Members of the campus community gathered in the McBurney Disability Center Saturday to learn about implementing social change for the community affected with disabilities in Madison in the second Pathways to Inclusion conference.

The director of the center, Cathy Trueba, presented on the history of the struggle for civil rights for the disabled and explained how this affects the climate today.

“We’re searching for a way to return this person to the norm, to become a typical person rather than an abnormal person,” she said.

She said the conference was focused on educating people on how to stand up for environmental accommodations for people with diabilities, rather than simply cures.

She mainly spoke on the history of the disability civil rights movement and said the lack of familiarity of the faces from the movement is common and disheartening.

“Disability is one example of a normal human variation and is a way of life,” she said.

After showing a video titled “The Power of the 504” about the civil rights movement and the San Francisco sit-ins, Trueba addressed the history of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, a piece of policy that came about to protect those with disabilities.

After years of the act being narrowed and specialized to exclude many who were perceived to not have serious enough disabilities, the act was amended in 2008 by former President George W. Bush so as to return to the original intent, Trueba said.

She also addressed the issue of assumptions when it comes to disabilities.

“Not every person with a disability needs an accommodation, however all are protected from discrimination,” she clarified.

Trueba said one of the ways the world is accommodating is in the areas of universal design in products and environment.

Things like wider doors, ramps and closed captioning not only help those with disabilities, but also benefit those without them, Trueba said.

Breakout sessions were also incorporated into the conference, with groups from Promoting Awareness, Victim Empowerment and Sex Out Loud.

PAVE Chair Val Kowis lead a discussion to educate attendees on understanding of sexual assault and harassment within the context of disabled individuals and ways to provide support.

“I think inclusion is a huge, huge step … in slowing and eventually stopping this violence,” she said. “There are a lot of layers of oppression that people with disabilities face.”

Sex Out Loud speakers Michael Podgers and Samantha Johnson gave a talk on the connection between sexuality and disability and the stereotypes often associated with the topic.

Podgers said often disabled people are placed into boxes where they are made to be not sexual, and that stereotypes often perpetuate the idea that disabled people are helpless or childlike.

“Another thing is a cultural thing for being not sexual is that in North America, being able to be self-sufficient is a huge thing. That’s very often associated with sexuality,” he said.

The conference also included a speakers panel, who talked about their own personal experience in the way their disabilities have interacted with their education, families and friends.