Community of practice, Wednesday, March 11th, 2026

The Music and Disability Study Group is proud to host James Deaville and our very own Alternate Officer Tekla Babyak at our Community of Practice on Wednesday, March 11th, 2026 at 10:00am PST/1:00pm EST via Zoom. They will present on "Accommodating the Senses of Minds: Planning Neuroinclusive Musicological Events."

Please register to the session using the following link: 
https://utexas.zoom.us/meeting/register/XMVnqwJpT9ygfOeJi7TvRQ


Abstract: 
"Accommodating the Senses of Minds: Planning Neuroinclusive Musicological Events"

While some valuable academic and practical attention has been paid to making conferences and their sessions accessible to people with physical disabilities, less care has been given to the needs of neurodiverse conference delegates. Their disabling conditions can include autism, anxiety, ADHD, and dyslexia among others. We will present some concrete ways by which organizers and committees can take into account the access requirements of this community.

Bios:
Tekla Babyak is a disabled independent scholar-activist with multiple sclerosis. She
holds a PhD in Musicology from Cornell University and is currently based in Davis,
CA. Her research interests include nineteenth-century music analysis, disability
studies, and queer crip autoethnography. Tekla is proud to serve as Alternate Officer
for the AMS Music and Disability Study Group. Also, as part of her multifaceted
career, she offers freelance editorial services and lessons in piano and music theory.

James Deaville teaches Music at Carleton University, Ottawa. For 20 years he has
spoken and published about music and disability, most notable about depression and
anxiety in the context of post-secondary institutions and about madness in the history
of Western art music. He is currently working on music captioning in streaming
media.