’s working and what’s not to find the best path forward for students. Gaelynn explains what it means to be an ally and provides concrete examples of ways people can be better informed and more actively involved in supporting disability justice.

After you’ve watched Gaelynn’s talk, we highly recommend you check out the rest of her work. You can learn more about her body of work on her website.  If you’d like to support Gaelynn’s work, you can do so through her Patreon account.