The 1st International Conference in Disability Studies in Greece took place on the 28th and 29th of September, 2019, at the Faculty of Education of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. Antonios Ktenidis was invited by Yiota Karagianni, Associate Professor of Inclusive Education at Aristotle University, to share his doctoral work. Yiota was Antonios’ supervisor for his undergraduate thesis and was the first to introduce him to the field of Disability Studies, ten years ago.
The theme of the conference was ‘Deconstructing Disablism’ and it was divided into five sessions: a) critical approaches to disability b) disability through pedagogical and sociological lenses c) perceptions and practices towards disability d) activism and cultural production for disability e) graduate students’ views of disability. Here is the programme of the conference.
The conference brought together academics (from different parts of the world e.g. Greece, Cyprus, United Kingdom and Australia), activists and students, all of whom shared a vested interest in the lived experience of disability and disablism. Yiota Karagianni welcomed us and then presented her work, which looked into the threat that Inclusive Education poses to Special Education. Then, Professor Rebecca Lawthom shared a series of provocations/provocative questions for Critical Disability Studies. Many interesting, insightful presentations followed, all of which engaged an audience of more than two hundred and fifty people in generous discussions on the topic of disability and disablism. Antonios’s presentation provided an insight into his research, which looks into the stories of young people with Restricted Growth of their secondary education in the UK. His presentation was well received and it also provoked some heated, but valuable discussions.
One of the highlights for Antonios was Antonios Rellas’ presentation “If I had a hammer: The Disabled people’s movement over the years of crisis” who spoke on behalf of two Greek disability activist groups: ‘Zero tolerance’: Emancipation Movement for the Disabled & The Movement of Disabled Artists. The presentation included the preview of a documentary focusing on the institutionalisation of disabled children and young people in the city of Lechaina, which made everyone in the room cry out of rage when they witnessed the dehumanising violence these children were exposed to e.g. disabled children locked in cages. Antonios’ presentation also referred to the activism that these two groups engage with, an activism which is inclusive and fights against all forms of discrimination, including disablism, ableism, sanism heterosexism, classism, homophobia and transphobia. Antonios would strongly encourage everyone to follow (and learn from) the work of these two groups.
Antonios Ktenidis was honoured to have been invited to take part in such a great conference, which left him with so many emotions and so many things to reflect on. Antonios was also grateful for all the new friendships he made throughout it and the beautiful moments and words he shared with the attendees.
Antonios Ktenidis is an ESRC doctoral researcher at the School of Education, University of Sheffield, and a member of iHuman. Antonios is supervised by Prof Dan Goodley and Dr Kirsty Liddiard.
