DO-IT Featured in UW's Viewpoint Magazine

Recently, the DO-IT Center was featured in UW’s Viewpoint magazine. The goal of the magazine is “telling the story of diversity at the University of Washington.” The article shares ideas from three members of the DO-IT community: Dustine Bowker, Kayla Brown, and Sheryl Burgstahler.

The article, appearing on page 4 of the Fall 2023 Issue, is called "Reaching All Learners: The UW’s DO-IT program works to adapt classrooms and labs to be used by all people." The following is an excerpt from the article:

A decade ago, Dustine Bowker went to a pizza party at the Husky Union Building (HUB). Then a junior at Roosevelt High School in Seattle, Bowker, who identifies as being on the autism spectrum, came to the University of Washington to learn about a program designed to help people like him. He’s had to learn to recognize social cues, he said, and adapt to fit into many situations. But at the HUB that day 10 years ago, he felt a sense of belonging. “That was my very first event where I saw dozens of people with disabilities in the same room, and that was a new experience for me,” Bowker says. “It’s a type of community, I guess, that I didn’t even realize was there.”

“One of the biggest influences with DO-IT is learning about disability, how to interact with people with disabilities, knowing about areas like the disability rights movements,” Bowker says. Through DO-IT, he’s made lifelong friends and now better understands that, when it comes to disability rights, he’s building on the legacy of earlier advocates. “I wanted to give back to that community in a way,” he says. “And I think DO-IT has been one of the most profound sources of that.”

To request an accessible PDF version of the article, send an email to doit@uw.edu.