Lavanya Radhakrishnan has personally seen individuals close to her struggle to navigate the world around them due to their disabilities.
“This made me have a profound sense of empathy,” said Radhakrishnan, a graduate student in computer science. “When I saw an opportunity to lead a caucus that advocates for international students with disabilities, I wanted to jump right in.”
Radhakrishnan serves as communications director for Abilities Beyond Disabilities, a student-led group with the mission of providing support and resources for students with disabilities, raising awareness about various disabilities, and promoting inclusivity on campus. It is one of seven Global Gopher Caucuses sponsored by International Student and Scholar Services, each of which provides a space for students with different marginalized identities to talk about their experiences with their peers.
Abilities Beyond Disabilities started in August, and leaders spent the fall semester promoting the group and connecting with University resources for possible collaboration. This semester, Radhakrishnan said the group will organize events where speakers share their experiences surrounding disability and access, and students can enjoy activities like arts and crafts and board games — with free food, of course. They also hope to organize volunteering activities at disability centers in the Twin Cities.
“Our goals are to provide support to international disabled students in any way that we can,” Radhakrishnan said. “We can let them know about resources that exist on campus and how they can navigate through their university and city life, and make them feel included by organizing these events and connecting with peers.”
Radhakrishnan stressed that Abilities Beyond Disabilities is for all students.
“A lot of people think that only if you have a disability you are welcome to the group,” she said. “That’s absolutely not true. Anyone is welcome, regardless of whether you have or do not have a disability or if you’re an international student or not.”
Interested in getting involved? Follow Abilities Beyond Disabilities on Instagram and reach out to the team at [email protected].
